Mr. and Mrs. Richardson both left early for work each morning and returned late in the evening. They were both very organized but held very busy schedules. I spent 8 hours a day on weekdays tutoring Zack. Because we were all so busy, Mrs. Richardson kept a part time housekeeper since a few years now.
Mrs. Lucy Hannah was a no-nonsense type, middle aged lady who was a phenomenal cook and meticulously clean. It was one of her days to come in and take care of the household. Zack had finished lunch and was practicing silent reading upstairs. Lucy and I had a few moments alone together in the kitchen. I smiled at her.
“You’re younger than I expected you to be,” she observed. “Oh, I’m 22 and I recently graduated,” I said rather self consciously. “Well, I think you’re good for lil’ Zack,” she pointed out. “Um, I’m glad you think so. I care about how he does,” I said quietly. “I’ve been with the Richardson’s since he was in kindergarten, you know,” Lucy explained. “He was always too smart for his own good. He found kindergarten and 1st grade to be too boring. By the time he reached 2nd grade, he was completely fed up. By the middle of the school year, he had dropped out. I was here on his last day. His parents were beside themselves, trying to convince him to go back, but he just refused. Michael became so frustrated that he just walked out and let Samantha to deal with it on her own. As the mother, she thought she could simply carry him out to the car. He had a huge tantrum and started screaming. Then he came after his mom with a pair of scissors. He even managed to cut off a few locks of her hair. His dad had to run back in and restrain him. After that, we all had to give up and keep him home,” Lucy finished her story.
“Oh my goodness,” I said in shock, “they never told me about that.” Mrs. Hannah sighed. “Well, you didn’t hear it from me. It’s not something they like to talk about. But if you ask my opinion, that boy did the right thing by picking out his own way of learning. What would he have done in school being so different from the other children, other than get bullied. Like I said, you’re good for him.”
In that moment, I just wished that I really would prove to be good for Zackary.