Small Change

He took a left hook on the ear and grabbed the rope of holy
beads around her waist, ripping them apart and kicking her feet out from
under her. As she fell, the Giant fell with her, driving his knee into where
her private parts would be if nuns had such things. And I guess they do,
because she let out a yelp, and clapped her palms against his large, doughy
ears. It stunned him, but he kept pushing his body against hers.
Most of us were convinced that she had already vanquished the
Giant and reduced him to a helpless twitching heap even though he was
still on top of her. But Sammy couldn’t stand it any more. He started a left
uppercut from his ankles and snapped the Giant’s head back, rolling him
off of Sister Margaret and onto his back in the sun. We all cheered.
Sister Margaret looked a little the worse for wear as she pulled
her ironed pleats from under the Giant and regained her feet. She dusted
herself off, then started to say something to Sammy. I figured she was
going to tell him she had it covered and didn’t need his help, but she rearranged
what was left of her broken rosaries, then looked up again. Her
lips were tight for a moment then they relaxed into that lopsided grin. All
she said was, “I owe you one.”
It was different between them after that. Sometimes she had to ask
him to stay after school to clean the blackboards or empty the wastepaper
baskets. And sometimes there was a look that passed between them, a
smile of the eyes, an acknowledgement of their new equality. But Sammy
won the spelling bee that year, and even though he was no longer delirious
about Sister M, if you tried to get him on your side about some of her
bitchy behaviour, he’d bristle and warn you off with those black eyes.

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