Somersaults. He touched his hand to his face. It felt bumpy and strange, like a new moon. He tried to stand and everything hurt. Every direction hurt. Every thought was pain. It was like a hangover through every inch of his body.
He reached in his pocket. His mixtape was gone! He must have left it at Cindy's. How was he going to be a star now? He would have to go back and get it, he realized.
Stumbling down the alley, he entered a Burger King and found the restroom, where he saw a horrible creature looking back from the mirror. He washed off what would wash off and sighed over the rest, hoping his champion looks would one day return. He asked the man at the register (who wore a cool hat that said Burger King) where the nearest Motel 6 was. The man asked if he had GPS. Lam said no. The man asked Lam if he had an internet connection because then he could just map it with Google Maps or Mapquest or Yahoo Maps. Lam said no, he did not have an internet connection. The man then joked and asked if Lam had running water. Lam didn't realize he was joking and said that no, he did not have running water. Then the man drew Lam a map, and it turned out that the Motel 6 was just a few blocks away.
Lam arrived after several hours of slow walking and forced his way up the stairs to the room that had been intended for pleasure just a short time before. He went to that now-horrible place and paused to digest the number on its door. 45. What did it mean.
He knocked and waited. Nobody opened the door. He knocked and waited some more.
Then from down the hall a Hispanic woman came to Lam and said, "Is nobody there. They checks out."
"What you mean they checks out?" said Lam. "They have my cassette tape. How will I become famous?"
"You leave something?" she said. "We can go in and check."
She opened the door and Lam could see that it was hopeless. The room was a mess from Lam's beating and there was no sign of the cassette. Lam and the woman searched everywhere.
Finally Lam decided that even though he would not find his cassette, and even though the cleaning woman was in her fifties and not his type, the day would not be a total waste, as long as he released his seed in someone. He closed the door to give them privacy, and began to work on the pleasant woman.
"I am a star in my country," he said. "A star, America, a star! I will make you understand."
HOME REMEDY
I met my new students today. We had an Indian summer so they were all antsy to get outside, but once they were out they wanted to get back inside the air conditioned environs and I just put on a science film and let it roll. They put their heads down if they wanted.
One boy named Eric seems a bit odd. When I tell the kids something I think they'll find exciting, like the field trips we'll be taking or the parties we'll be having, he doesn't light up like the rest. He only laughs and smiles when he absolutely feels like it and doesn't care what the other kids or I think.
A few months into the school year, and I know the kids so much better now. But in looking over my notes from that first day of class I remember Eric and my initial perceptions of him. I thought there was something wrong with him. Now I see that he was just willful, even for a young boy.
For Halloween he came in as a cowboy and talked like a cowboy all day. But not with a humorous drawl, not at all. Everything was done with precision and he never smiled. The other kids laughed at him and I could tell that Jennifer Dupre likes him and looked at him in that Stetson with all the admiration a nine-year-old can muster. And Eric is a handsome boy. If only he would smile more.
The day after Halloween he kept up his voice, with that cowboy lilt. I don't know where he learned it, probably from cartoons, and I don't know why his parents didn't tell him to talk normal again, but I suppose it's just a youthful fancy that will fall away with time. I will be meeting his parents next week for parent/teacher
He reached in his pocket. His mixtape was gone! He must have left it at Cindy's. How was he going to be a star now? He would have to go back and get it, he realized.
Stumbling down the alley, he entered a Burger King and found the restroom, where he saw a horrible creature looking back from the mirror. He washed off what would wash off and sighed over the rest, hoping his champion looks would one day return. He asked the man at the register (who wore a cool hat that said Burger King) where the nearest Motel 6 was. The man asked if he had GPS. Lam said no. The man asked Lam if he had an internet connection because then he could just map it with Google Maps or Mapquest or Yahoo Maps. Lam said no, he did not have an internet connection. The man then joked and asked if Lam had running water. Lam didn't realize he was joking and said that no, he did not have running water. Then the man drew Lam a map, and it turned out that the Motel 6 was just a few blocks away.
Lam arrived after several hours of slow walking and forced his way up the stairs to the room that had been intended for pleasure just a short time before. He went to that now-horrible place and paused to digest the number on its door. 45. What did it mean.
He knocked and waited. Nobody opened the door. He knocked and waited some more.
Then from down the hall a Hispanic woman came to Lam and said, "Is nobody there. They checks out."
"What you mean they checks out?" said Lam. "They have my cassette tape. How will I become famous?"
"You leave something?" she said. "We can go in and check."
She opened the door and Lam could see that it was hopeless. The room was a mess from Lam's beating and there was no sign of the cassette. Lam and the woman searched everywhere.
Finally Lam decided that even though he would not find his cassette, and even though the cleaning woman was in her fifties and not his type, the day would not be a total waste, as long as he released his seed in someone. He closed the door to give them privacy, and began to work on the pleasant woman.
"I am a star in my country," he said. "A star, America, a star! I will make you understand."
HOME REMEDY
I met my new students today. We had an Indian summer so they were all antsy to get outside, but once they were out they wanted to get back inside the air conditioned environs and I just put on a science film and let it roll. They put their heads down if they wanted.
One boy named Eric seems a bit odd. When I tell the kids something I think they'll find exciting, like the field trips we'll be taking or the parties we'll be having, he doesn't light up like the rest. He only laughs and smiles when he absolutely feels like it and doesn't care what the other kids or I think.
A few months into the school year, and I know the kids so much better now. But in looking over my notes from that first day of class I remember Eric and my initial perceptions of him. I thought there was something wrong with him. Now I see that he was just willful, even for a young boy.
For Halloween he came in as a cowboy and talked like a cowboy all day. But not with a humorous drawl, not at all. Everything was done with precision and he never smiled. The other kids laughed at him and I could tell that Jennifer Dupre likes him and looked at him in that Stetson with all the admiration a nine-year-old can muster. And Eric is a handsome boy. If only he would smile more.
The day after Halloween he kept up his voice, with that cowboy lilt. I don't know where he learned it, probably from cartoons, and I don't know why his parents didn't tell him to talk normal again, but I suppose it's just a youthful fancy that will fall away with time. I will be meeting his parents next week for parent/teacher
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