“Who said that?”
Silence in the boys.
“I repeat – who said that?”
No one’s going to own up; the boys know it; they also know who said it.
“Was it you, Wilkinson?”
No, it wasn’t Wilkinson. Bad move: casting for a guilt-fish already – he floundering.
“No sir.”
“Who was it then?”
Worse and worse – he know Wilkinson will say he doesn’t know – he’s lost this one.
“I don’t know sir.”
He’s taking stock, getting out the heavy artillery, but the target’s gone to ground.
“This is a serious matter, class. It’s a matter of character, of honour. There is a boy here who said something which he won’t own up to. Now if he won’t own up, it means he’s not a man of his word…and he will never be a man of his word –”
Nice pause here: more fire to come.
“He is digging himself a hole to hide in, he’s on his way to becoming a coward for the rest of his life. Do you realise what this can mean for his future?”
Yes, salvo one has been dispatched. We await round two.
“Do you think this is why your parents sent you to this school?”
Ooh, shaming tactics already. Bringing parents into it is the dumbest thing he could do: no one, but no one will show they’re scared of him and their parents.
“Now, who said ‘He’s not mine.’?”
He shouldn’t have bothered with this, might just as well have ramped up to round three.
“So…no one’s going to own up. Well, more drastic action will be required… .”
But I am going to give one of you his last chance.
“But I am going to give one of you his last chance.”
He said it! He’s using ‘you’ now… knows he’s lost the fish and must approach the shoal.
“You realise that this affects all of the class, not just the one who’s not owning up?”
Methinks it’s time for a bit of the good ol’ blackmail.
“You realise that when no one owns up the whole class loses my trust.”
He’s playing this one badly, could get into trouble too – Samuel might sue him for unsubstantiated prejudice and discriminatory practice.
“I don’t know about you, but I’d rather teach a class I trust than one I cannot.”
More ammo for counter-attack. He better be careful, someone’s probably recording this.
“So is anybody going to own up?”
‘Anybody’… – deep sea fishing.
“It was me sir.”
Oh no, Shane’s bought it.
“No, it wasn’t you, Shane.”
Who’d have thought it? He’s avoiding the face-save. He’s serious about this one.
“Sir, if you know it wasn’t Shane, then how come you don’t know who it was?”
Ah, Conrad’s on to him.
“Think again, Conrad. We’d have caught all the criminals in the country by now if, knowing whom it isn’t meant you know who it is.”
Perhaps… but using ‘criminals’ is problematic. Am I a criminal if I don’t own up?
“Sir, does that imply that the person who’s not owning up is a criminal?”
Samuel has entered the discussion. I like this.
“No, Sam, but he could be laying the foundation for becoming one.”
Ah, being careful he is.
“So what do you propose I do now, Markson?”
Huh, why’s he asking me.
“Me, sir?”
“Yes.”
“About what, sir?”
“You know about what, sir. You’ve been listening all along.”
“I don’t know sir.”
“Now, as ignorance is something we want to overcome, I want you to stay behind after class and we can see whether we can improve on that.”
“Yes sir.”
Shit.
Roger, this is really very good! I enjoyed it so much. Reading it, I was both the luckless teacher – and the boys. It made me chuckle. I hope you’ll be writing something else soon.