Up The Down Staircase Page #5

you are you have to do this?

All right, everybody out, out, out.

Let's go. Let's go.

Well, ''Suggestions'', Miss Barrett, eh?

l must say, you've got guts.

Oh, it's just an idea, Mr. McHabe.

lt seems to me if the students

have a chance to speak freely,

without constant fear of punishment...

Listen, you try running this school

with ideas, you'll have riots in the rooms.

Fear, that's all they understand.

You, you. Come here.

Miss Barrett,

may l see you for a minute, please?

Miss Barrett, the name of Joe Ferone

is being removed from your Delaney book

and will be carried under your

register under temporary suspension.

Sign these, please.

What good is it going to do

to suspend that boy?

Turn him loose on the street

with all the gangs and drop-outs...

Say what you like about Mr. McHabe.

This place was chaos before he came.

l wasn't just blaming him.

ls there always one that gets you

more than the others?

And is it always the one that wants you

to prove something you can't prove

and thinks life is made up of deals?

l wonder if he'll come back

this time or just stay away.

Miss Barrett. Miss Barrett? This...

This boy is one of your students, l believe.

-Yes.

-He was discovered asleep

in the auditorium this morning

before the school doors were unlocked.

He refuses to say how he got there.

l'll send him back to you

just as soon as l've finished.

Come on, let's go.

l thought you might be ready

for that drink and dinner.

-Maybe Thursday?

-All right, maybe Thursday.

''Dear Teach. Nerts to you.''

You shouldn't be reading those.

''Don't try so hard, you'll live longer.''

''How about a date?

l'll fix you up like you never had it before.

''Signed, Loverboy.''

''Can you make the chalk

stop from squeaking?''

''ls it possible for you to teach

creative writing next term?

''You showed me that writing clearly

means thinking clearly.''

You see that? They are not all jokes.

''Scram ! Hit the road. Leave town

if you know what's good for you.

''A Well-Wisher.''

You shouldn't make fun of them.

Sometimes a sense of humor

is the only thing that keeps you going.

lt's not the same thing.

''lt is my considerable opinion

that you are very well qualified.

''No matter how boring the lesson,

you always make it interesting.''

-Harry Kagan.

-Harry A. Kagan.

lmagine electing that apple-polishing,

stuffed-shirt president of the GO.

Do they actually think

he's better than they are?

They see through him for what he is.

A fake.

But then they think everything's a fake,

including the GO,

so it doesn't matter who's the president.

lt doesn't matter to them

who the president of the United States is.

What's it to them?

That's why your suggestion box is a frost.

What suggestions can they make?

What opinions can they have?

This is the only one that makes sense.

''Don't try so hard, you'll live longer.''

Mrs. Coolidge.

Come on, l'll walk you to the corner.

''l am not a good penman,

but l must tell someone.

''l put this in the suggestion box

for the record.

''Today is my birthday.

''Happy birthday to me. Signed, Me.''

l just want to do something for that child.

The nurse says wounds

must not be touched.

l can't even find the wounds.

l don't know where they are.

Tomorrow l go into the hospital

-for a week...

-A Hospital?

Routine. l'm at the age.

The doctor took my pulse and said,

''My God, what line of work are you in?''

The sad thing is it's so early

in the semester.

A week is so important.

l don't know who my substitute will be,

but if you're passing my room

and the door is open, would you just stop

and listen for a moment?

And see if she's doing all right?

-Do you trust me to judge?

-Yes.

All ready?

Don't ever hurry down this block.

Just walk slowly.

Even if you're frightened

or late, or it's raining, just walk slowly.

And look. Don't seem to, but look.

This is where they spend 18 hours a day.

We have them for six.

Almost insurmountable odds.

Eighteen to six.

You noticed l said almost?

Because you can't give up,

or you can't give them up.

They've been given up

by too many already.

We're their last chance.

And maybe they're our last chance.

Just walk slowly and think of the odds,

Oh, you dance very well, Miss Barrett.

Thank you, Harry. So do you.

Well, my family has always made sure

that l be trained in the social amenities.

These affairs are rather childish, l think.

But they're for the good of the GO.

Where are we going, Harry?

Well, a gentleman should always return

his partner to the place he originally

picked her up at.

-Thank you, Miss Barrett.

-Thank you, Harry.

Sylvia, have you been dancing?

Not much.

l've been having an amenity

with Harry Kagan.

Look, they're doing the Boogaloo.

The Jerk is out, you know.

All right, you two out there, you two.

Off the floor.

You two, all right, all right, all right.

Out, out, off the floor.

No writhing on the floor.

No writhing. All dancers will remain

in a vertical position at all times.

There's Bob Whiteside.

Dance, Miss Pastorfield?

Now, Bob, why would you wanna dance

with an old witch like me

when a pretty young teacher

like Miss Barrett is standing right here.

Oh, Henrietta, now, you go ahead.

l'll watch the punch bowl.

Me, do the Boogaloo?

Why, you're pretty hip, Miss Pastorfield.

Well, if you say so, Bob.

lf you say so. Thanks, Syl.

Good evening, Miss Barrett.

Good evening, Alice.

Do you want some punch?

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Go on, you know what you wanna say.

Go ahead and say it.

l just wanted to say

that at the beginning of the term

l wanted to be in Mr. Barringer's class.

But they made me stay in yours.

l just wanted to say that l'm glad,

although l'd rather be in Mr. Barringer's.

Thank you very much, Alice.

When you taught us that poem

by Edna Vincent Millay,

and the part, ''Take your...

Take her head upon your knee

''And say to her, my dear, my dear

''ls it is not so dreadful here''?

And you asked who was speaking?

l wanted to say, ''Maybe a teacher.''

l don't recite well.

Carole has to help me.

-No, no, you recite very well, Alice.

-Thank you.

l even tried to get more of Edna Vincent

Millay and Emily Dickinson.

-You went to the library?

-lt was closed.

Will you excuse us a minute, Carole?

You know, it was rehearsed

for her to say that.

She knows everything.

But there are some things when you just

have to talk to an older woman.

Not a mother or an aunt.

Even if it hasn't anything

to do with English.

Good evening, Alice.

Excuse me, Miss Barrett.

There was a choked, unspoken

''l love you'' on the end of that sentence.

''She who had no need of me

ls a little lonely child lost in hell''

ls that all you want them to say?

''Miss Barrett, l love you.''

lt's easy to say.

Miss Barrett, l love you.

As a matter of fact, it's you that she loves.

ls that all you found out

for all your trouble?

Why don't you go dance with her?

She's over there watching.

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