The Teacher's Secret (40 page)

They aren't exactly indifferent to the news. Unconvinced would be a better way to describe it. Kurt leads the discussion.

‘These plays you've suggested, miss, I think you'll find we're a bit too old for them, seeing as we'll be in high school soon.'

Cody is quick to support him. ‘What Kurt said, miss—well, he's right and that.'

Nina scans the classroom. ‘Anyone else?'

Ethan is also keen for a word. ‘Miss, I think we should do a play about something else.'

‘For example?'

Put on the spot, he shoots a look at Kurt and Cody. Kurt has nothing to offer and Cody just shrugs. ‘Dunno, miss, exactly.' After a moment or two he brightens. ‘Maybe something about fighting or that.'

‘Or maybe something not lame,' says Jade. ‘Something cool.'

Nina lets them keep talking.

Cool is good. Everyone in the classroom agrees. Even Elsie wants cool.

‘So, something cool,' Nina starts. She tries to sound a bit hesitant, just hesitant enough to make it sound like she's trying her best to think of something that might work. ‘You mean, something like . . . rap?'

All over the classroom, heads flick up.

His eyes narrowed, Kurt scrutinises her. ‘Did you say rap, miss?'

Yes, she thinks, it's working. She tries to hold herself back. Keep it cool, she tells herself, don't look too excited, just keep it cool.
Rap-style cool. ‘Yes, Kurt,' she says, keeping her voice very, very casual, ‘that's exactly what I said.'

He contemplates this. ‘You mean, we'd all be rapping?'

‘That's right.'

‘Like Kanye West?' He's testing her, she knows that, but today she's ready for it.

‘I was thinking more like Eminem,' she tells him.

Eyes widen and Ethan doesn't even bother checking with Kurt before he pipes up, ‘Eminem, miss, he rocks, he so rocks.'

Even Jade is looking interested.

But Kurt is still sceptical. ‘Why do you like him, miss?'

She gives him a nod that is part concession, part victory. His instinct, to query her credentials, is right: before yesterday she had none. Not that he needs to know this. Because after a night of cramming with Marina, she's got everything she needs.

Marina knows about all of them, all the big-name rappers, but there's only been time for Nina to focus on one. Now she's an expert.

She takes her time to answer him. She even lets her eyes go a bit dreamy. ‘I just love what he's got to say, Kurt,' she says. ‘And his rhythm, it's fantastic.'

He's still not convinced. ‘What are your favourite songs, miss?'

She's written them all out—the ten songs Marina has chosen as her favourites—and has the list right there in front of her, ready for just this question. She steals a quick glance at it. ‘Look, Kurt,' she says, ‘like everyone else, I love “Lose Yourself”—I mean, you have to, don't you?'

Ethan and Cody are hers now, she can see it, their eyes wide with newfound respect, their heads nodding hard. But Kurt still needs more. And that's okay, because she's got more.

‘But if I'm honest, Kurt, it's “When I'm Gone” that does it for me, because it's about his little girl, and I've got a little girl too, so I feel like we've got something in common, Eminem and me.'

And with that, she's done it. He's hers.

‘Girls always like that one,' he tells her. It feels like a confidence. ‘Even my mum likes that one. But my brother and me, we like the other stuff.'

‘“Like Toy Soldiers”?' She tries not to sound too smug, tries not to look triumphant, but it's not easy.

Kurt takes a moment to consider. ‘“Like Toy Soldiers” isn't bad. But “Just Lose It”, that's even better.' He lowers his voice. ‘Except the video's a bit inappropriate and that.'

She hasn't seen the video and doesn't want him to start describing it now. So she gives him a nod to let him know—as one Eminem fan to another—that this is something best kept between the two of them. ‘That's why I prefer some of his other stuff,' she tells him, ‘because it's suitable for a younger audience too.'

That makes him thoughtful. ‘I get your point, miss.'

‘Thanks, Kurt,' she says solemnly. Inside, she is dancing. Inside, she is doing cartwheels.

And sure enough, once Kurt is with her, there's no problem selling it to the rest of the class. It's a simple enough idea: two plays, each of them performed in rap. The first one—
The Wolf
—is the rap version of ‘Little Red Riding Hood' and the second—
The Bears
—is the rap version of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears'.

To decide the cast, she takes nominations from the class.

Immediately, Kurt, Cody and Ethan come together in a mini scrum. Ethan flicks his head across to Jade, who smiles and sidles over. Over in the corner, Sebastian is standing alone. Kurt
gives Ethan a nudge and lifts his chin up in Sebastian's direction. Immediately Ethan scowls and shakes his head. But Kurt persists, pulling his head in close and whispering to him, his voice urgent. When, finally, Ethan pulls back, his face resigned, Kurt gives a whistle.

‘Hey, Sebastian,' he calls. ‘Come here.'

Sebastian looks over but doesn't move. Kurt doesn't like being kept waiting, so he gives Sebastian another whistle. ‘Come on,' he calls out again. Still Sebastian takes his time.

‘Are you a rapper?' Kurt asks once he has joined them.

When Sebastian looks confused, Kurt tries again.

‘I mean, when you're at home with your family, do you all do rap together? You know, because you're all black and that—no offence or anything. We thought you'd be good to have in our group because you probably rap heaps already.'

It's clear that Sebastian does want to be part of the group; Nina can tell by the way his eyes stay fixed on Kurt, listening hard. And yet seconds pass before he answers.

‘Yes,' he says finally, ‘that's true. We do rap a lot at home.'

Kurt, Cody and Ethan move into a huddle for a quick conference. Then Kurt holds out his hand. Sebastian offers his up for a handshake but instead Kurt rotates his hand around, takes hold of Sebastian's thumb then slides his palm away. ‘Welcome, bro,' he says.

To the clique, Nina adds Elsie and Bridie. Together, they'll form the cast of
The Wolf
. The rest of the class will be in
The Bears
.

She'll need some parent volunteers, she tells the class, because there's a lot to organise. When she mentions this, Kurt's hand shoots up. ‘Seeing as Sebastian's dad is a rapper and that, he probably
should come in to show us his best moves. Like, so he could teach us and that.'

Nina looks to Sebastian for confirmation. His eyes flicker as he answers. ‘Yes, miss,' he says, ‘he could definitely do that.'

Rebecca

Fork in hand, Emmanuel looks up from his meal. He seems so shocked, Rebecca is scared he'll choke.

‘What do you mean my best moves? I've never rapped in my life.'

Sebastian keeps his eyes on the floor.

‘And anyway,' Emmanuel continues, ‘why on earth would anyone think I'm a rapper? Do I look like a rapper to you?'

Rebecca looks at her husband. Tonight he is wearing his brown trousers, a checked shirt fastened up to the neck and a dark blue cardigan. She stifles a smile—rapper is not the first word that comes to mind.

But Emmanuel isn't stifling a smile; he's becoming worked up. For him, this is an unusual thing.

‘Well, Sebastian,' he says, ‘is there anything about me that screams rap artist to you? I'm an engineer, for God's sake. Why would anyone think I'm a rapper?'

Sebastian's answer is very low, so low Rebecca can't hear it and Emmanuel has to ask him to speak up.

Sebastian does raise his voice but he doesn't look up. ‘It's because we're black,' he says. ‘They think we do rap at home because we're black.'

Rebecca feels her mouth starting to twitch. She can't laugh. She can't let herself laugh, not when Emmanuel is taking it all so seriously.

‘That's what they think, do they? That we come home, kick off our shoes, start rapping and don't stop?' He is both angry and flustered now.

The questions are for Sebastian, but Sebastian still won't look up.

Rebecca is going to have to step in. She tries to think of something that will calm Emmanuel down, something to make him less upset. Instead, an image comes into her head. It's an image that is a bit like a Bollywood film, only it's not Bollywood, it's rap; it's rap at home with the Chumas. Non-stop rap with the Chumas. It's a stupid thought, but it makes her laugh. Just a chuckle at first, but then she finds she can't stop herself, and soon she's laughing so hard she's starting to cry, the tears streaming down her cheeks.

When she looks at Emmanuel and Sebastian, they are both staring at her open-mouthed. This just makes her laugh harder. And God, it feels good. God, it feels good to laugh. It has been a long, long time since she has laughed like this.

‘Can you imagine?' she asks them, when at last she is able to speak. ‘Just think of the possibilities—there could be the dinner rap, the washing-up rap, the shower rap, the clean-the-house rap.'

That makes Sebastian smile, but not Emmanuel. Emmanuel is still stony-faced.

‘It's fine for you,' he tells her. ‘You don't have to become a rapping guru by next week.'

Well, the thought of it, the thought of her staid, brown-trousered husband as a rapping guru, just sets her off again.

‘We'll just have to find you something to wear,' she says, ‘so it looks like you've just come from the hood.'

‘And where exactly is the hood, Rebecca?' Emmanuel asks her. ‘Because strange as it may seem—black as I am—I've never actually been there.'

Rebecca tries to stop laughing—she does try, but still she can't. ‘Looks like you'll have to pretend.'

Emmanuel stares at her. ‘I can't rap, Rebecca. I can't sing, I can't dance and I certainly can't rap. How am I supposed to give a masterclass in something I've never even done before?'

Rebecca shakes her head. ‘You'll just have to wing it.'

‘You could do it,' he says to her, his voice becoming softer. ‘You're good at all that performance stuff. You could do it instead of me. Couldn't you?'

‘I've never rapped either,' she says. ‘Not seriously.'

‘But you could work something out, you know you could.' He is almost pleading with her. ‘Please, Rebecca,' he says.

The plays are scripted, which means there'll be no ad-libbing. So the rapping itself isn't the issue: it's the dancing that has to go with it. And Rebecca has never been a dancer.

Sitting in front of Emmanuel's computer, she types in the words
rap dance moves
. She gets three million hits. She adds the word
easy
. Then she just clicks on sites at random. Many people like to dance to rap in their own living rooms, she finds. And of the many who do, some choose to dance only in G-strings. These are not the videos she opts to use as a teaching aid.

Instead, she chooses T-Rap Thomas. He is, he claims,
choreographer to the world's greatest rappers. T-Rap Thomas has a great smile but he's one of life's fast talkers and, try as she might, she can't follow him past step two of his Easy Hip-hop Moves.

In the end, it is a home video by an eight-year-old that proves most helpful. Two nights later, she's ready to showcase what she's learnt. She pushes the coffee table aside and moves the sofa up against the wall, then invites Emmanuel and Sebastian to witness her performance.

The robot, that's the dance she's been practising most. Of all the ones she's watched, it's the one she finds easiest: stiff legs, elbows bent, head turned to the side. This is how she starts and ends the sequence. In between, she lifts one leg up, and one leg down, she bends at the waist and swivels to the side, she rotates one arm up, then the other. Keeping her face completely expressionless, she moves her head first up then down, to one side, then to the other.

Once she has finished—legs still stiff, elbows still bent, head still to the side—she feels proud of the performance.

Emmanuel claps hard and for a long time. Sebastian is more subdued.

‘What did you think?' she asks him.

He hesitates. ‘You were a very good robot,' he tells her. ‘You were just like a robot. But I don't know how robots would fit in with the plays. I mean, one's about a wolf and the other's about bears. I'm not sure how a robot would fit in.'

Rebecca's face falls. She hadn't considered that. All she'd thought about was finding something easy.

She thinks quickly. ‘It might work for the bears. At the beginning, perhaps they could robot out of the house?'

For a long time, Sebastian stays silent. ‘I think it would look a bit strange if the bears did the robot dance out of their house. I don't think it would be very good.' There is a hint of panic in his voice now.