“We’ve got to do something,” Lily repeated.
Michael slowly made his way back to the table, rubbing his nose. He carried his empty container and dumped it unceremoniously at his desk.
“Lily is right,” Jacob agreed. “We need to stop Benbrook once and for all.”
“What are you talking about?” Michael said holding his nose.
Kat repeated this disturbing details of how Benbrook hired her father to bug bomb the school. Kat waited in silence, afraid that she’d have to fight for her father. It did matter that he was going to get Bob, but first and foremost he was her father.
“It’s not like he wants to kill Bob,” Kat countered. “It’s just his job and Benbrook is paying him a lot. I don’t know what to do.”
“Protest,” Michael said.
“What?” Kat asked.
“Protest,” Michael said again. He took his hand from his nose and grinned. “My dad protested when he was a kid.”
“What happened?” Lily asked.
“He was six and his parents wouldn’t let him have his favorite ice cream after dinner because he didn’t finish his vegetables. He sat on the steps, telling them he was protesting sleep until he had ice cream.”
“Did he get the ice cream?” Jacob asked.
“I don’t think so,” Michael said, trying to recall the story. “I think he actually fell asleep on the stairs.”
“So he didn’t get any ice cream?” Lily asked.
“Um, no. But he made his point! Well until he fell asleep.”
Lily rolled her eyes. This wasn’t the time to be silly. They needed a plan and soon. The end of the school day was only four hours away.
“But if we get a bunch of people, we could protest,” Kat said putting two and two together. “We
could even block the doors.”
“And make signs,” Lily chimed in.
“And more t-shirts,” Jacob said.
“And my mom could get us on T.V.,” Michael said like it was no big thing.
“T.V.?” Kat and Lily said together.
“There’s no way we can fail,” Jacob said.
Kat looked over at Ms. Catarinas. Perhaps she would help them out by giving them supplies. It wasn’t very likely that Kat’s father would take her out for poster board to protest his job.
Kat waited through the rest of science before approaching Ms. Catarinas. It was DEAR time and she was supposed to be reading, but the protest plans just couldn’t wait.
“Excuse me Ms. Catarinas,” Kat whispered. “I have a question.”
“Yes?” Ms. Catarinas whispered, putting down her own book.
“You see, we have a problem. Principal Benbrook hired my dad to get rid of all the bugs in the school.”
Ms. Catarinas sighed. No teaching classes or her student teaching could have prepared her for this. She had always been taught to let children pursue what impassioned them, but she wasn’t so sure anymore.
“And you see,” Kat continued, “we’re going to protest tomorrow in front of the school. We were wondering if we could have some poster board to make signs.”
“Kat,” Ms. Catarinas began.
“I promise we’ll do it outside of school,” Kat swore. “No paint and no glitter in here.”
Ms. Catarinas smiled sadly.
“Kat,” she began again. “Remember when you and Lily had the glitter two days ago?”
“Yes,” Kat said not proud of herself.
“You weren’t the only one who was punished because of it.”
“What do you mean?” Kat asked. She had never heard of a teacher getting in trouble because of a student.
“After school, Principal Benbrook tipped over every shelf in the library that had books with bugs. He stamped over them and told me that the only good bug is a dead one. Then I had to reshelf them all.”
“What?” Kat gasped loudly. Several students turned toward her, jolted out of their reading books.
“I wish I could help you out Kat, I really do,” Ms. Catarinas said spinning her engagement ring.
“But if I don’t get a good review I may not have a job when I get married and move.”
Kat looked crushed.
“But I do know someone who might be able to help you,” Ms. Catarinas said hinting at something more. “I know the art room is in need of some help, if you catch my drift.”
Kat smiled. She respected Ms. Catarinas so much. Even though she faced so many problems from the abominable Benbrook, she was still there trying to help.
“Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow,” Ms. Catarinas said winking.
“Nine AM,” Kat giggled. “I’ll make you a t-shirt just in case.”
Ms. Catarinas smiled appreciatively.
Kat returned to her desk full of new hope.
“What she say?” Lily asked immediately.
“She said she can’t help us because Benbrook is a monster and might ruin her job. But I know where we’ll go for recess!”
“Where,” Jacob, Lily, and Michael asked together.
“Art.”
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