TFA

A bird flew full speed into the large glass panel windows of his classroom window. With an obnoxious "THUMP" it tumbled downward, drops of blood trailing after it. 

Mr. Perry's 5th graders did not blink. They were immediately out of their seats, clamoring over one another to see the bird  plummet the 5 stories and hit the ground.

"UGHHH!" shouted LaTia Andre, "lookit all da BLOOOOD!" 

Damien Moore pushed her out of the way and gave a whistle. "Yo, how funny would it be if it HIT somebody!"

Justin Washington and Gary Williams began laughing hysterically and acted out the the scene, imagining themselves as unsuspecting pedestrians being hit by a falling avian missile.

Trina Malpie and Amara Beliez briefly peeked out the window, and resumed a hand game they claimed to have invented called “1-2-3 snap."

“1-2-3 snap
clap, snap, clap, snap, snap
1-2-3 snap
snap, clap, snap snap”

Jason and Joey Milton (no relation to one another) debated how the bird resembled a character from "Mario Cart" that they played on the hand held Nintendo ds game systems that the after school program let them borrow. As always, their conversation devolved in an argument about who was the better player. 

Mania Spalding was comforting Chris Hendrick as he cried uncontrollably. He was an extremely nervous child, and the bird's falling had set him over the edge.

Chris  was fortunate to have a friend like Mania, who he'd known since birth. Without her, he would have been mercilessly made fun of. Indeed, Mania had a sharp tongue and a strong punch and she wasn't afraid to deploy either in Chris' defense. 

T.J. Bindle and and Ray Robinson spotted the bird on the ground and opened the window to point.

"Yo, man, its brains is EVERYWHERE," T.J. explaimed.  Ray walloped his friend on the back and said "Man, you can't see his brains! You LYIN'!"   

Suddenly, Leanne Blanco  shrieked and pointed toward the cubbies on the opposite side of the room from the windows.  Others of the students turned just in time to see Paula Pope and Kayla Stephens drop two sets of backpacks that they had extricated from the in-class lockers.

Instantly, Riley Ruiz was upon the two thieves. He was the biggest boy in the class, but the two girls did not shrink from him. They knew he was harmless.

"What you doin' touchin' my shit," he called aggressively. His command of the expletive was impressive.

"Ain't nobody wanna touch your dirty ass bag," Paula said, snapping her neck here and there in a manner that she had surely learned from her mother.

"YEA!" Kayla added in support. She never did have much to say.

It was clear that Riley hadn't really thought beyond the initial exchange. He knew there was nothing in his bag worth stealing anyway. Like most of the class,  he didn't have a ds or a cell phone. He got breakfast and lunch for free and he carried his school issued bus pass on his person.

To save face, he flinched at them as though he would physically attack them. Both girls rolled their eyes, and went to sit down next to Walter Jones. They loved messing with Walter.

“ Hey," called Paula, “ HEY!"

Walter knew the game that was being played and utterly ignored them. He was in the midst of the 2nd book of the Eragon trilogy, and he had the massive 600 page library text open on his lap.

“ BOY! ” Paula said, as her friend Kayla purposely hit the book, knocking it to the ground.

“ YO!" Walter called indignantly. As he bent to pick up his book, Kayla kicked it away and giggled.

“ How come you don't answer when I call you? You got somethin wrong with ur ears?"

LaTia Andre swung around to see what she was sure was the beginning of a fight. Damien Moore, Justin Washington, and Gary Williams halted their reenactment and swivelled to get a better view of the brewing altercation. The Miltons ceased their argument and Chris Hendrick suddenly stopped crying in Mania's arms and alternated his stare between the mean girls and the book worm. Trina and Amara suspended their hand game while T.J. and Ray, noting that all had gone silent behind them, paused their analysis of the bird remains to see what was up. Leanne Blanco smiled in anticipation while Riley Ruiz stared at Walter. He wondered if the little brain had enough anger in him to stomp these girls.

Paula picked up the behemoth book. She smiled sweetly.

“ You want this? Huh? You want this?"

Walter said nothing. He did, however begin advancing on the girl.

“ Answer me nigga! If you say somethin' I might give it to you."

Kayla laughed at her friend's wit.

Walter stepped closer as Paula she retreated toward the window.

“ You want bird blood and guts all over your book? Huh? How you gonna take this back to the libary if it got brain on it? Ain't you gonna answer me? "

She made to dangle the book as Walter suddenly lunged. In an instant, she tossed the book out of the window, causing the entire classroom to gasp.

Walter grabbed Paula and began punching as hard as he could, and wild chanting erupted from the other students.

He was hitting her hard and twisting her hair, as she tried to bite him. When she fell to the ground, he gave her a merciless kick in the stomach, and stood over her, shouting expletives.

“ Mr. Perry," cried Kayla, breaking her customary monosyllabic posturing out of fear for the well-being for her friend, “ ain't you gonna DO nothin'?!!"

The teacher stood aghast at his desk where he had been pinned since the class had utterly and completely abandoned his lesson. He had been yelling at them to return to their seats, to stop playing and arguing and had completely lost his voice. When the fight between Paula and Walter had begun he had resigned himself to the fact that he was a mere spectator at this zoo.

Now he was horrified at the scene in front of him. Dimly, he wondered what had made him so confident that, as a black man he'd he'd be able to handle these east Harlem children of color. As though by virtue of their shared skin color they would just love him, respect him, listen to him.

They had told him that is class would be small, and it was, by Harlem standards, only 17 students. He'd been informed that he'd have the utmost support, and that we he would have immeasurable resources.   He felt as though he were on a desert island. 

From day one, his students had smelled the Exeter on his breath, and the Williams College in his blood. They seemed to sense the three generations of doctors he came from and his family's summer home in the Hamptons. They knew he wasn't one of them, and they had no interest in engaging in any charade to the contrary. His first semester as a Teach For America core member was going abysmally.

Just as Mr. Perry began to step forward to address the situation, the door swung open, and Dr. Saunders, the assistant principal stepped in. In an instant, every student was in his seat.

Mr. Perry was shocked that even Paula and Walter had peeled themselves off the ground in record speed, and were at their seats, though Paula  tried to gently clutch her stomach and Walter very slowly massaged the bite on his arm.  They knew that being inconspicuous was crucial to dealing with the school's AP.

“ Mr. Perry?" The Assistant Principal accused.

“ Dr. Saunders?" The teacher squeaked.

They eyed each other. Then the woman departed, deliberately closing the door in slow motion, her eyes surveying the classroom. 

When she was gone, the entire class, teacher and students sighed in relief.

Mr. Perry looked at his class, unsure just how to proceed. Somehow, he'd need to get that book outside before any administrator saw it. He couldn't send a child out by him or herself. And yet he couldn't go out there himself. He was in quite a dilemma. 

The teacher was shocked at how quiet the class was at the moment.  He knew that he ought to seize the moment to actually teach them something. He turned to the board and tried to remember where he had left off.

He looked at the clock. Monday, 10:30am. Dear Lord, had time ever moved so slowly?