Getting Along & Making Things Right
The Sentence That Makes It Nothing
Reading time. Kofi had the tide pool book and he was doing well, going steadily. He’d put his hand up to read out loud in the first place, which not everybody does. He was on the page about things that stick to rocks.
The word was anemone. Kofi said “ana-money.” Twice, because it was in the sentence twice. Exactly the same both times. Afterward, Mrs. Oyelaran said it the right way, gently, and they kept going.
At recess, Femi did it. Not just the word. Kofi’s voice going up at the end. The tiny pause before it. “Ana-money,” said Femi, in Kofi’s voice. It sounded VERY like him. Which made the others laugh.
Rafe laughed loudly. HA! Reece let out one quick laugh, then squashed his lips together. Both boys glanced at Kofi. Then back at Femi.
Kofi didn’t say anything. He turned a bit sideways, crouched down and started tying his shoe. His shoe was already tied. So he undid it first, to have something to do. And he took a long time over it.
And the words were already in Femi’s mouth, the way they always are, ready to go: I was just joking. Four words. And it would all be nothing.
Femi had done the voice. Rafe was still half-laughing. Reece had stopped. Kofi was down on one knee with a shoelace he’d undone on purpose. Any second now he’d have to finish tying it.
What does Femi do?
Every choice costs something. Let’s see what.
Say “I was just joking”
“I was just joking,” said Femi. To the shoe, not to Kofi. Rafe started talking about soccer. The four awkward seconds were over. Nobody mentioned Kofi’s voice again.
“Yeah,” said Kofi, from down by his shoe, without looking up. He finished the lace. Stood up. Came over and stood with them for the rest of recess. He didn’t say anything else about it. Neither did anybody.
The rest of recess was completely fine. They played the wall game. Kofi was on Femi’s team and got two good ones. Bam, bam! At the end everybody went in together. If you’d been watching the yard, you wouldn’t have seen anything at all.
Next reading time, and the one after, Kofi didn’t put his hand up. On Thursday Mrs. Oyelaran asked him straight out, and he read fine. Quietly. And put the book down fast at the end. Femi noticed the hand that stayed down. And he found there was something he wanted to tell Kofi. Not the four words. Something else.
Say what he actually did, out loud
“I did your voice,” said Femi. “That was a mean thing to do.” He didn’t say the joking sentence. So the four seconds didn’t end. Kofi stopped, lace in both hands, and looked up at him.
Rafe’s face went strange. He had laughed at a thing that had just been called mean, and now he was in it too. Reece looked at the ground. Nobody said anything for what felt like a VERY long time. It was about three seconds.
Recess was bad after that. Rafe soon went off to play soccer, and Reece followed. Femi and Kofi stood by the wall, not playing. Femi stayed right there beside Kofi. No new joke to hide behind.
On Thursday, in reading, Kofi put his hand up. He got the tide pool book again. He got to the word. He slowed down. And he got it right. And Femi, three tables over, was the only person in the room who knew that was a whole big thing.
Make a different joke and move everyone on
Quick, Femi made another joke: nobody in the whole class could say Mrs. Oyelaran’s word! This one was about everyone, not just Kofi. And Rafe laughed again.
It worked. Rafe jumped straight in with his own version. Reece joined in with the one about the fish. In about fifteen seconds they were all somewhere completely different, and nobody was looking at the shoe anymore.
Kofi finished his lace, stood up and came over. Everybody was laughing at the new joke now, the one about the whole class. Kofi laughed too. A bit late. Femi watched him do it.
BRRRING. Everyone ran in, still doing the voices, the fish one, the teacher one. Femi held the door. Kofi went past and said “thanks.” Femi said “yeah.” Neither of them said anything about the first joke. Kofi was doing the fish voice too, all the way to the classroom.