The Redemption of Jamie Sarah Potter
-5-
Babylon has Fall
The whole school heard the Head's words. The Board of Trustees who had long stood in stark silence could no longer sit on the edge of the fence. They had to move. They had to remove her. Daisy's sentence was suspended and a public apology was issued by Trustees of the school over what had happened. And in a strange twist of fate, both Cerridwen and Daisy were named prefects by the new Head.
The new head acted quickly, Mr. Jones was banned from playing football ever again for Benton Academy, a few days later an suspension order was handed to him. Last I heard his folks had enrolled him in the town's public school. A few days after he arrived, my friend Madeline told me a few good ol' boys took him out behind the field house and beat some sense into him with their fist. Nobody saw anything.
One more thing about Daisy and Cerridwen, their dating now. Well I think they're dating, I consider them dating, I don't know what the two call it. You see, about every two weeks the people of Haunted Hollow hold something called an 'Ceilidh' kind of a folk celebration. Most of the people who settled in Haunted Hollow come from either Irish, Welsh, or Scottish backgrounds. And from what I'm told an 'Ceilidh' is just a local gathering or celebration where traditional dress is worn, traditional dances are performed and traditional music is played.
Anyway Cerridwen asked Daisy to attend one and the two kind of hit it off. As for me, I was made a prefect again. It seemed I'd displayed some real talent for leadership in this whole misadventure and the student body had grown to trust me. The use of the cane has been banned. And prefects can no longer dish out corporal punishment. I would have liked to have had corporal punishment banned all the way around.
But this is the South and this is a private school. So I guess we'll have to live with corporal punishment for a little longer. Maybe in a generation or two it would fade out. But as now, only the new Headmistress and the school nurse can hand out corporal punishments. I guess that's progress.
And so ends another misadventure. The 'MAGA' forces have retreated to their dark caves, to brood and plan and to dream up schemes of revenge. Benton Academy is a little more enlightened. Our new Headmistress is trying hard not to let her position get to her head and become power hungry like the last one. I wish her luck, power is one hell of a drug.
And so ends another chapter in life. I have only one more year left before I get my diploma. And I hope I can make that year count for something. Also Lily is proud of me. I never thought she would be proud of me. I don't think older siblings are supposed to be proud of their younger ones. But she is.
Before I end, I would like to add my own personal views. Our old Headmistress was a good person. I thought she would be the one to bring Benton Academy from the Jim Crow past to the present. But in the end she fell into a trap that a lot have. She allowed her position to get the better of her. Sometimes I wonder what name I would leave behind when I finish? Lily left behind a Varsity Cheerleading Program that in two years went from being a laughing stock to one of the finest in the state. Me? I have no idea. I guess I only have to trust Cerridwen, Daisy and Taylor to carry on my work. Just like Lily trusted me.
The End.
