Mrs. Harris held the phone the way people held lighters near a gas leak. Not shaking. Not dramatic. Just there. A quiet, undeniable threat.
Ezra stared at it through the flawless polymer, his breath fogging nothing because even the humidity in here was regulated. He could feel his own pulse in his throat, a frantic little drumbeat pressed against the soft-lined collar.
He wanted to say something smart. Something teacherly. He wanted to explain systems and rights and personhood and the fact that he was not a hamster with a degree.
But his mouth was dry, and his mind kept tripping over one ugly truth:
If she called them… he would be gone.
Not “back to the district.” Not “reassigned.” Gone in the way a file disappeared. A shipment. A transfer. A quiet correction made by people who wore armor to confiscate a middle school classroom. He more then anyhting didnt want to be gone or erased. Even with Smallara taking from him. Being gone was final. It was permament and he only had one life to live.
Mrs. Harris waited him out. That was the worst part. She didn’t need to win the argument loudly. She’d already won it with paperwork, a doorbell camera, and the fact that she was tall. She was on the other side of the glass.
“So,” she said again, voice even. “Stay. Or go.”
Ezra’s hands clenched at his sides. His knuckles still ached from the earlier, useless punch he’d thrown at the wall, the pathetic tap of it echoing in his memory like a joke at his expense.
He forced his chin up, trying to reclaim something, anything, that felt like dignity.
Then he gave the smallest nod he’d ever made in his life.
It wasn’t a grateful nod. It wasn’t even a surrendered one.
It was stiff. Minimal. Like he was doing her a favor by agreeing not to ruin her daughter’s life.
Like the situation was beneath him.
Mrs. Harris’s eyes narrowed a fraction.
Not angry. Not surprised.
Just… taking note.
A mother seeing exactly what kind of man her daughter had dragged into their house.
“Okay,” she said.
She didn’t say good choice.
She didn’t say thank you.
She didn’t soften, didn’t offer comfort, didn’t reach for the easy lie of “We’ll figure this out.”
She simply slid the phone back into her pocket with one clean motion, as if filing him away right alongside it.
Ezra felt the moment land, heavy and sour.
Because he could hear how it looked from the outside.
A tiny man in an expensive habitat, surrounded by warmth and luxury, choosing to stay… and doing it like he’d been wronged by the option.
Ungrateful.
Unappreciative.
A little thing living in a little palace, still trying to act like he was the one in charge.
Mrs. Harris picked up the laundry basket again and turned slightly away, the conversation already ending on her terms.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” she said, eyes on the room now instead of him, like he wasn’t worth the effort of direct attention anymore. “You’re going to be civil. You’re going to stop talking about my daughter like she’s a mistake. And you’re going to stop acting like you’re doing us some kind of favor by not running.”
Ezra bristled immediately. “I never said—”
She snapped her gaze back to him.
One look.
Not shouting. Not fury.
The look you gave a dog that had just bared its teeth at your child.
Ezra stopped mid sentence, lips parting uselessly.
Mrs. Harris nodded once, satisfied. Not pleased. Just satisfied.
“That’s what I thought,” she said quietly.
Then she added, almost conversational, like she was talking with Tiffany Reeves.
“And for the record… Dayton doesn’t need you.”
The words hit him harder than the threat ever had.
She shifted the laundry basket against her hip and moved toward the closet, footsteps heavy enough that Ezra felt them through the shelf, through the habitat base, through the soft, expensive carpet that kept trying to comfort him.
“I let her do this because she wanted to,” Mrs. Harris said. “Because she has a big heart and a stubborn streak and she thinks she can make the world orderly if she works hard enough.”
She paused at the closet door and glanced back.
“So don’t make her regret it.”
Ezra’s throat tightened.
He wanted to shout that he wasn’t a charity project. He wanted to say he had a life. A career. A name that wasn’t printed under Property of Dayton Harris.
Instead, all that came out was a bitter, thin whisper.
“I’m not making her regret anything.”
Mrs. Harris’s mouth twitched like she might laugh, but she didn’t.
She looked at him for another second, Then she opened the closet and began sorting laundry, calm and efficient, like the most terrifying thing she’d done today wasn’t threatening to call the SEA.
It was realizing Ezra would take every kindness offered to him… and still find a way to feel superior about it.
Ezra stood there at the front wall of his habitat, fists clenched, face hot with humiliation. People didnt talk to him like this. Certainly not some single mom raising a undisciplined, smartmouth daughter like Dayton. But he didnt verbalize anything.
Because he knew exactly how he looked. A tiny man in a warm, clean, safe place. He hated how much effort Dayton had put into this habitat. He wanted to be able to criticize its construction so badly. Being able to point out Daytons faults. Her mistakes would provide a degree of solace but instead she actually built a comfortable home. It looked classy. It was tidy. It was well thought out and put together.
He could say something but it would just make him look petty and liar. Instead he sat down and looked at Dayton’s mother putting away Dayton’s clothes. Humming like nothing was wrong in the world. But nothing had changed for her. Her daughter was safe. She wasnt harmed by the SEA and neither were her friends.
As Mrs. Harris finished up she walked out of Dayton’s room looking back briefly at the habitat giving it a once over but her attention focued on Ezra. Making sure she was still where he should be. Where dayton left him. LIke he could some how Harry Potter himself out of the habitat.
1) “He wanted to say something smart. Something teacherly. He wanted to explain systems and rights and personhood and the fact that he was not a hamster with a degree.” I also what him to say something along those lines
2.1) “Not “back to the district.” Not “reassigned.” Gone in the way a file disappeared. A shipment. A transfer. A quiet correction made by people who wore armour to confiscate a middle school classroom.” She really is no better than those SEA thugs
2,2) “He more than anything didn’t want to be gone or erased. Even with Smallara taking from him. Being gone was final. It was permament and he only had one life to live.” That’s good, though his one life has been ruined
3) “Mrs. Harris waited him out. That was the worst part. She didn’t need to win the argument loudly. She’d already won it with paperwork, a doorbell camera, and the fact that she was tall. She was on the other side of the glass” That’s true, she’s comein with every advantage and gone after an unarmed, unprepared opponent.
4) “Like he was doing her a favor by agreeing not to ruin her daughter’s life.” After what she did to his, that is a favour
5) “A mother seeing exactly what kind of man her daughter had dragged into their house.” she really should have figured that out before letting him in
6) “She didn’t say good choice. She didn’t say thank you. She didn’t soften, didn’t offer comfort, didn’t reach for the easy lie of “We’ll figure this out.” Of course not, those are the sorts of lies Dayton used
7) “Because he could hear how it looked from the outside. A tiny man in an expensive habitat, surrounded by warmth and luxury, choosing to stay… and doing it like he’d been wronged by the option. Ungrateful. Unappreciative. ” Well, looks can be deceiving, and gratitude and appreciation are still privileges not rights
8) “You’re going to be civil. You’re going to stop talking about my daughter like she’s a mistake. And you’re going to stop acting like you’re doing us some kind of favour by not running.” Does Dayton have such rules? Are people gonna stop acting like Dayton did him a favour by calling the feds on him?
9) “And for the record… Dayton doesn’t need you.” Nor deserve him, or deserve any Little
10.1) “I let her do this because she wanted to,” She did
10.2) ”Because she has a big heart” She doesn’t
11) “So don’t make her regret it.” Why not? She‘s making him regret a few of his choices
12) “He wanted to shout that he wasn’t a charity project. He wanted to say he had a life. A career. A name that wasn’t printed under Property of Dayton Harris.” Then do that, she’s almost definitely bluffing about sending him away
13) “I’m not making her regret anything.” No, she’ll regret this on her own soon enough
14) “Mrs. Harris’s mouth twitched as she might laugh, but she didn’t,” not taking him seriously
15) “It was realizing Ezra would take every kindness offered to him… and still find a way to feel superior about it.” Not sure what you’re calling “kindnesses” feel the same from Ezra’s perspective
16) “People didn’t talk to him like this. Certainly not some single mom raising an undisciplined, smart-mouthed daughter like Dayton.” His best line went unsaid
17) “Because he knew exactly how he looked. A tiny man in a warm, clean, safe place” and to people as shallow as the Harrises, that’s more than good enough.
Bro I have to agree with all points here like holy fuck the punch down on Ezra feels extremely brutal
I mean if he did to my child what he did to Dayton I wouldn’t exactly be lining up to be kind to him either.
He used his tenure because he was protected and couldn’t be fired to basically bully a child. Regardless of how you feel
About Dayton a grown man bullying a child and picking on them repeatedly in class to the point there peers don’t want to say anything as they don’t want that smoke is sick and cruel.
What would you expect a parent to do in a situation In which they are no longer protected by their tenure and position.
He fucked around and now he is in the finding out phase of his life.
As Dayton may be a bully but she is 13 and he’s a grown a man and not some 18 or 24 year old man. He’s a grown a man real adult who was aware of what he was doing and didn’t care because he could and they had to follow his rules and his policies and he wasn’t going to let the tell him how to run his classroom.
For informations sake, What all happened prior to Ezras reduction between him and Dayton? I had a teacher when I was 12-13 that was extremely harsh on me, but I was also a bit of a hyperactive kid with attitude issues, so looking back on it I could understand some of her actions towards me, but Im also pretty sure she flat out didn’t like me or had a low tolerance. I just want more context I guess cause I probably had a bad teacher that year, but Ezra doesn’t seem that abnormal just based on my own experience and what I saw in his teaching style
Edit: I only ask cause I feel like I’m defending Ezra more but don’t have the full story to counter my bias towards littles that are In new life’s. Like Cindy I feel like I can both defend or attack with how much context we have, Ezra I just have a huge gap in
I will just stick to posted information as it would be unfair to use other information. Ezra graded dayton like she was the only one in the room who had to be perfect.
This starts out as its a multi year attack on dayton. We see in the text its mentioned several times how he picked on her, called on her, targeted her.
Ezra wasn’t “cartoon evil” to Dayton. He was worse: selectively rigid. Nicole says that nobody can accuse him of unfair grading because he’s “too careful” and “too correct,” but he still treats Dayton like she’s the only kid who’s not allowed to be imperfect. 6th grade he dings Dayton for tiny formatting stuff while other kids get a “good job” for the same mistake, 7th grade he calls on her even when she doesn’t raise her hand just to make her perform, and 8th grade it tightens into this constant pressure campaign. The kicker is the social effects. Everyone sees it, everyone knows, and nobody intervenes because the one time Hannah and Hayden tried, Ezra quietly turned the spotlight on them and made them the next lesson. That’s not just strict teaching, that’s a targeted pattern that isolates Dayton and warns the whole class not to protect her.
Ezra needles people’s vulnerability to get a reaction, and when Dayton calls him out for it in front of the class by says he’s using Nicole’s situation with Kinsley, poking at it on purpose, and being out of line. Then he responds with sarcasm aimed at Dayton’s earned status. Guardian Harris… bow to her superior moral authority and mocks her pride in training.
He consistently calls her Dayton, not Ms. Harris, not a respectful invite to speak. He is refusing to let her feel like anything more than the bare minimum. As he directly in the story calls other students by their last name. He used Ms. Merriweather, Ms. Myers, etc. So its not that he wouldnt or didnt address people in that way he wouldn’t address her in that way.
We saw numerous classmates mention describe Ezra as calling on her “every day… like he was trying to catch her slipping.” His anti-government lecutures always involved Dayton. He made sure to rub her nose into each lecture and make what she had done and worked as wrong. Wrong for trying, wrong for wanting, wrong for doing. Thats a premetated effort against one student. Thats not just teaching or showing the government is wrong thats teaching and showing this is wrong and using dayton to do it. To make everyone uncomfortable and unable to even defend her as then its just done to them.
You hear from Mrs. Harris how she talked with other parents and discussed it compared notes so to speak and they knew what he was doing but he was protected by his tenure, protected by his position. And like nicole aluded to he knew what he was doing he was applying the rubric to dayton with a different verocity with a different level of scrutiny then to the rest of class. Thats not right. Not as an educator, not as a person. You can hate on dayton because she did mean things to Jordan and you if you dont think shes grown thats fair. No one has to like anyone. But as an educator, as a teacher, to go out of your way to bully, cut down, and belittle your student day after day thats uncalled for. Thats a step to far.
Thats why I find Ezra delporable. Because while bullying is never good. Dayton 11 or 12 when she first met jordan. Ezra is a grown man. I dont expect peoplein there late 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, etc to go around bullying 11, 12, and 13 year olds. I dont expect their teacher to not support things they work towards and strive for. I dont expect them to cut down their work and not try to help them but try to make them feel as small and worthless and that they cant do anything right at every turn. To be made the example of what not to do in front of all your peers everyday and becuase its your teacher you have no other choice.
Thats deplorable. Thats why when Mrs. Harris goes off on him I get it becuase thats her daughter. If that was my child I would do the same. Its one thing to do that to me a grown adult. I can take it but a child?
Ezra does not deserve the fate he has been dealt.
Taking your arguments against Ezra, if a teacher here today was like him, it seems you feel justified if he was incarcerated for life, taken away and never heard from again. That smells of the old Soviet and current PRC societies.
Now, I think this is great in the story (it gives us something to rail against), but I get the feeling you would be perfectly happy if Ezra, if he was in real life, hauled away somewhere and kept away from society, or are you arguing from the standpoint of the SEA in this case (i.e. from the POV of the Smallara society you have created)?
Well if a teacher was basically teaching kids that US government is evil and China is the greatest nation on earth and here is why. Then using every achievement and act i have done as a lesson on why china is great and the US is horrible and was teaching this to my children as lesson plans and grading them on it.
I would have concerns. If my childs teacher was teaching seditious acts to my children I would have a problem with it.
I’ve said countless times I dont think anyone deserves to be a little just like no matter what a person does i dont think anyone desreves to get cancer or alzheimers or any horrible disease. As no matter how cruel or how much of a bully a person is there are people who love and care about them.
However, I’m also not going to say what Ezra did was right. He targeted and bulled a student as a teacher. I can’t condone that. I cant condone a man using a rubric to apply it to the letter of the law for one student and then giving a negligent amount leeway to the next.
Other students in the school were afraid to approach or say anything because they didnt want to be targeted thats directly said in the story. Its talked about how when Hannah, Hayden and nicole try to speak up for dayton they are put in their place and turned into lesson plans for the audacity of speaking up for their friend.
Dayton is not a saint. She is not the best person on the planet. She has done things that are wrong. That were mean. That she should have been better in.
However this is her teacher, doing this to her since 6th grade. This is what she is learning. So if this is what is being taught to kids how can we ever expect better. Thats the point.
Ezra isn’t the worst person on the planet or the country. But as a teacher a person who is supposed to be doing this to better the next generation.what he is doing is unacceptable.
Would you let him do this to your child? your neice, or nephew? your sister or brother? Target them, bully them, tear down every achievement or thing they strive for or put effort into. Refuse to acknowledge them as anything more then the bare minimum.
Thats what he is doing So when Mrs. Harris is speaking to him. That is where she is coming from. She is a parent, and dayton is her child. He crossed a line and she is making sure he doesnt keep doing what he has been doing to her child.
I like Ezra as a character but im biased as I made him. However, He is the villian of this story. The reader can like the villian they can agree with him. Thats beauty of fiction. There is nothing wrong with you or anyone thinking he is a good person if you want or agreeing with what he did.
Just like Lethal doesnt like dayton or agree with what she has done. He feels she crossed a line and she may not be able to be redeemed to him. thats fine I love that. But that doesnt mean people dont love dayton. That doesnt mean good things dont happen to dayton.
Just like ezra can do bad things but i’m also not out here compaigning for him to go to Guantanamo bay. I just think he’s a bad person, a bad teacher, and bullied children.
If he did that to my kids I’d have a problem with it.
If he is ungrateful, just put him in a hamster cage as a time out place. Give him a limited amount of strikes a week or she turns him him in to Sea and hopefully gets her money back to get someone more greatful. He is basically on SEA’s death row
Sigh back to not liking Mrs Harris again I was semi tolerating her but now she’s on the shit list
Honestly I hope we get more arguments between them but again probably would not look good so maybe they just have a heated dislike for each other and Dayton can see sparks flying every time they are near each other probably dinners when she can sense it
Ezra being put in his place, I like that.