Short Story – Karma

Karma

Would you believe that my teacher fell down the stairs all by herself? No, really. It’s true! See, it all happened at the beginning of last week when I was already feeling like my week was starting off on the wrong foot. 

My alarm forgot to wake me up again, so I woke up to the sweet sounds of my mother yelling at me to hurry up. It startled me so much that I fell out of my bed. Which is a bunk bed. Of which I was on the top bunk. Those bruises turned a shade of dark purple that I used to love before it brought me pain with its presence. I was dressed and went to school on time, but my hair hadn’t been brushed. Come to think of it, I don’t think my teeth were brushed either. Let’s just say that the sight and scent of me was definitely memorable.

Ms. Gill came charging around the corner with her arms full of freshly printed worksheets, and of course my messy hair was in my face making it hard to see where I was going. You probably know what happened next. It looked like it was snowing fractions worksheets. 

“Amy Sullivan! Why do you always get in the way?” she yelled, gathering all of her busy work that kept her from doing the job she was actually supposed to do.

I mumbled through an apology and tried to help her pick up the papers which of course Ms. Gill did not want to hear. I tried to continue picking up more papers, but she just grabbed the papers from my hands and demanded that I get to class. 

No one likes Ms. Gill. Not even Irving, who loves math, can stand how rude Ms. Gill can be towards everyone. But no one had the guts to do anything about it because we all knew that she was best friends with Principal Moss. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are dating. I don’t know why anyone would want to be with someone as mean as her, plus she had a face only a mother could love on a 50 something year old body. 

When math class came around after lunch, I started to feel sick when I entered the classroom. I wasn’t sure if it was the surprise meat for lunch or if it was from being in close proximity to Ms. Gill. Either way, I thought I was going to hurl.

I managed to make it through the first half of class, but when Ms. Gill came to see if I was doing my work, I got a whiff of her body odor. My stomach began to churn, and I was beginning to lose control.

“Amy, are you even trying your math problems?”

Her voice started to get distant and distorted, like the adults on Peanuts.

“You haven’t even started!” she pointed out as she picked up my paper. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

Before I could respond, my stomach decided to respond for me. I threw up all over Ms. Gill. If she hadn’t had my math paper close to her face, she would have had it go in her mouth. It was obvious to everyone that Ms. Gill was not happy. She grabbed my sleeve and dragged me out the door. Before slamming the door behind me she yelled, “Go to the nurse!” The only good thing that came from all of that was that I got to lie down in the nurse’s office before my dad came to pick me up.

When my dad finally arrived, he texted me that he was going back to her car to wait for me after checking me out at the front office. I grabbed my stuff and walked out into the hallway just in time to see Ms. Gill coming up the stairs I needed to walk down. I stood at the top, frozen in my spot once she made eye contact with me. She made it to the top of the stairs and began to belittle me about how I had ruined her day. The more she talked, the more she moved her body. I could see that she was dangerously close to the edge, but I couldn’t get the words out.

“And another thing…” She lost her footing and tumbled backwards down the stairs. She kept rolling until she landed at the bottom floor with a big thud and a groan. A group of kids came running to see Ms. Gill at the bottom of the stairs and me at the very top. That is how I got the reputation of being the only kid alive to take down Ms. Gill. I could have told them the truth, but it made all of us a little less scared of her when she came back to school with a broken arm. From that day forward, Ms. Gill was a little less rude, especially around me.