Vor 3 Stunden
Part 1
Welcome to the world according to Joseph Silver, where dreams turns into reality and disaster into triumph!
Joe is a teen with a heart of silver and gold, as nice a kid as you’d ever meet. However, at school he wasn’t to be found among the preppy clique; he wasn’t a member of the jock society; he wasn’t one of the nerds. Unfortunately, he was alone and lonely. But no matter how lonely he was, he was able to occupy his time by reading history books and playing his harmonica and flute. Since he had no friends, studying and homework became his world.
Having a student who was big and tall would be any football coach’s dream, but after being pressured into trying out for the team, not only was Joe dismissed and told to stick with playing music, but the whole team taunted and made fun of him while showering after tryouts, saying things like “hey, I didn’t know that Shamu the Whale was a student here” or “looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy is trying out for the team.” Joe shrugged it off as if he didn’t hear the fat jokes, but deep inside he was sad and tired of being ridiculed by almost everyone at school. During the bus ride home he always had two seats to himself, while the kid assigned to sit next to him chose to squeeze into another seat alongside two of his friends
When Joe got home from school each day the first thing he would do was go to the fridge, pull out a Coke, and make himself a big sandwich before retreating to his room. In his room he’d kick off his shoes, throw his book-filled backpack down, pick up the last book he had been reading, and continue where he had left off. His room was like any teen’s room; in fact, he had posters on the wall of Bruce Lee, the New York Jets, and music charts. A world globe stood in the far right corner of his room, and a bookshelf with Chinese fiction and history books on the classical era. Most important were the books on martial arts, something he desired but that ended up being a part of his fantasy world instead.
His parents usually arrived home about two hours after Joe. Mr. Silver was an open hearted and honest man who worked as a daytime chef at the famous Drake Fountain restaurant and resort. His mother was the office manager for the resort. They loved their only son, and longed to see him have friends who would accept him for who he was instead of avoiding him. But he had no friends. There were two reasons kids avoided Joe. His size and weight was one reason, and the other was when he looked into someone’s eyes it made them feel as if he was seeing right through them into their mind.
Joe wasn’t bad looking. He had black hair; a cute if somewhat chubby face; and eyes that were blue mixed with a shade of grey that reflected the sun’s rays and created shimmering sparkles of silver. When Joe had been little he had the most attractive and addictive smile that made everyone smile when they saw it. As a teen he didn’t have anything to smile about.
His home was located about two blocks from Fairview High School. He would still be attending Fairview, but his freshman year at that school had been a nightmare. His parents found a magnet school halfway across town that welcomed him because of his love for music and for history, and because he’d been a straight-A student since elementary school.
One day while lying on his bed reading, Joe heard kids yelling outside.
”Yeah! He thinks he’s such a badass, let’s see him try to kick Rex’s ass.”
Usually when Joe heard a fight starting up at school he avoided it like it was a poisonous snake. But this was right outside his house. As the yelling grew louder he became curious and decided to investigate. What he saw through his bedroom window both shocked and angered him.
Watching from his window, he counted at least fifteen teens surrounding what looked like a football jock and a kid no more than twelve. He was about one-third of the jock’s size. Apparently it was some kind of fight, and it seemed that it wasn’t a fair fight. As the jock drew back his arm to throw a blow to the little guy’s face, the little guy stepped to the left of the punch and quickly threw a lightning fast punch to the right side of the jocks face. Then he made a move that was beautiful to Joe but not for the jock. Jumping up and spinning around like he was doing a dance, the little guy swung out his leg and kicked the jock across the side of his head. The jock went down like a big bag of rocks. Just as the little guy landed on his feet, two other teens who wore the same kind of Fairview letterman’s jacket as the jock quickly rushed him at the same time. While the little guy was turning to face them, one of them threw a big rock hitting him in the head, and the other jock kicked him in his stomach and crotch.
Watching this was like watching a good karate movie gone bad, Joe thought. Seeing the crowd of school kids clapping and giving each other high fives and hooting and hooting and hollering their satisfaction that a little kid had been beat up by a couple of jocks brought up so much anger in Joe that it shocked him. It brought back all of the bad old memories of his middle school days, the bullies who picked on him because he kept to himself, and all the harassment because he chose to mind his business at school.
Joe stepped back from the window, not knowing what to do. After a couple of minutes he heard the front door opening and rushed downstairs to see his dad helping the little kid walk in with him. Seeing this kid close up was not the same as from his bedroom window. He could see that he was a teen, maybe about 14 or 15. Despite his small stature and build he had well toned youthful muscles on his arms and legs. His face was tanned, highlighted by a pair of beautiful pale brown eyes and a disheveled mop of light brown hair.
Joe’s dad was holding a white handkerchief to the kid’s head and it was stained with a bit of blood. He turned to Joe. “Hey, champ, help me here with Keith. When I was pulling up to the house I saw him on the ground and that he needed help. There was a crowd of kids that broke up and took off as I drove up. Did you see what was going on?”
Joe looked at his dad with a surprised expression. Too ashamed to mention that he’d stood and watched the fight from his bedroom window and done nothing, Joe lied. “No, I didn’t, dad.”
He reached out and took hold of Keith’s arm and helped him into the living room and they both sat on the couch. His dad went into the kitchen to make up an icepack for the knot forming on his forehead. Joe hated lying to his dad and now that he was actually sitting next to the boy he cowardly watched get beat up from his bed room window, Joe felt horrible. Keith slowly reached up and touched his forehead, only to yelp out a loud “Oouch!”
“My dad’s fixing an icepack for that knot on your head. Uh, by the way, my name’s Joe.”
Despite the bruised knot forming over Keith’s left eye, Joe couldn’t stop looking at this smaller teen. The light brown color of his eyes seemed to shine with a light of their own. Joe realized that he had been staring at Keith a little too long.
“Other than your forehead, are you okay? Do you live around here? Can we call your parents?”
Keith looked at Joe. Joe and his dad seemed like kind people, so he decided it couldn’t hurt to answer Joe’s question just as Joe’s dad brought in the icepack.
”I’m new to the area and I’m going to Fairview high.” Keith took the icepack and gingerly pressed it to his forehead.
“Oh,” replied Joe, “I went there for my freshman year until I was accepted in the magnet program at Universal High across town.”
Joe’s dad looked at Keith. “So, do you want to tell us what that was all about out there? What I saw greatly concerns me, especially when I saw what seemed to be about a dozen kids around you giving high fives, and a couple of big guys in letterman’s jackets were helping another guy off the ground.”
Keith wasn’t sure what he wanted to tell them. “I feel kind of dizzy. Could I close my eyes for a few minutes?”
Joe looked at his dad, who nodded. “Sure. We’ll be right here.”
As he shut his eyes, Keith’s mind drifted back. Two weeks had passed since he was taken from his prior foster home. He had been in two foster homes before that one, and his social worker was running out of homes willing to take him. Keith had a reputation that he constantly got into fights, and had been suspended from the schools he’d been attending. The social worker told him that this was his last chance, that if this family didn’t want to keep him he’d have to go to a state run facility. That was something that Keith absolutely did not want to do.
It was Keith’s third day at Fairview when Reggie, one of the jocks on the football team, tripped him on purpose as he was carrying his lunch tray to a table where he could be left alone. It happened right across from Mrs. Williams’ office. She was the cafeteria manager, and a very nice lady who made sure that the cafeteria was a place where the students could relax, eat, and chat in a setting that was comfortable and safe. One thing she didn’t tolerate was fighting in her domain, and students who started fights were not allowed back in the cafeteria for 30 days and were assigned to eat in a small side room next to her office. They also had to clean up any mess that occurred by fallen trays.
As Keith was picking himself up off of the floor, some of Reggie’s teammates laughed as Reggie said, “What’s wrong pretty boy, is the tray to heavy for you to carry?” Keith turned to look at Reggie, and one of his buddies said, “Better watch out man, I think goldilocks is mad.” Reggie stared at Keith who just stared right back, “What you looking at goldilocks? Ya want to hit me or kiss me?”
Keith was just about to answer when Mrs. Williams came out saying “What is going on here?”
Backing down, Reggie and his buddies said, “Nothing, Mrs. Williams. This kid was walking by and tripped or something and almost dumped his tray right on me. And all I did was ask him if he was all right and he looked at me like he was going to start something.”
Mrs. Williams looked at Keith then back at Reggie. “Okay, I really don’t know what happen here, nor do I believe what I just heard, but you kids know the rules. She turned to Keith.
“If you’re new then read the rules posted on the cafeteria door as you enter. And clean up what spilled.” Giving a stare to both Keith and Reggie that confirmed what she said was law, she turned and walked back into her office.
Reggie and his friends walked off laughing. Keith rescued the part of his lunch that hadn’t spilled on the floor, picked up what had and threw it into the trash. He sighed to himself. This school was going to be the same old story.
By the time Friday arrived Keith was coming to the end of a long week of petty harassment, embarrassment, and being lied about. But he never backed down or let it get to him. His last period was PE. Rex, one of Reggie’s friends, was in his class. The coach decided to have the boys run a mile lap around the track because a few of them were horsing around. Keith mumbling under his breath how unfair it was, that caught the attention of the coach, and he decided Keith’s comment warranted the group an additional mile.
Rex looked at Keith with an angry expression, but held back from saying anything in fear that if he said anything that might add yet another mile. He decided to deal with Keith on the track. Halfway through the run, Rex was running with his buddies behind Keith. He glanced at his friend running next to him and whispered that they should catch up to Keith and trip him.
Keith saw that Rex had caught up to him on his right side. But he was unaware that Rex’s buddy had caught up with him on the left. He bumped Keith’s left leg causing him to fall. Reaching out his hands to brace himself against the fall, Keith tucked himself into a roll. Realizing who had tripped him, he came up out of the roll and delivered a jumping kick into the jock’s back, knocking him flat on his face. Quickly forming a circle with the other jocks, Rex prepared himself to rip into Keith just as the coach and his assistant broke through the circle.
“What the hell is going on?” the coach yelled. Knowing that he had Keith right where he wanted, Rex replied. “Coach, you need to do something with that weirdo, he was pissed because we had to run a mile and when I told him that he caused us an extra mile because of his mouth, he kicked Fred in the back and knocked him down.”
Rex’s other friends quickly joined him in the lie, partly because they were his friends and partly in hope that the coach would call off the run so he could deal with the new kid. But it was to no avail. The coach sent Keith to the office and ordered the class to finish the run. That was followed by revengeful stares at Keith as he walked off to the locker room to dress and gather his things then report to the office.
The Vice Principal tried to reach Keith’s foster parents, but with no success. After an almost 30 minute lecture on the schools policy and rules on fighting, he sent Keith home with a letter asking for a meeting with his guardians.
After he had left the school grounds he was quickly surrounded by what seemed like his whole gym class. He realized that if they attacked him it would be the worse fight he ever had. Rex and his friends started cursing and belittling him saying, “Hey faggot, let’s see how well little goldilocks can fight now.”
Keith remembered his years of training, and how he was going to handle this; he knew that master Soo would not have approved how he became so aggressive when most of the time he could have prevented a fight by just walking away. This time walking away was not an option. The crowd closed in on him.
Keith thought about his life. Up to now, he felt like everything he had and loved had been taken from him. He must have done something wrong to deserve this kind of punishment, but he couldn’t remember anything that would warrant all of the great loss he had suffered and the hell his life had become over the past 6 months.
Keith’s mind drifted further back to when he was a little kid. Those were the best times of his life; he lived with his parents and twin brother Kevis in a beautiful home in upstate New York. His parents were caring and loving people who spent quality time with their boys.
Keith loved to watch TV and the movies his dad would pick up at the video store on his way home. He was especially fascinated by a martial arts movie that was filled with action, excitement and energy. He loved the movie so much that his dad ended up buying the DVD because Keith was always asking him to rent it again and again.
On the twin’s seventh birthday their dad surprised them by saying he was going to take them out for some ice cream. But the trip to Sarah’s ice cream shop was partly a cover-up for his dad enrolling them in the kung fu school which was right next door. The boys jumped into the arms of their dad and thanked him over and over. Keith and Kevis went to every class and became a permanent fixture at the dojo, which they found out was what the kung fu school was called.
The twins were also excellent students in public school as well. They always treated everyone with respect. When you saw one in school, you could be sure that the other one wasn’t far away. As brothers do, they teased each other and played jokes on each other, but never to demean or embarrass the other.
Both of the twins had the good looks, intelligence, and good nature of both their parents. Their dad was the CEO of a well established advertising and marketing firm which he and his college sweetheart and now wife of fifteen years had started since graduating from college, and their mom was a CPA for the same firm. The boys always had a parent available to talk to or share their thoughts with.
As the twins grew from boyhood into the world of teen life they developed different interests. Kevis was in every way enjoying being the prey of the girls at school. Keith shied away from girls’ attention. They were always active in sports at school, but having different interests. Kevis was into soccer and basket ball, Keith loved swimming and track. The brothers were also on the young bowlers’ team at their school which met on Saturday mornings and both of them never bowled less than 180. At their dojo, they advanced rapidly in their skills and after earning black sash status they became junior instructors and were both awarded second degree black belt status by the time they were 13. To see the twins together made everyone stare at them in awe of their beauty both external and internal.
On their 14th birthday their parents decided to drive them down the east coast to Florida so that they could enjoy all that Disneyworld, Universal Studios, and Busch Gardens had to offer, along with the attractions of the Florida coast. The boys were excited about the trip and couldn’t wait until school was out to go.
On the day of their departure for their trip to Florida, they went to their dojo and told Master Soo that they would be away for two weeks enjoying the trip that was their birthday gift from their parents. Master Soo was very proud of his students and sent them off with his blessings. Their trip to Florida was almost indescribable. They visited all three theme parks, went to the beach and swam in the ocean, and collected small gifts to take back to their friends back at home.
On the last day of their trip, their dad chartered a fishing boat to take the family on a first time deep sea fishing trip. Upon hearing the news the twins could hardly contain their excitement. The fish were biting as soon as they cast out the lines, they were pulling out fish after fish, and they all had an awesome time. The catch was all secured and the lines all gathered they started the trip back in. The boat’s captain noticed smoke coming from below. He quickly went down to investigate while his assistant made sure that all on board still had their life jackets on. The captain came back to the deck and said the fire couldn’t be contained and they’d have to jump overboard into a rubber lifeboat. The last thing Keith remembered was seeing his dad jumping up towards him and Kevis, and then everything went black.
Like a spell being broken, Keith opened his eyes and became aware of his surroundings. He saw how the two people in front of him, Joe and his dad, were staring at him. He became aware that tears were streaming down his cheeks. Keith tried to gain his composure.
Joe’s dad handed a couple of tissues to Keith. “It’s okay Keith, you’ve been through a lot. Do you want me to call your parents? I think they need to be informed about what happened to you. And it will make me feel better that they know where you are.”
Keith pulled the icepack from his forehead, looked at Mr. Silver with a glare, and growled, “No! You don’t have to call them. No one is home anyway.”
Joe’s dad sensed that something wasn’t right. “Okay, just keep the icepack on that knot on your forehead. Would you like me to get you something to drink? Would you like water or a Coke?”
Keith felt bad about how he’d replied to this man who was just trying to help. Barely looking up at him, he replied. “I’m sorry for what I said. A Coke will be fine. Thanks, mister... uh....”
“My name’s Paul Silver. You can call me Paul. And this is my son Joe. Keith, I want you to know that whatever you’re going through, you are not alone. We are here if you ever feel the need to just talk, okay?” Keith slowly looked up into Paul’s face and nodded.
For the life of him, Joe couldn’t figure out what would make Keith respond about his parents to his dad that way. Not wanting to upset him any further, Joe tried changing the course of discussion.
“So, do you want to lie down for a while? It might help you feel better. My mom should be home in about an hour, and I can ask her if it’s okay if you can stay for dinner.”
Keith knew that he was in hot water for fighting, and not only with the school. His new foster parents warned him that because of his history if he got into any fights it would jeopardize his stay with them. Deciding to take a chance with Joe and his family, he said, “Umm, I don’t have a place to go, so if your parents will let me stay for dinner, I promise I will leave right after.”
Joe was surprised at what he just heard. “What do you mean, you don’t have a place to go?”
Keith looked in the direction of the kitchen where Paul was getting the Cokes, and then back at Joe, and said in almost a whisper, “I live in a foster home, and they told me if I got into any fights in school that they wouldn’t be able to keep me. I’ve been in three schools since the beginning of the school year, and I’ve run out of foster homes that will take me.”
Joe could hardly believe what he was hearing, how could a kid like this end up with a life like that? He was starting at Keith with his mouth open, shocked by what he’d been told.
Paul came in with the drinks and saw the expression on his son’s face.
“Joe, why the open mouth?”
Joe knew that he’d been caught. He knew that Keith wanted to keep that part of his life private. He looked at his dad. “I just can’t believe why a bunch of bullies would gang up on Keith and beat him up.”
Keith was surprised that Joe was trying to cover for him. No one ever took his side. He looked at Joe, and saw that he was smiling.
Paul set down the drinks. “Keith, I think you should tell us what was going on out there. If there’s a problem, we might be able to help.”
Keith decided to tell them at least what happened at school during his first week. Hopefully it would be enough to prevent him from having to go into the real cause of his problems, which he himself couldn’t fully understand, and from having to tell Joe’s dad that he lived in a foster home.
Keith told them what happened to him at Fairview, and he didn’t leave anything out. He could see in the faces of Joe and his dad the looks of anger and sadness at how unfairly he had been treated, and the events that led up to the fight. The fight that had occurred just less than an hour ago.
Paul looked at Keith, and his expression was compassionate. “What have your parents done to stop the harassment, have they spoken to the school Principal?”
Not wanting to deal with answering the question, Keith asked, “I think I should give my parents a call, someone might be at home now.”
Joe looked intently at Keith. “Sure, let me bring you the phone. Then you can call them.”
While Joe went to get the phone, the front door opened and his mom walked in carrying a couple bags of groceries. Yelling out that she was home, Paul quickly went to greet her, took the bags from her, and went with her into the kitchen.
Welcome to the world according to Joseph Silver, where dreams turns into reality and disaster into triumph!
Joe is a teen with a heart of silver and gold, as nice a kid as you’d ever meet. However, at school he wasn’t to be found among the preppy clique; he wasn’t a member of the jock society; he wasn’t one of the nerds. Unfortunately, he was alone and lonely. But no matter how lonely he was, he was able to occupy his time by reading history books and playing his harmonica and flute. Since he had no friends, studying and homework became his world.
Having a student who was big and tall would be any football coach’s dream, but after being pressured into trying out for the team, not only was Joe dismissed and told to stick with playing music, but the whole team taunted and made fun of him while showering after tryouts, saying things like “hey, I didn’t know that Shamu the Whale was a student here” or “looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy is trying out for the team.” Joe shrugged it off as if he didn’t hear the fat jokes, but deep inside he was sad and tired of being ridiculed by almost everyone at school. During the bus ride home he always had two seats to himself, while the kid assigned to sit next to him chose to squeeze into another seat alongside two of his friends
When Joe got home from school each day the first thing he would do was go to the fridge, pull out a Coke, and make himself a big sandwich before retreating to his room. In his room he’d kick off his shoes, throw his book-filled backpack down, pick up the last book he had been reading, and continue where he had left off. His room was like any teen’s room; in fact, he had posters on the wall of Bruce Lee, the New York Jets, and music charts. A world globe stood in the far right corner of his room, and a bookshelf with Chinese fiction and history books on the classical era. Most important were the books on martial arts, something he desired but that ended up being a part of his fantasy world instead.
His parents usually arrived home about two hours after Joe. Mr. Silver was an open hearted and honest man who worked as a daytime chef at the famous Drake Fountain restaurant and resort. His mother was the office manager for the resort. They loved their only son, and longed to see him have friends who would accept him for who he was instead of avoiding him. But he had no friends. There were two reasons kids avoided Joe. His size and weight was one reason, and the other was when he looked into someone’s eyes it made them feel as if he was seeing right through them into their mind.
Joe wasn’t bad looking. He had black hair; a cute if somewhat chubby face; and eyes that were blue mixed with a shade of grey that reflected the sun’s rays and created shimmering sparkles of silver. When Joe had been little he had the most attractive and addictive smile that made everyone smile when they saw it. As a teen he didn’t have anything to smile about.
His home was located about two blocks from Fairview High School. He would still be attending Fairview, but his freshman year at that school had been a nightmare. His parents found a magnet school halfway across town that welcomed him because of his love for music and for history, and because he’d been a straight-A student since elementary school.
One day while lying on his bed reading, Joe heard kids yelling outside.
”Yeah! He thinks he’s such a badass, let’s see him try to kick Rex’s ass.”
Usually when Joe heard a fight starting up at school he avoided it like it was a poisonous snake. But this was right outside his house. As the yelling grew louder he became curious and decided to investigate. What he saw through his bedroom window both shocked and angered him.
Watching from his window, he counted at least fifteen teens surrounding what looked like a football jock and a kid no more than twelve. He was about one-third of the jock’s size. Apparently it was some kind of fight, and it seemed that it wasn’t a fair fight. As the jock drew back his arm to throw a blow to the little guy’s face, the little guy stepped to the left of the punch and quickly threw a lightning fast punch to the right side of the jocks face. Then he made a move that was beautiful to Joe but not for the jock. Jumping up and spinning around like he was doing a dance, the little guy swung out his leg and kicked the jock across the side of his head. The jock went down like a big bag of rocks. Just as the little guy landed on his feet, two other teens who wore the same kind of Fairview letterman’s jacket as the jock quickly rushed him at the same time. While the little guy was turning to face them, one of them threw a big rock hitting him in the head, and the other jock kicked him in his stomach and crotch.
Watching this was like watching a good karate movie gone bad, Joe thought. Seeing the crowd of school kids clapping and giving each other high fives and hooting and hooting and hollering their satisfaction that a little kid had been beat up by a couple of jocks brought up so much anger in Joe that it shocked him. It brought back all of the bad old memories of his middle school days, the bullies who picked on him because he kept to himself, and all the harassment because he chose to mind his business at school.
Joe stepped back from the window, not knowing what to do. After a couple of minutes he heard the front door opening and rushed downstairs to see his dad helping the little kid walk in with him. Seeing this kid close up was not the same as from his bedroom window. He could see that he was a teen, maybe about 14 or 15. Despite his small stature and build he had well toned youthful muscles on his arms and legs. His face was tanned, highlighted by a pair of beautiful pale brown eyes and a disheveled mop of light brown hair.
Joe’s dad was holding a white handkerchief to the kid’s head and it was stained with a bit of blood. He turned to Joe. “Hey, champ, help me here with Keith. When I was pulling up to the house I saw him on the ground and that he needed help. There was a crowd of kids that broke up and took off as I drove up. Did you see what was going on?”
Joe looked at his dad with a surprised expression. Too ashamed to mention that he’d stood and watched the fight from his bedroom window and done nothing, Joe lied. “No, I didn’t, dad.”
He reached out and took hold of Keith’s arm and helped him into the living room and they both sat on the couch. His dad went into the kitchen to make up an icepack for the knot forming on his forehead. Joe hated lying to his dad and now that he was actually sitting next to the boy he cowardly watched get beat up from his bed room window, Joe felt horrible. Keith slowly reached up and touched his forehead, only to yelp out a loud “Oouch!”
“My dad’s fixing an icepack for that knot on your head. Uh, by the way, my name’s Joe.”
Despite the bruised knot forming over Keith’s left eye, Joe couldn’t stop looking at this smaller teen. The light brown color of his eyes seemed to shine with a light of their own. Joe realized that he had been staring at Keith a little too long.
“Other than your forehead, are you okay? Do you live around here? Can we call your parents?”
Keith looked at Joe. Joe and his dad seemed like kind people, so he decided it couldn’t hurt to answer Joe’s question just as Joe’s dad brought in the icepack.
”I’m new to the area and I’m going to Fairview high.” Keith took the icepack and gingerly pressed it to his forehead.
“Oh,” replied Joe, “I went there for my freshman year until I was accepted in the magnet program at Universal High across town.”
Joe’s dad looked at Keith. “So, do you want to tell us what that was all about out there? What I saw greatly concerns me, especially when I saw what seemed to be about a dozen kids around you giving high fives, and a couple of big guys in letterman’s jackets were helping another guy off the ground.”
Keith wasn’t sure what he wanted to tell them. “I feel kind of dizzy. Could I close my eyes for a few minutes?”
Joe looked at his dad, who nodded. “Sure. We’ll be right here.”
As he shut his eyes, Keith’s mind drifted back. Two weeks had passed since he was taken from his prior foster home. He had been in two foster homes before that one, and his social worker was running out of homes willing to take him. Keith had a reputation that he constantly got into fights, and had been suspended from the schools he’d been attending. The social worker told him that this was his last chance, that if this family didn’t want to keep him he’d have to go to a state run facility. That was something that Keith absolutely did not want to do.
It was Keith’s third day at Fairview when Reggie, one of the jocks on the football team, tripped him on purpose as he was carrying his lunch tray to a table where he could be left alone. It happened right across from Mrs. Williams’ office. She was the cafeteria manager, and a very nice lady who made sure that the cafeteria was a place where the students could relax, eat, and chat in a setting that was comfortable and safe. One thing she didn’t tolerate was fighting in her domain, and students who started fights were not allowed back in the cafeteria for 30 days and were assigned to eat in a small side room next to her office. They also had to clean up any mess that occurred by fallen trays.
As Keith was picking himself up off of the floor, some of Reggie’s teammates laughed as Reggie said, “What’s wrong pretty boy, is the tray to heavy for you to carry?” Keith turned to look at Reggie, and one of his buddies said, “Better watch out man, I think goldilocks is mad.” Reggie stared at Keith who just stared right back, “What you looking at goldilocks? Ya want to hit me or kiss me?”
Keith was just about to answer when Mrs. Williams came out saying “What is going on here?”
Backing down, Reggie and his buddies said, “Nothing, Mrs. Williams. This kid was walking by and tripped or something and almost dumped his tray right on me. And all I did was ask him if he was all right and he looked at me like he was going to start something.”
Mrs. Williams looked at Keith then back at Reggie. “Okay, I really don’t know what happen here, nor do I believe what I just heard, but you kids know the rules. She turned to Keith.
“If you’re new then read the rules posted on the cafeteria door as you enter. And clean up what spilled.” Giving a stare to both Keith and Reggie that confirmed what she said was law, she turned and walked back into her office.
Reggie and his friends walked off laughing. Keith rescued the part of his lunch that hadn’t spilled on the floor, picked up what had and threw it into the trash. He sighed to himself. This school was going to be the same old story.
By the time Friday arrived Keith was coming to the end of a long week of petty harassment, embarrassment, and being lied about. But he never backed down or let it get to him. His last period was PE. Rex, one of Reggie’s friends, was in his class. The coach decided to have the boys run a mile lap around the track because a few of them were horsing around. Keith mumbling under his breath how unfair it was, that caught the attention of the coach, and he decided Keith’s comment warranted the group an additional mile.
Rex looked at Keith with an angry expression, but held back from saying anything in fear that if he said anything that might add yet another mile. He decided to deal with Keith on the track. Halfway through the run, Rex was running with his buddies behind Keith. He glanced at his friend running next to him and whispered that they should catch up to Keith and trip him.
Keith saw that Rex had caught up to him on his right side. But he was unaware that Rex’s buddy had caught up with him on the left. He bumped Keith’s left leg causing him to fall. Reaching out his hands to brace himself against the fall, Keith tucked himself into a roll. Realizing who had tripped him, he came up out of the roll and delivered a jumping kick into the jock’s back, knocking him flat on his face. Quickly forming a circle with the other jocks, Rex prepared himself to rip into Keith just as the coach and his assistant broke through the circle.
“What the hell is going on?” the coach yelled. Knowing that he had Keith right where he wanted, Rex replied. “Coach, you need to do something with that weirdo, he was pissed because we had to run a mile and when I told him that he caused us an extra mile because of his mouth, he kicked Fred in the back and knocked him down.”
Rex’s other friends quickly joined him in the lie, partly because they were his friends and partly in hope that the coach would call off the run so he could deal with the new kid. But it was to no avail. The coach sent Keith to the office and ordered the class to finish the run. That was followed by revengeful stares at Keith as he walked off to the locker room to dress and gather his things then report to the office.
The Vice Principal tried to reach Keith’s foster parents, but with no success. After an almost 30 minute lecture on the schools policy and rules on fighting, he sent Keith home with a letter asking for a meeting with his guardians.
After he had left the school grounds he was quickly surrounded by what seemed like his whole gym class. He realized that if they attacked him it would be the worse fight he ever had. Rex and his friends started cursing and belittling him saying, “Hey faggot, let’s see how well little goldilocks can fight now.”
Keith remembered his years of training, and how he was going to handle this; he knew that master Soo would not have approved how he became so aggressive when most of the time he could have prevented a fight by just walking away. This time walking away was not an option. The crowd closed in on him.
Keith thought about his life. Up to now, he felt like everything he had and loved had been taken from him. He must have done something wrong to deserve this kind of punishment, but he couldn’t remember anything that would warrant all of the great loss he had suffered and the hell his life had become over the past 6 months.
Keith’s mind drifted further back to when he was a little kid. Those were the best times of his life; he lived with his parents and twin brother Kevis in a beautiful home in upstate New York. His parents were caring and loving people who spent quality time with their boys.
Keith loved to watch TV and the movies his dad would pick up at the video store on his way home. He was especially fascinated by a martial arts movie that was filled with action, excitement and energy. He loved the movie so much that his dad ended up buying the DVD because Keith was always asking him to rent it again and again.
On the twin’s seventh birthday their dad surprised them by saying he was going to take them out for some ice cream. But the trip to Sarah’s ice cream shop was partly a cover-up for his dad enrolling them in the kung fu school which was right next door. The boys jumped into the arms of their dad and thanked him over and over. Keith and Kevis went to every class and became a permanent fixture at the dojo, which they found out was what the kung fu school was called.
The twins were also excellent students in public school as well. They always treated everyone with respect. When you saw one in school, you could be sure that the other one wasn’t far away. As brothers do, they teased each other and played jokes on each other, but never to demean or embarrass the other.
Both of the twins had the good looks, intelligence, and good nature of both their parents. Their dad was the CEO of a well established advertising and marketing firm which he and his college sweetheart and now wife of fifteen years had started since graduating from college, and their mom was a CPA for the same firm. The boys always had a parent available to talk to or share their thoughts with.
As the twins grew from boyhood into the world of teen life they developed different interests. Kevis was in every way enjoying being the prey of the girls at school. Keith shied away from girls’ attention. They were always active in sports at school, but having different interests. Kevis was into soccer and basket ball, Keith loved swimming and track. The brothers were also on the young bowlers’ team at their school which met on Saturday mornings and both of them never bowled less than 180. At their dojo, they advanced rapidly in their skills and after earning black sash status they became junior instructors and were both awarded second degree black belt status by the time they were 13. To see the twins together made everyone stare at them in awe of their beauty both external and internal.
On their 14th birthday their parents decided to drive them down the east coast to Florida so that they could enjoy all that Disneyworld, Universal Studios, and Busch Gardens had to offer, along with the attractions of the Florida coast. The boys were excited about the trip and couldn’t wait until school was out to go.
On the day of their departure for their trip to Florida, they went to their dojo and told Master Soo that they would be away for two weeks enjoying the trip that was their birthday gift from their parents. Master Soo was very proud of his students and sent them off with his blessings. Their trip to Florida was almost indescribable. They visited all three theme parks, went to the beach and swam in the ocean, and collected small gifts to take back to their friends back at home.
On the last day of their trip, their dad chartered a fishing boat to take the family on a first time deep sea fishing trip. Upon hearing the news the twins could hardly contain their excitement. The fish were biting as soon as they cast out the lines, they were pulling out fish after fish, and they all had an awesome time. The catch was all secured and the lines all gathered they started the trip back in. The boat’s captain noticed smoke coming from below. He quickly went down to investigate while his assistant made sure that all on board still had their life jackets on. The captain came back to the deck and said the fire couldn’t be contained and they’d have to jump overboard into a rubber lifeboat. The last thing Keith remembered was seeing his dad jumping up towards him and Kevis, and then everything went black.
Like a spell being broken, Keith opened his eyes and became aware of his surroundings. He saw how the two people in front of him, Joe and his dad, were staring at him. He became aware that tears were streaming down his cheeks. Keith tried to gain his composure.
Joe’s dad handed a couple of tissues to Keith. “It’s okay Keith, you’ve been through a lot. Do you want me to call your parents? I think they need to be informed about what happened to you. And it will make me feel better that they know where you are.”
Keith pulled the icepack from his forehead, looked at Mr. Silver with a glare, and growled, “No! You don’t have to call them. No one is home anyway.”
Joe’s dad sensed that something wasn’t right. “Okay, just keep the icepack on that knot on your forehead. Would you like me to get you something to drink? Would you like water or a Coke?”
Keith felt bad about how he’d replied to this man who was just trying to help. Barely looking up at him, he replied. “I’m sorry for what I said. A Coke will be fine. Thanks, mister... uh....”
“My name’s Paul Silver. You can call me Paul. And this is my son Joe. Keith, I want you to know that whatever you’re going through, you are not alone. We are here if you ever feel the need to just talk, okay?” Keith slowly looked up into Paul’s face and nodded.
For the life of him, Joe couldn’t figure out what would make Keith respond about his parents to his dad that way. Not wanting to upset him any further, Joe tried changing the course of discussion.
“So, do you want to lie down for a while? It might help you feel better. My mom should be home in about an hour, and I can ask her if it’s okay if you can stay for dinner.”
Keith knew that he was in hot water for fighting, and not only with the school. His new foster parents warned him that because of his history if he got into any fights it would jeopardize his stay with them. Deciding to take a chance with Joe and his family, he said, “Umm, I don’t have a place to go, so if your parents will let me stay for dinner, I promise I will leave right after.”
Joe was surprised at what he just heard. “What do you mean, you don’t have a place to go?”
Keith looked in the direction of the kitchen where Paul was getting the Cokes, and then back at Joe, and said in almost a whisper, “I live in a foster home, and they told me if I got into any fights in school that they wouldn’t be able to keep me. I’ve been in three schools since the beginning of the school year, and I’ve run out of foster homes that will take me.”
Joe could hardly believe what he was hearing, how could a kid like this end up with a life like that? He was starting at Keith with his mouth open, shocked by what he’d been told.
Paul came in with the drinks and saw the expression on his son’s face.
“Joe, why the open mouth?”
Joe knew that he’d been caught. He knew that Keith wanted to keep that part of his life private. He looked at his dad. “I just can’t believe why a bunch of bullies would gang up on Keith and beat him up.”
Keith was surprised that Joe was trying to cover for him. No one ever took his side. He looked at Joe, and saw that he was smiling.
Paul set down the drinks. “Keith, I think you should tell us what was going on out there. If there’s a problem, we might be able to help.”
Keith decided to tell them at least what happened at school during his first week. Hopefully it would be enough to prevent him from having to go into the real cause of his problems, which he himself couldn’t fully understand, and from having to tell Joe’s dad that he lived in a foster home.
Keith told them what happened to him at Fairview, and he didn’t leave anything out. He could see in the faces of Joe and his dad the looks of anger and sadness at how unfairly he had been treated, and the events that led up to the fight. The fight that had occurred just less than an hour ago.
Paul looked at Keith, and his expression was compassionate. “What have your parents done to stop the harassment, have they spoken to the school Principal?”
Not wanting to deal with answering the question, Keith asked, “I think I should give my parents a call, someone might be at home now.”
Joe looked intently at Keith. “Sure, let me bring you the phone. Then you can call them.”
While Joe went to get the phone, the front door opened and his mom walked in carrying a couple bags of groceries. Yelling out that she was home, Paul quickly went to greet her, took the bags from her, and went with her into the kitchen.