look over at Jaime who act like his eyes is chained to his plate or some shit. He’s grabbing his fork tight. Not moving.
“Eat up, dude,” I tell him, cut my pancakes, they tastes good. What’s wrong with this dude, he ain’t eating his pancakes. “Come on, dude, you don’t want your food to get cold.” My plate’s empty. “Shit, give ’em to me you don’t want ’em. You can have my cornflakes.” He pushes the plate toward me without even raising his head. “You sure, dude?” I say. “These some good motherfucking pancakes. I don’t know why you don’t like ’em.”
He push the plate the rest of the way across the table. I push the cornflakes in front of him. I’m not really that hungry anymore, but I put some butter and syrup on the pancakes. Jaime raise his hand. To be excused from the table we gotta raise our hands, then one of the brothers come over and we say some shit like, I’m finished, Brother So-and-So, may I be excused to go to the gym or the library, or wherever it is you wanna go.
Brother John come over to the table with his big weird-looking ass. “What’s going on here?”
“Huh?” What’s with this motherfucker, ain’ nothin’ goin’ on. Brother John look at the plates in front of me, Jaime’s plate of pancakes and my empty plate with just a few drops of syrup on it. Then he look at Jaime’s simple ass sitting there holding on to his fork like it’s money with two little boxes of unopened cornflakes in front of him.
“I said what’s going on here?”
I don’t know what he’s talking about.
“Nobody’s got a tongue here?”
“I gotta tongue.” Fuck this faggot.
“So use it to explain how it is you have two pancake plates in front of you and Jaime doesn’t seem to have eaten at all.”
“He didn’t want his pancakes, so he gave ’em to me,” I say, “and I gave him my cornflakes.”
“Is that right, Jaime?”
All of a sudden, Jaime start crying like some bitch. Drop his fork and just you know start boo-hooing. His little curly head going up and down. His whole body is shaking. What’s wrong with him! Brother Bill comes running over to the table and scoop Jaime up in his arms. I wish it was me. I don’t know Brother Bill, everyone say he one of the “nice ones,” whatever that means.
“There, there, Jaime. It’s alright,” he says, and walks out the cafeteria with Jaime in his arms. Brother John and everyone else is just staring at me.
MONDAY WE’RE REVIEWING Unit One in earth science.
“J.J.” Brother John always calls on me. I’m the best in the class, I don’t know if I’m the smartest, there is a difference, but I am the best. I look in Brother John’s blue eyes that sometimes remind me of the sky but this morning remind me of the painted turquoise bottom of the swimming pool that time I was wading through the warm chlorine-smelling water right left right left step step. And I went too far and the bottom disappeared. I screamed panicked, gulping down water. Panic. I feel panic now hearing Jaime sob. But when I blink and pull my eyes away from Brother John and glance over at Jaime, he’s not sobbing, he’s smiling at me, waiting for me to answer the question, staring at the board where Brother John has written:
THE FOUR MAJOR BRANCHES OF EARTH SCIENCE:
1.
2.
3.
4.
I remember my first day here four years ago. Brother John was holding my hand. I wasn’t that scared but I was scared, sad too. I thought about my mother every day back then. The class was quiet, it was different from public school, everybody had on a white shirt and a black tie and black corduroy pants. No girls, just boys, who cares, I don’t like girls anyway, no one does until you’re grown up. I never had a girl who was my friend. And it was bright, all the lights was on, not like in public school, half the lights out. Everybody was doing something, a lot was going on, but it wasn’t noisy. “Attention please!” Brother John hollered. “I want
“Eat up, dude,” I tell him, cut my pancakes, they tastes good. What’s wrong with this dude, he ain’t eating his pancakes. “Come on, dude, you don’t want your food to get cold.” My plate’s empty. “Shit, give ’em to me you don’t want ’em. You can have my cornflakes.” He pushes the plate toward me without even raising his head. “You sure, dude?” I say. “These some good motherfucking pancakes. I don’t know why you don’t like ’em.”
He push the plate the rest of the way across the table. I push the cornflakes in front of him. I’m not really that hungry anymore, but I put some butter and syrup on the pancakes. Jaime raise his hand. To be excused from the table we gotta raise our hands, then one of the brothers come over and we say some shit like, I’m finished, Brother So-and-So, may I be excused to go to the gym or the library, or wherever it is you wanna go.
Brother John come over to the table with his big weird-looking ass. “What’s going on here?”
“Huh?” What’s with this motherfucker, ain’ nothin’ goin’ on. Brother John look at the plates in front of me, Jaime’s plate of pancakes and my empty plate with just a few drops of syrup on it. Then he look at Jaime’s simple ass sitting there holding on to his fork like it’s money with two little boxes of unopened cornflakes in front of him.
“I said what’s going on here?”
I don’t know what he’s talking about.
“Nobody’s got a tongue here?”
“I gotta tongue.” Fuck this faggot.
“So use it to explain how it is you have two pancake plates in front of you and Jaime doesn’t seem to have eaten at all.”
“He didn’t want his pancakes, so he gave ’em to me,” I say, “and I gave him my cornflakes.”
“Is that right, Jaime?”
All of a sudden, Jaime start crying like some bitch. Drop his fork and just you know start boo-hooing. His little curly head going up and down. His whole body is shaking. What’s wrong with him! Brother Bill comes running over to the table and scoop Jaime up in his arms. I wish it was me. I don’t know Brother Bill, everyone say he one of the “nice ones,” whatever that means.
“There, there, Jaime. It’s alright,” he says, and walks out the cafeteria with Jaime in his arms. Brother John and everyone else is just staring at me.
MONDAY WE’RE REVIEWING Unit One in earth science.
“J.J.” Brother John always calls on me. I’m the best in the class, I don’t know if I’m the smartest, there is a difference, but I am the best. I look in Brother John’s blue eyes that sometimes remind me of the sky but this morning remind me of the painted turquoise bottom of the swimming pool that time I was wading through the warm chlorine-smelling water right left right left step step. And I went too far and the bottom disappeared. I screamed panicked, gulping down water. Panic. I feel panic now hearing Jaime sob. But when I blink and pull my eyes away from Brother John and glance over at Jaime, he’s not sobbing, he’s smiling at me, waiting for me to answer the question, staring at the board where Brother John has written:
THE FOUR MAJOR BRANCHES OF EARTH SCIENCE:
1.
2.
3.
4.
I remember my first day here four years ago. Brother John was holding my hand. I wasn’t that scared but I was scared, sad too. I thought about my mother every day back then. The class was quiet, it was different from public school, everybody had on a white shirt and a black tie and black corduroy pants. No girls, just boys, who cares, I don’t like girls anyway, no one does until you’re grown up. I never had a girl who was my friend. And it was bright, all the lights was on, not like in public school, half the lights out. Everybody was doing something, a lot was going on, but it wasn’t noisy. “Attention please!” Brother John hollered. “I want
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