Mystery Monday: Ms. Beck Invesitagates, Part IV

"If you would just, now, sign on this release,
We can expose them for the frauds they are.
And you, perhaps, can find a little peace
In knowing that you've helped my firm to mar
The reputation on which they depend."
"Release? You mean, like, letting this go out
In public?" "Yes." "Hell no, don't want my friends
To know we fell for this!" "No need to shout,"
Miss Beck said calmly. "Reconsider, though.
I've done this many times, but if no one
Allows me to go public, then there's no
Accountability. So much I've done,
But this last step is what is needed most.
'The state's best charter school' still gets to boast."

Mystery Monday: Ms. Beck Investigates, Part II

"Ms. Willis, we might get your money back,
But then again we could ignobly fail."
Ms. Beck, a stone facade without a crack
Let this defrauded mother rage and wail
Awhile, and then explained what must be done.
Young Duke was fitted out with microtech
To capture his experiences, then one
Fine Monday, with the blessing of Ms. Beck,
He went to school. The footage he brought home
Was shocking. Upon entry, he was shot
With something that induced in him a numb
And dreamless sleep! At day's end "You forgot,
Just have your mother sign this. Field Trip Day
Is soon! We're going to whisk you all away!"

Mystery Monday: Ms. Beck Investigates: The Case of the Too-Cool School, Part I

"My boy has had straight As in ev'ry grade,"
Jo Willis bragged "His teachers told me he
Was quite the model student." "I'm afraid
They weren't truthful." "Huh? You kidding me?
Duke, come out here." A sullen, sleepy boy
Obeyed, but soon his mother sent him back;
He'd demonstrated little but a joy
In stomping ants. "He truly seems to lack
The basics. Can he even tie his shoes?"
"He's seventeen!" His mother roared. Ms . Beck
Just raised her eyebrows. "Ma'am, I got to choose
Where he went for his schooling. Ev'ry check --"
"I'm sure they cleared, but 'Ross Ecole' is not
A thing that's real." "You mean that I've been got?"

Throwback Thursday: He Could Have Been a Contender

Miss Brown had bought a brand new, tiny car,
As small as she (and she was four foot nine
In heels), her Metropolitan, the star
Of her own firmament. When Andrew Dyne,
A student in the Home Ec class she taught,
And captain of the school's great football team,
Beheld it, he had notions on the spot.
He'd be a legend! How his eye did gleam
When he told his best teammates of his plan.
To push that tiny car took just two guys,
The rest just found weird spots to hide it. Man,
They hid it ev'ry time she took her eyes
Off her beloved prize. At last she bought
A doberman. Soon Dyne's career was shot.