but that has been on my mind too and we'll talk about that soon enough. But, I’m talking about the job.” Chapman shifted in his seat for more comfort since he was supporting Terri’s weight and his.
“Am I too fat for you?” Terri awaited Chapman’s answer.
“P.H.A.T., like I like it.”
This was one of the times she loved his quick wit and she rewarded his statement with a smile and a kiss.
“You know I have been going over this opportunity in my head. We’re not growing any younger, and the money I’m making in the classroom after ten years of battling with those kids is an insult. Don’t get me wrong, I believe my time in the classroom has been a lesson in life and that form of stimulation cannot be replaced. I figure if I am going to be in the system, I might as well get paid at the top of the scale. I can recommend that Terrance Goolsby take over the band since he has been my assistant, and the band director at the middle school that feeds our school anyway. This would mean one more job for a young brother. Mack Jones from the elementary school would then move up, and I am sure there is a young graduate just dying to teach an elementary school band program...Hell, just teach and get paid.”
“You sure you want this?”
“No. I’m not...But, I got to make a move sometime and there is no time like the present.”
Terri settled down into Chapman’s arms and you could almost see a hint of that devilishly sly smile on her face. You know the smile that The Grinch Who Stole Christmas had that rippled from one side of his mouth to the other? The moon seemed to take on a liquid quality as she became awash with a willing spirit...A WILLING SPIRIT! Hallelujah! A willing spirit! It must have been the spirit, because what she was doing was something she declared she would only do for him on his birthday or to save his life. Well, she was working like it was his birthday and he only had a minute to live… Amen!
Cut-N-Run
It seems as though Monday took the express train to get Chapman to the band room to face his first class. He sat alone in his office, looking at the plaques, trophies, and pictures, while reminiscing about the good and bad times he had amassed over the years. The times were mostly good. Ten years is not that long when you just get right down to living it. He thought about the first day he walked into the band room and almost tripped down onto the floor after getting his foot caught under a music stand. Boy did those kids laugh. He looked at the trophy for best band in the Orange Blossom Classic parade, Battle of the Bands, and the People’s Choice Percussion Section challenge contest. His mind took him back to when he told the students how he was going to be on the road playing his own music within two years, and now ten have passed him by. He reflected back on how, when he came here, he had a head full of hair and the young girls all competed for his attention. The young boys hated him because they thought he was cutting in on their territory. Now he’s got a little less hair and all of the kids just think of him as a father or some old bad ass. That is what they call him, “Daddy O”. A daddy is what he has essentially become to most of these kids. He knew when they were happy or sad, needed a hug or needed a kick in the seat of their pants, had sex for the first time, were thinking about doing it for the first time, or the part he hated most, was when they became pregnant or got somebody pregnant. He pushed them all to go to trade school, college or to the military. Exposure is a must. There is nothing like good ole’ exposure to this big ole’ world we lived in. It is the greatest step toward becoming your complete self, Chapman believes.
A child must grasp the controls of their own mind. A lot of parents liked him for encouraging that, and a lot hated him for the same thing. As he sat in his chair counting the holes in the ceiling tiles, a knock came at the door. He saw the face of one of his new sons. Little Willie McFadder had his head poked into the office door.
“What’s up Daddy-O?” Chapman tried to gather himself because he knew that in a few hours he was going to break these kids’ hearts and Willie would be one of them.
“It’s you Big Mac, it’s you.” That’s what Chapman began to call him when Willie made the decision to come to band tryouts instead of going shopping with his mom for new school clothes. Chapman knew he had been hard on Willie in front of the entire band. So, to build him up after he made the cut, Chapman slyly campaigned for Willie and the other students voted him freshman band officer.
“Just another day. Pass the word that we need to have a special meeting after school for about ten minutes.”
“What’s goin’?” Little Willie tried to pressure Chapman.
“Big Mac, don’t make me get up out of this chair, ‘cause you know I’ll eat you in two bites.”
“True, true,” chanted Willie in agreement as he walked over to give Chapman some love. The school bell rang and Willie darted out of the door.
“Man, I got out of that one,” thought Chapman.
He is feeling mixed emotions about leaving his kids, although leaving was what he wanted and needed to do. The day seemed to have taken two days to go by. The kids knew Chapman as well as he knew them. They kept asking him what was on his mind, and of course he tried to lie to them by saying nothing was on his mind.
The bell sounded─2:45 had finally arrived. The kids began to file into the band room, change their shoes and warm up on their instruments. Pretty Williams came into the band room wearing a very shiny, green southern belle-styled prom dress, and a pair of high-top basketball shoes. Chapman couldn’t resist the temptation of saying something smart to her.
“Girl where are you going with that git up on? You look like a black Beverly Hill Billy.”
The other band members just rolled over with laughter. He knew that he hit her good and hard with that crack, so he ran over and hugged her real tight while the kids got their laugh on. Despite her name, pretty she ain’t. Chapman swore her parents gave her that name because they knew she would need a confidence builder. After the laughter died down and Chapman was able to regain order in the band room, the mood turned serious. The kids seemed uneasy because they had never seen Chapman in such a somber mood. The only time he was like that was when he was mad at them or when he talked about his father and how he died and the lessons it taught him.
He sat down in his chair on the podium behind his music stand. Leaning forward, he clinched the front edge of the director’s stand as he cleared his throat. He began to speak with great anxiety.
“Whew!”, Chapman sighed. “This is going to be harder than I thought. Ladies and gents, you know how I have always talked about order and how things should take their proper place? Well, this is one of those times, and I know it is the right thing to do, even though it feels so wrong. Remember how I said that life is not a spectator sport, you got to get in the game and stay off the bench. Well, this is my opportunity to get off the bench. I make this choice, not because of anything that one of you has done or said. I have been offered the position of county music administrator, and I have decided to accept the job. I keep telling myself that I can do both jobs at the same time. But I know that that isn’t true. So, in order for great things to happen, you must commit all of your attention to what you are doing and hold it firmly with your mind. Remember what I said now, about me having eyes and ears everywhere. You all will still be my protégé’s whether I am here on the field, the county office or touring with my band. Mr. Goolsby will take over as the band director as of next Monday. I want you to give him all of the respect that you all know he is due.”
Chapman looked around the room and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
“Now
