Untitled - CSUN ScholarWorks - California State University, Northridge

A teacher hurried and disappeared into the dark corri­
dor, her arm shaking the cowbell into a clanging echo.
Young shapes emerged, then blurred, then emerged again
from the dark, screaming, whistling, hooting in a tumul­
tuous movement, pushing, pulling, squeezing toward
kicked-in, splintered doors. The sharp shatter and crash of
glass, for an instant, cut off all other noise, but registered
little thought. I forged through, exchanging greetings, hello,
good morning, good morning. Metallica, Mega death, Fack
oof, I wants seks, Disco klub, rough-lettered in crude
scrawls, lay amid Albanian outbursts decorating the walls. I
tried to smile: Some realm of English was practiced outside
of class. I pushed forward, fighting a crosscurrent of adoles­
cent Albanian rabble, finally reaching my classroom.
Besim dangled from the ceiling, hanging from a noose
shaped from uprooted wiring that once fed a light. Dritan
singing, Edi dancing, Arber darting in and out of the room,
Hektor burning a desk. Hektor put the fire out ... Yahs.
Arben and Gezim moved stools from one end of the room
to the other. Dritan hurled a stool across the room, crashing
hard, motioning angrily about a smudge on the seat. I go
out one minute. Anila, yelling. I no feeling good. Klodi. I
going hospital, but no absent. Klodi again. Laureta and
Rovena, faces playing up concern over her health, need to
escort her. Altin, Albert, Gentian, and Taulant in the comer
got into a card game. Put the cards away ... One mee-noot.
Spartak motioned he can fix the wood stove, banging and
clanging at the rusted fragmentation, still crumpled in a
mangled heap. Anila ran back in, Besim scurried out.
Besim! One mee-noot. You guys, we have to get- Spartak's
banging at the stove gained force. Spartak, don't worry
about - Ftohte! I know it's cold, I'm sorry, but - The door
swung open, three young toughs bellowing, wild laughter
and shouts fermented by alcohol: Arben! �fare ben! si
dukesh ... Arben shouting back, Anglisht! They gestured at
me. Arben, mee-noot, pleez ... Dritan and Edi hollered a
conversation out the window. Albert and Gentian hurried
to join in. Where are pictures which that was on wall?
Ardita. The hollers lobbed out the window escalated.
Someone took - put the Albanian books away! Eglantina
and Floreta eyed me nervously, promptly slipping biology
101