CHAPTER 6
“Another rough karate lesson?” Craig asked before class on Monday.
Kenny groaned. “You know it,” he replied.
“What happened?” his friend asked. “Did the teacher pick on you again?”
Kenny nodded. “Even worse than last time,” he replied. He rolled up the sleeve of his T-shirt. There was a big purple bruise.
“Whoa!” Craig said. “That’s a nice one. How’d you get that?”
Kenny shook his head. “Man, you wouldn’t believe me,” he said.
“Try me,” Craig said.
Kenny looked around the classroom before answering to make sure no one was listening. “I attacked him on Saturday,” he whispered.
“The teacher? You attacked your teacher?” Craig asked, stunned.
Kenny nodded slowly, smiling a little. “Can you believe it?” he asked.
“To be honest, yes!” Craig replied. “I think you’d attack Jackie Chan if he made you angry.”
Ms. Riaz walked in. Then the bell rang.
“Don’t start with me, Craig!” Kenny said quietly. Craig chuckled and opened his notebook.
“Good morning, everyone,” Ms. Riaz said. “Can I have three volunteers write the answers for the homework on the board, please?”
Kenny looked around. As usual, no one volunteered.
After a moment, Ms. Riaz sighed. “Okay then, I’ll choose three people,” she said.
Everyone, including Kenny, slouched a little in their seats. No one wanted to be chosen.
“Okay, question number one, Hanna,” Ms. Riaz said. Hanna stood up.
“Number two, Jay, please,” Ms. Riaz went on.
“Yes,” Craig said in a whisper.
“One more,” Kenny said, crossing his fingers.
Ms. Riaz looked at him. She said “Kenny, come on up and do number three, please.”
Craig pointed at Kenny. “You’re the man,” Craig said, laughing.
Kenny pulled his homework out of his notebook. He walked up to the white board.
Ms. Riaz handed him a marker. “Thank you, Kenny,” she said.
Kenny glanced at the work the other two students were doing. They were going through their math problems quickly.
He looked down at his homework. His handwriting was sloppy, and he was sure his answer for question number three was wrong.
Slowly, he raised the marker. He started copying the problem onto the board.
Math, Kenny thought. What a waste of time! Like I’ll ever need to know this stuff in real life.
He finished writing his answer on the board. Then he stood back and looked it over. He had no idea if his answer was right.
With a shrug, Kenny tossed the marker on the tray. Then he went back to his desk.
“I don’t think your answer’s right, man,” Craig whispered as Kenny sat down. “I got 42.”
Kenny looked up at his answer. He had written 117. If Craig was right, Kenny wasn’t even close.
Great, Kenny thought.
He barely paid attention as the class went over the first two problems. Then it was time for number three.
“Okay, Kenny,” Ms. Riaz said. “For question three, you came up with 117.”
Kenny shrugged. “I guess,” he said.
“Can you explain how you came up with that answer?” Ms. Riaz asked.
“No,” Kenny mumbled.
“You can’t explain?” Ms. Riaz asked, frowning.
“What’s the point?” Kenny snapped. He knocked his textbook off his desk. It hit the ground with a thud. “I got it wrong, right?”
Ms. Riaz sighed. “Okay, Kenny,” she said. “I’ll talk to you after class.”
* * *
When the bell rang to end the class, everyone hurried to leave. Craig whispered, “Good luck, Jackie Chan,” before he left the classroom.
Ms. Riaz walked over to Kenny’s desk. She said, “Kenny, this isn’t the first time we’ve had this conversation, is it?”
Kenny shrugged. “I guess not,” he said.
“I can see that these math problems are frustrating you,” Ms. Riaz went on. “However, if you let your frustration take over, you’ll never find the right answer.”
“I know,” Kenny said. He thought about all the time he spent on the mat when he sparred with Sensei.
“Do I need to set up another meeting with the principal and your father?” Ms. Riaz asked.
Kenny sighed. “No,” he said. “You don’t need to call my dad.”
“You know, sometimes I get frustrated with a math problem,” Ms. Riaz began.
“You get frustrated with math problems?” Kenny asked, shocked.
“Of course!” Ms. Riaz said. “Everyone does sometimes.”
Kenny sat back in his chair. “Huh,” he muttered. He wondered if Sensei ever got angry.