It was at a café that I met Mo’s Mom one pleasant evening. It was dinner time and we were surrounded by great cheer. There were families and children having moments of familial joy – talking, joking and laughing. But all that - the music, the lighting and jolly servants could not get her in a merry mood. It wasn’t soon after we sat when the stories of Mo started. I could tell it has been bothering her for a while because all the stories about Mo are so full of details as if she had gone through it in her mind over and over and over again. And thus, the story began:
“Mo is such a bad boy", she grumbled with a shaky voice. "He has been the cause of some of the most painful embarrassments of my life. There is only one reason why his school would call me into the Principal’s Office and it is never to get an award for nice things like a normal mother. I’ve been called in a few times before but there was one time in particular that stood out. When I wrote about it in my diary years later, I called it the “Bat Incident”. Believe me, not many things can give me the kind of goose bumps that a call from the Principals Office can. When something bad happens, it’s usually something that Mo did to another person. But a call from school means that he did something bad to other children. And that’s enough to give me knots in my stomach”.
“When I arrived at the school, I was met with strange and ominous stares from the schoolchildren. There were also whispers. “Is that Mo’s Mom, where’s her broom?” “She doesn’t look like a witch.” “She must have hidden her broom and witch hat outside”.”
“His teacher, Mrs. Adams, met me at the Principal’s Office and we soon found ourselves in the conference room. After the pleasantries, the bad news started. Mrs. Adams told me about a school project that went terribly bad”. With a restrained voice masking anger, she began to tell me, "About a week ago, we had an art project and we had the kids making origami. Because he was sitting in the back, the art teacher didn’t see what Mo was making. While other kids were making the usual paper animals – cranes, fishes, animals, flowers and other interesting things, Mo was making Vampire Bats. But it wasn’t what he was making that caused the uproar; it was what he did with it. When the Art Teacher was called away, Mo took the classroom over like a military junta and had all the girls line up. He then demanded all of them to wear his Vampire Bat origami as earrings. He then took a baseball bat and with a loud thunderous swing at one of the desks threatened to inflict physical harm if they remove the vampire bats from their ears”.
“Come with me, please, and I will show you what I mean", Mrs. Adams said as she showed me the way. We then walked to the classroom not far from the Principals Office. Not knowing what to expect gave the short quiet walk the feeling of a person on her way to the electric chair. I remember thinking that there are only a few mothers on this earth who could end up with a child like this and I don’t know what I ever did to deserve having a child like Mo”.
“We then sat at the teacher’s desk at the front of the class, facing all the students. There were about 10 girls who were lined up in a row sitting beside each other. The girls all had long and sad faces almost at the verge of tears – almost shaking from fear. All of them had vampire bats dangling from their ears upside down. Their faces looked like stalactites in a cave with bats sleeping on them. I thought I was on a nature tour of some underground cave with bats living in it”.
The story didn’t have to continue any further. The image of bats on the side of teenager’s faces was a lot to take in – at least until the next time I take her out for another night out on the town. Until then, I could only wonder what other Mo Tales she will regale me with.
“Mo is such a bad boy", she grumbled with a shaky voice. "He has been the cause of some of the most painful embarrassments of my life. There is only one reason why his school would call me into the Principal’s Office and it is never to get an award for nice things like a normal mother. I’ve been called in a few times before but there was one time in particular that stood out. When I wrote about it in my diary years later, I called it the “Bat Incident”. Believe me, not many things can give me the kind of goose bumps that a call from the Principals Office can. When something bad happens, it’s usually something that Mo did to another person. But a call from school means that he did something bad to other children. And that’s enough to give me knots in my stomach”.
“When I arrived at the school, I was met with strange and ominous stares from the schoolchildren. There were also whispers. “Is that Mo’s Mom, where’s her broom?” “She doesn’t look like a witch.” “She must have hidden her broom and witch hat outside”.”
“His teacher, Mrs. Adams, met me at the Principal’s Office and we soon found ourselves in the conference room. After the pleasantries, the bad news started. Mrs. Adams told me about a school project that went terribly bad”. With a restrained voice masking anger, she began to tell me, "About a week ago, we had an art project and we had the kids making origami. Because he was sitting in the back, the art teacher didn’t see what Mo was making. While other kids were making the usual paper animals – cranes, fishes, animals, flowers and other interesting things, Mo was making Vampire Bats. But it wasn’t what he was making that caused the uproar; it was what he did with it. When the Art Teacher was called away, Mo took the classroom over like a military junta and had all the girls line up. He then demanded all of them to wear his Vampire Bat origami as earrings. He then took a baseball bat and with a loud thunderous swing at one of the desks threatened to inflict physical harm if they remove the vampire bats from their ears”.
“Come with me, please, and I will show you what I mean", Mrs. Adams said as she showed me the way. We then walked to the classroom not far from the Principals Office. Not knowing what to expect gave the short quiet walk the feeling of a person on her way to the electric chair. I remember thinking that there are only a few mothers on this earth who could end up with a child like this and I don’t know what I ever did to deserve having a child like Mo”.
“We then sat at the teacher’s desk at the front of the class, facing all the students. There were about 10 girls who were lined up in a row sitting beside each other. The girls all had long and sad faces almost at the verge of tears – almost shaking from fear. All of them had vampire bats dangling from their ears upside down. Their faces looked like stalactites in a cave with bats sleeping on them. I thought I was on a nature tour of some underground cave with bats living in it”.
The story didn’t have to continue any further. The image of bats on the side of teenager’s faces was a lot to take in – at least until the next time I take her out for another night out on the town. Until then, I could only wonder what other Mo Tales she will regale me with.
