Page 123 - The Mending Season

fou rteenAnother week went by. The media quieted down. The schools focus seemed to shift to homework and other, less distressing problems such as who would sing what song at the end-of- the-month Mass. I did not call Veronica again but Trish spoke to her more and more and said that she did nothing but watch TV all day. Her mother had still not come to the school but had written a letter to the principal asking her to allow Veronica to come back. No one heard any more on Beths fathers threat to contact a lawyer.The waiting was excruciating.Then one day, Tihelo came to visit again, asking me if any­ thing had changed at the school. She seemed as interested and engaged as she had been the first time. I told her that we had fewer sports matches with other schools. And that the teach­ ers’ anger seemed to have dispersed. The biggest change was that a lot ofWhite girls were leaving the school.aWe are writing a letter,”she told me. “I don’t know why we didn’t do it before. I think we were hoping that, after the art­ icles in the papers, the school would call the students back. I know they’re hearing a lot from the angry parents.”aThe girls have been out of school for so long,” I told her. “They’ve both missed so much school work, and I hear that Veronica has done nothing but watch TV at home. I don’t know about Beth.”“We’re writing a letter to let the school know that this is not in line with their commitment to desegregation.”“Who is writing the letter?”123