Beyond

February

The month was very dark and cold, dominated by the ice, the fog and the rain. The spring, although we all wished for it, was still far.

Only around the end of the month we could glimpse the first improvements and with them, the rebirth of light and colour.

*****

The first half of the school year was just finished.

Anna's results, despite everything, were still the best; Thomas had been clever too, reaching the first goal of the year without negative marks. Anna supported him at school also in that confused period, dragging him with determination towards the target.

It was the time to meet parents of the students, discussing with them successes and failures of their beloved sons.

I wanted to see Anna's family at all costs.

As agreed with the other teachers, we decided to consider that meeting session as obligatory for all, even those without school problems. We justified that choice as a preliminary action towards the graduation exams of the next year.

*****

The talks were planned for the first week of February.

During that day I met again that woman I wasn't able to call mother; she was seated in the waiting room, cold and elegant as always.

I greeted, inviting her to come in my office.

I began reporting the optimal results of the daughter, trying to exalt her qualities. As in the past, I didn't succeed to arouse any particular enthusiasm; she seemed instead a bit bothered of that umpteenth repetition of the obvious.

She wasn't at ease, yearning to leave as soon as possible; probably she realized that her presence hadn't been requested to discuss about excellent marks. I took a deep breath and I started our real discussion:

"Anna got thinner, a lot. We're worried for her" I said in the most possible calm and objective way.

"Yes, we know. Anna has too many tasks to accomplish every day; she's often out and she ends up jumping meals. Moreover she plays a lot of sport, therefore other energies get lost."

That was her first comment, disappointing.

"We would like to help you; may I ask you which tasks could be avoided in your opinion?" I asked, but I already knew what she meant.

"That guy, Thomas Riva. Anna spends a lot of time helping him at school and then she neglects her things. He came to see her also in the weekend. We spoke with Anna about that several times, we would prefer she stopped to stay with him so much. He destabilizes her."

As I feared. She wanted to accuse her saviour.

"When we decided to flank Thomas to Anna to favour his insertion in the school we contacted you and you agreed. At the moment his scholastic results are wide sufficient, therefore the necessity of Anna's support has ended. If you prefer she doesn't do it anymore, I can speak with them immediately. But their friendship is something outside school, it's not about us."

My stomach started protesting.

For her the discussion was already ended, for me it had just begun.

"Anna is an adorable girl and these weight losses worry us, a lot. With your permission, we would like to have a private talk with her, in order to understand if there are other problems she's hiding us. Our school cooperates with a psychologist, especially to face these situations. Obviously there's guarantee of maximum confidentiality."