I took a deep breath and dialed the driving school dispatcher.
My voice was calm, but every person within earshot froze：
“Hello, I'd like to file a formal complaint against Instructor Thelma Gray. She discriminates against new mothers, verbally abuses students, deliberately makes things difficult, refuses to provide instruction during practice sessions while cutting my allotted time, and privately accepts cash gifts and presents from other students.”
“I need someone to come verify and address this as soon as possible.”
The dispatcher strolled over under a sun umbrella, taking his time.
By then Thelma was already jabbing a finger in my face, screaming, her tone vicious and unhinged：
“You nasty little bitch, you've got some nerve filing a complaint to my face!”
“You must be tired of living! Don't want your license anymore, is that it?!”
The dispatcher listened to all of it and didn't say a word to stop her. He just shook his head with a dismissive wave：
“Darlene, Instructor Gray is just blunt. She doesn't sugarcoat things, but her teaching is fine. Cut her some slack and stop making a mountain out of a molehill.”
She cursed me out, and I was the one making a mountain out of a molehill.
I pointed at the table next to Thelma, piled high with milk teas, bottles of water, cartons of cigarettes, and an unopened cash gift.
“Cut her some slack?”
“Because I didn't suck up to her, because I didn't bring her gifts, she deliberately targeted me, slashed my practice time, and berated me. And instead of holding her accountable, you're telling me to cut her some slack?”
The dispatcher looked at me like he'd heard it all before：
“Do you have any proof of what you're claiming?”
“Every student here is a witness!”
The words barely left my mouth before the guy with the spiked hair was the first to jump in：
“Don't drag us into this! Nobody bribed Thelma. We're just friends, we bought her a drink because it's hot out. Don't try to pull us down with you!”
I looked instinctively at April, and her eyes were already brimming, shaking her head at me over and over.
Terrified I'd drag her into it.
I let out a tired breath：
“I want the security footage reviewed. Someone put a foreign substance in my water bottle.”
“Foreign substance? You're just bad at driving. The instructor called you out a couple of times and now you're so twisted up inside you'd plant something in your own bottle just to frame Thelma and the rest of us!”
I opened my mouth to fire back, but the dispatcher cut me off, his patience gone, his tone final：
“Darlene, enough!”
“You're the one who insisted on a female instructor. We accommodated you and assigned Instructor Gray. What more do you want?”
My fists clenched at my sides：
“I signed up for one-on-one training. Not only have I not received the service I paid for, I've been deliberately harassed!”
The dispatcher let out a derisive laugh, not even pretending to be neutral：
“Instructor Gray is the only female instructor in the entire school, and you just started. You expect her to drop all her other students for you?”
“Be grateful you get any practice time at all. Stop causing a scene and let other people train, would you?”
Thelma stood off to the side, smirking at me, her eyes bright with triumph.
I gripped my phone and knew that even if I laid every piece of evidence on the table, this man would never touch her.
“I want to speak with Norman Fletcher, the person in charge. Somebody at this school has to be reasonable!”
The dispatcher gave a cold scoff and handed me a phone number.
I called seven times. No answer.
The eighth call finally went through.
I laid it all out: Thelma's harassment, the verbal abuse, the bribes she'd collected, the dispatcher who took her side.
I stated my demand for fair instruction and a proper investigation into every violation, clearly, one word at a time.
A few seconds of silence on the other end. Then：
“Listen, you just don't have the aptitude and you're a slow learner. The instructor being strict is for your own benefit.”
“This school has been open five years. You're the first student who's ever brought a complaint all the way to me. Maybe you should ask yourself if the problem is you.”
“Anyway, I'm busy. If you want to get your license without any trouble, I suggest you learn some manners.”
