As he left, Brittany blurted, “I hate that freak! Glad he’s out of the class
!
M
iss
Fontana, you need to get
him away from me
. He’s like stalking me or something,” Brittany said as Henry walked into the hallway, hearing every word.
“You need to have some compassion. And lower your voice. He’s not dea
f
,” Ms. Fontana warned. The girl rolled her eyes and sat down.
***
Jacob La Rue had been suspended too many times to count throughout his high school career. As a junior, he knew Fremont High’s disciplinary policies better than most of the administrators. This knowledge combined with Principal Shafer’s sympathy gave him the boundaries that he needed to avoid expulsion.
Once again, Jake
was
relieved to be out of his classes. His peers either jabbed him with insults or completely ignored him, leaving him isolated. ISS gave him a sense of security that was lost both in class and at home.
He looked forward to seeing Mrs.
Powis
, his favorite teacher, and often his only teacher.
Mrs.
Powis
was hired several years ago as a special education teacher’s aide.
In spite of her jo
b title, she had never spent
a day inside a special education classroom. S
he
began filling in as the ISS supervisor until the actual ISS supervisor quit. She
enjoyed working with the children
who were
constantly getting in trouble. And
they enjoyed her
back
.
Consistency and fairness had granted her the respect needed to successfully manage the room.
The kids usually didn’t give her trouble, and in return, she would bend the school’s rules in the afternoon. Once they proved that they were finished with all of their classwork, she allowed them to switch seats, quietly talk, and play learning games.
After Jake
finished all of his assignments, he sat next to Henry
. Mrs.
Powis
nodded, confirming she knew that he had no other classwork.
“Heard you beat the shit out of
Rio
Garcia,” he whispered.
“Mrs.
Powis
, he’s bothering me. I’m trying to finish up my English work,” Henry tattled.
“I’ll move. Just wanted to welcome
you
into our class,”
Jake
said. Mrs.
Powis
continued to watch him as he moved over a s
eat and
got
a crossword
puzzle
to work on.
He waited for Henry to finish
, assuming the boy
feared getting into more
trouble. Thirty minutes later Henry was done with everything
.
“Now what do I do?” Henry asked Mrs.
Powis
.
“I’m pretty liberal about the rules. In other words, if you want to talk quietly or do a puzzle or play a game, whatever, the rest of the time is yours as long as you don’t get out of control,” she explained.
Henry went to the wall of shelves in the back of the room and picked out a Harry Potter puzzle. Ja
ke
saw his chance to talk to him.
“Can I help you with that one?” Henry nodded. “I’m Ja
cob or Jake
. You’re Henry Novak. The whole school is talking about you.”
“Why? Am I in more trouble?” he answered.
“No. A lot of students can’t stand
Rio
Garcia. He’s a stuck-up dick who thinks he’s better than everyone. And you, a freshman, kicked his as
s! I love you, man!”
Henry enjoyed the attention. “He was bothering me and Brittany. And he was mean. You need to put these pieces together.”
Jake
realized
something was not quite right by
the boy’s mannerisms and speech. He wasn’t slow, but lacked some kind of spark inside
of his eyes. He
seemed void of emotion
and expression
.
With odd determination h
e put together the puzzle
as if a multi-million dollar prize was attached to its completion. Jake’s
curiosity boiled over. “Hey, I don’t want to be rude, but there is something different about you, something…”
“
I have As
p
erger’s.
Put that piece with this cluster that I started, and then put these pieces over here…”
“What’s that
?”
“I’m not good at
social cues or making friends
, at least that’s what the school’s psychologist says. You’re slowing me down. Put this piece over here…”
“I’m not good at social cues
or making friends
either. Do I have
Az
…burgs?”
“Maybe. You need to pay attention and start putting the edges of the puzzle together then…”
Jason appeased Henry.
He found the boy fascinating and planned on
getting to know him
better.
Chapter
5
January 1
3
, 2010
Jake was the first one inside of the ISS room. He wanted to hang out with Henry before the monotonous day began. He switched on the lights and sat at his desk. Henry was pacing back and forth in the hallway.
“Henry, why don’t you come
inside?
It’s okay,” Jake reassured.
Henry stood in the doorway and rocked. Jake couldn’t tell if he was afraid of him or entering the room without staff present.
The freshman
looked like a giant. Jake hadn’t noticed his immense size the day before when they were both seated.
“How tall are you?”
“I’m 6’3. And I weigh 230
pounds
. I’m really strong, too,” Henry proudly answered.
“You
gonna
stand in the door
way? Mrs.
Powis
doesn’t care if you come into the room. She’ll be here any minute.”
Henry stared blankly at him, almost trance-like, and rocked. Most kids would have found his mannerisms creepy, but Jake felt
an odd
connection with the boy as though they were kindred spirits
,
predestined
to meet inside of the
Z
oo.
“Henry, yoo-hoo. Come sit down.”
Henry stepped
through
the door of the classroom like he was stepping through airport security armed with
an
AK-47.
“
Wanna
do puzzles together during free-time?” asked Jake.
“The 3D one of the Capitol looks challenging,” Henry suggested. He stood too close to Jake’s desk and rocked. “So…did you watch the news this morning? Haiti suffered a catastrophic earthquake and they are feeling the
aftershocks
.”
“My neighbor is from there. Maybe Mrs.
Powis
will let us watch CNN,” Jake replied. “She sometimes allows us to watch TV when something
big happens
.”
“Good morning, Jake and Henry. And yes, I couldn’t help but overhear, I will put on the news. They think it might be a 6 or 7,” Mrs.
Powis
said as she plopped her heavy, leopard print tote bag onto her metal desk.
“That would be
fantastic!” beamed Henry.
Jake found his enthusiasm almost comical, but didn’t laugh. Oddly, he respected the boy for being himself and not trying to act cool.
The morning bell rang, and it was time to begin the mind-numbing busy work teachers were already piling
o
nto Mrs.
Powis
’
desk.
This time H
enry
sat
next to Jake.
As the day before, Mrs. Fontana came into the classroom
like an over-protective mother
and escorted Henry back to her room for lunch. Jake quietly ate alone and looked forward to free-time.
Once Henry was back from lunch and everyone claimed to be finished with the day’s assignments,
Mrs.
Powis
put CNN on the flat-screen TV hung behind her desk.
“
Tuesday afternoon, January 12, Haiti experienced the worst earthquake recorded in 200 years. It is believed to be a 7.0 magnitude, striking ten miles away from Port-au-Prince. Residences, hospitals, schools, and several other structures have collapsed. Millions are probably displaced.
Tens of thousands are feared dead,”
reported the newscaster on CNN news.
“Look! All of those houses
-
gone!” Henry shrieked, lacking compassion and sounding more like an excited child at a circus.
“
World relief programs have already organized to build camps for the millions without homes…”
continued the reporter on television.
“My neighbor says the country is really poor. And did you kn
ow that a lot of them practice V
oodoo,” announced Jake, feeling like an expert o
n
the subject.
“What’s that?” asked Henry.
The conversation sparked interest throughout the class. As the center of attention, Jake felt both fearful and wonderful.
“Well, it’s a religion. It comes from Africa when the slaves were captured and brought overseas. They kept it going and changed it a little over the years.”
“It’s when you make a doll of someone you hate and stick pins in it,” said Lisa, trying to steal Jake’s thunder.
“That’s only part of it. It’s a whole religion with gods, and sacrifices, prayers. They even have their own symbols and rituals and music,” Jake snapped.
“Do they believe in God?” asked Henry.
“Not the Christian God you all are used to,” answered Jake.
“I’m so impressed with your expertise. And Jake is right. All of you need to be respectful and tolerant of other religions. Not everyone is a Christian,” commented Mrs.
Powis
. Throughout the years Mrs.
Powis
had become Jake’s favorite teacher due to his constant stints inside of the
Zoo
.
“Mrs.
Powis
, I’m an expert on World War Two. Maybe even Vietnam and Korea. I mean, I know more about those wars than everyone here. For instance, did you know that FDR…” Henry interjected. His knowledge was eclipsed by Jake’s. The other students cut him off and continued asking
V
oodoo questions.
“But I though
t
V
oodoo came from Louisiana,” challenged Matt, another regular ISS attender who Jake disliked.
“That’s Creole. And it’s a lot different,” he answered, annoyed.
“You’re just woofing. You don’t know
shhh
…” Matt said, almost swearing in front of the teacher. Jake knew the boy was trying to undermine him.
The class went from a manageable volume level to really loud.
“Jake, thanks for
enlightening
us,” Mrs.
Powis
yelled. “All of you are way too loud. Time to settle down. I’ll turn up the volume a little so that we can all listen. You’re welcome to grab a puzzle, stare into space, whatever, as long as you are quiet. If all goes well the rest of the afternoon, tomorrow we can watch about Haiti.”
The TV was a powerful incentive. Everyone silently watched more footage about the earthquake disaster.
After the last bell of the day rang, Henry followed Jake to his locker.
“H
ow did you know all about that V
oodoo religion?” Henry asked.
Again, Jake found himself wanting to laugh at the boy’s weird sincerity, but refrained. “My neighbor. I’m going to visit him after school to see if he got a hold of his family.”
“Can I come with you? I want to meet him. My mom picks me up. She can drive us to your house and get me later.”
Jake found the idea tempting. “What the hell, Henry. Could use the ride. Takes forty-five minutes on the bus and I’m only ten minutes from the school.”
“Follow me to the back entrance.” Henry
hurriedly
walked through throngs of students to the other side of the school.
Jake saw a tiny, young woman reading a book parked in front of the entrance. “That your mom?” Henry nodded.
“You adopted?” Henry looked confused. “Kidding. C’mon, let’s go.”