3406 Words
Rated PG Eighty-eight steps. It was eighty-eight steps, total. Thirty-nine steps from the playground to Mrs. Amy Peppers' classroom. Forty-eight steps from Mrs. Amy Peppers' classroom to Principal Sheila Anderson's office. Mrs. Amy Peppers is asking me to sit down on the big brown chair. I don't want to sit down on the big brown chair. I took forty-eight steps. I don't like forty-eight steps. I will take an extra step before I sit in the big brown chair. Forty-nine steps. Forty-nine is better. I smell butter. Mom puts butter on my pancakes. Principal Sheila Anderson's office smells like butter sometimes. I like forty-nine steps. Forty-nine is seven times seven. Seven sevens. Seven sevens makes me smile. I like sevens. Mrs. Amy Peppers said seven words to me: “We will wait here for Principal Anderson.” Then she said seven more words: “And your mom will be here soon.” Now she is sitting down. I'm happy about the sevens but I don't think Mrs. Amy Peppers knows about them. I will tap my fingers seven times on my leg so she knows. I will tap seven times on my right leg and then seven times on my left leg and then seven times on my right leg and then seven times on my left leg and then seven times on my right leg and... “Hi, I'm so sorry, I got here as soon as I could.” Mom is here. Mom surprises me and now I can't remember if I was on my left leg or my right leg or which sevens I was on. I have to start over. But wait. Oh no, seven is odd so the taps will not be equal. The taps have to be equal, the taps can't be uneven. Should I start on my right leg and finish on my right leg? No, it's uneven. It can't be uneven. I'm crying. I want it to be even. Mom touches my head but I don't want her to touch my head. I don't want her to touch anything, I want to touch seven times seven. Seven times seven. I scream at mom so she will stop touching me. At first she touches me even more. I hate when I scream and she touches me more. She is talking to me, too. Don't ask me questions and touch me too much, mom! She touched me three times on my right shoulder so I have to touch my left shoulder three times. You can't leave it uneven, mom! I'm trying not to scream but she knows it has to be even. She knows it has to be even. She sits down to talk to Mrs. Amy Peppers. She isn't talking to me so I can go back to my seven taps. I know what I will do. Luckily I am good at numbers. Luckily, I know how to figure things out. Seven taps on the left, seven taps on the right, seven taps on the left, seven taps on the right. Seven taps on the left. Seven taps on the right. Seven taps on both legs at the same time. The same exact time. Exact. Seven sevens. I am feeling happy. I like seven. Seven days of the week. Seven Harry Potter books by author Joanne Kathleen Rowling. Rowling has seven letters in it. Seven Galleons to Mr. Ollivander for Harry Potter to buy his wand in Diagon Alley. Seven players on a Quidditch team and Harry Potter wore number seven on his Quidditch jersey. Seven levels at Hogwarts. Seven Weasley children and Ginny Weasley is the seventh. Seven Harry Potters in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I want to think of more but Principal Sheila Anderson has walked in. She distracts me, and when I try to think of more sevens she distracts me again. She is talking to me. “It's good to see you, Thomas. Are you alright?” Seven Lord Voldemort Horcruxes to destroy! Of course! “I heard about your little scare today.” Seven, seven, seven... “You're not hurt, are you?” I just remembered another seven, a new seven that I never remembered before! I can't believe I didn't remember it ever in my life. I have to tap all of my fingers seven times for the seven names so I can remember forever. Professor Quirinus Quirrell, Hogwart's professor of the dark arts in Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone, or Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, if you're reading the British version, was the first dark arts professor of the series. He was the first of seven! Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap. Then there was Gilderoy Lockhart. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap. Remus Lupin. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap. “Thomas? Thomas, can you answer Principal Anderson?” Bartemius “Barty” Crouch Jr. impersonating Alastor “Mad Eye” Moody. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap. Dolores Umbridge. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap. “Thomas?” Severus Snape. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap. And Amycus Carrow. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap. Seven different professors throughout the series. That deserves seven more taps. Hurry, quickly!I'm so excited to have discovered this. It is a very important discovery. I want to laugh out loud. I don't think I am supposed to laugh out loud in Principal Sheila Anderson's office when mom and Principal Sheila Anderson and Mrs. Amy Peppers are talking in serious voice with serious face. Mom is saying fewer words per minute than usual. At home, mom usually says between fifty and seventy words per minute, an average of one word per second. It is not an exact number. It is an average. Sometimes mom is not talking. Sometimes she is cooking. Sometimes she is reading. Sometimes she is on the couch resting her eyes, or thinking. So sometimes she says zero words per minute. It is an average. On Saturday, January 22nd, mom used 12,720 words. That is how many I counted when I was awake. I think she is awake before I wake up and awake after I go to bed so she probably said a lot more words. I counted 12,720 words and I was awake for fourteen hours and eight minutes. That is 14.1333 hours. That is exactly 15 words per minute. But she didn't say 15 words every minute. It is an average. I was awake from 6:00am to 8:08pm. Or at least sometime around 8:08pm. Sometimes I lay in bed and see the numbers from the day. Sometimes I sort through them and decide which ones to keep and which ones to put away. I don't look at the clock before I fall asleep so I don't know the exact time. But 8:08pm is a good time. My dad said 8:08 spells bob. He said grandpa Robert Clark was also named Bob Clark. And also just Bob. He said when it was 8:08, people would say, “It's Bob o'clock.” I don't think numbers can be letters. I only think numbers can spell other numbers or themselves. Not bobs. I laughed when dad said Bob o'clock. Mom and dad both like when I laugh, so sometimes I laugh even if I don't want to laugh. I laughed at Bob o'clock, but inside my head I was nervous. Numbers can't be letters. Tap. I am having nervous feelings. I want to stop thinking about letter numbers. I will tap seven times for the seven dark arts professors again. Principal Sheila Anderson is still talking. Oh! I will tap how many letters the professors of the dark arts have in their names! Mom is laughing. She is covering her mouth because I think she knows you aren't supposed to laugh in Principal Sheila Anderson's office. Sixteen taps for Professor Quirinus Quirrell. Eight letters in each name. Now Principal Sheila Anderson is laughing, too. I have never heard Principal Sheila Anderson laugh. I thought Principals were supposed to be serious because of their serious job. It is weird that Principal Sheila Anderson is laughing, and mom is laughing, and now Mrs. Amy Peppers is laughing, too. I am having nervous feelings. Sixteen taps for Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. Eight letters in each name. Oh no! Did I discover another secret? Two in one day? Principal Sheila Anderson said my name. She is telling me she is proud of me. Her first sentence has twelve words. “Thomas, that was a very brave and kind thing you did, today.” Ten taps for Professor Remus Lupin. Only ten, not sixteen. Not eight and eight, just five and five, which together equals ten. Only ten. I didn't find another secret. Principal Sheila Anderson's second sentence has seven words. “But we really shouldn't hit other people.” How many taps for Bartemius “Barty” Crouch Jr. impersonating Alastor “Mad Eye” Moody? Should I tap the letters in Alastor “Mad Eye” Moody's name, or Bartemius “Barty” Crouch Jr's name? Or should I tap them both together? I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. I don't like not knowing. I am having nervous feelings. Twenty-two taps for Bartemius “Barty” Crouch Jr. That is who was in the class, even if he was only pretending to be Alastor “Mad Eye” Moody. After twenty-two taps I feel better. Principal Sheila Anderson is still talking to me. It is hard to listen to her words and count her words and count the letters in the names of the seven Hogwarts professors. Nineteen words in her next sentence. Seventy-two letters. “Do you think next time you see that someone needs help you could get a teacher to help you?” Fifteen taps for Professor Dolores Umbridge. I don't like tapping for professor Dolores Umbridge. She was mean. When mom was reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, she whispered a mean word with four letters and a bad word with five letters about professor Dolores Umbridge. “Evil bitch.” I move on quickly to twelve taps for professor Severus Snape. I tap twelve more times for professor Severus Snape. The first taps were for scary professor Severus Snape. The second taps were for good professor Severus Snape. Mom says a sentence. 7 words. 36 letters. “Thomas, did you hear Principal Anderson's question?” Twelve taps for professor Amycus Carrow. I nod for Principal Sheila Anderson, and for mom. I will try to find someone to help next time. I looked for someone to help this time. There wasn't a teacher where Jack Stuttle was being mean to Alison Blair. I looked around for a teacher and there were zero teachers. Four kids playing wall ball, twenty-seven kids on the soccer field, six kids on the basketball court, three basketballs, five red rubber dodge balls on the ground, four kids on the jungle gym. Zero teachers. Zero big kids to help, too. “There were zero teachers to help,” I say. I counted. I was there and I counted because I always count. Principal Sheila Anderson looks at mom and then looks at me and says a long sentence, twenty-two words: “Well, I'm sure there was at least one teacher near where you were on the playground, Thomas. Maybe you didn't see them?” “I counted. There were four kids playing wall ball, twenty-seven kids playing on the soccer field, six kids on the basketball court, three basketballs, five red rubber dodge balls on the ground, four kids on the jungle gym, and zero teachers.” I am having nervous feelings. I'm not supposed to tell adults they are wrong. Mom said that is arguing. I'm not supposed to argue, but I think I'm arguing with Principal Sheila Anderson right now. Mom smiles. Maybe this isn't arguing. Maybe this is something kind of like arguing, but different. Principal Sheila Anderson talks again, sixteen words: “Okay, Thomas, I believe you. You are a very good counter so you are probably right.” Mrs. Amy Peppers asks a weird question: “Thomas, do you remember what Jack was saying, or doing, that made you... upset?” Fourteen words. I am having nervous feelings. “Jack Stuttle wasn't letting Alison Blair go to her friends. Jack Stuttle was standing in Alison Blair's way. Alison Blair said 'stop it' 8 times, with a serious voice and serious face. Alison Blair was crying and then Jack Stuttle pushed her and she fell down and then she was crying more.” I don't want to talk about this. I want to count the holes in Principal Sheila Anderson's computer. Dad said computer holes are vents for air to flow to keep the computer cool. Computers get very hot and then they break so you have to keep them cool. Principal Sheila Anderson's computer has eight holes by twelve holes. That means there are ninety-six holes for air to help keep the computer cold. But multiplying is too easy, so I will count each one. “Thomas, what happened after Jack pushed Alison on the ground?” Ten words. Luckily ten is easy to count and it doesn't mess up my computer hole count, which is at forty-one. I will finish counting this row and be at forty-eight. That is a good place to stop because it is half way. Forty-eight. When I tell Principal Sheila Anderson and Mrs. Amy Peppers and mom what I did when Jack Stuttle pushed Alison Blair to the ground, they laugh. They cover their mouths but they still laugh. I was feeling very nervous when I did it so I don't know why they are laughing. I am having nervous feelings now, too. It helps to keep counting the computer holes. Mom says she is surprised. She says she has never seen me be aggressive or violent toward anyone before. That is true, I had never punched anyone in the face before today. But in the book Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, when Draco Malfoy was being mean to Rubeus Hagrid, Hermione Granger slapped him in the face. In the movie, Hermione punched him in the face. That gave me happy feelings. When Jack Stuttle pushed Alison Blair, I thought it would be good to punch him in the face. It hurt my hand to punch him in the face. It still hurts my hand now. Ninety-six. I will count them again and tap my fingers on my legs for each count. I will tap them evenly, at the same time. The exact same time. Mom and Principal Sheila Anderson and Mrs. Amy Peppers are talking a lot. After I count ninety-six holes with ninety-six taps, they have said one hundred and twenty-eight words. In sixty-four seconds, mom said forty-one words, Mrs. Amy Peppers said fifty-six words, and Principal Sheila Anderson said thirty-one words. The ceiling has big square tiles that are all the same size. The room is a rectangle and there are twelve squares side to side. I want to count how many squares long the room is but people are being very loud outside the door behind me. People are yelling. It gives me nervous feelings and it is harder to count when I am having nervous feelings. Principal Sheila Anderson and Mrs. Amy Peppers and mom get up from their chairs. They are looking at the door. I count ten squares long before the voice outside says six words: “Sir, you can't go in there!” When the door opens, a man comes into the room. I thought it might be dad coming in to talk but it isn't dad. I don't want to look at him because I know he is making scary face. When he talks, he uses scary voice: “You better be writing up an expulsion, Sheila!” Eight words, seven words that I know and one word I don't know. Expulsion. Nine letters I don't remember hearing together. It sounds like Expecto Patronum. That is good, Harry Potter says “Expecto Patronum” to fend off Dementors in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. But expulsion also sounds like expelled. Hermione Granger said, in Harry potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, “I'm going to bed, before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed, or worse... expelled.” If getting expelled is worse than getting killed, I don't want to get expelled. Principal Sheila Anderson is telling the man to leave. She says what he is doing is extremely inappropriate. He says what is inappropriate is his son's broken nose, that his son was attacked by an out of control student. I think he is talking about me, but I am not an out of control student. “Mr. Stuttle, Jack's nose isn't broken.” “Oh is that right? Did you assess his nose yourself, doctor?” “No, but our board-certified registered nurse did, and she decided, after consulting her six years of advanced education and her seven years of experience that his nose is fine.” Seven years of experience. There are sevens everywhere. “Well, it is still bleeding pretty good in there right now. Broken or not, my son was assaulted and I'm going to press charges.” Mom and Mrs. Amy Peppers start to say something at the same time but Principal Sheila Anderson holds her hand up to stop them. I just realized there are seven chairs in Principal Sheila Anderson's office. She looks at me. “You're well within your rights to try and press charges against this ten-year-old boy, Mr. Stuttle. I'm sure you'll make a very strong case. I think you should know that if you decide to do that, we will be pressing charges, as well. If it's assault you want to talk about, consider what happened in the exchange. Your son was mocking, teasing, and verbally bullying a nine-year-old girl, who he then knocked to the ground. When Thomas saw that your son was physically attacking – let me say this part again – a nine-year-old girl, he stepped in to help. His attack on your son was a single punch to the nose in defense of a little girl. How do you think that meeting is going to go for your son?” Mr. Stuttle is doing scary face and breathing too loud. But he isn't talking anymore. Only Principal Sheila Anderson is talking. “Now, if you'd like to talk about the incident with me in a mature and productive way, you may schedule an appointment to do so. For now, I'm going to ask you to leave my office, get your son from the nurse's station, and go home for the day.” Everyone is quiet now. Mom has a hand on my shoulder and she is squeezing really hard. She isn't looking at me and I don't think she knows how hard she is squeezing. I can feel all five fingers on her hand. I can feel five fingernails. Mr. Stuttle looks at us. He points at mom with one finger. “This isn't over,” he says with a quiet angry voice and loud angry face. “Yes it is,” says Principal Sheila Anderson, “and if you say another word I will call the police and have you charged with assault.” Seventeen tiles. That's how long Principal Sheila Anderson's office is. Seventeen tiles long. Twelve squares wide. That is two hundred and four tiles altogether. If I tap my legs with all five fingers on both of my hands twenty times, that will be two hundred. I will blink my eyes four times at the end to make two hundred and four. That is a good plan. After twenty finger taps, Mr. Stuttle slams the office door. I can hear him yelling outside and another door slams far away. When I get to sixty taps, mom is hugging Principal Sheila Anderson, and then she hugs Mrs. Amy Peppers. She is crying. She is crying but not doing sad face. She is crying and laughing and saying thank you, which is too many feelings. It gives me nervous feelings when she laughs and cries at the same time. They talk for a little while, twenty-five seconds, I think, and I am at one hundred and seventy five taps when Principal Sheila Anderson puts her hand on my head. “We're all very proud of you, Thomas. Don't worry, we're not going to expel you. We'd like to see more people be brave like you.” Two hundred taps. I blink my eyes four times. Two hundred taps and four eye blinks and Principal Sheila Anderson says I am brave. I am still having some nervous feelings. But also happy ones.
1 Comment
Shannon
4/9/2017 10:41:09 pm
Wow, this one was fascinating and fun. It made me anxious to hear all the "goings on" in his head and imagine what it must be like for a child with those disctrctions to concentrate. Well done Brian
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI want to write just a little more every day Archives
December 2017
Categories |