David Thomas Jarecki

Jermaine

“This essay will be part of a national contest! First we will choose the best from every class. Then we will select the best essay to represent St. Agatha’s. The chosen essay will be sent to compete against the winners from other schools within the archdiocese.” Sister Mary Rose walked down the center of the sea of desks. “It must be written in black ink and printed clearly. The essay should be at least 3000 words but can be no longer than 5000 words. The title, which is the theme that you need to write to is; What the World Needs Now is Love, Jesus’ Love! This assignment is due one week from tomorrow. You can spend the remainder of the day working on your first draft.” Steven Wojelek, after writing the heading, froze as he stared at the blank bottom ¾ of the page. At first he wanted to write a story about Jesus saving people with his powers. Steven smiled as he pictured Jesus swooping down from the top of a building to stop a burglar from robbing a store. Jesus would pull loaves of bread from his toga and hurl them at the armed man before making the gun gravitate from the robber’s hand into His. Steven got excited by the idea but each time he started to write it he thought about how Sister Mary Rose would blast him if he wrote something that likened Jesus to a real live comic book superhero. He tried to think of another idea, but kept letting himself get distracted. Every few minutes Steven would look up at Catherine Wilson. Her seat was moved yesterday to the right and a row ahead of him. She was left handed so he was able to intently watch her skinny fingers scribble out her essay. He wondered what she was writing. Maybe she’s writing about Jesus as a superhero! Or…maybe she’s writing about the cute boy sitting in the row to her left and one row behind her! Crunch. Steven’s thoughts were interrupted by Catherine’s crumpling of the page she was working on. She softly balled it up with her long fingers and put it at the front edge of her desk. He abandoned his writing and stared at that crumpled piece of paper until the bell rang. Steven sat still at his desk as he watched Catherine gather her stuff and leave the classroom. She dropped the crumpled ball into the garbage can near the light switch by the door. Once everyone but Sister Mary Rose had left, Steven went to the trash can and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. He slowly peeled it back to see that it was Danny Davis’ essay. After dropping it back into the basket he pulled out another ball. It was Catherine’s. He discreetly put it in his pants pocket before leaving the classroom.

***** Steven sat on his bed and opened his notebook. He started writing his essay about poor people. He wrote about how some of them live in alleys and how others lived in normal places but wore torn, dirty clothes anyway. After two short paragraphs he paused trying to think about how to tie it back to Jesus—the image

of Jesus swooping down from a rooftop to help a homeless man in an alley came through his head. Jesus would take all the dumpsters and other discarded materials in the alley and make them all fly up in the air. He would make them all dismantle in mid-air and reassemble into small houses before letting them slowly descend from the sky and land along the alley for all the homeless people to live in.

Steven quickly brushed off the idea and shook his head as reality hit. 3000 words!—he thought to himself as he crumpled up the first page. The act reminded him that he had Catherine’s crumpled essay. He got up from the bed and retrieved it from his pants pocket. He carefully un-balled the paper and flattened it out the best that he could across the dresser top. She had written three paragraphs before she tossed the essay away. It was about her aunt that had died three weeks ago. Steven became sad after reading her thoughts about her aunt. But then he got a warm feeling in his stomach—he had an aunt that passed away about a year ago. There was a connection between them! He grabbed the paper from his dresser and lay on his bed. He read it again, the large odd loops of her Palmer Method cursive “l”, the way she scratched out the word “the” and changed it to “an” before pausing her last sentence and crumbling up the paper. Steven read the essay eight times before his mother called him to dinner.

***** Sister Mary Rose wheeled the TV Stand to the front of the classroom. After a few minutes of messing with the antenna, she got the picture to come in with the least fuzzy image possible. “Okay, children. In a few minutes we are about to witness history! The first teacher in space!” “I wish we could shoot Sister Mary Rose into space.” Freddy Dvorcelk leaned over and whispered to Steven. “Stop it.” Steven replied before chuckling. “A little background before we watch the launch. Christa McAuliffe comes from Concord, New Hampshire. She was selected from over 11,000 applicants to participate on this mission.” Sister Mary Rose excitedly read from a stack of papers. “Mrs. McAuliffe is a teacher of history and civics. See!! See!!” She looked up from the paper and waved her pointer finger across the room. “See, I told you that history is important! You don’t listen to me though, do you? You need to learn and master history if you want to build the future!” Sister Mary Rose lifted the press release in the air as she poked her bony finger into the pages. Some of the class laughed at her. Steven rolled his eyes as he waited for the big moment. “Sister! They’re about to launch!” Mikey Buvella pointed at the television screen where the live news feed displayed the space shuttle sitting idle on the launch pad.

Sister Mary Rose’s black veil flapped behind her as she scurried over to the wall to flip the light switch off. You would’ve thought she was the one about to coordinate the launch. The class sat forward and stared at the image on the screen. The announcer stated that the Shuttle Challenger launch was originally scheduled for January 22nd and was delayed several times before today’s launch attempt. Behind the announcer you could hear the static-filled transmission of the NASA official counting down “T-minus 21 seconds and counting.” A dead silence came across the room

“7, 6, we have main engine start, 4, 3, 2, 1 and lift off! Lift off of the 25th Space Shuttle Mission…and it has cleared the tower!” The children began clapping and cheering. Steven pounded his desk. Everyone gazed in amazement at the shuttle slowly turning as it shot up into the atmosphere. The large red booster and two white rockets that the shuttle was attached to left behind a large streaming line of red flames while continuing up into the blue sky. Freddy leaned over and gave Steven a high five as the rest of the class looked around and celebrated with each other. Sister Mary Rose beamed with pride, standing next to the TV stand clapping. She lifted the gold cross hanging at the top of her chest and put it up to her lips. She closed her eyes and kissed it while the class went wild. The shuttle tilted more and more to the right across the TV screen before the camera shot cut to a side view. The announcer began talking about how many delays there were the past few days. Just as he segued to the possibility of today’s launch being postponed, the shuttle was suddenly covered by a large puff of white smoke. Red pockets of flames emerged within large puff before two large streams of white smoke snaked off in opposite directions above the main white cloud. Several smaller lines of white smoke shot down from the bottom before sprinkles of debris rained down and a lone red ball of fire made a u-turn—shooting downward in a corkscrew pattern. The children gasped as they looked around and started chattering amongst themselves. Sister Mary Rose’s jaw dropped as she stared at the television.

“It looks like a couple of the solid rocket boosters blew away from the shuttle…in an explosion.” The broadcast announcer flatly stated. Sister Mary Rose turned off the television and darted out of the classroom. The class began clamoring speculation (Commies, Aliens, Gremlins, etc.) about what they had just witnessed and who was behind it. Steven sat back numb in his chair. He looked over at Catherine. She was in the same state—avoiding any of the gossip or speculation by crossing her arms and looking up at the blank dark television screen. Sister Mary Rose, visibly shaken, returned to the front of the class. “Okay, calm down students. We’ve gotten word that there was indeed a major

malfunction with the shuttle launch. Rescue procedures are in effect and recovery forces have been sent out. Let’s all fold our hands and say a prayer for the astronauts and their families as we wait for more information to…to come in.” The class quieted and sat up before folding their hands in unison. “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name….”

**** The next day the class was lined up in the hall decked out in their school-issued uniforms. The boys in their light blue polo shirts and dark navy blue pants and girls in their blue plaid skirts, white button down tops coved by matching blue vests. “Hey…did you hear that they found the luggage of the astronauts washed up on a Florida beach?” Danny Davis asked Steven. “Really?” “Yeah, they found their shampoo. They used ‘Head and Shoulders’ shampoo.” “Oh.” “It’s a joke! Get it, their heads and shoulders washed up on the beach. It was a lot funnier the way my dad told it last night. He heard it at work.” “Man, that’s not cool! Those people died!” “It’s just a joke dude, relax.” Sister Mary Rose led the eighth graders into the classroom before having them line up before the fifth grade class. “Okay everybody, listen up.” Miss Jacqueline commanded the class once everyone was inside. “Today the eighth graders are here and we will be assigning you your big brothers and big sisters. For the next three weeks you will be spending a lot of time with them. We have it scheduled for you to sit with them in their class and even spend your lunch period with them at times. They’ll spend time with you in this class, starting today. I would like to thank the eighth graders and Sister Mary Rose for doing this for us!” Miss Jacqueline and Sister Mary Rose smiled and as their eyes beamed following the introduction of the Big Brother/ Big Sister program. The fifth graders began clapping and cheering. The eighth graders unenthusiastically smiled as they looked down at the dreaded wooden chairs placed next to each fifth grader’s desk. Sister Mary Rose took up the duty of handing out 3 x 5 cards with the names of each fifth grader on them. The eighth graders then scattered around the room in a scavenger hunt to match up the card with the colorful self-decorated name plates on top of the fifth graders’ desks. Steven was assigned to Tommy Doubier. As soon as he found the nametag he realized that he had been assigned to the splotchy kid. Tommy had extremely

short (almost bald) blonde hair and pale red splotches all over his skin. Due to the shortness of his hair you could even see the splotches across the top and sides of his head.

Steven cautiously sat next to him. Tommy extended his hand without looking up him. Steven avoided the handshake by patting him on the shoulder. Tommy’s small, frail frame was pulled in tight. It was like his stomach was the center of his being, pulling his head down, his arms tight in and his legs squeezed together and upward. “So, what do you think about the space shuttle explosion yesterday? It was pretty crazy! Did your class watch it?” Steven asked.

Tommy shook his head no. “Do you like comic books, do you like Superman?” Steven offered as he

scooted his seat a couple of inches to the right—away from his new little brother. Tommy just shook his head without pulling his shaken gaze from the desk top. Steven leaned over to look under his desk to see if he may have wet his pants.

***** “You got the splotchy kid! I can’t believe it. I almost pissed myself cracking up when I saw you sit down next to him! ” Danny Davis laughed before plunging his spoon into the chili bowl. “So what? What if you had gotten assigned to be his big brother? I wouldn’t be laughing at you that’s for sure!” Steven used his spoon to pull little pieces of peppers and onions from the chili and place them in a small pile on top of a napkin he had set up on the tray.

“Hey… all jokes aside that stuff he’s got is contagious.” “What…what do you mean? What stuff does he have?” Steven put his spoon down to organize his tray. He moved the chili bowl to the right and slid his carrot cake up before adjusting his cornbread and milk carton at the back of the tray. “I don’t know…he’s got cancer or leukemia or polo or something man. Look at those splotches and how he’s all shy all the time. Hey, I am sorry for you that you got him as a little brother and I hope you don’t catch anything, but when he has to sit here for lunch I’m gonna sit somewhere else. I don’t want to catch any of that.” Danny pushed a spoonful of chili into his mouth. “You can go eat in the bathroom for all that I care. I just might be sitting somewhere else soon anyway.” Steven said as he looked across the cafeteria at Catherine. She was sitting by herself at the end of the table. She pulled her sandy blonde hair back over her right shoulder as she opened up a book next to her lunch tray. “Mr. Wojelek!” “Yes Sister Bethany.” Steven sat up.

“What is that mess that you are making there on your tray?” “I don’t like onions or peppers, so I’m taking them out of my chili.” “Why didn’t you choose the macaroni and cheese option then?” Sister Bethany put her hands at her sides as she asked. “My mom makes chili with meat and beans only. I didn’t know that this chili had onions and peppers in it.” “Take your tray back up.” Sister Bethany handed Steven a faded orange lunch ticket. “Trade this in for the macaroni and cheese meal. Next time pay attention and ask the cafeteria clerk questions before you make your meal selection.” “Thank you Sister Bethany.” Steven picked up his tray and walked over to the front counter. After getting his macaroni and cheese Steven slowly walked over to the table where Catherine was sitting. He paused. She looked up at him curiously. Before they made eye contact he moved swiftly past her table to the other end of the cafeteria--taking the long way around to get back to his seat next to Danny.

***** Steven sat on his bed and opened his notebook. He started his essay for the

fifth time. This time he began writing about the Space Shuttle Challenger and the astronauts who died. Less than a paragraph into the essay he paused. He pictured Jesus swooping up from the top of a building to shoot into the sky and hold the rockets to the side of the booster so that they didn’t detach from the Space Shuttle. He would then guide the shuttle to turn back around back to Earth so that the astronauts could go back home to be with their families.

After a few minutes he crumbled up the paper and spent the remainder of his home study time reading Catherine’s essay beginning.

***** Tommy was extra splotchy today. He sat hunched over in a chair next to Steven’s desk as Sister Mary Rose detailed the events that lead up to the Civil War. Across the way he noticed Danny not even paying attention to his little brother. He and Seth Kravitz kept looking back at him and laughing. Steven tried to ignore them by looking over at Catherine and the little sister that was assigned to her. She got a lively little girl with bright dark eyes and cute little pig tails hanging down from her head. Catherine was acting very motherly towards her. She was constantly leaning over and interpreting the Civil War lesson for her.

It was how Steven wanted to work with Tommy. But every time he spoke to the kid he seemed to grow more nervous. After awhile, he just took notes and tried to comprehend the lesson for himself. Once class was over and everyone had drained out of the room Steven walked up to Sister Mary Rose’s desk. He put his bag down and began scratching his arms as he waited for her to finish writing in her journal. “Mr. Wojelek, stop scratching yourself.” “Okay Sister.” “It may temporarily relieve the itching sensation, but the more you scratch an itch the more you worsen the condition itself. Do you need to see Nurse Madge?” Sister Mary Rose asked as she put her pen down and turned to give Steven her full attention. “NO! No…that’s not what I need. What I was wondering was if I could trade my little brother for another one?” “Trade your little brother? Mr. Wojelek! Your assigned little brother is not a baseball card or a used car, young man. What issue do you have with being assigned Tommy Doubier for a little brother?” “Well…he’s got a disease and I think I’m catching it. That’s why my arms keep itching. I heard that he might have cancer or leukemia or polo. I just don’t think I can help him.” “I assure you that Tommy Doubier does not have a disease. Whoever told you that nonsense is simply partaking in the art of gossip. Now what have I told you children in the past about gossip?” “Gossip is a pillow. I know, I know.” Steven bent over and picked up his book bag. “No…no that’s not what I said.” Sister Mary Rose stood from her chair and put her arms at her sides. “What I’ve said is that spreading gossip is the same as tearing open a pillow and hanging it out the window. The feathers will be pulled out by the wind, get spread all over town and it becomes impossible for you to go around and collect all the feathers to put them back inside of the pillow. Now…do you still wish to participate in gossip about Mr. Doubier?” “No Sister, I do not. But if he doesn’t have a disease then why does he have splotchy red spots all over his skin all the time?” “I don’t know. It could simply just be a test from God for him. His skin could be a test like the burden that God gave foreigners like blacks and Mexicans

when he gave them the skin that they have. Or maybe it’s the result of an innocent nervous condition. Sometimes people turn red or have red splotches when they feel uncomfortable. Mr. Wojelek you are a below C student who is barely skating by in my class. You are mere months away from graduating St. Agatha’s. I expect you to act in a Catholic manner and fulfill your responsibility to the Big Brother/ Big Sister program so that you do not jeopardize your marks any further than you already have with your often sloppy and unfocused work.” “I will fulfill my responsibility Sister Mary Rose.” “Very good then.”

***** There were three clusters of children that broke off into different directions at the corner of 51st and Cass. Steven was about to cross the Cass Street with Danny Davis—as he did every day—when he noticed Catherine in the cluster about to cross 51st street. Steven walked over to that crowd.

“Where you goin’?” Danny turned back to ask Steven. “To my Aunt’s.” He replied as the light changed and they started to cross the busy street. Steven noticed that his little brother, Tommy Doubier, was in the group of students trekking east. The little dude had a tattered green back pack and was walking quickly—leaning forward with one hand in his pocket and the other gripping a faded old tin lunch box. Steven took his view from the kid to watch Catherine who was pretty much at the front of the line. She was walking at an even-keeled pace—her long legs kept her at the front of the pack. Agnes—a short seventh grade girl with red hair walked close to her. Occasionally, they had some words but Catherine was mostly by herself during the walk. After the group got half a block from 51st street Steven noticed that Tommy was no longer with them. He looked back to see him standing by himself near a tree. A seventh grader walked back to him and leaned over to talk to him. Sister Bethany, with a concerned look on her face, started to walk up to the two of them. Steven looked back at the group crossing the street ahead before he decided to go back and see if everything was okay with Tommy. A cherry red ’57 Chevy was idle at the curb before him. When a large man with bushy brown moustache got out of the car and walked quickly around to the curb, Sister Bethany turned and walked back to the street corner. Sister Bethany paused at the intersection and looked back. The man opened the door and ordered

Tommy to get in the back seat while shouting out some cuss words throughout his instructions. “Wow this is a nice car!” The seventh grader stepped to the front of the car and put his hand on the hood. Tommy’s father ran over and jerked the kid’s arm off the car before dragging him away and slamming him up against the tree. “Git on your way boy!” He shouted before turning back to the car. Sister Bethany put her hand to her mouth as she watched from the street corner. Tommy started to walk over to the fallen seventh grader. Tommy’s father swung full force give him a hard back-hand crack across his left cheek. Tommy’s head jerked away as he fell to the ground. His father picked up Tommy’s lunch box and walked around to get in the driver’s seat.

Tommy got up quickly and jumped in the car. The seventh grader stood and ran. The red Chevy screeched away. Steven looked over to see Sister Bethany frozen as she stared at the scene. She turned away and ran across 51st street.

“Hey, dude!” Steven called out to the seventh grader as he jetted by him to turn down the alley.

***** The group was over a block away now. Steven jogged at half speed until he caught up to them. Catherine was still at the front talking with her red-headed friend, Agnes. There was a line three people across between him and her. He strained to try and hear what she and Agnes were talking about as they continued east. Four blocks later it was just the three of them. When they stopped at a street corner waiting for cars to pass Steven heard that they were talking about cats. “I have…have…a cat.” Steven said softly. “What did you say Steven?” Agnes turned her head back and asked. “I have a cat, his name is Bubby.” “Bubby.” Catherine repeated as her deep blue eyes glistened and small thin pink lips curved upwards. “Alright, well what I was telling you about my brother was…” Agnes interrupted as they crossed the street. Steven stood frozen at the corner as he let the vision of Catherine’s reaction to his cat’s name stick in his brain for a minute.

Two blocks later Agnes peeled off and it was just Catherine—with Steven trailing her by about a quarter of a block. When they got to Spaulding Street Steven paused at the edge of the alley and waited for Catherine to turn the corner before he proceeded. He looked down the block to see what house was hers. It took him a minute before he noticed she was at the top of the stairs on the corner house. He continued on and hid along the side of the house across the street. From the dark red brick edge he watched her sift through the mail before she put her key in the door and entered her house. Steven turned and leaned against the wall as he closed his eyes and thought back to Catherine saying “Bubby” and smiling. The cute redness of her cheeks the blue of her eyes the pink of her lips and the white clouds of her breath in the January wind all combined in his head to form a heart and put that warm feeling back in his stomach. Steven smiled as he walked back across Spaulding Street past her house. The sky was beginning to darken. He had 10 blocks to walk back to school before turning down 51st to walk 8 more blocks to get to his house.

***** It was almost dinner time. Steven dashed over to his dresser and started rummaging through the top middle drawer. He sifted through comic books, some old matchbox cars and football cards before he found a stack of pictures. He found a picture of himself and Bubby. He was wearing his grey Confirmation suit while holding the cat. Steven had put one of his dad’s ties around Bubby’s neck for the event. You could see in the cat’s eyes how pissed off he was. Steven smiled before folding it in half. He put it in his coat pocket before heading to the kitchen for dinner.

***** What the World Needs Now Is Love, Jesus’ Love!

Steven stared at the title on the top of the page. He thought back through his day and remembered Sister Mary Rose’s lesson about the Civil War. He figured that since she was so big on history and the Civil War really could’ve used Jesus’ help—he would write about it. This would greatly increase his chances of her picking it from the class and moving it on to the next level of the contest. After the first two paragraphs Steven pictured Jesus swopping down from a windmill to break open all the cabins at the back of a plantation and freeing up some slaves. He would shoot lasers from his eyes to break the chains before

transforming some wheat into bread and turning some water into wine for all the slaves gulp down. When the masters came out from the house Jesus would lift his arms straight out and start spinning in an increasingly fast circle. He would keep spinning until his long hair and beard and his toga whipped around in furious circles for him to become a full blown tornado! Then he would spin all across the plantation until the slave masters were completely blown off the land. After returning from his imagination, Steven started the third paragraph. The Civil War theme was growing on him the more he thought and wrote about it. Once he completed the fourth paragraph he looked back up at the title.

What the World Needs NOW Is Love, Jesus’ Love! He balled up the paper and began to slowly re-write the heading on fresh

sheet. Steven paused to try and think of something else…something that was happening these days and not all those years ago. Frustrated, he pulled out Catherine’s crinkled essay from the back of his folder and began reading it again—as he had for the past three nights. The more he read it the more he felt connected to her. And the more he read it…the more he began to miss his own aunt.

***** After reading Catherine’s essay beginning for the fifteenth time he un-

crumpled his own Civil War essay and gave it a once over. All of the sudden…it came to him. Steven remembered an incident that happened a year or so ago when he was traveling to the city on a bus with his parents….

They were sitting on the side seats that ran along the walls near the back of the bus. Two older women, who also attended St. Agatha’s, were sitting across from them. Steven’s parents spoke politely with them for a few minutes before everyone retreated to their own personal conversations. A black man in his early to mid twenties got on and sat next to the ladies. The women began talking about him as if he wasn’t there. They started going back and forth about things that they didn’t like about black people. They used every imaginable racial slur throughout their conversation. They talked about how they smelled funny and were rude. At one point they called black people heartless animals. All this was done in a loud, intentional way so that the man would hear them. Steven looked up to his parents who were talking amongst themselves oblivious to what was going on.

After a few minutes the man got up from the seat and stood away from them a couple of aisles away. Steven watched the ladies watching him. He became fixed on the golden crosses hanging from their necks—the same ones the Sisters at school wore. A couple of stops later the man walked over to the back exit just to the right of where Steven was sitting. The ladies began talking about black people again; they even raised their voices another level to make sure he heard them. Steven’s eyes began to water up as he tried to hold back his tears. The black man was looking forward at the doors, waiting for them to open—calm. He turned his head to see Steven crying. He put his thumb to his cheek and pressed it against a tear about to head down to the corner of his mouth. After pulling his hand back he leaned over. The black man flashed a look of concern before his eyes brightened and he smiled down at him. The bus stopped and the door opened. The man winked at Steven before he exited. Steven’s pen came alive! He re-wrote the opening paragraphs about the Civil War and then tied it into his experience on the bus. He described everything that happened. Within an hour he had written six pages. Steven took a deep breath and smiled. He flipped the notebook back to the front and began reading the essay from the beginning.

***** “You goin’ to your Aunt’s AGAIN!” Danny Davis shouted as Steven lined up with the cluster of kids headed east from the corner of 51st and Cass. “Yeah, I’ll be going there after school for awhile.” After crossing 51st street, Steven noticed that Agnes wasn’t in the group. She must’ve had detention or maybe was home sick. Catherine was walking by herself at the front of the group. He got excited as he put his hand in his right coat pocket and softly gripped the folded picture of Bubby. Steven started thinking about when he should break out the picture to show her. At first he sped up his pace but when he got halfway through the crowd he grew nervous and slowed down to return to the tail end.

Steven took a deep breath and looked back at the school before he crossed the next street. He noticed that Tommy Doubier was standing by a tree—his hands gripping his lunch box hanging in front of him. The place where his dad’s ’57 Chevy was parked the day before was vacant. Steven started to walk across the street but then turned to look back a second time. Sister Bethany was nowhere

to be found at her usual station across 51st street to make sure all the kids had moved away from the school. He recalled that she wasn’t at the morning mass either.

Steven continued across the street. The group was only about a quarter of a block away from him. He decided to wait at the corner to see if Tommy’s dad showed up. Steven twisted his head to look from the departing crowd of students to Tommy waiting by the curb.

Soon Catherine and the group were over a block away and the curb spot in front of Tommy remained vacant. In the distance he could see that Catherine was flanking the group on the right. He pulled out the picture of Bubby and stared at the cat’s confused look with the brown and blue striped tie hanging from its neck. After folding the picture back up and stuffing it in his pocket he took a quick glance back at Catherine and the group that was now shrinking against the horizon.

When Steven got to Tommy, he was sitting cross-legged next to the tree with his chin propped up by his cupped hands. Steven dropped his book bag and sat cross-legged next to him.

“Are you waiting for your dad?” Steven asked. Tommy nodded his head without looking at him. “Is it okay if I wait with you?” Tommy tilted his head to the left and looked up at him cautiously—a dirty

dark brown snow cap on his head. After a few seconds he nodded his head and returned his stare to the empty curbside before them. Steven remained quiet hoping that the kid would speak up first. He looked down at Tommy’s tin, faded blue lunch box with an elephant and rainbow design on the front. The handle was bent and the hinges were rusted.

“Do you like elephants?” Steven asked. “No.” Tommy softly stated. “Do you like rainbows?” Tommy shrugged his shoulders. Cars whizzed by as the two of them sat silent. Steven followed every

approaching pair of headlights fearing and hoping that it was the ’57 Chevy. The sky began to darken from a foggy white to a light grey color. Tommy continued to stare at the vacant car space. Sitting on the cold ground began to bother Steven. He pulled his book bag over and sat on top of it.

“Have you had one of the Sisters as a teacher yet?”

“No.” “Ohhhhh boy! You just wait until you get one of them!” Tommy smiled. “Honestly though, they’re not that bad…the hardest part is trying to pay

attention to them even though they look like big gi-normous penguins.” Tommy let out a muffled chuckle. “Seriously, they do don’t they? With the black veils, coats and skirts,

having that white shirt in the middle like a big penguin belly!” Tommy started laughing and shaking his head up and down. “On top of that did you ever see Sister Teresa walk?” Steven stood and went

over to the vacant parking spot before them. He put his heels together and began a bobbling walk back and forth while flapping his arms at his sides.

Tommy started to laugh hysterically as he watched Steven continue his animated circle around the empty space.

After a few minutes Steven returned smiling to plop back down to his seat on top of his book bag. “You want to hear a good joke about penguins?” “Yeah!” “The Police pull over a lady. When the cop looks in the back seat she has 3 penguins in the back seat.” Tommy attentively looked up at Steven as he spoke. “The policeman says ‘Hey lady! You need to bring those penguins to the Zoo!’ The lady agrees and drives away. The next day the same policeman pulls over the same lady. When the policeman looks in the car she still has the penguins in her back seat. But this time the penguins are wearing sunglasses. The policeman says ‘Hey lady! Didn’t I tell you to take them to the zoo yesterday?’ The lady then replies ‘Yes officer and I listened to you. I took them to the zoo. And today…today I’m taking them to the beach!’” Steven started laughing as he slapped his knee. Tommy smiled as he cupped his hands under his chin. “Get it? She was supposed to take them to the zoo so they could stay there not for fun but then the next day….” Steven stopped explaining the joke as he noticed Tommy starting to get nervous. “I’m sorry Tommy. I just didn’t tell the joke the right way. What about cats? Do you like cats?” “Yeah! I like cats and I like dogs but we don’t have any of them. But I do like them!” Tommy perked up almost to the point where he was when Steven was doing his penguin imitation.

“Have you ever seen a cat so smart that it could dress up like an office guy?” “Noooo!!” Tommy let out a long exaggerated response while his eyes brightened. Steven pulled out the picture of him and his cat Bubby. He handed it over. “Haaa Haa!!!!” Tommy started cracking up as he looked at the long blue and brown tie hanging from the cat’s neck. “You see that grey suit that I’m wearing?” “Yeah!” Tears of laughter emerged from Tommy’s eyes as he looked down at the picture. “That’s my Confirmation suit. You’re going to have to wear a nice grey suit like that in a couple years for your Confirmation when you get to seventh grade.” “Really?” Tommy’s eyes beamed as he looked down at the picture.

***** The sky had become completely dark. “Are you cold?” Steven asked. “Y…yy..yeah.” Tommy’s teeth were slightly clattering. “Alright. Let’s go back to the school. Maybe somebody there can help us.” Steven stood and picked up his bag. Tommy grabbed his faded blue lunch box and tattered green back pack. The two of them walked to the corner. The bright headlights of the cars whizzing by were complimented by occasionally honking horns in the darkness of the four lane road. Soon the walkway crossing light turned green. Steven held his hand out. Tommy reached his splotchy red hand up to grip Steven’s before they crossed 51st street. All the lights in the school were out so Steven walked over to the Convent door. He hit the buzzer four or five times before someone answered the door. It was Sister Mary Rose. She wasn’t wearing her vale. It freaked Steven out to see her scattered gray and black hair uncovered. She brought them into a stale smelling dark wood sitting area and gave them each a glass of milk before leaving to get Father Petrovick. They were very nice and talked with them for about a half hour before their respective parents arrived to pick them up.

***** All weekend Steven worked on the essay. Several times he ripped the pages of his most recent draft out of the notebook and began re-writing it slowly—

making sure each letter was written clearly and that all his paragraphs were aligned correctly on both margins.

***** Tommy stood with his lunch box next to Steven who was waiting in line with a faded orange hot lunch ticket in his hand. Sister Teresa was at the other end of cafeteria walking toward the hot lunch line. “Penguin alert.” Steven leaned over and whispered. Tommy’s eyes widened as he looked up to see Sister Teresa headed their way. He started laughing as he covered his mouth. Tommy looked down bashfully trying to hold his laughter back as she walked by them. As he had promised, Danny Davis sat with his little brother at the other end of the cafeteria for fear of catching something from Tommy. When they got to the table Steven opened his apple juice carton and arranged his meal across the tray. He put his spaghetti plate in front and moved his garlic bread and pudding cup to the back. Tommy opened his lunch box and pulled out two baggies. Steven noticed Tommy’s fingernails were long with dirt caked underneath. Once the sandwich was unwrapped and the thermos was removed, Tommy folded his hands and nodded his head forward while closing his eyes. Steven watched him mouth the words to a meal prayer. He looked past the wrinkled collar of Tommy’s light blue shirt collar to see a patch of dirt. It ran across his splotchy skin from the back of his neck up behind his left ear. When finished with the prayer, Tommy took a bite from his sandwich (bread with a single slice of cheese) before twisting the cap off of his blue thermos—which had a faded replication of the elephant/ rainbow design on the front of the lunch box. Steven looked down at the other baggie. It contained a jumbled mix of salted crackers with a mess of jelly spread all over them.

“What do you have to drink?” “It’s water. But I dumped some jelly and some sugar in there so that it could taste like juice!” Tommy smiled cleverly at Steven before he picked up his sandwich. Steven noticed that there was a green spot on the bottom corner of the bread. “Hold on a minute.” Steven put his hand on Tommy’s arm before he took another bite. He moved his head around to look at the front of the sandwich. “This bread has mold on it, you can’t eat this…you’ll get sick!” Steven took the sandwich from his hand and pointed out the green spots of mold on the bread.

“But I ate it like this before and I didn’t get sick.” Tommy looked down at the sandwich. “Wait here and don’t touch that sandwich. I’ll be right back.” Steven got up and walked to the front lunch counter. “Sister Bethany.” “Yes, Mr. Wojelek.” “Can I have an extra hot lunch ticket for my little brother, Tommy Doubier? His sandwich has mold on it and he’s drinking water from a dirty thermos.” “I cannot do that Mr. Wojelek.” Sister Bethany stated as she looked past him at Tommy. “But…but you did it for me the other day when I was making a mess with my chili.” “Mr. Wojelek, Tommy Doubier is not signed up for the hot lunch program as you are. I am not at liberty to give him a hot meal ticket.” “Well, then can you give me my ticket for tomorrow?” “What, then, will you do for lunch tomorrow young man?” “I don’t know.”

***** Steven returned to the table with a tray of food. He helped Tommy gather up his lunch before placing the tray before him. Steven put the blue elephant lunch box on the floor behind Tommy’s chair. “Thank you.” Tommy said in a humble tone before he picked up the fork and started to twirl strands of spaghetti around it. PING! THUMP! Some kid walking by stepped on Tommy’s lunch box. “Sorry.” He said before quickly moving on. Steven scooted back to pick up the lunch box. Tommy stared nervously at it with his once bitten slice of garlic bread paused in his hand—a small splotch of spaghetti sauce on his cheek. “Don’t worry. I think I can fix it.” Steven pushed his tray back as he inspected the beleaguered blue lunch box. He pressed the metal back from the inside to try and push the dent out. He was able to get it straightened out…for the most part. But there was nothing he could do for the broken rusted hinge that left the front flapping open.

***** Steven walked with Tommy across the street. His father’s red Chevy was there waiting. After a quick goodbye Steven was able to follow Catherine along with the rest of the crowd. Just as they were about to cross the street he heard some yelling.

Steven turned around. The scattered crowd of kids filed past him, around him as he watched

Tommy’s large, bushy-mustached father jerking the kid’s small skinny arm above the his head. “What happened to this!?!?!” He shouted as he shook the blue lunch box in the air—the broken lid flapping below, barely hanging by its single rusted hinge.

Steven began to walk in their direction. Before he got back to the corner, Tommy’s father swung the lunch box with his left hand cracking it across his right cheek. Tommy fell to the ground before rolling over on his side. After he swung the lunch box down twice to hit him in the back, Tommy’s father lined the lunch box directly over his head before bringing it down with a hard thrust at the base of his skull. Tommy pulled his head down to put himself in a defensive fetal position. He gripped his small hands around the back of his neck as he began to let out a choking, whimpering cry.

Steven started to jog, keeping to the other side of the sidewalk along the perimeter of a tall wooden fence. He looked ahead to see that Sister Bethany was on the corner of 51st Street watching the entire thing transpire. Tommy’s father put the lunch box in the back seat before dragging Tommy from the ground and stuffing him into the passenger seat of the car. Steven ran towards Sister Bethany. She was already half way back across 51st street when he got to the corner. He noticed her give the sign of the cross as she darted away from the scene.

Steven slunk his head down as he turned to watch the cherry red ’57 Chevy squeal away.

***** Catherine and the group were almost two blocks away. He ran to catch up to

them. Agnes was back on the scene and yapping it up with Catherine at the front of the crowd. Steven couldn’t hear what they were talking about but stayed at the back patiently waiting for everyone to peel off from the crowd.

When they got close to a block away from Spaulding Street and Catherine was the only one left, Steven ran up to get next to her.

“I…I have some…something to show you.” He stuttered out as he dug his hand into the pocket of his coat.

“What?” Catherine stopped at the edge of her lawn. Her hair was tucked into a fuzzy pink hat as she re-positioned the book-bag strap on her right shoulder with her left hand.

Steven felt around but couldn’t find the picture of him and Bubby in his pocket. He had forgotten that he gave to Tommy last week. He improvised by pulling out a small green pack of spearmint gum and extended it out to her.

“Thank you.” Catherine took a stick from the pack. Her eye-lids—in slow motion blinked as she nodded while smiling. She turned and walked to her house.

Steven crossed the street and took position along the dark red brick house on the other side of Spaulding. He watched Catherine wipe her feet on the porch mat before she walked through the front door.

After turning back and crossing the street Steven stopped. He stared down the distant line of slightly cracked sidewalk—leafless trees aligned the path along the right side. Darkness seemed to be setting in earlier than normal. Steven turned right and headed north so that he didn’t have to pass the spot where he had just watched what happened to Tommy.

***** When he got home Steven pulled out his notebook and read over his essay. He decided to remove the first two paragraphs about the Civil War and start the piece off by recounting the incident on the bus. Steven re-wrote it from scratch. He decided to put the real names of the church patrons into the essay. During the latest re-write they were no longer referred to as old ladies from the parish—they were now Misses Arbuckle and Mrs. Woznielnski respectively. When Steven read his own words about when the black man looked over at him, he choked up. He started to cry when he read about him putting his thumb up to wipe his tear away, when he smiled at him, when he winked at him. Steven wondered—as he had since the day it happened—why this man who was going through misery of his own would take the time to make these gestures in hopes of cheering him up—relieving him of his misery. When he re-gained his composure, he finished re-writing the original essay. Once he was done, Steven realized that the ending didn’t really tie the theme back to Jesus.

He paused and thought for a few minutes before he wrote the final paragraphs to close out the essay. Steven turned the title around and started talking about how the world didn’t need Jesus’ love. The last line of his essay read: “What the world has now is love, Jesus’ love…what the world needs to do is show that love to each other!”

***** Steven handed the completely clean and clearly written essay to Sister Mary Rose. His eyes beamed with pride as he placed the clear plastic cover, red-spine binding in her hands. When he looked ahead at Catherine he noticed that she was scribbling away with her left hand—writing the last page. She wrote her last words and put the page onto the metal tabs of her report cover. She got it fastened in just enough time to place it on top of the stack as Sister Mary Rose walked by. The bell rang and the class filed out. Just as he was about to exit the classroom, Steven turned around and walked up to Sister Mary Rose’s desk. She was digging through the essays—arranging them in alphabetical order by last name.

“Yes, Mr. Wojelek, can I help you?” She placed the stack of five essays that were in her hand on the edge of the desk so that she could turn and give him her full attention.

“It’s about my little brother, Tommy Doubier.” “I believe we already covered this matter young man. If you wish to

graduate St. Agatha’s, and attend a fine Catholic High School in this area, you must fulfill your commitment to the class curriculum up to and including the Big Brother/ Big Sister Program. This is not negotiable Mr. Wojelek!” Sister Mary Rose stood from her desk.

“Sister, it’s not that. I’m just fine with Tommy being my little brother. The problem I have now is that I walk by him on my way home and I have seen a couple times where he is getting hit really bad by his father. Yesterday I saw his dad hit him with his lunch box. Today Tommy’s got a cut on his cheek and he has a large bruise on the back of his head. Remember when I came to you last time about his splotches? You told me that it might be because he was nervous. Well, I think that Tommy is nervous and splotchy all the time because he keeps on getting hit all the time.”

“My God!” Sister Mary Rose put her hands to her mouth as she returned to her seat.

“Sister Bethany saw it happen too. She’s right out there on the corner of 51st every day. Well, almost every day. She wasn’t there the day that Tommy’s dad didn’t even show up.” Steven’s eyes moistened as he spoke.

“Okay, okay. We will take care of this!” Sister Mary Rose put her hand on Steven’s shoulder. “I’ll talk to Sister Bethany and we will get to the bottom of the situation! We will make sure that Mr. Doubier is no longer in harm’s way. You did the right thing, the Catholic thing, by reporting this to me.”

***** Steven didn’t even cross the street this time after passing by Tommy and his father. He stopped at the corner of a large wooden fence and turned back to watch them. Tommy’s dad helped him remove his back pack. They quietly got into the cherry red Chevy before the car slowly pulled away from the curb. Their peaceful exit along with Sister Mary Rose’s promise to keep Tommy out of harm’s way calmed Steven. He smiled as he continued east to follow Catherine. Steven didn’t even try to approach her this time. He just watched her walk about a half a block ahead of him. She turned on Spaulding, he crossed it. He hid along the red brick edge corner; she disappeared through the front door frame before he crossed the street and walked past her house. The walk home was enjoyable despite the bitter weather. Steven decided to take the same path home he did the day before. There were certain “landmarks” that he enjoyed along the way. A crazy twisted spiraling tree on Francisco Ave., Michaelson’s Banquet Hall—which had some old time black light fixtures out front, a small seasonally disabled fountain in out front of Seneca Park, the grey gravel stone sitting ledge that poked out along the side of Tallman Bank. Steven hopped up on top of it and walked along the side of the building for the home stretch of the evening’s walk home. It wasn’t wide enough for him to skip but there was a distinct bounce in his step nonetheless.

***** “Alright class. Have a good afternoon. Mr. Wojelek, please remain behind, I need to speak with you.” Sister Mary Rose announced as the bell rang. “Oooohhhh!!” The class chorused before filing out of the room.

Steven waited at his desk.

Sister Mary Rose shut the door before picking up Steven’s essay from her desktop and walked over to him. “Who wrote this?” She asked as she lifted his essay in the air and pointed at it. “What do you mean? I wrote it.” Steven responded. “I can see that it is in your hand writing but where did you copy this from? Someone either wrote this for you or you found it somewhere and copied it. I must remind you Mr. Wojelek that plagiarism is a form of lying and thus it is a sin!” Sister Mary rose placed the essay on Steven’s desk. “I did write this Sister. I…I spent a lot of time on it. I was going to write it about poor people. But then I was going to write it about the Civil War lesson you taught us last week but then I thought about it even more and decided to write about what happened to me on the bus one day.” “First off, Mr. Wojelek, the work done here is well above the 8th grade level. Second, there is nothing in your previous work ethic to convince me that you were capable of producing this kind of work. You are barely hanging on to a D in English as it is. And to make things worse, you have taken this forgery and used it as an avenue to slander two of Saint Agatha’s most respected parishioners. I do not believe that Misses Arbuckle and Mrs. Woznielnski would appreciate having their names included in this…this…this utter fabrication! Now what have I told you about gossip?” Sister Mary Rose crossed her arms as she looked down the top her nose at Steven. “This is not a story and it’s not gossip. This really happened to me. I…I…wrote it because it went with the theme ‘What the world needs now is love...Jesus’ love’ I did write this essay Sister I swear I did!” “Very well, then. I will accept this essay. But the question of whether or not this is your original work and the merit of your message will be greatly considered in the judgment of your essay concerning contest. Just as such it will weigh heavily on the mark you receive for the assignment itself!” She snatched the essay from his desk. “Yes, Sister, I understand.” “If I were you, I would go home and have a long conversation with God. I would think very hard about what you have done, Mr. Wojelek.”

***** Steven was late getting to the corner. After he crossed 51st he said hello to Sister Bethany before jogging to try and catch up with Catherine and the group. When he got halfway down the block he noticed Tommy’s father holding him by his neck up against the tree. Tommy’s face wasn’t splotchy—it was a single shade of dark red with tears streaming from his eyes. “Sister Bethany!” Steven shouted back to her and waved his hands. She looked over to see what was happening. Tommy’s father heard Steven shout and immediately removed his hand from his son’s throat. He looked back to see Sister Bethany watching him. Tommy leaned over and coughed a few times before he grabbed his book bag and duct-taped lunch box from the ground near the curb. His father walked around the front of the car to get in. As soon as Tommy shut the passenger side door the Chevy shot off down the street. When Steven looked back Sister Bethany was almost across 51st street. He ran to catch the light and follow her across the walkway. He was only a few steps behind her when they entered the school. Sister Mary Rose was standing in the foyer. “Mr. Wojelek, did you forget something at your desk?” She asked. “No…No I didn’t.” Steven put his bag down and huffed trying to catch his breath. His light blue shirt was un-tucked—hanging out from under his puffy winter coat. “What’s wrong then?” Sister Mary Rose approached him. “I thought you told me that Tommy Doubier was not going to be in harm’s way anymore? I just saw his father choking him up against a tree. Sister Bethany saw it as well!” He pointed over at Sister Bethany. After hearing her name called out she walked across the foyer to where him and Sister Mary Rose were standing. “Yes…yes I did see what Tommy’s father was doing to him.” Sister Bethany confirmed. “Well then why didn’t you do anything? Why haven’t you done anything to help Tommy out?” “Mr. Wojelek it’s just not that simple.” Sister Mary Rose squatted down and put her hand on his shoulder. “Since you reported this to me the other day we’ve done everything that we can. What you must understand is that we cannot intervene in the manner with which a parent decides to discipline their child.”

“He’s not disciplining Tommy; he’s hitting him, hurting him every day! Plus, he…he has hit other children! The first time I saw him hit Tommy, another kid, a seventh grader had put his hand on the hood of the car. Tommy’s dad jerked him away and threw him against the tree.” “Well…that’s a different story. Who was it that he did this to? Why didn’t you mention this to me when you first brought the issue to my attention?” Sister Mary Rose stood from her crouching position and crossed her arms. “I didn’t think about it. I’m more worried about Tommy, Sister. It was a seventh grader; I don’t know his name. He just transferred from St. Sebastian’s earlier this year. He’s got bushy black hair and freckles. Sister Bethany saw it!” He pointed at her. “I saw no such thing!” Sister Bethany put her hand on her chest as she looked back and forth between Sister Mary Rose and Steven. “Now, Mr. Wojelek…what I have I told you before about slander and gossip?”

***** Sister Mary Rose was teaching a lesson on the War of 1812. Steven saw everything in a murky blur as he tried to pay attention to the chronology of this war with other wars that she had taught this semester. He would occasionally look over at Catherine to see what she was doing. He flipped through the pages of his History book. In Chapter 15 on page 167 he started counting how many “a’s” and “e’s” there were on the page. The “a’s” won by ten. He decided to flip a couple pages ahead and do the same thing. This time he put the “a’s” up against the “o’s”.

***** After school at the corner of 51st and Cass, Steven gathered with the group about to head north across Cass Street. “What…not goin’ to your Aunt’s house today?” Danny Davis asked. “Nah. I’ll be going straight home from now on.” Steven looked over at the group about to head east across 51st. Tommy Doubier stood within the crowd with his head down—his tattered green back pack had the left strap sliding slightly off his shoulder as he gripped his duct-taped lunch box in front of him. “Cool man!” Danny punched Steven in the shoulder. The light to cross 51st turned green. Steven watched the group depart. Once Tommy was halfway to the other side he turned his head forward and waited for the light to cross Cass to call them forward.

“Hey, I got a good one for ya!” Danny said as he adjusted his back pack. “A good what?” Steven asked as the light turned green. “A joke a good joke for ya. What does NASA stand for?” “I don’t know.” Steven mumbled as they walked. “Need Another Seven Astronauts! Ha ha! My dad told me that one a couple days ago.”

“That ain’t right. Those people…the astronauts are dead.” “Hey…it’s just a joke, dude! I said something like that to my dad when he

first told it to me and he said it is an honorable death for them. He said that they sacrificed themselves for our country—like soldiers do in a war. My dad says that when the investigation is done the government will reveal that it was the Russians because they’ve been pissed off for a lotta years about us going to the moon first. When they announce it we’re going to attack them. My dad says we’re gonna nuke ‘em!! It’s gonna be World War III dude!!” Steven stopped. He turned to his right to watch Sister Bethany standing at her post across from 51st street. Tommy was standing about a half of a block from her before the curbside where his father’s car which was just pulling in. “Dude!” Danny stopped and jogged back to where Steven was standing. He blocked out Danny’s voice as he dropped his book bag and took two long strides to step from the sidewalk. “What are you doing?!?!” Danny shouted as he watched Steven walk directly into the middle of 51st street traffic. Steven continued on—slowly heading into the four lane road at an odd angle. He would pause when a car was coming near him. Some of the cars swerved and most of them honked as he walked across the street. The screeching and honking caused by his zombie-like stroll caught the attention of Sister Bethany as well as some of the other kids that were scattered around the four way intersection. When Steven got across 51st street he slowly walked around to the curbside of the cherry red ’57 Chevy. He put his hands on it to push himself up while twisting his body around to plop his butt down and sit on the hood. “HEY!” In the middle of helping Tommy remove his backpack, Tommy’s dad shouted out.

He ran over and grabbed the sleeve of Steven’s winter coat, trying to pull him off of the car. Steven quickly unzipped his zipper. As the two of them

struggled, he wiggled his way out of the coat so that all Tommy’s father had in his hands was the coat itself.

“You need to git on your way boy…now!” Tommy’s father shouted as he threw the coat down on the ground.

Just as he was about to grab his arm Steven fell back to lie down across the hood. He turned his head to the right. His cheek pressed against the frozen red metal as he looked through the front windshield to see Sister Bethany walking toward them.

Tommy’s father’s fingernails scratched Steven’s neck when he thrust his hand to Steven’s chest to grab the front collar of his shirt. Steven put his hands to the top of the hood to push himself back. The front of his shirt tore in a V shaped down the middle.

He grabbed Steven’s arm and pulled it back with all his strength. A large popping sound came out as Steven’s shoulder dislocated. Tommy’s father finally got Steven off the car. He dragged him away from the car before slamming him up against the wooden fence across the sidewalk. Steven bounced off of it. His body fell to the ground as his head slammed on the pavement. He watched a blurred vision of Sister Bethany approaching Tommy’s father before he completely blacked out.

***** Steven returned to school a week later with his right arm in a sling. Danny Davis carried his lunch tray for him before setting on the table. “Thanks buddy.” Steven said as he took a seat. “Don’t thank me. You’re like a hero around here! Even the Sisters are treating you like a superstar! Everyone is thinking I’m soooo cool right now just for sitting next to you. Ha ha!” Danny elbowed Steven before he lifted the pizza slice to his mouth. Steven used his left hand to re-organize the food around his tray. He moved the sweet corn to the back and put the pudding next to it before moving his milk carton up next to the pizza slice. “Where’s Tommy?” Steven asked after looking around the cafeteria. “Tommy?” Danny garbled through a mouth full of corn. “Tommy doesn’t go here anymore. Mikey Buvella lives next door to him. He told me that the police came and took him from his parents. They are making him live in one of them homes for orphan kids.”

“I don’t think that I’m going to eat this. Do you want it?” Steven moved his pudding cup from his tray. “Yeah…I’ll tear that up! Thanks man.” Danny accepted it. “So…what did you write your essay about?” Danny asked. “I wrote it about a bus trip.” Steven whispered as he looked across the cafeteria to see Catherine sitting by herself in her usual spot at the end of the table. She used her left hand to scoop up some corn while her eyes were fixed upon an open book to the right of her lunch tray. “What did you write your essay about?” “I wrote my essay about the Shuttle Explosion and those poor astronauts that had to die.”

***** “Alright, today brings about the conclusion of the Big Brother/ Big Sister Program. You’ve all done a wonderful job and the fifth graders have prepared a special surprise as a thank you for all that you’ve done for them!” Sister Mary Rose announced before opening the door. After Miss Jacqueline entered, the steam of fifth grade boys and girls flowed into the classroom and quickly found their big brothers and sisters. They carefully held colored construction paper in their hands like they were hot pans. On the top of the paper were drawings with stale noodles glued down to create different designs. Some of the pictures were simply the name of the big brother or sister spelled out with the noodles. Others used the noodles to create a border around a crayon drawing of the person’s name. A lot of small stale pieces of macaroni (some of them colored) fell from the artistic creations to the floor as the fifth graders approached their eighth grade counterparts. Steven watched as the kids presented their gifts and shared hugs with his classmates. Once everyone was seated Sister Mary Rose and Miss Jacqueline stood at the front of the class and began summarizing the idea of the Big Brother/ Sister program and how important it was for both the fifth and eighth graders alike as they moved forward in their academic careers and lives.

Steven looked down at the vacant brown stained wooden seat to his left. He smiled as he pictured Tommy sitting on the edge of a bed at a foster

home. His skin was pale white; his neck and the back of his ear were clean—not a single splotch on his skin. His fingernails were cut down and clear.

Tommy looked pretty spiffy wearing a nice grey suit!

The rows of beds along the room of the foster home were vacant. Tommy took a deep breath. He grew nervous and the red splotches came back as tears began to fall from his eyes. Jesus swooped down from the roof top and jumped through the window. He slowly walked over to Tommy. He put his thumb to his cheek and pressed it against a tear about to head down to the corner of his mouth. After pulling his hand back he leaned over. Jesus flashed a look of concern before his eyes brightened and he smiled down at him. Tommy’s red splotches disappeared. The door at the end of the room opened. A woman entered with a beaming young couple following her. Jesus winked at Tommy before he swooped back out the window to return to the roof. “Thomas Doubier, this is Mister and Misses Vinson.” The social worker began the introduction. “Hello.” In his little grey suit Tommy stood from the bed.