Between the Prison and the Sewage Works by Maryline Suchley (snow like ashes txt) 📖

concentrated on Jim’s advice. Mara felt like this was obvious stuff that she already did, thus reinforcing how incensed she was that she was even here. The door flung open, it was Gordon looking flustered and apologising for being late saying he thought it was going to be in the staffroom.

Well that concludes it; the science department has the most representatives. She thought, resigning herself to sitting through another twenty minutes of Jim talk.

‘Enough from me, lets role play!’ he grinned eagerly.

‘Now I have some specially written scripts for you all to practice in pairs. There’s only dialogue for the student; the teacher’s dialogue is blank. Whoever is playing the teacher, will have to fill in the dialogue as you go along. The idea of this is for you to try out behavioural management techniques in the safety of a kid free zone,’ Jim smiled.

‘So for example I have a scene here where the student is chewing gum, swinging on the back of his chair and refusing to work. Mat, will you read the dialogue for the student and I’ll be the teacher.

Mat shyly agreed to read and started to speak.

‘What.’

‘Leon I asked you to put your seat down put the gum in the bin and get on with your work,’ Jim replied, in a mock kid voice.

‘I’m not chewing gum.’

‘I’m not going to repeat myself or there will be consequences.’

‘God it’s like a concentration camp and I can’t do the work.’

‘You haven’t looked at it.’

‘Yeah I have, just can’t do it.’

‘Okay, what we’ll do is go over it again and you can finish it for homework if you don’t finish in class.’

‘I’ll have a go.’

‘Good lad.’

Jim looked up and spoke to the group explaining the strategies he used and how it had worked to make the boy decide to give up arguing and work.

Yeah in an ideal world, but in this shit pit, the arguing would have carried on for longer; eventually the teacher giving up and the little gobshite victoriously tagging his exercise book. Mara thought.

‘So, I want everyone to practice these scenes and swap roles, I’ll come around and see how you’re getting on. Jim ordered.

Mara didn’t know if this was a good or bad thing but she was paired with Roger. Their scene involved a girl repeatedly calling out and interrupting the teacher. Mara felt uncomfortable playing the girl because Roger was doing a bad job trying to stop her from playing up. The script had notations for the reader to either comply or keep misbehaving unless key words or phrases were said. All Roger had to say was if you keep interrupting me you will have to leave the room. Instead he would try to reason with the girl or keep asking the girl to stop talking. Mara resisted the temptation to improvise and become really difficult as Roger was now becoming flustered. She was answering Roger with a no, when Jim came around and stopped them.

‘Now Roger, how many times has the girl said no?’

‘About ten or eleven,’ Roger replied.

‘See there lies the problem, she now knows that you don’t mean what you say and there are no consequences for her refusing to listen to instructions. A good rule of thumb would be to accept no more than two no’s and send her out or give her a detention for poor conduct,’ suggested Jim.

It was now Mara’s turn to be a teacher. Her scene involved a student who had not done their homework for the third week running and was refusing to stay in at lunchtime to complete it.

Roger started to read.

‘No, can’t got things to do at lunch time, and I told you it wasn’t my fault my gecko died and the funeral took it all out of me.’

‘I’m sorry to hear about your gecko, however this is the third time you’ve not done your homework, and if you don’t come back at lunchtime then I will write your name down for an after school detention. No second chances,’ Mara replied.

‘Okay,’ Roger said.

‘You’re quite good at this Mara, why are you here?’ a perplexed Roger asked.

‘I don’t know.’

The remainder of the training session consisted of some of the teachers showing their role plays and Jim pointing out the rights and wrongs.

Feeling totally deflated Mara left the room and caught the bus home.

The rest of the week did nothing to improve Mara’s mood. James had barely said two sentences; when she did speak to him he always needed to be somewhere else.

Mara stayed back after School on Thursday with the rest of the teachers for parent teacher interviews. She joined a few other science staff for dinner at the noodle house near the Pig’s Gut. It was a predictable hour; Jeremy ordering a meal for three, Piles vulgarly eating noodles and food getting caught in his beard, Daniel prattling on about which parents he wanted to see and what he was going to say, at which point Jeremy swallowed a mouth full of food and informed him that the parents he would most like to see won’t come. Gordon was all set to inform Mr Simmons that his boy was a shit head and Roger just chuckled saying he wondered how many parents would actually turn up this year.

Parents were to visit each teacher while the teachers waited in their class. There was an allocation of 10 minutes per parent to avoid queues.

Mara nervously waited in her room; this was her first parent teacher interview and she didn’t really know what to say to any parents that turned up, apart from the usual: Satisfactory, could work harder, no problems, easily distracted student, I don’t actually know who your kid is?

Interviews started at 4.30 and Mara looked at the clock it was now 5.30.

What’s the point of being here? She thought.

She then heard voices. A Man in his forties walked in with his identical but smaller son.

That’s helpful, the kids’ in tow, now I know who to talk about. Mara thought as she greeted the parent with a handshake.

‘Hi, I’m Miss Thompson.’

He introduced himself and both he and his son sat down. Mara gave a spiel about how Kevin needed to apply himself; both father and son looked blankly at her. He then said thank you and left.

Waiting outside was another parent who seemed very cheerful considering who his daughter was. He came in an asked how Density was doing at school.

Mara informed him of her lack of effort, work and general rudeness.

‘Oh well just keep taking the Prozac,’ he said getting up and leaving.

The next hour saw only a smattering of parents, of which Mara had nothing much to say to them except they were doing well. It was obvious that the parents with the worst kids didn’t bother to turn up.

Feeling like she had completely wasted her evening she headed home via the off licence.

Mara had all her free periods taken up with cover during the course of the week; this meant she was behind on some of her photocopying.

Well this is sad, she said to herself, Friday and I’m in this dog house photocopying dot to dots and word finds!

The staffroom and work room were deserted. One by one she fed the paper in to the photocopier and collected the duplicates out the other end. Casually looking up she saw Alan walk out telling the secretary to have a nice weekend. Ten minutes later the secretaries had all left. Mara sat down at one of the computers and checked her emails; Ángelmí had written to say thanks for the good weekend.

This could be my chance thought Mara boldly. Everyone’s gone and I think I know the code to his office. She took a few minutes to check the staff room, the smoker’s room, corridor, and a quick look out at the car park; only two cars were left and one of these was the caretaker’s white van. The adrenaline was now starting to pump around her body. She walked back to the office area looking around and glancing back repeatedly. Turning her head side to side for one last check she then quickly punched in 2599 pulling down slowly on the handle; nothing. She pushed 1599 on the keypad, this time the handle clicked as it unlocked. Mara tiptoed in closing the door behind her and releasing a breath. The office was dimly lit from the fading daylight flowing through the window. She immediately looked around on his desk; there were brochures advertising holiday homes in France and some signed papers which meant nothing to her. She looked in his draw being careful not to disturb the contents.

‘Zilch,’ she whispered.

Now feeling increasingly anxious she scanned the room.

‘Bingo, filing cabinet and the keys are in it!’

Her eyes widened as she searched the labels hoping for something to jump out at her.

‘Budgets.’

The documents were a procession of numbers which didn’t make any sense.

‘Try again Mara.’

Riffling through the documents she picked up a folder titled cultural exchange funding. Opening the document she could see a sheet with figures that obviously showed a set of accounts. There were also receipts attached which looked like they were for accommodation and supplies; although Mara’s French was poor it was evident the bills were expensive.

‘Bloody hell that’s some cost for accommodation? I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s making over the top claims or even falsifying receipts. The brochures!’

She flicked through a brochure on his desk. It had properties, mainly farmhouses for sale; they seemed to be in the same general location as the receipts

‘I’m going to photocopy these, may as well copy the budgets too, if I can get something on him then he might leave me alone and I can qualify in peace and not have to attend that retard group after school.’

Closing the filing cabinet she walked towards the door but was stopped in her tracks by the sound of voices close by; one of whom she knew was Alan. Mara looked around the room in a panic searching for a place to hide.

The only option was to jump behind the sofa in the far corner of the room. The buttons beeped as they were being punched into the panel. The door handle turned and Mara sat curled up in the tightest ball she could form whilst trying not to breathe loudly.

Alan had come back and he was not alone.

‘Look I haven’t got long I’m expected back for pre dinner drinks with Jane’s mum and dad,’ said Alan

‘It’s okay, I‘ve got to get back too, Phil is expecting me,’ a woman replied.

It was that same voice again. The one she had overheard when she was listening outside Alan’s office.

To Mara’s alarm they both sat on the sofa. She was sure she would be discovered.

‘I’ve missed you, you know,’ Alan said.

‘It won’t be long now Al and we’ll be in France away from everyone and this bloody place,’ she replied.

Mara could hear noises that sounded like kissing and she became very uncomfortable as the panting got louder. Alan’s shirt had now been flung over the back of the sofa, followed by his trousers and underpants.

Oh shit if I get caught now I’ll surely get the sack! She grimaced.

Mara screwed her eyes up; she couldn’t take it anymore she was now listening to Alan and this mystery woman having sex on the sofa and when they finished it just made Mara shudder.

Soon both Alan and his woman were breathing normally again.

‘I love twiddling your chest hairs Al,’ the woman whispered seductively.

‘Oh T, it will be great when we don’t have to sneak around behind Jane and Phil’s back,’ Alan said.

‘It won’t be long now, we’ll have the last of the money collected soon,’ the voice replied.

Something moved. Alan had pulled his clothes of the back of the sofa and was now dressing himself.

‘I really have to go T. She’ll blow a stack if I’m late again.’

‘Yeah, I better get back too.’

‘Look you go on cause I’m going to have to set the Alarm tonight, the caretaker was taken home