Mail Order Misfortune Read Online Free PDF Page B

his books on his desk, and promptly slouched down in his seat, making it clear he didn't want to be there. 
    Anna sighed.  He was going to be a difficult boy.  He was showing all the signs already.  Ernie was just what she needed to make her school year complete.
     
    *****
     
    By the end of the week, Ernie had started a fistfight, blocked a younger student into the outhouse so they couldn't get out, came in late after lunch every day, refused to study, and basically tried to make her life as difficult as humanly possible. 
    She didn't like to have to use the ruler on children's hands, because she found that it interrupted everyone's learning, and that wasn't fair to anyone else.  On Friday afternoon of Ernie's first week in school, she penned a note, working hard to be polite.  "Dear Mr. Hoover, I would like you to come in after school on Monday to discuss your son's behavior in my classroom.  He's been quite disruptive, and I believe we need to work together to make certain we have a plan for the future.  Thank you, and I look forward to meeting you.  Sincerely, Miss Simmons."  There.  Very polite and straight to the point.  If that didn't bring the man running, nothing would.
     
    *****
     
    After school on Monday, Anna erased the blackboard as she did every day after school, preparing to write out the next day's tasks for the students.  She found if she had everything written out when they arrived at the beginning of the day, they had an easier day with no one asking what to do next. 
    She was expecting Mr. Hoover any moment, and she was nervous, like she always was when she had to meet a new man.  She knew he'd been at church the previous day, because she'd seen Ernie running around outside with the other children, but she hadn't noticed who he was with.  She hadn't been there long enough to be able to know which child belonged to which parent.
    She heard footsteps behind her and she turned around, looking to see who was there.  A man, of medium height and build, with dark hair and brown eyes the color of chocolate stood at the back of the school with his hand clamped firmly on Ernie's shoulder.  Her heart skipped a beat as soon as she saw him, and she wondered why she was more nervous around this man than usual.  She was usually nervous enough.
    She walked toward the back of the room, swallowing hard, because she always had a hard time talking to men, and she was certain this man would be no exception.  Once she reached the back of the room, she looked down at Ernie who was squirming under his father's hand.  "Go on out to the schoolyard, Ernie.  I need to speak with your father privately."   She gave him a half smile of encouragement, assuming he was nervous about her speaking privately with his father.
    Ernie looked at his father and stuck his tongue out at Anna, before running from the room.  Anna waited for Mr. Hoover to say something to correct the boy, but when he didn't, she wanted to scream.  "Do you always let him get away with disrespectful behavior, Mr. Hoover?"  No wonder he misbehaves so badly in school if you don't discipline him!
    Mr. Hoover raised an eyebrow before sticking this thumbs through the belt loops of his work pants and looking her up and down.   How dare this little mouse think she had the right to tell him how to raise his child?  "Do you always let your students treat you disrespectfully and expect their parents to fix the problem? I assure you, Miss Simmons, I don't have time to sit in your classroom all day and do your job."
    Anna had never been so angry with a man in her entire life, not even Mr. Hanson.  Usually, she would be afraid to react to the criticism, but she was furious, and her shyness flew out the window.  She took a step toward him, her tiny stature still having to look way up to him despite that fact that he wasn't any taller than average.  "If you were doing your job and raising the boy right in the first place, he wouldn't dare to think of