novel excerpt

“Janie, what’s wrong?” Kurt asked, putting down his glass of wine.
“I… I feel like I’m not doing enough to help these kids.”
Kurt got up and put his arms around her.
“Janie, you live three blocks away from campus, in an apartment you can’t afford so that you can run over if any of them need you. What more can you do?”
“You know what Carter said to me today?”
“What?”
“I asked him if he’d eaten anything, he said he had a couple of screwdrivers before noon.”
“He’s in college. They drink.”
“Kurt, he’s been making breakfast cocktails since he was thirteen. “
“You can’t fix them all. Jesus, half those kids shouldn’t even be in school. They need the kind of help you can’t give them in an hour or two a week.”
“They don’t have a choice! This school is the best thing that’s ever happened to most of these kids. Their parents don’t give a fuck. They tell them to grow up and get over themselves.”
“Well, maybe that’s what some of them need to do.”

Janie slammed her fork on the table and shook off Kurt’s arms.
“Go fuck yourself. That’s what my parents told me to do.”
“And you did.”
“Yeah, with the help of the people doing my job now.”
“I’m sure there are kids that do need your help, but I’m also willing to bet that a lot of them are looking for attention. They read about all the ‘artists’ that came before them, and the issues they claimed to have. You read all that celebrity paparazzi garbage; half of it’s publicity stunts, Janie.”
“I’ve got 25 kids directly in my care. I’ve got 25 more on an outpatient level. Of those 50 kids; maybe two are exaggerating, which is why they’re outpatient. The fact that they feel the need to exaggerate, indicates underlying issues, which means they need to be treated anyway.”
“Look, I’m not trying to trivialize your job. But you’re kidding yourself if you think that all those kids need saving.”
“Get out. And don’t come back.” Janie said, getting up from the table and walking to the front door.
“Janie, come on.”
“Get the hell out of my apartment, Kurt.”
“Fine,” he walked to the door, “you’re just as needy as your students and I really can’t take it anymore.”
“I’m not asking you to. I’m asking you to leave.”
Kurt walked out the door and Janie slammed it shut behind him.