Chalk Dust & Broomsticks, Chapter 13

Nothing is Right in the school at the moment. Shirley looks for sympathy but finds none.

Chapter 13 - Nothing's Going Right

Shirley wasn't the only secretary at Primrose Primary. Over on the junior side was the office of Mrs. Manipulator. She'd been at the school for over twenty-five years and, despite reaching retiring age, couldn't let go. She dreaded retirement and couldn't imagine life without her 7 a.m. school drive. She'd already seen off four headteachers and wasn't fazed by the new one.

Mrs. Manipulator had her own games. She played the six general assistants, promising each one in turn that they'd be first in line for her job when she retired, securing them the coveted office next to the new headteacher. The general assistants were in awe of her, eager to keep her sweet, unaware that she had no actual power over the Head or the Governing Body.

Her tenacity was the reason Shirley was stuck in The Dollhouse's section. Because Mrs. Manipulator insisted on staying on, the superior Junior office remained unavailable, preventing Shirley from establishing a proper relationship with Althea from day one. Worse, Mrs. Manipulator, determined that no one, especially the popular Shirley, would take her domain, had fed the new headteacher outright lies about her.

Shirley took a file over to Mrs. Manipulator, which was a common occurrence, since the offices were so far apart. Finding the headteacher's office door closed, she decided to leave it with Mrs. Manipulator - Paula, as she was known to her friends.

"Can I leave this with you, Paula? I see the Head's door is closed and I don't want to go in there alone?"

"Yes, of course Shirley; just leave it in that tray on my desk and I'll see she gets it when she returns. How's it going over there in The Dollhouse?" Paula's eyebrows lifted as she studied Shirley's face.

"Not great, to be honest, Paula. It's a pain having to keep coming over here, crossing the carpark in all weathers and never quite knowing when Althea is in her office or not. Sometimes I feel like I don't really belong here anymore. I thought that when we came back in September, the office block combining the two schools would be finished and we would be in it, next to Althea's new office, thereby establishing the new order, but since that hasn't happened yet, I'm stuck over there and you are here, right on the pulse, so to speak. I did wonder if you were thinking of retiring before the schools were joined, but you haven't mentioned it so I don't know where I am." Shirley sighed.

"There's nothing to say that you would get my job anyway, Shirley. There are several people after it as well as you, you know." Paula was affronted. Only the other day, one of the classroom assistants told me she wanted to take over from me. You mustn't assume you will be asked."

Was that a glint in Paula's eye?

Shirley felt deflated. Her ideas of sharing the post with Dora, each doing more hours and covering more areas seemed to be a non-starter, especially as Althea had told her that what she wanted was a full-time personal assistant.

"Well, they're just going to have to make me redundant then, won't they, because I'm not going willingly. I've been her a long time. That should count for something."

"I wouldn't bet on it. You'll probably have to apply for your own job, or should I say the new job, as and when...By the way, have you heard anything about the Ofsted Inspection? We're into November now and we've heard nothing this end?"

"Nothing this end either." Replied Shirley. "I'll let you know if I hear anything."
Shirley returned to her own small office, crossing the carpark with a determination that was growing by the minute. I hope she remembers to give that file to Althea, she thought.

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Gerald's Financial Woes

Some hours after the fire alarm, Gerald was nursing a splitting hangover. Sitting cross-legged on the boiler house floor, he pondered the disastrous term. He felt trapped: in a job he disliked and a home life that was challenging. He was constantly craving peace and, just like Shirley, the peace was always receding. The building work that had been going on all summer was driving him crazy. There had been numerous delays and setbacks. Why, even last week the vandals had got in again and set fire to the rubbish bins, which had melted into the asphalt and it had been his job to scrape it all up as best he could. The administration block should have been finished weeks ago, but it still wasn't so staff were constantly going back and forth across the car-park in all weathers. 'I just wish I could have a week's fishing somewhere quiet, where I could be myself away from all this stress' he grumbled.

Recently he had received a telephone bill for an astonishing 1,500. Most of the calls listed were to somewhere in India. He didn't know anyone there, nor did his family. Gerald wasn't just trapped; he was being bankrupted by a phantom caller. He didn't know whether it was worth phoning the police about it, especially after he'd observed some workmen digging a hole in the pavement at the back of the school. No doubt the Council would soon be in touch with him because the house was tithed and the bill paid by them.

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Althea's Breaking Point

Althea was also feeling profoundly dispirited. The staff were proving impossible to tame, and the children were far more challenging than she'd expected. So far, she'd been nearly attacked by a Tarantula spider, whisked to the roof by a bunch of balloons, chased a ghost through the corridors, and that very day, the school had narrowly escaped burning down.

Was this the way it was going to be forever at Primrose Primary? she wondered. If so, she wasn't sure she was up to the job. She needed to call her friend, Alex, for encouragement.

As she reached for the telephone, there was a sharp tap at the door. Dora entered, a sly, triumphant look on her face.

"Could I have a word with you, Althea?" she asked.

"Well, it's not convenient at the moment, I'm just about to make an important telephone call," the Head replied, irritated.

"I think you'll find you have the time, once you know why I've come to see you," Dora countered, her voice ringing with satisfaction.

She sat down opposite the headteacher. In her right hand, she held a small white envelope, which she proceeded to fan herself with, savoring the moment.

"I have in my hand," she began, her eyes sparkling with malice and triumph, "a letter which I think belongs to you..."

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Althea stared at the small white envelope Dora was waving in the air.
"Give me that," she demanded.

"Let's talk about it first," replied Dora with a devious look on her face.
"I demand that you return it to me!"

"I will return it when I am ready, but in the meantime, shall we talk about my getting my room back?"

Dora hated Althea for removing her from her domain. She used to have her own room, proudly bearing her name above the door, where she dealt with playground injuries and queues of children needing inhalers. Now, she was a mere classroom assistant, a humiliating demotion that the other General Assistants sniggered at.

When she found the letter in Miss Pink's desk, she didn't hesitate to read it. Her eyebrows rose at the content. The letter was from someone called Alex, written with obvious affection: "I can't wait to see you again." Althea's sexuality had been a topic of staff gossip, fueled by her touching Mrs. Parker's knee in a recent meeting - a totally inappropriate action and noticed by several members of staff.

...but the letter continued with a far more explosive revelation: "The Ofsted Inspection is due before Christmas and you will get the official documentation soon. Make sure the school fails and we'll come up with that job we promised you. You can have the office next to mine; won't that be fun? Remember Marrakesh?"

Dora quickly realized the letter was her golden ticket. She had her room back and leverage over the Head; but she still wondered how innocent Mary Pink who lived alone and cared for her ailing mother in an old people's home, had come to possess it.

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