That's What I Am Page #6

Now, you listen to me.

Your son brutally whipped

a defenseless young girl...

...because he thought

that she was ugly.

He thought by touching her,

it would rub off on him.

Now you're afraid he might look up to a

kind, wonderful man like Stephen Simon?

I'm not saying

what my boy did to that girl was right.

I whipped his ass real good

for what he did.

But that's all he is. He is just a boy.

He doesn't know any better.

I am not sure

what I have accomplished coming here.

But I am begging you,

please, reconsider.

You would be doing the children

of this community a great disservice.

You know better, don't you?

You know he's a homo.

No. I don't know if he's homosexual or not.

And frankly, I don't care.

My guess is this community will care...

...and they won't appreciate

you condoning it.

I'll see myself out.

Thank you, Mrs. Freel.

What if they don't let Mr. Simon teach

anymore?

Oh, I certainly hope

that doesn't happen.

Listen, I don't think

we should get wound up over this...

...until we know exactly what's going on.

Your father's right, Andy.

They had a thing in the old days

called Salem witch hunt...

...where people got all wound up

before they knew what the facts were.

Oh, and let's not forget Joe McCarthy.

He got so wound up he's still spinning.

What about you, Andy?

You ever see Mr. Simon

do anything weird?

- What do you mean by weird?

- Look, Jim, he's a little young.

No. Sure he's gonna hear this stuff,

just like you said.

Better we deal with it here and now.

Andy...

...did you ever see Mr. Simon...

...touch a boy...

...in a place...

...that he should not?

Jim, what are you doing?

Just answer the question, son.

No. Never.

Okay.

Good.

Dinner was good.

I'm gonna go to the garage.

He is not gonna let go of this.

They feel they have a moral obligation.

Fascinating.

He even went so far as to threaten me.

To think this man can ruin reputations...

...that we have spent years building

with absolutely no evidence.

My God.

I'm the first woman principal

in the county.

I'm trying to put two kids

through college.

- I just don't think that...

- Evelyn. Evelyn, please.

I won't let this happen.

Please, Stephen. Just deny it.

For the children's sake.

I don't care if it's true or not.

Please, just deny it.

It's for the sake of the children

that I won't deny it.

True or not.

Mr. Nichol.

You missed your chance for a ride.

Mr. Simon, you're gonna sell it?

- I'm afraid so.

- Why?

- This is the coolest car I've ever seen.

- Unfortunately, teaching's a labor of love...

...not of economic reward.

Couldn't you, like, rent it out or something

when you're not using it?

Very entrepreneurial of you, Andrew.

But, you know,

I don't really think this car is my style.

It would be better if I sold it

to someone a little hipper, perhaps.

Here, let me help you.

What are the boxes for?

It's not long before summer vacation.

Thought I'd get a head start.

Don't you keep most of the stuff

in the classroom?

Normally, yeah. But as it turns out,

I won't be here next year.

- Why?

- Well, I have a sister in Florida...

...and I haven't been able

to spend time with her.

I thought I might enjoy the change.

You better hurry up.

Don't wanna be late for homeroom.

Thanks.

Mr. Simon's not coming back next year.

So? We won't be here anyway.

It seems weird that somebody like

Jason Freel could get Mr. Simon to quit.

They're both freaks if you ask me.

There's no proof Mr. Simon's a homo.

Then why is he leaving?

Maybe the class could pitch in

and get him a present or something.

Like what?

I don't know. I don't know what he likes.

My dad says they're like women.

They like flowers and crap like that.

We should've known Simon was a homo

when he told us about that ballet.

He might as well just stamp

a big homo sign on his forehead.

All I know is, homo or not...

...if you ask anyone in class

who their favorite teacher is...

...it would be Mr. Simon.

Except Freel, maybe.

Yeah, I guess you're right.

At least he was until this homo thing.

Get up, Nichol. Take a walk, Rains.

See you after school, Andy.

- Look, Ricky, whatever...

- You're gonna ask Mary Clear...

...to go steady with you?

Not if you don't want me to.

I don't want you to.

After I pound your face in,

Mary's gonna think you're too ugly...

...to go steady with.

- Hey, leave him alone.

Who's gonna make me, freak?

No one can see us, Ricky.

Just walk away and nobody will know.

Nobody will believe it.

- What about you, Nichol?

- Nothing. It never happened.

You tell anybody about this

or go near Mary, I'll kill you.

Yeah.

I'm gonna get you real bad for this.

With the clock ticking down

to the end of school year...

... I figured if I could just keep a low profile,

I could get out with my dignity intact.

But Mary Clear would not be denied.

It had begun.

And as far as I knew, nothing,

short of running for your life, could stop it.

Mary was in the preliminary phase of what

was referred to as the hover ritual.

This was a technique

in which the female...

... would travel in ever tightening circles

around her prey, enticing him to strike...

... so that he would actually think

that he was the aggressor...

... thereby insuring his delicate male ego

would remain intact.

I wasn't fooled.

I had to get out and get out fast.

Hi, Andy. I didn't see you.

Yeah. Sorry.

I instantly started to sweat like a pig.

She noticed,

but mercifully pretended not to.

So...

...how you doing?

- Good.

So how are you doing?

She noticed I was making an idiot

out of myself again...

... but, forgiving beyond all reason,

pretended not to.

- Barbara said you wanted to see me.

- She did?

She said you wanted

to ask me something.

It was at that moment that I realized

just how bad I wanted to kiss Mary Clear.

So bad, in fact,

that I forgot about Ricky Brown...

... and the cruel ways he might kill me

if I did.

- You wanna go steady?

- You got an ID bracelet?

Yeah.

She studied the bracelet as if trying

to estimate its fair market value.

You bought this from Bruce Modak,

didn't you?

Yeah.

- It cost me three Mantle rookie cards.

- She wasn't impressed then.

But I'll bet she's reeling now.

How many women

possess a $100,000 ID bracelet...

- ... in their junk drawer?

- Okay.

Meet me at the end of the tunnel at 3.

Don't be late. My bus leaves at 3:15.

"When only the dwarf and the paladin

were left, they would not give up...

...but stood their ground stoutly.

A pair of steel towers

streaked and splashed with blood...

...and where the axe of one fell,

and the sword of the other...

...an enemy gasped and died.

And so fighting, loyal to their duty to Joan,

good simple souls..."

As Mr. Simon read from Joan of Arc,

I, unfortunately, could not enjoy it.

Instead, I spent the time

trying desperately to remember...

... all the great kissing scenes

I had watched in movies.

Focusing on fundamentals, I imagined

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