I was staring out the open window of my 2nd grade classroom at the Annunciation Catholic school. A lilac-scented breeze stole into the classroom as I was thinking of my Mother,after-school snacks and my favorite TV show. Soon the bell would ring, and I’d be free.
Sister Regina Marie was handing back English tests. When my name was called, I walked eagerly up to the desk. English was my favorite subject. I smiled when I saw my grade – 100 percent! Daddy would be proud.
“I do not believe you got 100% on this test without cheating.” Sister held her red grease pen aloft. Horrified, I watched her slash “F” over the test grade.
My cheeks burned. I would die before I would ever cheat on anything. Desperate, I tried to erase it. But it smeared the grease pen “F” into a huge blob on the paper. Sister saw what I was doing and called me back up. She rewrote the “F” with a flourish and said, “Bring this back tomorrow with your parents’ signature.”
On the walk home, fear roiled my stomach, and something else – a helpless fury that screamed why? I didn’t do anything wrong. Sister says God sees everything. I looked skyward and wondered why He let this happen.
At home, I handed the paper over to my father.
“Sister says sign this. I have to bring it back tomorrow.”
He stared at the paper. I wondered; would I be spanked for this?
“You know the answers to these questions.” His piercing eyes held my tearful ones. “Did you cheat?”
“No!”
“I believe you.”
It was Dad who returned the test paper to Sister, in person, and unsigned. That was the last I heard of it. Maybe God was watching out for me, after all, when He blessed me with such a kind and loving father.
The Writing Life of Kimberly Nash 