{"id":194,"date":"2015-08-02T23:59:02","date_gmt":"2015-08-03T03:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/?p=194"},"modified":"2015-08-02T23:59:02","modified_gmt":"2015-08-03T03:59:02","slug":"mrs-stoudemire-saves-shakespeare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/?p=194","title":{"rendered":"MRS. STOUDEMIRE SAVES SHAKESPEARE"},"content":{"rendered":"
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My latest book, HALLEY, awarded 2015 Jefferson Cup Honor for Historical Fiction. Available at: NewSouth Books:\u00a0www.newsouthbooks.com\/halley and Amazon<\/p>\n

It was 1957.\u00a0 Standing in the doorway of senior English, Mrs.
\nStoudemire looked as if she\u2019d just flown in on her broom.\u00a0 Her clothes
\nwere askew on her skinny frame.\u00a0 The side zipper on her skirt was
\nhalfway around to the front and her blouse was missing a button.\u00a0 Her
\nblue-veined boney fingers were bedecked with rings a size too big.
\nThe stones they flashed were too large to be real, and they rattled
\nagainst each other as she waved her students in from the between-class
\ncrush.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn, in, damned spot,\u201d\u00a0 she said, changing Shakespeare\u2019s quote to
\nserve her purposes. She jerked her head toward the twins from hell,
\nBob and Rob Hornsby who were across the hall trying to trip unwary
\nstudents while hanging on to the arms of their giggley girlfriends.
\nMrs. Stoudemire\u2019s purple tinted gray hair seemed\u00a0 to glow. \u201cCome on
\nin, boys,\u201d she said to them.\u00a0 \u2018Go, go,\u2019\u2019 she quoted again. \u201c\u201dLook how
\nI go, swifter than an arrow from the Tartar\u2019s bow.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs that Shakespeare?\u201d drawled Bob, winking at his brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cNah!\u201d said Rob before Mrs. Stoudemire could speak.\u00a0 \u201cCan\u2019t be.
\nShakespeare didn\u2019t write Shakespeare, remember?\u201d<\/p>\n

Nothing rattled Mrs. Stoudenmire more than suggesting that the Bard of
\nAvon wasn\u2019t the real author of Shakespeare.\u00a0 \u201cThat is an ignorant
\nfalsehood!\u201d she sputtered, clutching her copy of Macbeth to her flat
\nchest.<\/p>\n

The boys waved to their girlfriends and then sauntered to their desks.
\nSmart teachers always assigned the twins\u2019 seats as far apart as
\npossible. Different rooms would have been better.\u00a0 The room filled and
\nMrs. Stoudemire closed the door and held up Macbeth.\u00a0 \u201cLady Macbeth is
\ntrying to spur her indecisive husband to action,\u201d she said, closing
\nher eyes.\u00a0 \u2018I have plucked my nipple from my babe\u2019s mouth,\u2019 she
\nquoted.<\/p>\n

A giggle ran through the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have given suck and know how sweet it is to love the baby at my breast.\u201d<\/p>\n

The giggle turned into laughter.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Stoudenmire opened her eyes.\u00a0 Her glasses were crooked and her
\nlipstick had missed her lips in a couple of places.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t you
\nsee–Lady Macbeth is saying to her husband, \u201cI know this is cruel.\u00a0 I
\nknow it isn\u2019t natural.\u00a0 But you must do it anyway!\u201d<\/p>\n

A knock came at the door and the school secretary appeared.\u00a0 \u201cMrs.
\nStoudemire, are you holding senior play tryouts this afternoon?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mrs. Stoudenmire rubbed her forehead.\u00a0 \u201cIsn\u2019t this the afternoon I\u2019m
\nmeeting with the newspaper staff?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was yesterday, and tomorrow you meet with the yearbook staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mrs. Stoudemire took a deep breath.\u00a0 \u201cCould we move tryouts to the next day?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTeacher meeting that day.\u00a0 Tryouts today, then?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mrs. Stoudenmire nodded, and the door closed.\u00a0 \u201cWhere was I?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou was telling us about dangling modifiers,\u201d said Rob.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd how hard they are,\u201d said Bob.<\/p>\n

Stifled giggles erupted and the the intercom sputtered to life.\u00a0 \u201cWill
\nthe following fifteen boys report to the front steps to lift the
\nprincipal\u2019s car off the concrete blocks.\u201d\u00a0 Amazingly, the names did
\nnot include the twins.<\/p>\n

When the door closed behind the five who exited, Mrs. Stoudemire said,
\n\u201cWhere were we?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDangling modifiers,\u201d Bob told her.<\/p>\n

The intercom crackled again.\u00a0 \u201cThis is Principal Hicks.\u00a0 Mrs.
\nStoudemire, is it this afternoon you\u2019re doing play tryouts?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d said Rob in a high pitched voice.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Stoudemire glanced down at her copy of Macbeth and\u00a0 lifted a
\nstack of papers from her desk.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to ask you to memorize the
\nmost famous quotes from the play.\u00a0 So I\u2019m going to pass out…\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMe too,\u201d said Bob\u00a0 and fell out on the floor.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Stoudemire ignored him and handed out papers.\u00a0 \u201cI suggest that
\nRob and Bob pay particular attention to these quotes.\u00a0 I just now
\ndecided–we\u2019re doing Macbeth for senior play, and I\u2019m casting Bob and
\nRob as Mrs. Macbeth.\u00a0 Bob can take the role on the first night and Rob
\nthe second.\u00a0 Very true to Shakespeare\u2019s day.\u201d<\/p>\n

For once the twins were speechless.<\/p>\n

Now it is 2015.\u00a0 I have been that overworked teacher.\u00a0 I get\u00a0 Shakespeare.<\/p>\n

Rest in Peace, Mrs. Stoudemire.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My latest book, HALLEY, awarded 2015 Jefferson Cup Honor for Historical Fiction. Available at: NewSouth Books:\u00a0www.newsouthbooks.com\/halley and Amazon It was 1957.\u00a0 Standing in the doorway of senior English, Mrs. Stoudemire looked as if she\u2019d just flown in on her broom.\u00a0 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=194"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194\/revisions\/195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}