Saturday, November 22, 2008, 12:48 PM CST [General]
Hey, Hey! What's up people? Welcome to another edition of PWA! SD was a great, and in some ways funny show last night! We had lost pay bonuses, incomprehensible tag team matches, and hysterical screaming. Let's begin.
This edition of SD marked the last stop before Survivor Series this Sunday. In light of that, we had many previews of what will happen Sunday night in Boston. So kicking off the night, we had a tag team match contested between the team of ECW champion Matt Hardy and R-Truth vs. U.S. champion Shelton Benjamin and Mark Henry. Both teams coexisted peacefully, and it was a great match. In the end, Matt and R-Truth picked up the win!
Eve Torres interviewed Triple H. This started a bit awkwardly because it seemed like the Game couldn't take his eyes off of uh. . .Eve's "lady area". He asked if they were real and he noted that they were perfectly shaped. In his words they were magnificent. He asked if he could touch them. She had no problem with it. He was observing a beautiful pearl necklace that Eve was wearing. Gotta love the Game! On a more serious note, Triple H said that there was a big difference between thinking and knowing. He said that Vladimir Kozlov thought he was the best and that Jeff Hardy thought he had what it took to be WWE champion. Hunter added that he knew he was the best. He was interrupted by Kozlov who simply said, "Good bye King of the Kings". The Game ended it in a less sour note by saying, "See that Eve? Even Kozlov couldn't take his eyes off of them".
We then turned to Maria, who was having a conversation with Festus. She said he was a great listener, when John Morrison and the Miz budded in. Morrison said he had seen some sexy photos of Maria on wwe.com. He said she was very photogenic, and added that she almost had what it takes to be allowed into the palace of wisdom. He left and Miz followed him, but not before giving Festus a wet willie.
Coincidentally, this was followed by another tag team match. The Miz and John Morrison went against Jesse and Festus. How ironic. This was a typical Festus match. He beat the holy hell out of whoever got in his path. At one point near the end of the match, Morrison got a hold of the ring bell and rung it. Naturally, Festus returned to his comatose and defenseless state. This allowed the Miz to give him a reality check and pick up the win.
Last week, after having beaten the Undertaker in an extreme rules match, Vickie Guerrero told Jeff Hardy that she was going to put him in a match this week against Triple H. If he won, she would put him in the WWE championship match at Survivor Series, making it a triple threat match. She was true to her word, and we all saw the match last night. Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy. This match was awesome. Both these men have amazing talent in the ring. During the match, there was a slight interference by Vladimir Kozlov. It didn't result in anything bad, unless you're the Game. He was distracted, allowing Jeff to pick up the win! Jeff is going to Survivor Series!
For our third tag team match of the night, we had Primo(!!!) and Carlito going against (The) Brian Kendrick and Ezekiel Jackson. This match was pretty alright. The highlight in my mind, besides Primo, was that I saw something that I have never seen before. Jackson smiled. For the first time ever, I saw him smile. He has a very nice smile, but he and Kendrick beat the Colon brothers to pick up a win.
After Jeff's victory over Triple H he had a bit of a . . . break. In a very paranoid tone of voice he said that he got exactly what he wanted. He added that at Survivor Series, he would also get what he wants. And what he wants, is the WWE championship.
MVP's lavish life style was hanging on by a thread at the end of last Friday. Bear in mind, this was the last stop before Survivor Series, and if he didn't win last night, he would have to pay back his bonus. He went one on one with a guy named James Mason. MVP looked like he was going to win, but the Great Khali came out. Montel was distracted, and Mason got in an inside cradle and picked up the win! After MVP lost. Khali chopped him across the head. In J.R.'s words, Khali just cost MVP MILLIONS of dollars.
Since it was revealed last week that Brie Bella had an identical twin, they put them in a tag team match last night against Natalya and Victoria. I don't care much for either of the Bella twins, so I pulled for Nattie(even thought Victoria was with her). Taking advantage of the fact that they are twins, at one point near the end of this match-up, one of them pulled the other one out and they won. I cannot tell them apart, nor do I want to. The point is, they won. Boooooo.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, our Main Event. The Undertaker would read the Big Show his last rites. 'Taker said that Show's debt to him would be paid when he rests in the casket. He said all of his sins would be repaid in full. Then the Big Show came out, accompanied by Vickie and Chavo Guerrero. Show said he isn't scared, therefore the Undertaker had no power over him. Then, it all went dark. The lights came back on and lo and behold, Vickie was perfectly poised for a chokeslam in the ring. 'Taker didn't chokeslam her, but he put her in the casket and shut the lid! She was screaming like a banshee! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! And she was screaming inside the casket too! All you could hear was muffled screams! Then she was rescued by the Big Show and Chavo. But once she was out of the ring, 'Taker tombstoned Chavo, and shut him in the casket as well! Keep in mind, the whole time Vickie is screaming like it's the end of the world! The Big Show looked pretty scared to me.
Well people, that was SD. All in all, a great show this week. Have you all seen my new PWA! logo? I designed it myself! Well, that's all I got for right now. Thank you for reading this week's edition of PWA! Take it easy.
Saturday, November 22, 2008, 01:46 PM EST [General]
HHH vs Kozlov vs Hardy: Well, how many times have we seen these guys fight? I am sick, tired and bored of seeing HHH get such bad competition. He always wins his title matches.... and they won't put Undertaker in a title match against him (now that would really be something worth seeing, isn't it?). Perhaps they know that the feud should not be created because it has already been done at Wrestlemania (for a non-title but dominance match) that Undertaker had clearly won with authority. So, if they don't want to re-create the rivalry because there is no point in having an Undertaker vs HHH match at Wrestlemania again or in a smaller PPV. It only means one thing - good luck for HHH. He can hold the title for as long as he wants. However, I do see a 'heel' (bad-character) change in HHH coming soon because he's been a face for quite some time now and there are no good heels on Smackdown with a good 'character'. Edge was a good heel, but now somebody else must take that place. SLow are not very good heels because though they have the size and some fighting skill, they lack an appealing character for a heel, which Edge had. My best bet for a heel now is HHH. He will do an excellent role because he is good at character presentation. So, that might mean that the heel turn is due to come soon. Maybe HHH will lose this one. But then who will win? Kozlov won't be made the champion so soon. Hardy has recently had a new aggressive side added to himself. Needless to mention, his new gimmick looks like an imitation of the Joker of the Batman movie 'The Dark Knight', but for some reason the WWE need to promote this new character. If he loses matches early on, nobody will take notice of it. So, maybe that he will win the title match and become new champion (he has never been champion before, so he should perhaps win it before Kozlov). Winner: Jeff Hardy.
John Cena vs Chris Jericho: Are you kidding me? John Cena in the title scene yet again? I am sick of seeing him and Batista in the title scene. I will boo them whenever they come for title matches, regardless of whether they are heels or faces (good characters). I will support Jericho in this one, and I hope he wins because you can't create a good rivalry between him and Cena if you make Cena win the very first match. Yes, Cena is returning after a hiatus and is featured on the poster too, so he should win to make the fans feel that he is back better than ever, but since its a title match, WWE will make more money with this rivalry if they extend it longer. Overall, I think it will be a long match where it will look like Cena is going to win but in the end Jericho will use some tricks or cheap-shots or interference to retain his title. Winner: Chris Jericho.
Team Shawn Michaels vs Team JBL: Shawn's team has got Mysterio, Khali and Cryme Tyme. JBL's team has got Kane, MVP, Miz and John Morrison. It would be good to see Khali as a face. I don't think anybody in JBL's team would be able to eliminate him, except Kane. But Kane? What has happened to him? If Undertaker was the most dominant force in the WWF in the early and mid 1990s, Kane was definitely almost as dominant as him in the late 1990s. He used to clean-house single-handedly in the ring, and everybody from Hulk Hogan to Stone Cold to Rock to DX were scared of him. I remember him cleanly pinning guys like HHH and Big SLow with ease, despite interference. He even took Undertaker to the limit in most of their matches. Oh, how much his Wrestlemania 14 match with Undertaker and the Inferno matches which followed "rocked". I will always cheer for Kane, heel or face. And now, he loses to Rey Mysterio? I mean, has WWE become a kid's show now? These kids probably don't even know what destruction the masked Kane has caused in the WWF earlier. However, the "current" Kane probably cannot do anything to Khali. So who will win this? My guess is it will be Shawn's team. Why? Because they have Rey Mysterio, the favourite of the kids (who don't know anything about wrestling). Who will be the last 2 guys in the ring (if there is only 1 member left from each team)? I hope its Kane and Khali but I guess it could be either the duo of Mysterio and Kane, or the duo of Shawn and JBL. Winner: Team HBK.
Team Raw Divas (Beth Phoenix) vs Team Smackdown (Michelle McCool): Well, the Raw team seems stronger with girls like Beth Phoenix (the best diva in the entire history of the WWE in terms of pure "power" and "wrestling" skill, if you ask me) as well as Mickie James, but then Smackdown has got Natalya (definitely stronger and more skilled than the captain Miss McCool). Both teams have heels as well as faces, so there could be some confusion or surprises in the matches. But my guess is that the Raw team will win if Beth and Mickie are functioning in the same unit. Who will be the last 2 divas left (if there is only 1 member left from each team)? I think it will be Beth and Michelle, though I would have preferred Beth vs Natalya, as they are by far the best female wrestlers right now. I would love to see Natalya come on top of Beth somehow, if possible. Winner: Team Raw Divas.
Team Batista vs Team Randy Orton: Batista in tag team action in a PPV instead of a singles' match? Interesting. I am happy as I don't think he should be a main-eventer right now. He's got way too many title victories and reigns for his actual talent. I would support the heel-team in this, led by Randy Orton (who is much more talented than Batista in reality - just loses to him when it comes to sheer power). Who will be the last 2 guys standing? No points in guessing this one - it has to be the captains. RKO him, Randy! Winner: Team Orton.
Undertaker vs Big SLow in a Casket match: WOW.... this needs time.... let me breathe. Let the darkness fall upon us. Let the lights go out, let it be silent, and let the GONG strike. Now I feel the aura.... finally my prediction of a casket match between these two came true. The Undertaker has been very dominant in Survivor series all throughout, but the last 2 years the WWE have screwed him quite a lot to promote other superstars. He lost to Kennedy (WHAT? The most dominant, skilled, awesome and greatest wrestler lost to a rookie like Kennedy?) due to interference and cheating by MVP, and then he lost to Batista at Hell in a Cell due to interference from Edge (oh, how happy the crowd was when Undertaker tombstone-piledrove Batista onto the steel steps, about to become champion but then WWE used that opportunity to re-ignite his unsettled business with Edge and to make Edge's return have a high impact). Unlike No Mercy (where Undertaker has a similar screw-up record, including a loss to Big SLow this year when SLow cheated by using a cheap-shop on Undertaker's head from the exposed steel of the turn-buckle), I hope this time Undertaker is not screwed yet again due to any such outside interference or cheap-shots. If this is a clean match, obviously Undertaker will win.
This match should have been the main event because I foresee it to be a good, long match with more high and low tides in favour of both opponents than in any other match. Why did I predict earlier that this will be a casket match? Because Undertaker told Vickie that he will send her to hell, to join her husband. That means the ideal match for it would be a casket match so that the Undertaker can put her in a casket along with Big SLow and burn it. As they always say, no rivalry is over until the Undertaker says its over because he is the one who always has the last word in any rivalry. Needless to mention, this rivalry will also end with his victory - its a question as to whether it will be at Survivor series or Armageddon. I think it will end now itself because Edge is also waiting to make his return. He might return as a face because he would've "paid for his sins" by "burning in hell" and he is waiting for this Undertaker-Vickie storyline to end so that he can start with something fresh, that does not revolve around Undertaker or Vickie.
Undertaker lost 2 matches on Smackdown recently due to interference - he lost to Kozlov due to interference from Hardy and then he lost to Hardy due to interference from Big SLow, when he looked like he was going to win both the matches. This is the WWE's standard way of promoting new talent - they make them defeat the Undertaker because he is considered to be the "measuring stick" for all superstars, and so a victory against him brings them the attention that they need to get promoted higher. At the same time, the victories are not clean due to interference so the Undertaker's respect, character and dominance still remains (that's what the WWE think). However, I am sick of seeing him getting screwed like this again and again to promote younger and not-so-good talent, and the results are becoming too predictable now (I had predicted in both the matches that he will lose). I hope that there is no interference in Survivor series (even if there is, he should overcome it and win). The WWE has also published an article on Undertaker's history at Survivor series including his debut, first title win against Hulk Hogan, casket matches, etc so perhaps they are planning to extend the legacy now and give him a victory. That would be the end of the rivalry - maybe Big SLow wants a break now too, as he has been in non-stop action since April.
The question would be - if Undertaker wins now, whom will he fight at Armageddon? Who knows - maybe Jeff Hardy in a last ride match, if Hardy is not champion by then. That would be the revenge for the Smackdown loss through interference. It would be an unusual short feud because usually the Undertaker sells his opponents by losing some matches through interference or cheap-shots to create a good, long rivalry. I am still going on with my prediction of Undertaker winning the Royal Rumble next year and then winning the title at Wrestlemania as his long title reign is still pending and it couldn't happen in 2007 or 2008 due to his injuries - that is the reason why he is in these filler-feuds right now and not in title feuds. Winner: Undertaker.
The trickles of liquid running across the sidewalk, from the heavily barred shop front to the squalid gutter, are urine, deposited during the night and early morning by crowds of vampire-like crack addicts.
From sundown to sunrise, hundreds of permanently high, semi-crazed, frequently senile, and largely African American "crack-heads", roam the streets in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. As soon as day breaks, they seem to disappear, many to local hostels and pay-by-the-week hotels; others under filthy blankets in the corner of an abandoned shop front. Some remain awake.
An older-looking woman (drugs age you), screams at nothing in particular, demanding something that is incoherent, but clearly something to which she feels very entitled. Another woman, seated in a wheelchair, rearranges the blankets on her lap, and, as she does so, a charred crack pipe clatters to the sidewalk. She reaches down to retrieve it, tucking it back into the folds of the blanket like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Passing by a trash can, I see a pair of legs sticking out the other side. I look round and down. A young white man, filthy, in a hoody, is lighting up a crack pipe. Across the street, a San Francisco Police Department patrol car cruises by.
Young men, wearing hoodies or heavily padded jackets, many with seriously sagging pants, congregate on street corners and busy thoroughfares. They speak in to bluetooth headsets, plugged in to their ears. They talk shit with their "colleagues". They go by the names of "killah" and "six". They deal drugs.
"White boys" in local bars, slip out between rounds to score a hit on cheap drugs. Others have a need to be a part of the street scene. They match the drug dealer's clothing. They walk with an awkward swagger. "SF" or "NY" baseball hats are tilted at odd angles on their heads. They want to be something other than what they are. They want to be liked. They want to be drug dealers.
The smell of freshly smoked weed drifts in the air and too-old hookers in teenager's clothes, flash toothless smiles to anyone who might be willing to pay.
Night times are the right times. The crack-heads are out in force. Music is played at top volume from boom boxes. Drug-taking seems to promote an overwhelming desire to sing. Hot and high, bodies clothed in rags and cast-offs, gyrate in the filthy streets.
A woman comes along, taking up position outside a fortified and frequently robbed grocery store. She is known. Soon, a crowd forms around her. Each member of the crowd gives her something. She slips away. Thirty minutes later, she is back. Now it is her turn to give something to each of the crowd. "Rocks" are handed out. As each customer collects his purchase, he slinks off in to the shadows to light-up. One customer gets greedy. Maybe there is some confusion. Perhaps he is so out of his mind that he does not realize what he is doing. He grabs the bag of rocks and walks away in a hurry. The drug dealer calls after him. He continues walking. Moments later, a large, black, deeply polished Cadillac pulls up to the dealer. She speaks some words in to the anonymous darkness of the interior, and the car cruises away. A minute passes, two. And then three gun shots are heard from a block away.
An estimated $45 billion has been spent by the United States, on the War On Drugs, in 2008, so far. What does $45 billion buy you?
In March 2008, a revision was made to sentencing guidelines for offenses involving crack. The theory was that those who are sentenced for crack-related crimes get more severe punishment than those who are sentenced for cocaine-related crimes. It is felt that crack is the drug of the poor, and the minorities. Some equalization was necessary. As a result, many of those who were serving longer sentences for dealing and/or using crack, suddenly found themselves free. Many have simply returned to the streets to do the only thing they know how to do - sell crack.
Even the homeless and the crazy in the streets of the Tenderloin are frustrated by the return of the crack business in force. One old man, coherent and well spoken, told me that it was bringing down the tone of the neighborhood.
A siren screams. A paramedic arrives at a seedy hotel just a few blocks from San Francisco's tourist hot spots. A police cruiser pulls up. And then a Medical Examiner's vehicle arrives. Shortly, a gurney is brought out of the hotel loaded with a dead body. Another OD or maybe some bad shit. And while all this is happening, the crack trade is going on, undisturbed, and largely ignored by the police, right across the street.
$45 billion to lose another war. And the United States is regarded as a super power?
Saturday, November 22, 2008, 01:31 PM EST [General]
OMG in my opinion, best smackdown ever! first and foremost, i'd like to congratulate R-Truth and MAtt HArdy on their match win against Shelton Benjamin and the gorilla. AND WHAT ABOUT MY BOY JEFF! WHAT A MATCH! When HHH locked in the pedigree, i was convinced it was over, as im sure many others were. But every time the game tried a big move !BAM! JEff comes back with a hell of a counter. every time, especially the suplex-counter that one him a title shot. And at the end with The Deadman! Big Show looked like he wanted to sit in a corner in the fetal position and cry. Not scared of the Undertaker. And when vickie was in the casket screaming her head off? WHO WILL TELL ME THIS WASNT THE BEST SMACKDOWN EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, November 22, 2008, 06:30 PM GMT [General]
Forced marriage cases up by 80pc this year as investigators find parents using 'bounty hunters' and bogus missing persons campaigns in a desperate bid to track down runaway children and make them wed. Two uncles even managed to dress up as airport officials and tried to arrest a girl when she arrived in Pakistan. In the UK you're dealing with networks, bounty hunters are being used and particularly in the north taxi drivers are being asked to say 'if you see this person let us know'."
A special Government unit dedicated to stopping teenagers being married off by their families dealt with 300 cases in the first half of this year, up from 168 in the same period of 2007. But they fear this could be just the tip of the iceberg as many victims are too scared to come forward and communities often close up to hide what is going on. Their comments came as a new law comes into effect next week, which will make it easier for courts to stop ceremonies going ahead if it is feared that the bride and groom are being married against their wills. Also separate law will see the minimum age at which foreigners can come to Britain to get married being increased. A spokesman said “It's not simply a cultural ceremony. It's people being abused, being raped. “
In total, 90 per cent of cases dealt with in Britain involve Bangladeshi or Pakistani families, but investigators are uncovering growing numbers of forced marriages involving Iranians, Turks, Kurds and Somalis.
With this diverse collection of countries, some separated by thousands of miles, is there some common link?
To be conscious of your destructive surroundings and just not give a shit?
Do you know how it feels?
Ones that love me often refer to me as an asshole. I think they use this word because they cannot process just what type of person I truly am. If they could for a moment step into my soul, I believe they would be in for one eye opening journey. They would wonder euphorically along the dark path that leads to my chamber of "feelings". This chamber in normal people possess there deepest emotions. It is a place where sorrow, hurt, pain, agony, and fear, all sit around a smoky card room gambling a person's life away. They would walk up to the door of my chamber of sorrow and reach to grab a cold stainless steal handle. It would not take much to swing open the frail contour of this door, for you see it has been slammed open more times, than I am able to count. Each time the rugged door lost a little more of its structural composition and each time a little more "feelings" were able to escape until there were no more. They would walk into a bottomless, drafty room where the stench of an intoxicating haze hangs in the air. It would be in this moment that they would realize the life I have lived and the enormity of the feelings I have felt in my short life. They would leave a little harden from their journey and emerge a different person.
They would stand before me gazing into my eyes and say, I'm sorry. I am sorry not for calling you an asshole but because you cannot feel. It must be awful, they'd say. I would smile because I have been down this road before. We would leave that moment a little closer and more aware of the world around us.
This is my life, I am an asshole, but I have earned every letter...
With Love,
Preston Presnell LifeLinkage.Com "Welcome To a New Perspective"
Saturday, November 22, 2008, 01:29 PM EST [General]
The before match interviews with pretty much everyone...that is what made hulk so awesome...before everyone wrestled they had to cut a promo...it can be a way for the wwe to save money rather then cutting guys or cutting shows...once again I'm just one guy...
Saturday, November 22, 2008, 06:26 PM GMT [General]
New Wipers > > I got a new set of wiper blades on my car (a Peugeot, made in France ). > > I think they mightbe too big because theyhang over the edges a little, but I don't care, theywork great and I would have to say that they are the only bladesI have everhad that I actually like to watch working. Call me crazy, but lately Ihave been driving around non-stop with them on. > > I've even been pulledover and the cop asked to go for a ride so he could watch them work.
They were outrageously expensive (being French), but safety is my main concern and like I said, they work great.
Saturday, November 22, 2008, 01:24 PM EST [General]
please join my blog i am on my own, because i love WWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
my name is paul my nickname is pr1123 i am 10 years old. just please please join my group.
Angel was crying all last night so I lay on me front and put the pillow over me head and the noise was blocked out a little bit coz if it'd gone on much longer I would have done something like tried to suffocate myself but Lekisha said one time that you can't do that because something stops you from pressing the pillow so I didn't do anything I was going to be sorry about later. Mum says I'll be sorry about not going to school. You'll be sorry when you grow-up and can't get a job like your dad who went off and was a waste of space but I'm only eleven and don't really worry about not getting a job. Mrs Storey would like me to get a job as well and she's SATs mad.
Angel is Lekisha's baby and everyone does everything for Lekisha because she's only fourteen. She wasn't supposed to have a kid but something went wrong with a condom she says, but not to me. But they all love the baby and I guess they all did that baby talk over me one time. The baby goes to a nursery every day because she's got something wrong with her lungs but you wouldn't believe that the way she can cry. She's got one of those tube things going up her nose. The baby kept me a wake all night.
Don't exaggerate, Daniel. You must have got some sleep Mrs Storey said and she sighed, like she was sick of hearing lies.
I got maybe six hours sleep coz I kept checking the clock I said.
Oh, Daniel, that's still not enough. You'll have to try and get to bed earlier.
And I said I've got too much things to do, Miss, I can't.
Yes, too many things and one of those things is your homework and you haven't done it -
But Miss -
I'm speaking. When I speak, you listen.
I wanted to punch something when she said that. Teachers always say stuff like that. It's like they learnt it in Robot Teacher School. She seemed to forget what she'd been saying and because she'd said that about speaking and listening she had to keep going on.
Now I know you want to get away and play football with your friends she said and I knew what was coming next and sure enough here it was. You're a very bright boy, Daniel. You could do so well if you applied yourself. I know it's tough at the moment. Things are really awful but you owe it to yourself to keep trying.
I've always done bad at school so what she was saying must be what she says to all the kids.
Miss -
She started on about SATs and that but I couldn't take it in.
I wish...she said but she stopped. She turned and stared at the slippers on the wall that we done in DT but I don't know why coz they'd been up there for months.
Miss, I need the toilet.
She turned back to me and said Yes of course go to the toilet.
I was going to wet myself so I stood up. I ran out of the classroom and after I been to the toilet, I went straight out to the playground. I never looked back once so she wouldn't keep me there all dinner time.
Mrs Storey
We had our parents' evening this week so the parents you don't want to see turn up in spades, whereas the ones you desperately need to see never show. So Mr and Mrs Jones that you've been chatting to about Jones Junior at pick-up time most days turn up like the good pennies that they are. There's never much left to say to them but they always keep you longer than the allotted fifteen minutes. No hope of seeing Daniel's mother. I did see her once and that was four years ago when Lekisha was in my class. The girl's come a long way since then, poor cow.
Daniel was falling asleep during most of the maths lesson. You expect it in a much younger child but at his age, you know something's wrong and you have to say something. Mrs Peters insists that he just needs a male role model in his life so she's appointed a young black guy as a learning support assistant to...to do what? It's a load of patronizing twaddle, of course. In the meantime this middle-aged white woman here needs to do her bit by the boy. It's all been said and done before with Lekisha and now it's his turn.
'But I didn't get any sleep last night, Miss.'
'Oh, Daniel. That can't be true, can it?' Can it?
'Well, I got six hours sleep coz I kept checking the clock,' he said.
What can you say to that? You know it's being going on for weeks. 'Oh, Daniel, that's still not enough. You'll have to try and get to bed earlier.' Perhaps I should have said, let's call in Social Services and have the lot of you put into care.
'I've got too much things to do, Miss. I can't.'
'Yes, too many things and unfortunately one of those things is your homework. Please don't worry about not doing -'
'But Miss -'
'No, I'm speaking so let me finish, please. This is important.' But I could see that the light had gone out in his face. His eyes had that look in them: Proceed at your own peril. His hands clenched into fists and I remembered the time he'd punched at a chair which had sent another child falling to the floor.
'I'd better let you get away and play some football with your friends.' I wanted to make that look go away before things went too far. I tried to flatter him because there didn't seem to be anything else to offer.
'You're a bright boy, Daniel. You could do well if you had the chance to apply yourself. I know it's tough at the moment but you owe it to yourself to keep trying as best you can.'
'Miss -'
I couldn't stop now. Mrs Peters' meeting about the SATs sprung into my mind like the remembrance of a bad dream. I just couldn't stop. 'And we've got SATs next month and I'd love to see you do well.' I'd like to see him do well but I know he won't, even with all the hot-housing in the world.
'Miss -'
'I wish...' There was nothing more for me to say.
Daniel said something about going to the toilet. He ran out of the classroom and I looked forward to getting to the staffroom and having a cup of tea. I wouldn't have to have another one of these talks for at least another week.
