Page 38 of When You Left Me Speechless

As I round the cafeteria, Amaya flashes a big smile and waves me over to where the club sits, eating donuts and playing a game.Gosh, I knew I liked that kid.

“Mr. Peterson!” Sasha, Amaya, and Henry shout in unison.

“Good morning, everyone.” I take a moment to look around the table before my eyes land on Poppy. “Mornin’, Ms. Collins.”

“Good morning, Mr. Peterson.” She smiles.

“So, what are y’all playing?”

She tucks her hair behind her ear, and her smile widens. “A very competitive game of spoons.” The table is covered in scattered cards, and a pile of plastic spoons is in the middle.

“It’s so fun, Mr. Peterson. You have to play with us,” Sasha says.

“Oh, um, I don’t know if I can, Sasha.” I look up from the table and survey the area around me.

Poppy giggles. “Are you afraid you are going to lose?” The kids all nod their heads in agreement.

“I never lose.”

“Well, then, by all means, please sit down and join us.” Her voice drips with sarcasm.

“Please, Mr. Peterson,” Amaya begs, her brown eyes looking up at me like a puppy.

Five other teachers are stationed around the cafeteria, and for once, the kids seem to all be following directions. “Okay, maybe just one game, but then I have to get back to duty.” The kids cheer.

“So, how do you play spoons?”

Poppy laughs and shakes her head. “You think you’re going to win and you don’t even know how to play?”

She gestures over to a student sitting a few seats down from me. “Jett, you want to explain the rules to Mr. Peterson?” He is small for his age. A mop of curly, brown hair sits on top of his head.

He nods shyly and sets down his blueberry donut. “Um, you pass out four cards to each person, and then everyone passes a card to the left. The first person to collect four of a kind grabs a spoon.”

Poppy smiles a soft smile toward Jett. “Good job, bud. And if you are the last person to grab a spoon, then you have to ask someone a question, and you’re out. Got it?”

“Why the question?”

“We’ve got to work on speech somehow.” She lets out a little giggle. “You ready to lose?”

I hear a few of the students laugh. She shuffles the deck and distributes the cards. Sasha and Amaya place the spoons in the middle of the table, making sure to count the number of people and compare it against the number of spoons. We begin.

She wasn’t lying when she said these kids were competitive. Cards are flying my way, and I’m trying to keep up with a pile accumulating to my right and keep track of the cards in my hand. I have three queens, and I am madly searching for the queen of hearts when I see Henry’s small hand reach out and grab a spoon out of the corner of my eye. I reach out and go for the last one at the same time Poppy does, causing our hands to collide. She has one end of the spoon, and I have the other. The tips of her fingers barely touch the tops of mine.

“Oh no, Mr. Peterson, I don’t think so. My hand was on it first.” She tightens her grip on the spoon and tries to pull it in her direction.

“I don’t think so, Ms. Collins. My hand was here first. Your hand is on top of mine,” I smirk, tightening my grip as well. I keep my eyes locked on hers.

I can hear the kids giggle, but I don’t take my eyes off of her. She slowly curls her fingertips back so we are no longer touching.

“Just release it, Mr. Peterson, don’t be a sore loser,” she says through gritted teeth.

I shake my head. “No way, I had my hand here first. It’s mine.”

Neither one of us wants to let go of the spoon. I guess being competitive is something we both have in common. After what feels like a long minute, I ask, “So, how do we decide?” The kids around us can not stop laughing and I can see them all moving around to get a better view of which one of us got the spoon.

“Alright, Tuesday Talkers,” she breaks our eye contact and turns her head to address the kids. “Who gets it?”

The kids go silent for a second, and then I hear Jett speak up. “Ms. Collins gets it.”

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