My Boy Hood

Last period was here, and I have to admit I never had a teacher like this before. I had Pre-AP, and luckily, I had it with Blake and Jeremy. But when I walked into the room, the teacher who calls herself Ms. Tooshay was there, and when she first saw me she grabbed me by the chin and got a close look, “What’s your name boy?”

“Nick.” I spat, my cheeks were hurting.

“Age?”

“Sixteen.”

She let go, and I rubbed my cheeks, “Very well, have a seat, Nick. You have a book to catch up with.”

She grabbed a Catcher in the Rye book and handed it to me. “Have a seat by Blake. You’ll be there for the rest of the year.”

As long as she wasn’t going to grab my face anymore, I didn’t care where I sat. I sat down, and flip the pages through the book. I wouldn’t say reading was my favorite hobby, but there are random moments through the week I just had to read. I didn’t know why, maybe it was from the habits my mother use to make me do when I was young.

“Nick? Have you ever read The Catcher in the Rye?” Ms. Tooshay asked.

I looked up from the book, “Yeah, whenever I was young. I don’t remember too much of it though.”

The young teacher gave me a confused book, “Your parents let you read this kind of book? Don’t you think it’s inappropriate for a child to read?”

The Catcher in the Rye was a book that had cuss words in every other sentence, and one of the many things I remember about it was that the character said ‘phony’ a lot. I shrugged, “With all the cussing in it, yeah, but there’s more meaning to it than just that. Also, my mom is sort of into classic novels. It was the only thing we had around the house as far as we could read.”

The woman became thoughtful, “You speak as if that was in the past.”

“It was. I live with my dad now.”

That was all that I would say, and I could see the curiosity in Blake’s eyes as he watched me explained. The teacher nodded, and she started with the class, “Okay, we’ll begin by having you partner up with your buddy next to you. I’ll be handing out a sheet that you will finish by the period.”

She passed out the papers and we all got to work. Blake started the conversation, “Wow, that’s the first thing you said about your family all day.”

I just sighed, “My family’s slightly complicated. There’s nothing really to brag about.”

“Do you not get along with them?”

I shook my head from side to side, “I wouldn’t say that, it’s just that me and my dad don’t agree with a lot of things.”

“What about your mom?” He asked.

“Boys, you better be working.” Ms. Tooshay spoke to us.

I grabbed the paper, reading over it, Blake’s voice lowered, “What about your mom?”

I grabbed my pencil and started to write, “She’s just a piece of history I’d rather not talk about.”

Blake said okay, and we started working. We got it done before the bell ranged. Ms. Tooshay called for me to stay after for a moment. Blake looked at me, “Don’t worry, practice doesn’t start until another hour anyways.”

I nodded and waved bye at Jer and Blake as they went out the door. Ms. Tooshay was out from behind her desk and was leaning on one of the school desk as she started to talk, “I overheard what you said to Blake.”

I knew what was coming, I heard this from a teacher from before, “If you need anyone to talk to I’ll be here. I’m a very good listener.”

I waved my hands up, “That won’t be necessary, but thanks anyway.”

“Oh, no, I insist. I took a psychology class in college. I’m very good when it comes to giving advice. I graduated top of my class.”

Man, I feel that she’s making me sound crazy, but I felt that if I kept refusing, she’d protest. There was something about this woman that seemed persistent. “Maybe later, but it’s only my first day, let me cope first before I let my issues rise to the surface.”

I hated the words that came out of my mouth, because there would be no given day I’d tell my problems to a complete stranger. I told her I had to go, that I had basketball practice with the others. She wished me good luck, and as I turned to walk away, I felt a shudder go up my spine. Confused, I walked out. Outside the door, was Jeremy leaning against the wall. “Jer? What are you doing here?”

“Figured I’d show you where the team meets before practice. We’ll get you warmed up before practice.”

That seemed like the kind of thing Blake would show me. I didn’t bother saying anything as he led me out. We went behind the school, which was a huge courtyard. There was a fenced up basketball court where all the guys were, plus a few new faces. Jer introduced the three extra as Gill, Han, and Stew.

The guys were shooting around, goofing off. Blake saw us walking and calmed the crowd down, “Listen up, guys, we’re getting a new member today and we need to prepare him for the hell Coach Dee will give.”

The group all grinned, and for some reason I didn’t like it.