Mr. J

Mr. J is in my class this year. He shows up two weeks late for school on crutches that are too short for him. His sleeves are rolled up and his cast is fake. His dramatic entrance comes ten minutes into class so everyone looks. He acts excited to be in school.That day he tells me he's going to be a father.The stories continue: he was homeless in 5th grade (due mostly to his crack addictions), he's a recovering alchoholic, he wanted to play football/basketball/wrestle/baseball but his DAMN knee injury...His girlfriend wasn't pregnant anymore but is again but her parents won't "let him do nothin to help"...he has more facial hair than most male teachers at the school, and his sleeves are still rolled up six months later.And he wears pull-away pants. Those are the kind of pants you could rip off a person by grabbing and whipping your hands away. Today in class he made the comment, "No matter who you are, where you live, what you do...always gonna be someone critic-icizing you." Critic-icizing.