A girl has no name in the classroom other than being called wrong. A girl must act right but can never be right fully. A girl has two tools; she uses them both but only one can be her dominant tool. Sinister and wrong, teacher labels her. The smacking thud of the ruler stings her and she begins to cry. She questions why. Teacher looks down with disgust in his eyes. He tells a girl that she is not acting right. Class continues as the girl lives in that moment of confusion and frustration. She goes unnoticed and tries again. Teacher begins to speak. “Now class, today we learn Latin. Ambi in Latin means ‘both’, and Dexter means ‘right’. Conclusion…there is only one right way.”
A girl begins to draw and it is a captivating and even memorizing sight for such a young girl to draw. Teacher comes again, this time with more fury in his eyes. “This is not the right way. You girls and your creativity is a nuisance to society.” Teacher tells a girl she must be logical to succeed. To be logical means to be right. A girl with no name continues drawing. Teacher tells her to do things the right way. A girl takes off her shoes and places the pen between her toes. She asks, “Is this the right way?” The teacher scolds her loudly and she is removed from the room.
The next day, the teacher gives a lesson. He speaks enthusiastically about colonialism, eugenics and sterilization, and displays images of wrongs being tortured and mocked by the right. A girl raises her hand. Teacher looks at her and snubs his nose in the air and he turns to listen to her. A girl remains silent and while her hand remains floating in the air, she balls her fingers into a fist. Teacher stares for a moment and laughs. Teacher says, “You will never learn that you are wrong and the majority is right. If you gave up your stubbornness you might just be liked.” A girl lingered on those words for the rest of her life. A girl knew her choice was to either follow the right majority or chose the small wrong minorities.
A girl chose to wrong and it came with a lot of hardships over the years. Certain tools were only made for the right people. Even certain piercings were made for certain right people. There were no safe spaces. A girl had no allies and felt isolated from the world. A girl met another girl who was also not right. She said to a girl, “Anti-rightness is everywhere and being right always comes with mass amounts of privilege that us wrongdoers will never have. Be you, and never back down.” A girl smiled as hope glimmered in her eyes.
The teacher wanted the students to recite their creative pieces to the class. A girl volunteered first and proceeded to walk to the front of the class. She took a deep gulp and exhaled deeply. She began to read,
“To My Dear and Loving Right Friend,
I’ve loved you forever since we first met
But you caused me many problems I cannot forget
I am always wrong because you have to be right
No no no more tears for this girl tonight
Both my limbs are more than favorable not sinister
They be free, creative, and to me very, very dear
Right supremacy is destructive, cruel, bitter, and today abandoned
My left hand is my life and identity even as I fuck myself left handed.”
Written by Edwina Mosley
