Living Life A Bit Differently, chapter 8
Billie Joe continued to read the cards he had received, trying to memorize the names for later. He put the three he had had in his hands into the bucket where the rest were stored, and placed it on the floor next to his hospital bed just as Ms. Nesser walked in.
"Hello, Billie Joe. How are you today?" she asked as she pulled up a chair and sat next to him.
"Good. How are you?" he asked politely; lucky for him, as a child his parents had taught him to be polite, to say "please", "thank you" and ask how everyone's day went.
"Pretty good--Oh, hey, the class says 'hello'," Ms. Nesser pulled small cards out of her bag and handed them to Billie Joe.
He smiled happily and bent over the side of the mattress to retrieve the blue pale. He picked it up and placed the new cards into it, pushing them down so they wouldn't fall out of the already overflowing plastic pale.
"Wow. Looks like you have a few fans, Billie," Ms. Nesser laughed, astonished at how many people knew about this surgery; and if they even knew why he was having it; "Okay, so you ready to learn?"
Billie Joe nodded excitedly. He loved learning, it was fun and he felt like everyone else when he learned how to spell and do math. Ms. Nesser turned around and hoisted a small travel-table onto Billie's lap so he could have a work space. She then handed him a pencil and a piece of paper.
"Write down five things you want to learn this week," said Ms. Nesser.
Billie Joe obeyed and began to write slowly. When he was done, he looked up at his teacher expectantly. She nodded her praise, "Now read the first one to me."
He looked down at his handwriting, which wasn't all that neat, but still readable if you stared at it for a minute or two; "United States presidents."
"Why is that?" Ms. Nesser asked, whilst writing this down in her notepad.
Billie Joe looked out the window on the far wall. Through the glass he could see patients being helped into cars to go home, people walking through the doors to check in; but the thing that really caught his attention was the people walking along the sidewalk sharing conversation. "Because everyone at Barney's Flip 'n' Fry always talk about American presidents and what they did, and I don't know any except George Bush and Bill Clinton."
Billie Joe had always wanted to join in the customers' conversations at where he worked, but he didn't know about anything they spoke about. Rarely he heard something he could talk about, and the only things he heard while cleaning tables was Reagan-this-Carter-that, or the economy inflation in other countries he had never even heard of.
Ms. Nesser looked at her student sympathetically. She didn't know what it felt like to be left out of everything like Billie Joe, or to not understand common conversation topics. She wished she knew what it was like, to spend a day in his shoes, but she couldn't. The only way she would be able to help was by making him intelligent.
"Okay, now put that piece of paper away and we'll read the second tomorrow," Ms. Nesser smiled.
Billie obeyed her and folded the paper into quarters before stuffing it into the night stand drawer beside him.
"American presidents...American presidents..," Ms. Nesser muttered to herself, thinking of where to begin, "Okay, we'll start with the first one: George Washington."
"I've heard of him before!" Billie cried excitedly.
"Yes, probably because he's on the dollar bill," Ms. Nesser pulled a dollar bill from her pocket and pointed to the president in the center. She winked and put it back in her right pocket.
"Well, where do I begin? Well, what do you want to know about the presidents?" she asked, a little lost.
"When they became president, and what they did," Billie Joe answered, beating his hands lightly on the blanket.
"He became president in 1789 and ended in 1797. He was one of the men who signed the Declaration of Independance. Do you know what that is?"
"Uh..." Ms. Nesser let him try to figure this question out, but stopped once a vein appeared in his temple.
"The Declaration of Independence is what made the United States a country."
"Oh."
Ms. Nesser heard a light tapping coming from the opposite side of the room, but ignored it and continued with her small lesson. She heard the tapping get louder after each president she discussed with her pupil, and soon it was hard to ignore; she looked up at the lone window to see a fist banging against the window.
Ms. Nesser got up and walked over, unlatching the lock and pulling the window up so Jess could enter through the small opening.
"Jess!" Billie shouted loudly.
"How did you get up onto the second floor?" Ms. Nesser asked urgently as the girl sat down in her seat.
"Relax. I climbed, it was easy," Jess leaned forward in her seat, pulling a hat from her back pocket, "Here ya go, Billie. I promised I would get you a hat, and I did."
The beanie had the face of Elvis Presley sewed into the front, one of her all-time idols. She handed Billie the hat and he put it on. Jess looked up at his teacher, who was standing in the middle of the room looking like a deer in headlights.
"What?" Jess asked, as if climbing through a second-story window was completely normal.
"Why couldn't you have just gone through the front door and used the stairs, or an elevator?" the older women asked before sticking her head out the window and looking down.
There was a ladder on the ground, which Jess had used to climb; once she was in, her flailing legs had kicked it, sending the ladder crashing down to earth.
"'Cause the Bitch has guards in front of the building," she answered nonchalantly.
"There's no need for that language...whose the Bitch?" Ms. Nesser asked, mentally slapping herself for being contradicting.
"Leela," Billie answered innocently.
Before Ms. Nesser could comment on this turn of events, her watch went off with a loud bring, and she sighed, "I have to go tutor, I'm sorry for the distractions, Billie Joe. I promise tomorrow I'll stay longer and we can spend more time on the presidents and whatever else you want."
Ms. Nesser began to get her things, as she looked for her coat, she stared up at Jess, "If there's anything you want to talk about, you know my number, Jess," she grabbed her coat, pushed dreadlocks out of her eyes and walked out of the door.
"You have Ms. Nesser's number?" Billie asked, looking at his friend.
"Yeah," Jess answered, looking down at the floor shamefully.
They sat in silence for ten minutes, having nothing to say. Billie Joe busied himself by touching the top of his head every so often, proud of his new hat, Jess sat in her chair twiddling her thumbs; she turned her head every time foot steps came down the hallway, nervous she was going to be caught.
Billie Joe looked down on the floor, and spotted the bucket of cards he had saved, "Jess? Will you help me find everyone who made me these?" he hoisted the bucket up onto his lap.
Jess smiled at her friend's sincere ways, "Sure I will, Bill."
"Hello, Billie Joe. How are you today?" she asked as she pulled up a chair and sat next to him.
"Good. How are you?" he asked politely; lucky for him, as a child his parents had taught him to be polite, to say "please", "thank you" and ask how everyone's day went.
"Pretty good--Oh, hey, the class says 'hello'," Ms. Nesser pulled small cards out of her bag and handed them to Billie Joe.
He smiled happily and bent over the side of the mattress to retrieve the blue pale. He picked it up and placed the new cards into it, pushing them down so they wouldn't fall out of the already overflowing plastic pale.
"Wow. Looks like you have a few fans, Billie," Ms. Nesser laughed, astonished at how many people knew about this surgery; and if they even knew why he was having it; "Okay, so you ready to learn?"
Billie Joe nodded excitedly. He loved learning, it was fun and he felt like everyone else when he learned how to spell and do math. Ms. Nesser turned around and hoisted a small travel-table onto Billie's lap so he could have a work space. She then handed him a pencil and a piece of paper.
"Write down five things you want to learn this week," said Ms. Nesser.
Billie Joe obeyed and began to write slowly. When he was done, he looked up at his teacher expectantly. She nodded her praise, "Now read the first one to me."
He looked down at his handwriting, which wasn't all that neat, but still readable if you stared at it for a minute or two; "United States presidents."
"Why is that?" Ms. Nesser asked, whilst writing this down in her notepad.
Billie Joe looked out the window on the far wall. Through the glass he could see patients being helped into cars to go home, people walking through the doors to check in; but the thing that really caught his attention was the people walking along the sidewalk sharing conversation. "Because everyone at Barney's Flip 'n' Fry always talk about American presidents and what they did, and I don't know any except George Bush and Bill Clinton."
Billie Joe had always wanted to join in the customers' conversations at where he worked, but he didn't know about anything they spoke about. Rarely he heard something he could talk about, and the only things he heard while cleaning tables was Reagan-this-Carter-that, or the economy inflation in other countries he had never even heard of.
Ms. Nesser looked at her student sympathetically. She didn't know what it felt like to be left out of everything like Billie Joe, or to not understand common conversation topics. She wished she knew what it was like, to spend a day in his shoes, but she couldn't. The only way she would be able to help was by making him intelligent.
"Okay, now put that piece of paper away and we'll read the second tomorrow," Ms. Nesser smiled.
Billie obeyed her and folded the paper into quarters before stuffing it into the night stand drawer beside him.
"American presidents...American presidents..," Ms. Nesser muttered to herself, thinking of where to begin, "Okay, we'll start with the first one: George Washington."
"I've heard of him before!" Billie cried excitedly.
"Yes, probably because he's on the dollar bill," Ms. Nesser pulled a dollar bill from her pocket and pointed to the president in the center. She winked and put it back in her right pocket.
"Well, where do I begin? Well, what do you want to know about the presidents?" she asked, a little lost.
"When they became president, and what they did," Billie Joe answered, beating his hands lightly on the blanket.
"He became president in 1789 and ended in 1797. He was one of the men who signed the Declaration of Independance. Do you know what that is?"
"Uh..." Ms. Nesser let him try to figure this question out, but stopped once a vein appeared in his temple.
"The Declaration of Independence is what made the United States a country."
"Oh."
Ms. Nesser heard a light tapping coming from the opposite side of the room, but ignored it and continued with her small lesson. She heard the tapping get louder after each president she discussed with her pupil, and soon it was hard to ignore; she looked up at the lone window to see a fist banging against the window.
Ms. Nesser got up and walked over, unlatching the lock and pulling the window up so Jess could enter through the small opening.
"Jess!" Billie shouted loudly.
"How did you get up onto the second floor?" Ms. Nesser asked urgently as the girl sat down in her seat.
"Relax. I climbed, it was easy," Jess leaned forward in her seat, pulling a hat from her back pocket, "Here ya go, Billie. I promised I would get you a hat, and I did."
The beanie had the face of Elvis Presley sewed into the front, one of her all-time idols. She handed Billie the hat and he put it on. Jess looked up at his teacher, who was standing in the middle of the room looking like a deer in headlights.
"What?" Jess asked, as if climbing through a second-story window was completely normal.
"Why couldn't you have just gone through the front door and used the stairs, or an elevator?" the older women asked before sticking her head out the window and looking down.
There was a ladder on the ground, which Jess had used to climb; once she was in, her flailing legs had kicked it, sending the ladder crashing down to earth.
"'Cause the Bitch has guards in front of the building," she answered nonchalantly.
"There's no need for that language...whose the Bitch?" Ms. Nesser asked, mentally slapping herself for being contradicting.
"Leela," Billie answered innocently.
Before Ms. Nesser could comment on this turn of events, her watch went off with a loud bring, and she sighed, "I have to go tutor, I'm sorry for the distractions, Billie Joe. I promise tomorrow I'll stay longer and we can spend more time on the presidents and whatever else you want."
Ms. Nesser began to get her things, as she looked for her coat, she stared up at Jess, "If there's anything you want to talk about, you know my number, Jess," she grabbed her coat, pushed dreadlocks out of her eyes and walked out of the door.
"You have Ms. Nesser's number?" Billie asked, looking at his friend.
"Yeah," Jess answered, looking down at the floor shamefully.
They sat in silence for ten minutes, having nothing to say. Billie Joe busied himself by touching the top of his head every so often, proud of his new hat, Jess sat in her chair twiddling her thumbs; she turned her head every time foot steps came down the hallway, nervous she was going to be caught.
Billie Joe looked down on the floor, and spotted the bucket of cards he had saved, "Jess? Will you help me find everyone who made me these?" he hoisted the bucket up onto his lap.
Jess smiled at her friend's sincere ways, "Sure I will, Bill."
