The Consultation

by Brett Rutherford

Miss Schreckengost,
the principal, my parents,
and my small self
stand in the third grade
classroom. What trouble
am I in this time? Did
the comics I draw
and circulate among
the tittering students
offend someone?

“We called you here,”
the principal says,
bass voice held down
to an unfamiliar whisper,
“to talk about your son.
He's too young to take
an IQ test, but he,
I assure you, is way
beyond our teaching.

“He could skip two grades,”
Miss Schreckengost says.

“Or even three,”
the principal asserts.
“He really belongs
in a private school,
a place for young geniuses.”

My parents say nothing.
Then “Private school ...
you have to pay for that.”

“Yes. But for the best.
We don't know what
to do for him, except
to let him roam the stacks
of the town library
and read what he wants.
Do you have books at home?”

“Not really.”

Sliding to save the day,
the principal back-tracks.
“Well, it is said
that jumping ahead
can interfere
with any child's normal
development.”

“Oh, we wouldn't want
that. He should be normal.
Normal is best, isn't it?”

“Very well, then,”
the principal sighs.
“But while you're here
there's one more thing.
We had to move your son
to the third row, right here,
since he can no longer see
the blackboard. Glasses,
eyeglasses he needs.
You must attend to this,
and right away.”

Another silence.
My father assents and asks
the name of an eye doctor.
My mother just says,
“Glasses. My god,
he has to wear glasses.
Going around
with glasses.
I'm so ashamed.”

I stood,
the object talked about
praised and condemned
in short order.

No one asked me
what I thought
or what I wanted.

As we walked home,
beneath my breath, I said —
“The slings and arrows
of outrageous fortune.”