Mr. Delcourte had been my favorite teacher throughout my high school career. He taught us Biology, and he had always been cool with everyone, joking around....he was kind of a big teenager himself. I remember if someone was messing around in class, he'd turn it into a joke. His goal wasn't to humiliate; it wasn't to be unfair. It always stopped the misbehavior, and we respected Mr. D for that.
It had been kind of a rough semester, lots of stuff happening, and I hadn't been handling the stress well, despite some allowances my teachers had been making. There was this one particular day near the end of the year where we were reviewing for the diploma exams, which were scheduled for the following week. I don't know why it was, but for some reason I couldn't keep my mouth shut. Everything that came out of my mouth was inappropriate or uncalled for. Mr. Delcourte gave me several of those famous "teacher looks", and although usually I was well behaved in his classes, today not even "the look" could stop me. Finally he asked me to wait outside the class until I could keep my mouth closed. My face turned red. I'd never been in any serious trouble with Mr. D before. This was something new. So I sat in the hallway and finally he opened the door. He kneeled down in front of me as if I was a two-year-old and made eye contact. His eyes were very blue and very serious, and I had to look away. That was unacceptable to him. He raised my chin until my gaze met his again.
"You ready to come back in, Raine?" he asked me. I nodded obediently. "OK then," he said, and he held the door while I filed into the classroom and back to my seat. He gave me plenty of work to do for the rest of the class to keep me busy. When the bell finally rang, I shot out of my seat, body checking my friend Chris in the process. Chris knocked my books to the floor, and I muttered some choice words at him, not paying close attention to who was listening. I was the last one out the door, and as I put my hand on the knob, I felt a grip on my t-shirt before I was pulled back inside the classroom.
"You know Raine," Mr. D. said. "If you were my kid, I'd be spanking your butt right now." I blushed. He playfully punched my arm. "Now get out of here and don't give me any more trouble."
It was after school, and none of us had to go home early. Chris, Lucy, Mike, Brandon and I were sprawled in various poses underneath one of the sets of stairs in the school. We were hanging out, talking, and I think Lucy was even trying to study (she was a keener). I got up to grab a drink from the fountain a few yards away, and Mike got up to follow me.
"Ladies first," I said to Mike. He punched me in the arm, and we both started laughing. When he leaned over to take a swig from the fountain, I made a slurping noise that resulted in Mike spraying water all over the place through his nose.
"Now you DIE!" he snarled, half laughing, half choking. He cupped his hands and filled them with water. He tossed the water at me, only hitting the arm of my t-shirt. I made my way to the fountain and sucked water into my mouth and then spat it at him, drenching the front of his clothes.
"AW NASTY!" he complained, going for the fountain again. Five minutes later, Mike and I were completely soaked from the waist up, and I had just loaded my hands up with water and ready for the shot when a hall door opened and Mr. Delcourte walked into the hall.
He surveyed the scene for a moment. The floor looked like a small lake. Water dripped through my fingers. He eyed the two wet culprits.
"Raine," he said, hiding a smirk. "Are you making a mess with the water?"
"Uh....no...."
"Mike....get out of here before I make you clean up the mess. Raine, come with me." I cursed under my breath, dropped the water on the floor with the rest (causing a glare from Mr. D!) and followed him into his classroom. The door was closed, and he had me grab a seat.
"What is WITH you this semester?" he asked me. I shrugged. He asked me if everything was OK at home and a bunch of other questions about school and my friends - things like that. He and I had had many conversations like this before. He'd been following me close ever since I was real sick and had some real bad problems in tenth grade. I had to confess that everything was fine this time. He rose from his desk and took a chair a few seats away from me.
"C'mere kid," he said. I got up from my seat and walked towards him. "You've been lookin' for this all semester, Raine," he said to me. He reached for the button of my jeans. I suppose I could have struggled, but I had it coming. I knew I'd been pushing the limits with him, and it was only right that he were allowed to do this. He'd been looking out for me and doing what was best ever since grade ten....I WAS one of his "kids". I respected him like a father, and as such, and I owed it to him to accept whatever punishment he deemed necessary.
He slid my jeans to my knees, but he left my underwear up. He lowered me across his knees, pushing my saturated t-shirt above the small of my back. The first smack shocked me a little. It was much lighter than I expected. He was going easy on me, and I had a pretty good idea why. I think he gave me about 30 smacks on my bottom, but it felt like a lot more. By the time he was finished, I was crying like a little boy, not because it hurt, although it did slightly, but because I'd let him down. He helped me to my feet and pulled my pants back up, and then he hugged me tightly. It had been the second time he'd held me like this. There had been another time where he'd reported child abuse on my behalf, when I had told him what was going on at home with my step-father. I buried my head in his shoulder and sobbed and he hugged me tightly until I stopped crying.
"You know I love you, you little punk. And you know if you got any problems at all, you can talk to me, right?" I nodded.
"Good man. You want a ride home?" As we headed out to his truck, I couldn't help but notice that I was feeling better than I had in a long, long time. When he let me out at my house, he passed me a chunk of paper with his home phone number on it.
"Anything you need," he said. "Just ask.." And since then, I have taken him up on that offer. Mr. D. is still a good friend of mine, and it is because of his guidance in my life that I too have decided to become an educator.
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