Doves and Crows

The second reading of the Scarlet Ibis left me with a floating feeling.

On Thursday, Mr. Lonker kept his promise and read the next half of the story. The brother continued to push Doodle to do his best. He was a little harsh though, Doodle would pass out after the “training”, which his brother thought was a good idea to make Doodle fit in athletically when he started school. Then, on a rainy day, a sickly scarlet ibis landed at the top of a tree outside their home. It had strayed from the rest of its family during a storm.

And that was the way we ended class. I thought it was an acceptable ending. Someone who didn’t fit into the natural mold of society fought valiantly to become normal, if not extraordinary. The scarlet ibis at the top of the tree foreshadowed how Doodle would become stronger and fit in. In fact, I wouldn’t doubt it if it meant Doodle would become something extraordinary.

I wonder what we’ll do in class today. As I wondered this, staring off into the streets, I heard something hit the metal of the fence. When I turned around, I saw Sean and Eric waving at me. Sean tossed a small rock in the air.

“Hey Rob!” he shouted.

“Hey guys, what’s shakin’?”

“Luke’s back! We’re all going to eat lunch together in the quad,” Eric shouted and gave a ‘come here’ motion.

“Bad ass!” I exclaimed and slung my backpack over my shoulder before jumping the fence. I was excited to finally see him after so long.

Why hadn’t he been at school? Had he been arrested?

As we entered the center of the quad, where all the tables had different cliques packed in and on them, I caught a glimpse of the center table. Lying on the top of it, smoking a cigarette was Luke.

“Hey bud,” Luke laughed and sat up to shake my hand.

“Glad to see you back in this hell hole with us,” I joked.

“Where have you been, Luke?” Matthew asked. Luke simply sighed and rubs his left eye lethargically.

“My parents were just figuring out some legal business mumbo-jumbo. It’s nothing too important, what have you buys been up to? It must have been lonely here ‘cause I know you can’t get dates without me around.”

Even if the joke was made at our expense, we laughed purely out of delight for his presence.

“We’ve had to deal with the community service,” William moaned.

“I’m slaving away in the library,” Todd said with a sigh. I laughed and propped my elbow on his shoulder.

“At least you can study now and get that English grade up,” I joked and he playfully shoved me away. I got a few laughs out of that one.

“Or he can help all the cute schoolgirls study,” Jacob chuckled, busy staring at a group of girls a few feet over. All the girls fell for his Latin charm.

All of us went around talking about our jobs.

Sean and Eric worked down in the docks with an old fisherman. They had no luck with ladies there. Unless they saw a mermaid, they would have to settle for the Medusa figurehead on Mister Bartley’s old sail ship.

Matt and John did church services on Sunday mornings and every night but Fridays. I guess even the church realized every man needed a day of play and sin.

Jacob worked in his mother’s flower shop and, when it wasn’t busy, his grandmother’s bakery.

Because Tim and Calvin and Al and Mark all took an auto class, they all worked at a repair shop called Manic Mechanics Workshop.

“So where are you gonna work, Luke?”

“You know that Bell Tower Hospital down the way in the south side?” Todd and I looked at each other and smiled.

“Looks like you’ll have some company for now on Robbie,” Todd said and I nodded.

“Thank goodness.”

“Rad, you’re workin’ there too? So tell me, is the job hard?” Luke asked lying back down on the

“It’s not to terrible, you just have to watch out for the real loopy ones.” Luke looked at me in silence for a while: squinting one eye, scrunching his nose, furrowing his brow. Then he suddenly began laughing like a hyena.

“Oh, you poor bastard,” he gasped but had to stop to catch his breath. “You… You work up there? In the tower?” I rolled my eyes to try and concentrate on something other than the fact my face was beginning to burn.

“Any of them look like they’ll be givin’ up their goodies to you?” Calvin asked as he made a thrusting motion from his hips.

“That’s disgusting, Cal. They’re ill. They need to get help, not to get lucky,” John said shaking his head. Mark stood up on the table and began speaking, his voice steadily rising.

“We want to know is: are there any barn burners, dolls, hot chicks, dames? Someone you want to just rock n’ roll with?!” he laughed and swung his hips provocatively. The decent girls turned their heads and blushed. The rowdier boys cheered along.

“If you shut it and sit down I might have one in mind,” I hissed and Mark sat back down on the seat.

“So what does she look like? Does she have crazy eyes and wild hair?” Al asked laughing hysterically.

“Annette Facet. She has blonde hair, unnaturally light, like it's white. I can say the same for her skin, she practically blends into the walls. But her eyes are somethin’ else, just this killer blue.”

"Oh, blonde bombshell," Mark winked and clicked his tongue. Matt on the other hand seemed to only listen pleasantly.

“Sounds like you’re describing an angel,” he remarked smiling. I shrugged and took a bit of Sean’s submarine sandwich while he wasn’t looking.

“Is she an angel with cans?” Todd winked and I rolled my eyes.

“I haven’t tried to get a look,” I said. “But she does look about our age, so who knows. The gown they all wear would probably be in the way if I ever did try and see, though.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Luke said, patting my shoulder. “You’ll have to show me her Monday. As for tonight, we’re gonna have a game of baseball. It’s too risky for us to go to Sammy’s, but I can bring a bit of spirits from my father’s stash without him noticing.”

“Cool.”

“Neat!”

“That sounds good.”

“Luke, you and I can’t go, the hospital doesn’t allow us to have Fridays off,” I remarked with a moan.

“Like that’ll stop me,” he smirked and got off the table. “Are you gonna ditch too?”

“Nah, I have something I have to check up on. That meeting yesterday with Coach had me miss work,” I shrugged and the team gave me a few sympathetic comments.

Then the bell rag and we dispersed to out classes. Todd followed alongside me to English.

Unfortunately, we had a different teacher in our classroom of 14-C. Her name was Mrs. Palmer. She wasn’t a stout woman, though she did have thick hips (most likely from childbirth). But, even though she was a rather pretty thing, she was dimwitted. Maybe she was flustered, because she kept fumbling with her papers.

She told us some unfortunate news: Mister Lonker had left teacher for ‘personal reasons’.

Todd voiced that he thought Mister Lonker had finally quit and left noisy children behind for a life in the Bahamas. I thought he’d been fired. Mister Lonker had first class ambition.

After that disappointing class, I grabbed my uniform from my front seat and changed into it quickly in the Lincoln. Then I drove my Lincoln down to the hospital and marched up the tower. Since I was on time, I came when the Queer Ones had their free period in the living room. One of them saw me buzz in and lit up.

“Hey fresh meat!” he called and his friends made cat calls.

“Bite me, fruit.” I glared at the tall guy.

“Funny, usually they tell me not to bite it,” he winked and slicked his tongue at me.

“Patrick, it’s time to go back to your room!” Miss Delilah said, coming up behind him. “Stop being such a pest.” Patrick gave a look of disgust and shook his arm out of her grip.

“Don’t touch me you ugly thing.”

I almost laughed. A man had called her ugly, and her face showed that it was the first time she had heard those words directed towards herself.

The punk just wandered back to his portion of the tower with the rest of his kind. Miss Delilah frowned as he left, primping her hair.

“Miss Delilah?” I asked. She continued to face the exit where Patrick left.

“I’m not ugly, am I?” she asked and turned around, batting her eyelashes. I blinked with raised eyebrows. How unbecomingly insecure.

“I’m seventeen; I can’t say anything,” I responded carefully, but with her face still looking like a fish I told her, “but you’re good for a dame your age.” She smiled, becoming a lady again.

“Thanks kid, now what do you need?”

“I need to know if I missed anything important yesterday. I had a school meeting.”

“You’re principal warned us ahead of time. No, you didn’t miss anything,” she answered. “Here, would you be a dear and do bed checks for me?” As I began to groan and refuse, she pushed the clipboard into my chest. “Just go to Rooms 23, 24, and 25.”

So when I ended up in room twenty-three, I was greeted by a white room with light blue trimming along the tops and bottoms of the walls. On one of the two white beds was Barbara.

“Hey Robbie!” she squealed happily. I smiled politely at her.

“Hello Barbara.” I began sifting through the pillows and blankets on the beds.

“Oh, time for checks already? How nice. Where were you yesterday? Virginia said you probably drowned. Did you fall in a lake?” I stopped what I was doing mid-check and laughed.

“What?”

“You didn’t arrive yesterday,” she said lying back down on her bed after I was finished. “We were worried. Well, I was worried.” I tried not to take offense to what she was implying and continued to check under her bed and in her drawers.

“Alright, you’re good. Hey, do you know which room Annette stays in?” I questioned and she giggled.

“Her room is number twenty-five,” she answered. She began playing with the blonde hair of her doll. I thanked her and walked my way towards the doorway. But then I heard Barbara chirp something in a disturbingly calm voice.

“She won’t be in there, though.”