Bertram: What is your story?
Kendra: I don’t have stories, I have issues. I’d tell you about them but you’d be sorry you asked.
Bertram: Who are you?
Kendra: My name is Kendra DeSola and I teach Special Education in a city high school.
Bertram: Are you the hero of your own story?
Kendra: Well, I think I am but I have been told I wouldn’t get any awards for my behavior.
Bertram: What is your problem in the story?
Kendra: I’m sort of being set up. First I thought it was just to make me look like a child molester, but things went down hill after that.
Bertram: Do you embrace conflict?
Kendra: No, it finds me because I keep asking too many questions.
Bertram: How do you see yourself?
Kendra: An idealistic and strong-minded young woman.
Bertram: How do your friends see you?
Kendra: A pig-headed compulsive who has a mother hen complex. Hey wait, those are my friends?
Bertram: How do your enemies see you?
Kendra: Now you have me confused. I’ve been called a snoop, I can say.
Bertram: How does the author see you?
Kendra: She thinks I can get out of all the dubious situations she writes me into without long-term consequences. Me, I’m not sure about that.
Bertram: Do you think the author portrayed you accurately?
Kendra: Of course not. I would never lie…
Bertram: Do you have any special strengths?
Kendra: Definitely. I can figure out what people are really thinking and if they’re lying to me or not.
Bertram: Do you have any special weaknesses?
Kendra: Maybe it’s a weakness to not give up on kids that nobody else wants to deal with. Sometimes that feels like a weakness. Or maybe a punishment.
Bertram: Do you have any skills?
Kendra: I can think really fast when I get into trouble.
Bertram: What do you want?
Kendra: I wish I could get rid of some of the rotten people I work with. Oh god, that doesn’t sound good, after what happened. I must mean that if people really knew what goes on, there would be a lot of changes in the schools.
Bertram: What makes you angry?
Kendra: I don’t like being lied to and I don’t like being discounted because I teach Special Ed.
Bertram: What makes you sad?
Kendra: Professionally, the fact that nobody wants my kids in the schools. Personally, I’d rather not say.
Bertram: What do you regret?
Kendra: I regret not being able to stop what I think was a murder. Those damn cops, they didn’t believe me!
Bertram: What, if anything, haunts you?
Kendra: The sister of a coworker told me I didn’t care about him until it was too late.
Bertram: Has anyone ever betrayed you?
Kendra: You mean, like they betrayed a confidence? I have to say no because I’m pretty cautious about who I trust. In fact, I’m not sure I like all your questions but I’m trying to be patient here or my author will be very angry with me.
Bertram: Have you ever failed anyone?
Kendra: You have to ask them. My author thinks I might have. What does she know?
Bertram: Do you keep your promises?
Kendra: Um, well. Usually. When they deserve to be kept.
Bertram: What was your childhood like?
Kendra: It was okay until my older brother got set up to look like a drug dealer and went to jail. By the time the truth came out he’d already served several years!
Bertram: What in your past would you like others to forget?
Kendra: If anyone saw the slanderous email about me, I hope they forget that fast!
Bertram: What is your most closely guarded secret?
Kendra: That trouble at Standard High, I know some stuff.
Bertram: Do you have any hobbies?
Kendra: I play on line fantasy computer games and I love home decorating.
Bertram: What is your favorite scent?
Kendra: Anything that doesn’t smell like my classroom.
Bertram: What is your favorite food?
Kendra: Cheese crackers because I don’t have to cook them.
Bertram: What is your favorite beverage?
Kendra: I love coffee, I have to say. Maybe because I can cook it.
Bertram: What are the last five entries in your check registry?
Kendra: What are you, the FBI? The detectives didn’t even ask for that!
Bertram: What are the last three books you read?
Some boring thing about bilingual education, the book I got written into “School of Lies” and I reread “Lord of the Rings.”
Bertram: If you had the power to change one thing in the world that didn’t affect you personally, what would it be?
Kendra: I’d do something to shelter all the homeless animals. Right now I’m–oh, I can’t tell you that because I’m not supposed to give anything away.
Bertram: How do you envision your future?
Kendra: I will be teaching for a long time but I’ll be in a decent school before long, I just know it!
Bertram: You said you got written into School of Lies. Where can I get a copy of the book?
Kendra: I got mine from Second Wind Publishing, LLC. It’s also on Amazon.
Pat Bertram Introduces . . . 