The Power of Testimony

SHAWN THORNTON || 35
“Who are these kids?” he nearly shouted. “Who are these
teachers? Who is this principal that lets someone get treated
like this?”
He looked over at Bev in the passenger seat. Once a shining,
spunky, school leader, she was now an afterthought to
most people, an unsolvable equation. She was trapped, body
and soul.
“You’re not going back there,” he announced simply, as
if he had the authority to make it so. Minutes later at the
Gilvin house, John parked the Corvair in front and walked
in with greater resolve than he had ever shown in anything.
Betty and Russell were both in the kitchen. They looked up
at him, sensing he had something to say. Bev stood behind
him, clutching her book bag, not knowing what would
happen.
“Mr. and Mrs. Gilvin, I don’t know if Bev has told you
what’s happening at school,” John said.
They looked at him and waited.
“Things aren’t working. She can’t get around. People are
making fun of her. The teachers aren’t helping her. Nobody’s
helping her!”
He reined in his frustration and continued evenly.
“I don’t think she should go back. Not in her condition,
not the way she is right now. It’s not helping her. It’s not
helping anybody.”
He was surprised at his own boldness. Their response surprised
him even more.
“We’ve been thinking about that too,” Russell said. Betty
sighed. John and Bev didn’t know her parents had met with