The Principal

By Marilynn Barton

I have written scripts for my church to use in classes, parties, church events, whenever something was needed I wrote it. I wrote a TV script for a family show. I was writing a novel when I was stricken with poliomyelitis. When I started writing this book I pledged to myself that if it wasn't fun I'd quit. It was always fun. Let's see what you think

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 29, 2012
• ISBN: 9781479768790

Marilynn Barton

I have written scripts for my church to use in classes, parties, church events, whenever something was needed I wrote it. I wrote a TV script for a family show. I was writing a novel when I was stricken with poliomyelitis. When I started writing this book I pledged to myself that if it wasn't fun I'd quit. It was always fun. Let's see what you think

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

When you have searched desperately, frantically, agonizingly for the perfect job for three years, and it finally comes to you, everything falls in place beautifully. Not.

As for James Kirk Neville the depression hadn’t meant much to him. He had few needs. He was an only child, whose parents loved him. They happily enrolled him in Baylor at the suggestion of their pastor.

School was great. He had a nice room, ok food, terrific friends and the professors all thought he was an exceptional student. They therefore pushed him to get higher degrees than the usual student. He went home every summer and worked at his dad’s factory.

It may be a bit of an exaggeration about how long he looked for a job. He was in school at Baylor for four years and then he stayed on to get a doctorate. Why not? There was a depression going on and everyone was out looking for work. J.K. decided to look while he was at school.

And now, about that job. You know how some people are scrabbling to get somewhere and another guy who is just standing there gets the gold ring, or the prize, or the job.

That’s kind of the way it went for J.K. Neville. Interesting circumstances placed him in an unusual position.

He thought he would be moving into an apartment, and would have to buy furniture.

His level of excitement over his new job made him slightly flaky in judgment about the real world. For one thing he had never bought furniture in his life. When the salesman asked what he wanted to look at he said blonde table and chairs.

Actually, things didn’t go too bad. Just an incident here and a disappointment there; like when he ordered the new furniture for his apartment. He ordered Swedish modern and they shipped massive dark rough Mexican.

He had bought a car to replace the one he had wowed the girls with in college. His thinking was that a sedate sedan would be more acceptable than a yellow convertible.

However, the sedate sedan, which he cleverly bought was quite a different green out in the daylight than it had been under artificial lights. When he saw that same green many years earlier, he had amused his girl by telling her it was monkey throw up green. Now he had committed himself to a daily ride in a monkey-throw-up-green car.

Now here he was in a little house, in a little town trying to look ready to go to work.

The movers showed up close to the time they had given him and he tried to convince them that the dark Mexican style furniture, which they were cheerfully unloading would not be staying.

He gasped to hear one of the movers slam his one and only good piece of furniture (a nice desk his mom had given him) into the doorframe with an accompanying scrapping sound.

Oh, please be careful! he pled.

You didn’t pay for careful, pal the deliveryman boss replied. Remember, you just said, ‘Just get it there by tomorrow’ Well here we are.

A big clunky car rolled into the driveway. A young man jumped out and hurried up to the open front door.

You J.K. Neville? he asked, while holding out a packet. J.K. said, Yes, that’s me.

Having successfully made his delivery the young man turned and strode back to his car.

Hey. J.K. said, This is from school? in a questioning voice.

You’re the new principal, aren’t you?

All work on the part of the deliverymen had suddenly stopped as this interesting news broke.

The boss said, No kidding.

J.K. was not willing to discuss his new position until he got some kind of connection with the guy who had brought this visible touchable confirmation to this aforementioned place of employment.

Wait a minute. Who are you? J.K. said.

I work for the school secretary, He said, still moving toward his car.

J.K.’s mind was racing to think of something useful to say to hold the young man. This was his first contact with the school and for some reason he wanted him to stay and talk. He had a million questions. However at this moment his mind was blank. He couldn’t think of anything to ask. So he said, Oh.

And the guy drove off,

The boss deliveryman said, So you’re our new principal?

I guess so, said J.K. I’m at H.H. Trent.

Right, that’s our school. My boy is there. We been wondering if they would get somebody in before school started. The deliveryman was quite proud to get this news ahead of everyone else.

J.K. felt pleased to be recognized by the father of one of the children of his school. He stepped toward the man extending his hand at the same time.

J.K. Neville, he said in his most business like voice.

Harry Kemp, Mr. Neville. Kemp responded in a truly deferential tone. I guess you need to be reading your papers from Miss Goodee.

J.K. was pleased to be offered an escape.

Yes I better get at it. he said,

Kemp rushed over pulling up a chair to the desk which was sitting awkwardly in the center of the room.

J.K. tried to move with him and sit down to look at the packet. He expressed his appreciation as they hurried along.

Kemp added, jerking his head toward his helper who was standing indifferently by the door, Marvin there don’t got no kids. He plans on getting married sometime.

The two men looked at Marvin who was suddenly the center of attention, a position which he had never held before.

Marvin felt called on to speak even though he didn’t have a word to say. You know that’s right Mr. Kemp. I’ll be making plans with one of those girls down river.

‘Right Marvin. Now let’s get our work done so Mr. Neville can get those papers checked out. As Kemp spoke, he was moving Marvin out the door.

J.K. opened the packet and pulled out some papers, a key, which had a tag with the words ‘front door’ on it and a key marked ‘office door’. J.K. felt the weight of authority fall on his shoulders.

CHAPTER 2

Even as J.K. stared at his new possessions, which obviously were keys to H.H. Trent School, Kemp and Marvin were busily hauling in the furniture.

The furniture consisted of a bed, a sofa, a table and two chairs and a sort of end table. All dark finish.

The furniture he had picked out was light wood. It didn’t matter to him but he remembered a pretty girl at school telling a group he was on the edge of that her mother’s table and chairs were blonde. Since he didn’t know another furniture finish he told the salesman he wanted a blonde set. Somehow, it made him feel connected to that pretty girl. You know, her mother had blonde furniture.

As for the bedroom, he bought a double bed. Perhaps there was a lack of confidence that he would not be at this new position long, explained why he didn’t buy a bureau to hold his clothes.

After all, he had everything in a suitcase and boxes which his mother had neatly packed as she lamented over the condition of his under wear, Oh my! And his socks, Oh dear, James would you mind if I paired them up so you could find a matching pair. You know, you could have two of the same color on at one time.

Good idea, mom J.K. replied. At that moment, he had on one blue sock and one brown sock.

As for the house, J.K. had bought it from the other roomer in his boarding house. Some boarding house. It was an old mansion which had been turned into a funeral parlor.

He had been at the university for seven years and he decided when he graduated to find a place to live away from his home. It didn’t occur to him that his mother might not like for him to not come home when he finally got that degree.

She hated the first year he was away at school but as the years rolled on it got kind of nice. She had friends in for lunch almost every week. She and Mr. Neville felt quite grand alone in the big house. She was never sure that Mr. Neville noticed that J.K. was not with them. She noticed that Mr. Neville would occasionally look at J.K.’s empty place and smile in an enigmatic way. He did try to get J.K. to come into the shoe factory with him but even when he had worked there all summer he went back to school rather happily. His dad would say,