jermaine told me he be seeing mr. smith around town from time, especially at the library. i hadn’t thought of mr. smith since damn holly ridge middle days. mr. smith was a young, white, bald-headed, blue-eyed 7th grade science teacher. he was one of the coolest teachers i had at holly ridge. i remember i wrote a current event on kobe dropping 62pts in 3 quarters against the mavs in his class. i also asked him about a concept while reading in class one day about instinctual reflexes, he walked away, then turned around and said my name loud af in my ear. his face turned red and the class was shocked. priya was in awe and mr. smith said my reaction was what an instinctual reflex was as we both laughed and he patted me on the back. i’m telling you, mr. smith was real, but i hadn’t thought of him or those memories in over a decade, probably more like 15 years. gosh, it feels wierd saying something was 15 years ago.
that’s growing up, i guess.
-ratha, 10:09pm, 11.23.20