“Terry, we gave you every opportunity to earn your diploma last year. Your teachers and I bent over backward giving you one chance after another to turn work in late, to make it up, or even do alternatives to traditional assignments. You chose not to do any of those things. My hands are tied.”
Adler was extremely agitated. He was wild-eyed and frothing at the mouth when he shouted back his reply, “Well you and the rest of your fucked up teachers can kiss my white ass! I can’t even get a job without my diploma and you’re the asshole who’s keeping me from getting it.”
Dr. Young didn’t raise his voice but spoke firmly. “No son, I’m not the one preventing you from getting that. You did that all by yourself. Actions have consequences and…”
“Fuck you, you fucking N****r!” he screamed. “There’s gonna be hell to pay around here for this shit.” He turned and pointed wildly at the teacher tables and said, “All of you N*****r-loving assholes are gonna pay for this.”
By this time, the campus security officer was standing next to Dr. Young. He was also African-American and he bristled when Terry Adler drop the N-word. Dr. Young held out his hand asking for restraint as former student stormed out of the gymnasium.
Dr. Young turned and calmly told everyone, “It’s okay folks. Sorry for the ruckus. Everything’s fine.” His smile and calm demeanor were very reassuring after such a disturbing event.
“Who talks like that these days?” Shay said.
“Evidently, Terry Adler,” her mom replied. She knew Shay was as shaken and upset by the incident as she was, but they both knew if Dr. Young could take that kind of abuse personally they could deal with seeing it from the sidelines.
A week or later, Erin stopped by the teacher’s lounge to check her in box and grabbed a stack of papers. When she turned around, Adam was standing behind her waiting for her to move.
“Adam! Oh, my gosh. You startled me,” she said as she spun around and came face to face with him.
“Sorry, Erin. I don’t usually have that effect on women. I guess I’m gonna have to work on that.”
Erin stepped aside and took a deep breath. No one else was in the room so she said, “Listen, I know we said we might all get together sometime. Would you and Cameron like to have dinner with us this weekend by any chance?”
Adam grabbed his paperwork and said, “I’ll have to talk to Cam, but that sounds great to me. I’ll let you know what he says today, okay?”
“Great,” Erin replied. “So how was your first week here? Any problems?”
“All of my classes are really good. My AP class in fantastic and Shay is head and shoulders above everyone else in there, by the way.”
“I’m so glad to hear that. She really does love math and science, but chemistry is by far her favorite. My only understanding of chemistry is the kind that exists between men and women.” She paused then said, “Based on the way my marriage ended, I may not even understand that too well.”
Adam laughed and said, “Well, I can tell you this. You’re a very attractive woman, Erin. Whenever you’re ready to jump back into the dating pool, you won’t have to spend a lot of time there if your goal is finding another husband.”