Sally's Struggle- A True Story, Every Parent Should Read-Akua Tuta

Eyes the color of ink watched the chubby sixth grade girl from the shadows.

Sally was a loner, obese, hitting puberty early and sprouting like a green bean. A perfect grooming target. When Sally first began getting the sloppily written love notes, she felt giddy yet confused. Who on earth could find her attractive? Her mother smiled when the girl told her she was receiving beloved little notes written on bright yellow construction paper. Mysteriously, they were left secretly in her desk but after she’d read them, they’d magically disappear as though evaporating into thin air.

A few months later, after receiving dozens of notes gushing of her beauty and intelligence, Sally got the shock of her life. While sitting in the school cafeteria, eating her lunch, the school janitor, a pleasant man in his late 40's strolled past her and quietly asked, “Have you been enjoying my notes?”

Sally’s blood ran cold. Although only 12 years old, she immediately knew that if the janitor had been writing the notes, then it was wrong and she was in danger. Managing a weak smile, she nodded and hurried out of the Cafeteria. Arriving home, she asked her mother if she could talk with her. With a shaky voice, she told her mother that she thought the love notes she’d been receiving, had been coming from the school janitor. At first her mother laughed, claiming she must be mistaken but the gravity she saw in her daughters gaze quickly brought it home to her. It was then the mother’s turn for her blood to run cold, she wanted immediately to go to the school officials but realized that without any of the notes, it would be her daughters word against his. So, with fear nearly choking her, she sent Sally back to school the next day, telling her that if she received another note to immediately show it to the teacher and if the teacher wouldn’t listen, to go to the school counselor.

Sally’s heart thudded painfully in her chest as she slowly raise her desk lid for the first time the following day. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw a yellow note peeking out from under her copy of “Where the Red Fern Grows”. With trembling fingers, she pulled the note out and read it, it was similar to the others saying she was beautiful and how she needed to keep the notes a secret. Going up to her teacher she said, “Mrs. Mitchell, I’ve been getting these notes and I think they’re coming from the Janitor, Mr Sperry?”

The fat, middle aged teacher studied the young girl for a moment. She knew Sally had some problems and tended to be a trouble maker, an attention seeker who often disrupted class. Sighing, she replied, “Oh Sally, Like I’m supposed to believe that, go sit down”

Sally opened her mouth to protest, but her teacher curtly cut her off. “No, I don’t want to hear it”

With tears brimming in her eyes, Sally asked her teacher if she could go see the counselor. Receiving permission, Sally went to the counselors office and repeated her story to Mrs. Marice, the soft spoken, strongly Christian counselor.

A frown painted Mrs. Marice’s pretty features, “Oh Sally, you must be mistaken, our Mr Sperry could never do what your saying, now go back to class I’m sure you just have a little admirer” Sally spent the remainder of the day terrified. Hodling onto the note, as her mother instructed, she couldn’t believe no one believed her and was afraid of what was going to happen when he found out she had told.

Her mother picked her up at school instead of allowing her to ride the bus home as usual. After hearing of the events of what had happened at school, Sally’s mother became enraged, calling the principal as soon as she arrived home.

After being screamed at, the principal decided it needed to be looked into. So, he instructed Sally to put the note back in her desk and leave it like she had always done. The next day, during the first recess, the small framed but big hearted principal followed the Janitor as he went into Sally’s empty classroom and removed the note from her desk. Shocked, the principal decided to play it cool and contact the authorities to see exactly where the school stood. The janitor, Mr Ron Sperry though, began to pick up on the vibes and knew that they were onto him. The kid must have said something.

That afternoon, Sally was working in the kitchen, in the process of pulling the aluminum cover that covered the openings to the kitchen down, when the janitor grabbed the door in it’s tracks and growled, “Sally, what are you telling them?”

Like a panicked deer, Sally was flooded with adrenalin. Screaming at him to leave her alone, she pulled the door down with all her might, nearly catching his fingers as it slammed closed.

A day later, the janitor was fired. He was granted a preliminary hearing at the school board headquarters, yet lost his plea for his job back. Mr. Ron Sperry, then began to stalk Sally, calling her home and hanging up, driving back and forth past her house, so her mother sent her away for the summer to an undisclosed location.

When Sally came back from her summer hiatus, she found out she had another hearing was scheduled but at this one, she would have to participate and testify.

During the course of the meeting, Mrs Mitchell lied, claiming that Sally had never shown her a note. Mrs. Marice still stood by her belief that Mr. Sperry just couldn’t have done what Sally accused. Then, Sally was interrogated by Sperry himself. He started pushing her, asking her over and over, why she was lying. The drilling was allowed to continue until Sally was in tears, screaming at him to leave her alone, that she was not lying.

The result of the hearing was the same as the previous one and Mr Sperry wasn’t allowed to come back to work, the fact that he was caught red handed could never be ignored. No Criminal charges were ever brought against him, since he technically, never did anything other than writing notes, but Sally was lucky. If she hadn’t listened to her instincts, the end results may have been very different, the man had been clearly grooming her.

This is a true story, Sally’s name has been changed to protect her identity, but Mr. Ron Sperry, is truly the name of the school janitor. I decided to tell her story as a warning to all parents, always listen to your children and teach them to look out for the warning signs. This story shows that this isn’t something that happens to other people’s kids, it can happen to any child, in any town, at any time.

Thanks and Take Care!

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