Listen Up! (Jeff)

[Grayson Sato]

That kid. He was going to get an ear full. Gray had a mini meeting with Mrs. Flint about a particular student. Jefferson McIntosh was at it again. This wasn’t the first talk and hopefully it would be the last. But knowing the kid it wasn’t going to be.

Gray walked with a purpose through the halls. He arrived at his destination. Dorm room 503. He knocked on the door. “Jeff, open up.” His voice was stern. Gray was not messing around. If no one opened the door Gray was going to go right in.

[Jeff McIntosh]

Rune was out at dance club or cheerleading or whatever goofy activity it was that he did, which meant that Jeff had the room all to himself. That was, in his estimation, delightful. He had sprawled across the sofa in the middle of the common room, laptop propped up against his knees, and browsing ESPN's website. All of the top articles were about the Masters, which was boooooooring. 

Golf was the sport of the sorts of people who joined country clubs, which was definitely not the McIntosh family. Sure, his father made enough money to support four kids, but he didn't make CEO levels of money. 

He was so caught up in his mental judgment that he almost didn't hear the rapping that meant someone was at the door. 

The stern voice of one of the dorm monitors, however, cut through his idle fantasies. He shoved his laptop aside and jumped to his feet. 

"Uhhhh. Mr. Sato?" He called out, dread filling him. Why was the dorm monitor knocking on his door?  He had kept his temper in check ever since the incident with Ruby and Dr. Neville's no-nonsense followup! He didn't think he had done anything to warrant a visit, not recently, but that was only because he didn't consider his sexism to be the problem the faculty all claimed it was. 

[Grayson Sato]

No, it was the pizza guy. Yes, it was Sato. “Yes, it’s me. I would like to talk to you but not through the door.” Sato knew Jeff would open the door and let him in. Unless Jeff already knew what the topic was going to be.

Once the door opened Sato went in. He looked around the common room. It seemed quiet. It didn’t look like any of Jeff’s roommates were home, but they could just be in their rooms. “Is anyone else here?” Sato asked thinking the two would want to talk in the privacy of Jeff’s room. “We may want to talking private.”

[Jeff McIntosh]

We may want to talk in private.

That was an ominous beginning to this conversation. 

"They're off doing club activities..." 

But there was no soccer practice today, and so he was here. Frankly he would have been happy with daily soccer practice, but the school had few enough students and there were enough other activities that the faculty tried to give students the ability to attend multiple clubs, which meant reduced time with any one activity. 

Alas. 

"Why do we gotta talk alone?" Jeff asked, voice laced with suspicion.  "It isn't anything to do with Jo, is it?" 

If anyone had hurt his sister he would take justice into his own hands. 

[Grayson Sato]

It was just Jeff and Gray at the dorm. They could talk without worrying about someone over hearing the conversation. Even though the topic at hand was not anything new. Gray leaned on the arm of the sofa. “No. Jo is fine. This is about your English class.”

Gray wanted to know Jeff’s side of the story. From Mrs. Flint’s story it was pretty clear. To be fair, the dorm monitor was going to hear Jeff out. “How are things going in class?” Gray crossed his arms and waited for Jeff’s reply.

[Jeff McIntosh]

Seriously? Mrs. Flint had asked Gray to talk to him  again? How many times was she going to send a proxy to talk to him about whatever her problem was?

He grunted angrily, folding his arms across his chest. "English class is fine. I do the work!"

Most of it, anyway. Except for that whole poetry thing, poetry was for girls. The fact that most of the poetry they read was written by men was entirely lost on him. 

[Grayson Sato]

That was what Gray thought Jeff was going to answer with. Everything was fine. Gray remained silent for a moment to give Jeff a chance to add anything. It didn’t seem the student was going to. “I’m very glad you are doing the work. But that’s not quite the story I heard from your teacher.”

Gray paused. He looked over the student for a reaction. “Mrs. Flint says you’re being disrespectful to her and you’re not doing the poetry assignments. Why? Jeff, you’re the student. She’s the teacher. Just show her respect and we won’t have these conversations.”

The dorm motion thought he understood Jeff’s actions. One, it was just who Jeff was. And two, his home life also played a role. Most kids had their parents as role models. It was the parents’ job to encourage good behavior and discourage bod behavior. Gray was no position to make a crack about Jeff’s parents. And he wasn’t going to. It wasn't the time or place.

[Jeff McIntosh]

"I'm not being disrespectful!" 

He called her ma'am and held the door for her, wasn't that what respecting women was all about? Granted, he couldn't deny that he wasn't doing all the assigned work. 

"When're we gonna need poetry in the real world, anyway?"

[Grayson Sato]

"Alright. No need to get defensive. Maybe Mrs. Flint misunderstood something. I just want to know what's going on." Gray was doing his best not to appear "attacking" Jeff. He thought he was doing a good job being fair. He had given Jeff a chance to explain his side of the story. Now Gray had both stories.

As to answer the student's question Gray had no idea. Unless Jeff went into writing poems there wasn't any place Gray could think of that would use poetry. There were a number of things that students learned in school and never use it in the real world. It was taught because that was what the teachers were told to teach. "Honestly, I have no clue."

[Jeff McIntosh]

Jeff was honestly stunned by Mr. Sato's reply. Generally he expected adults to lecture about the importance of education and expanding the mind or whatever it was school was supposed to be good for. He didn't expect them to not know why something was taught. 

This confession drained the defensiveness out of him. 

"Oh." 

He thought about that for a moment, chewing over this in silence. 

"But if it's not fun, and I don't know why I've gotta do it, it's hard to feel like I'm getting anything out of it."