Mrs. Mochan asked me to stay after school. What had I done? I recently whispered more to other students and was less attentive. I worried for the rest of that eternal day that she would have me carry a note home. No note. She reached in her drawer and handed me the necklace.

I'd seen Virginia through hard times, the hardest anyone could face, but through good times or bad, she faced them with peace of mind.

My mother transferred my handicapped fat butt to six different schools. Each one added doses of bully poison that eventually killed the little girl I once was.