Thankful for You

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2

Shirley Bryant clicked the television off and rested her head back against the recliner, closing her eyes behind her thick glasses for a moment, hoping to have just a few more moments of silence before the bus pulled up outside and Cooper would be home from school. While she’d spent most of the day picking up the house, doing the laundry and the dishes, and figuring out what to make for dinner, she did like to take half an hour in the afternoon to watch a little television, just to relax before the storm that was her grandson hit and she was busy chasing after him for an hour or two until reinforcements arrived home from work to help.

Sometimes, her oldest son, Paul, Cooper’s father, who was a truck driver, would be home for a few days at a time. Other times, he wouldn’t be home for several days. How he had managed before she moved in a few weeks ago was beyond her. Paul had been very reliant on friends of his late wife, Tonya, to help out with Cooper. Sometimes, the poor boy didn’t even know which family’s house he’d be spending the night at. Whoever got around to picking him up from daycare first. She knew the people who had volunteered to help Paul out were doing their best, but now that Cooper was in school and could no longer travel with his dad, the family had been struggling.

Shirley had decided to relocate from Washington, DC, a few weeks ago when Paul called up and said that one of Tonya’s friends, Linda, was no longer willing to let Cooper stay at her house. Cooper was just too rough with Linda’s children, and one of the kids had gotten hurt. It wasn’t anything serious, but a woman had a right to feel her children were safe in their own home. That had been the final straw, and a few days later, Shirley had packed up what she could and moved in.

Her other son, Casey, who was a lawyer in DC, had decided to stay with them for a short time as well, thinking she might need some help in getting settled. He worried about his old mom, she knew that, but she still had a few good years left in her. Granted, at fifty-five, and rapidly losing her eyesight to a degenerative disease, she was no spring chicken. Still, Cooper hadn’t worn her out just yet. Unfortunately, by the time Casey got in, with traffic and the long drive, it was often well after dinner time. He would help get Cooper ready for bed and read him a story. In the mornings, he’d sometimes help with breakfast, depending upon what time his first case or meeting was, but he had to leave early to make the drive, which could sometimes take up to two hours, and Shirley didn’t think it was fair to burden him with his brother’s problems, even though Casey was always the one bailing Paul out when he got himself into trouble, which was honestly more often than it should’ve been.

Hearing the familiar sound of the bus trundling down the street, Shirley took a deep breath, hoping she could talk Cooper into a healthy snack and maybe doing some reading before he went to play. While he did seem to like the fact that he could come home after school now, he still seemed to be having some outbursts. She just hoped he was behaving himself at school. He always said he had a good day and didn’t have any homework, and as far as she could tell, that was true. Paul said the teacher had called a few times, but it always seemed like boys roughhousing to him, and he wasn’t too concerned about it. Shirley wasn’t quite convinced that was the case.

The bus pulled to a stop in front of their modest ranch style home, and Shirley opened the door. Cooper bolted out of the bus without so much as a wave at the driver, but Shirley waved, and the older man only rolled his eyes and closed the door. Shirley didn’t know what that meant, but she hoped it didn’t mean Cooper had misbehaved on the bus.

“Grandma!” Cooper shouted, running toward her. “Can I have some candy?”

“How was your day, Cooper?” Shirley asked, stepping aside as the little boy shot underneath her arm, headed for the kitchen where his half-empty plastic pumpkin of candy sat. She’d contemplated throwing it out, thinking he didn’t need all those sweets when he was already so wired up, but she’d decided the tantrum he’d throw when he came home wouldn’t be worth it. It had been a struggle to get him to wait for his uncle to make it home the night before to go out and collect all of it. Even though Casey had hurried home, Cooper was not that patient.

“I’m gonna eat all of it!” Cooper shouted, sticking his hand down inside the pumpkin.

“Cooper Jonathan!” Shirley shouted, coming into the kitchen, her hand on her hip. “No, you most certainly are not!”

Ignoring her, Cooper pulled out a fist full of candy, a big smile on his face.

“Cooper!” Shirley headed in his direction, thinking she’d take most of that back and maybe hide the majority of it, when she realized the house phone was ringing. “You’re not eating all of that!” she shouted as he headed toward his bedroom in the back of the house.

Not sure what to do, Shirley headed for the phone, hoping she could get to Cooper to stop him before all those sweets ruined his dinner. She picked up the receiver, and exasperatedly said, “Hello?”

“Hi. Is this… Cooper’s grandmother?”

The voice sounded like a young woman, and Shirley was puzzled as to who would be asking that particular question. “Yes. This is Shirley Bryant. Who may I ask is calling?”

“Mrs. Bryant, this is Isabelle Swanner. I’m Cooper’s kindergarten teacher. I’m so happy to have gotten in touch with you. Do you happen to have a moment to talk about Cooper’s behavior?”

Shirley’s insides turned over. This was the phone call she’d been dreading, even though she couldn’t say she was surprised to be receiving it. “Is everything okay?” she asked, taking a deep breath and sitting down in a chair next to the side table where the phone sat in the kitchen.

“Cooper is such an energetic little boy,” the teacher began. “He’s bright and full of curiosity. He loves to explore and learn about plants and animals.”

Shirley made a soft, “Mmm hmmm,” sound to let the teacher know she was listening. Clearly, she was trying to be polite, as teachers didn’t call to let people know their children or grandchildren were energetic or curious.

“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but on Cooper’s daily behavior chart, I’ve been noting days when he’s had a tough time following directions and keeping his hands to himself in class.”

“Daily behavior chart?” Shirley asked. Cooper had never mentioned anything like that, and while she’d never bothered to look in his backpack, since he also insisted he had no homework, she supposed now it probably would’ve been a good idea to check it. Of course, she assumed his dad would’ve mentioned if there was anything specific she was supposed to do each night. Back when her kids were in school, they didn’t have such things as daily behavior charts.

“Yes, it’s a form that he brings home every night in his take home folder. Every day, he’ll earn a color to correspond with his behavior. Green is what we expect for school-ready behavior. Blue is above and beyond our expectations. Yellow means the child has received several warnings that their behavior is disruptive throughout the day, and red means that at least one time during the day the child’s behavior has disrupted the learning of others.”

“I see,” Shirley muttered. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea….”

“No, that’s okay,” the teacher interjected in a cheery voice. “I understand you haven’t lived with Cooper long. I’m so glad we’ve gotten a chance to speak so that I can explain it to you. If you or Cooper’s father could check his folder every night and initial it, that would really help me to know that Cooper’s family is aware of what is happening at school. He also has a nightly reading log. While it’s not mandatory, we’d love for every student to read with an adult, or listen to an adult read every night for at least twenty minutes. This really helps with literacy skills.”

“Oh, now that Cooper does. I’m sorry we haven’t been signing any form, but his Uncle Casey reads with him every night before bed, and if he’s not here, then I do it.”

“That’s wonderful to hear!” Miss Swanner exclaimed. “I’ve noticed how much Cooper seems to enjoy books, and since he misses our warm up every morning, it’s great to know that he has that extra time at home. Of course, we have plenty of other opportunities to read throughout the day…”

“He misses your warm up?” Shirley asked, not wanting to interrupt but not understanding. “I’m not sure what you mean. He rides the bus to school now that he’s home every morning, so he should get there at the same time most of the other kids do.”

Miss Swanner was quiet for a moment. “Cooper has been riding the school bus to school?”

“Yes, for nearly a month now.”

“That is strange. I wonder… maybe he’s going to the cafeteria in the mornings. He’s usually the last to arrive in my classroom.”

“I think before I came to live here, he never even knew who might be dropping him off in the morning, so it could’ve been any time, but he’s been consistently riding the bus each morning. I’m not sure why he’d be going to the cafeteria. Do they serve breakfast? Cooper eats breakfast at home. I make him fried eggs and toast every morning, usually with bacon or sausage.” She might’ve been unknowingly failing Cooper in other areas of school, but she always made sure he had a good breakfast.

“Well, let me see if I can pull up his account in the cafeteria and we can find out what’s going on—if you don’t mind.”

“No, dear, go right ahead.” Shirley waited while the teacher made some clicking sounds, which she assumed were the sounds of some sort of computer.

A few seconds later, Miss Swanner said, “Okay, it looks like Cooper has been going to the cafeteria for breakfast. He’s got both breakfast and lunch purchases on his account for most of the school year.”

“Well, how much does that cost?” Shirley wondered aloud. While she was certain Casey would take care of it if need be, Paul was always tight on money.

“Oh, it’s free,” the teacher replied. “Cooper qualified for free and reduced lunch. His father filled out the form at the beginning of the year.”

Shirley felt all of the color run out of her face. “Paul filled out a form so that Cooper could get his meals for free?” The idea that her son was on government assistance filled her mind, and once again her stomach was turning over. If her late husband John had any idea….

“A lot of our students are on the program, Mrs. Bryant. We encourage parents to apply.”

“But… that’s like taking a handout. My family doesn’t need charity.”

Miss Swanner cleared her throat, and Shirley realized she’d made the other woman uncomfortable. “Perhaps Mr. Bryant could better explain the situation to you, ma’am. In the meantime, I will speak to the staff members on duty in the morning and let them know that Cooper has already eaten breakfast and should come straight to class. That way, he won’t miss our book reading activities in the morning. Would you mind reminding him in the morning when he gets on the bus to come straight to class?”

Deciding Cooper’s teacher was right and she needed to talk to Paul about this free lunch program, Shirley said, “Yes, of course. I’ll mention it. Now, you said he’s having trouble keeping his hands to himself? Does that mean hitting?” The idea that her grandson was hurting other students made her sick to her stomach all over again.

“We have had a few instances of that,” the teacher admitted. “Mostly, it’s being uncooperative, not respecting others, not listening to my directions, those sorts of things. I’ve been hoping to meet with his father so we can discuss some ways I might be able to help Cooper better, but he hasn’t been able to meet with me yet.”