Finding Hope in Texas by Ryan T. Petty Read Free Book Online

saying.”
    “So they should have done what he wanted them
to do.” She looked directly at me. “They should have known their
place in life and stood behind him like they were supposed do or
else he had to lay them out.” What a historical analogy . I
was now being picked on through FDR. I shied away from Jody’s glare
and looked down at my notebook.
    “Miss Kilpatrick,” Oh , God , just leave me alone . “Can you share
some Northern Lights on the subject? Did FDR have the right to pack
a court that was getting in the way of progress?” Why did you have to call on me, Mr. Peet? What did you
want me to say in front of these people?
    I tried to gather my emotions, my breathing,
and gave a reluctant sigh. “Um, in my opinion, no, he didn’t have
the right.”
    “And why do you disagree with Miss Silverton?
You mustn’t have gotten the memo that everyone has to agree with
her.” A few people laughed as she glared at the teacher with the
big grin on his face. “Just kidding, Miss Silverton. Don’t get your
pompoms ruffled. Proceed with it, Miss Kilpatrick.”
    “Well, I guess, it was like you were saying.
He already had two of the three branches working for him. With the
third, well, he would have had everyone on his side, everyone to do
exactly what he and the Democratic Party wanted them to do. And
that...that’s not democracy, that’s a dictatorship. Also, look at
the timing of this ...”
    “What about the timing?”
    “In Europe, you have Hitler, Stalin,
Mussolini, and Franco. In Japan, you have Tojo. All of them were
dictators. All of them were for themselves. Did we really want that
in the land of the free, even if it was FDR?”
    There was a smile on Mr. Peet’s face. This
was not the grin he gave after saying something snide, witty, or
downright rude, it was an actual smile, like someone would have
after being lost in the desert and taking their first few sips of
water. And it was directed at me.
    “I think that is a very good observation,
Miss Kilpatrick. I mean, who wants an American dictator? Not that
we aren’t finally getting rid of ours this month,” he slighted. Was he calling W. a dictator? I thought all Texans were
Republicans. “Which leads me to remind you people that we will
be watching the inauguration of the president-elect in the coming
weeks as well.”
    “Obama?” someone asked in the back of the
room.
    “Yes, that’s who was elected. It’s a pretty
historical moment, I think.”
    “Why, cause he’s black?”
    “Well, yes, the first black president in our
nation’s history. That, Smith, is what you call his-tor-i-cal. So
leave your KKK hood at home, okay?” A few moans went up from Mr.
Peet’s audience as it began to set in that they were being forced
to watch something that involved the new president. “Yeah, yeah, I
know, but it’s my classroom and I get to do what I want. On that
note, let’s get back to FDR’s Second New Deal.”
    The rest of the class got back to the normal
mundane: Mr. Peet tried to do something fun, talking about social
security and the tired students wanted nothing to do with it. This
had to be worse than pulling teeth. At least with that you could
use some laughing gas to knock the people out.
    Finally, the bell rang, relieving all of the
students from the progressive march of our nation for one more day.
They would have five minutes until the next adult bored them to
death.
    “Miss Kilpatrick, can I see you for a
moment?” I stopped in my tracks as I heard my name, turned to face
Mr. Peet and went to his podium. “I just wanted to say that that
was an impressive answer you gave in class today. Sorry for testing
you so soon, I just didn’t want you to get too complacent with all
these goof-offs around here.”
    “Thank you. It was just...a shot in the
dark.”
    “Well, that’s BS if I’ve ever heard it. You
have studied this before and in higher detail, haven’t you?”
    “Well, yes, but you did a good job teaching
it