“But it’s about me.”
“I know.”
“Then I should get to talk.”
I was washing dishes.
I turned the faucet off.
“Buddy, adults don’t always listen better just because a kid is telling the truth.”
“That’s dumb.”
“It is.”
He frowned.
“Mr. Frank says you don’t win by complaining about dumb rules. You win by thinking three moves ahead.”
“That sounds like him.”
“So what’s our third move?”
I leaned against the sink.
“I don’t know yet.”
Leo thought for a minute.
Then he went to his backpack and pulled out a blank sheet of paper.
“Can I write something for them to read?”
I hesitated.
A part of me wanted to protect him from being ignored.
Another part of me knew that if I did, I would be teaching him to silence himself before anyone else had the chance.
So I said yes.
He wrote for almost an hour.
He erased so hard he tore a small hole in the paper.
Then he rewrote the whole thing.
When he finished, he handed it to me.
His handwriting leaned a little to the right.
Some letters were too big.
Some were too small.
But every word was his.
It said:
Dear Board,
My name is Leo. I am eight years old.
I know rules are important because Mr. Frank taught me that if you ignore the rules in chess, the whole game falls apart.
I know tools can be dangerous because Mr. Arthur taught me that careful hands matter more than fast hands.
I know old stories are important because Mr. Thomas taught me that if people stop telling them, they disappear.
I am not asking to run around.
I am not asking to be special.
I am asking you not to throw away something good because you are afraid something bad might happen.
My dad works hard. He was embarrassed that he had to bring me with him. But I am not embarrassed.
This summer, I learned that some people are still teachers even if they do not have classrooms.
Please do not close their classroom.
I read it once.
Then twice.
Then I sat down because my legs didn’t feel steady.
Leo watched me nervously.
“Is it too much?”
I shook my head.
“No, buddy.”
“Is it okay?”
I pulled him into my arms.
“It’s better than okay.”
The next morning, I gave the letter to Arthur before the board meeting.
