Karma by Diane Godfrey-Doherty (ebook reader macos .TXT) 📕

Ally finished with a sign. “Oh”, was all I could get out.
Everything Ally just said made sense. I leaned back on the cement wall beside Ally; the two of us just stared off into space. I was wondering what would happen to us now. Would it be the dreaded time out for us or to Mr. Grimes’ office or something much, much worse? Either way I hoped it wouldn’t be bad. I have been through a lot at West Park Public School. But I think it's only made me stronger. Somehow I knew that things were not going to get any easier for me but I knew that I had Ally and that gave me courage to face another day.

Chapter 7

Ally and I just sat in the hall, in silence, waiting, waiting for something, anything to happen next. I wondered what Ally was thinking just then. Her eyes were closed as if she were sleeping. But I knew she wasn’t. Ally, I whispered. Do you have another plan? I bet the next one will work better. We’ll just have to be extra careful. Ally didn’t answer me right away and a long deep breath of a sign came out of her followed by a short no. No Karma, I’m not very good at this. It took me forever just to come up with this plan, and it wasn’t a very good one to begin with. Ally was defeated. Right there in that statement I realised Ally had given up before she had even begun. She sat with her head low between her knees and I was just looking at the dirty floor of the school hall. I had to agree with her. I wasn’t any good at this sort of thing either. And I knew that right from the start. I had just hoped Ally was. Now I felt defeated, those bullies had won and would keep on winning day after day because Ally and I had no idea what to do about it. From out of nowhere Mr. Grimes appeared standing in front of us. Girls, Why are you in the hall? I looked to Ally who still had her head hanging low. I didn’t want to answer him but I knew then I would have to be the one. I looked up at Mr. Grimes and said we aren’t sure Mr. Grimes why we are in the hall. I wasn’t about to admit what we tried to do and failed badly. That would just cause us more trouble in the end. Well, Karry, is it? The principal began, Mrs Chapman called down to the office a filled me in on the tricks you to have been up to this afternoon and I must say I’m not happy, he ended. Karma! I said what? He relied, Karma, I said again. My name is Karma, Mr. Grimes and we didn’t.......I tried to tell Mr. Grimes the story of how we were not involved with whatever Mrs. Chapman told him we were involved in. I knew she would lie and make it worse than it was, so I tried to explain what happened. He didn’t want to hear it, he said. He opened the door to the classroom and pushed us inside. As we went in the teacher was teaching a lesson to the class. The class all stopped and 24 pairs of eyes turned on Ally and me as we walked in with Mr. Grimes. Mrs. Chapman didn’t look too pleased to see us back in her class. She was probably hoping we would be out in the hall all day. Or, that when she called, down to Mr. Grimes he would send us home. But that’s not what Mr. Grimes had in mind. Mrs. Chapman came to the back of the class to speak with Mr. Grimes. Go to your seats girls! Was our directions from the principal and Ally and I hurried off to sit down. Mrs. Chapman and Mr. Grimes went into the hall and closed the door. Some of the kids were looking at me, some at Ally, and some at the door trying to listen to what they were talking about out there. We couldn’t make out all the exact words, but it sounded as if Mrs. Chapman was being scolded for putting us out into the hall for so long. When she came in she didn’t look to happy. I looked at Ally hoping that my eyes could tell her what I was thinking. But she just looked down at her desk. Maybe she already knew what I was thinking. I was waiting for Mrs. Chapman’s discipline now. The door shut quietly I wouldn’t dare look back at her. I just looked straight ahead waiting, waiting, for the punishment.
The other children didn’t feel it necessary to turn to look forward most of them kept their eyes on us to see what Mrs. Chapman was going to do. A few seconds past, then I could hear the slow click of her heels of her shoes walk towards me. She walked so slowly. Why was she walking so slowly? I wondered. Then she stopped, right behind me, and just stood there behind my right shoulder. Just far enough back so that I couldn’t see her without turning my head. A long drawn out silence had the hair on the back of my neck standing up on end. Just what was she going to do? I wondered. I wanted so bad just to look back at her but I didn’t dare. Then out of the corner of my eye I notice something move quickly. Then suddenly a loud SMACK! I quickly adjusted my eyes and realised she had just taken the wooden pointer stick and smacked it down on my desk. It was such a loud sound that I jumped and fell out of my seat to the left thinking it was going to hit me. I still had her eyes on me, but she said nothing. She just looked at me as she continued her slow walk to the front of the classroom. I scrambled to my seat, confused as to what just happened. She must have gotten in trouble with Mr. Grimes. I didn’t look up at her for the rest of the entire day. I did look to Ally though and she was doing the same as me. Keeping, our heads down, and our eyes to ourselves.
Ally and I stayed to ourselves for the most part. After that day when Mrs. Chapman got in trouble with Mr. Grimes, or so we think she did. She would not let us stay in anymore during recesses. We no longer could help other teachers or work in the library. She called that a luxury and we were too bad to get that. So every day Ally and I were put out into the cold for recesses with the rest of the 236 students of West Park Elementary School. We froze our bums off, it was so cold. But I was glad that Momma had made sure I had everything I needed to keep me warm during the day. That wasn’t always the case for Ally. I didn’t know if it was because she was forgetting her mittens, hat and boots or was it her Momma. I would bet it was Ally. No Mother would forget such important things, I believed. Even though Ally and I have been friends know for quite awhile I still didn’t know very much about her. I was never invited to her house to play after school or on weekends. At first I really didn’t care. All I ever wanted to do was get home where I felt safe and I loved to play with my sisters. I never felt like I needed other kids to play with. But when Ally and I became so close I really wanted to be more than just a school friend. I wanted to be a everything friend. I wondered if Ally had any brothers or sisters. In all the time we spent together I never asked her anything about her family. It was always just school kids we knew and things that happen at school.
Well I’m determined to be a better friend to Ally, I declared. Momma, can I invite Ally over after school tomorrow? I asked. Well Karma tomorrow is a bad day for that. Jennifer has a dentist appointment after school and then I have to sign David up for summer baseball, summer baseball, now In February? Yes Karma, registration is now so that they can have the time to sort out all the players, Momma said. I’m sorry Karma maybe another time, this week is too busy. I was disappointed that’s for sure but I knew that my Momma had her hands full when Dad was working and she had to take care of everything for all seven of us. And my brother David has played baseball every summer since he was little. He loved it, and we loved going to the games to watch him and cheer him on. Last summer his team won the divisional trophy. He was so happy. Dad was so proud. Well I knew I couldn’t push having Ally over. Deep down I didn’t really want to because I knew how important this was to David, and to my Dad. He loved baseball just as much as David, if not more. Ally and I would continue to be school friends for the time being. I began to wonder as the days passed why Ally never asked me over to her house. I started to drop hints that we should play outside of school and all that Ally would say was ya sure, some day. Then one day I just blurted it out. What about today? I could come to your house to play? Oh a, hmm, a......., was all that Ally could say. Oops I thought. That wasn’t polite. I’ll have to ask my Momma she is very busy, Ally replied. Oh ok, well why don’t I walk home with you today and we can ask her together? Oh, a, hmm, umm well........Ally was saying as she was thinking things through. If she says no then I will just walk home from your house. I replied. That is a long walk Karma. I know but I can do it. Maybe Matthew will come get me he has his drivers permit now and he has been dyeing to drive Momma minivan. I could call him from your house. It would be ok. All I thought about was myself and not Ally. I just really wanted to play with her outside school and to see her house, her room. Become better friends. Ally looked a little concerned but I reassured her it would be ok. Thinking she was worried about me and how I would get home. I did walk home with Ally that day. Maybe she felt she had no choice I was being a little pushy. Ally didn’t say much about where she lived on the walk home. We