Chapter 2

After over 3 hours I could tell it was getting dark when we pulled into a place and dad turned off the car. I got out and holding my cane in my right hand in front of me let my mom place my left hand on her arm and guide me inside.

I heard a sliding door open, and I heard dad ask for Dr. Marcus. Soon I heard a man with a gentle voice introduce himself to us, and as taught I held my hand out in front of me. His hand was big but gentle as he shook mine as I introduced myself to him.

“I am pleased to meet you, Miss Wong. I am Doctor Marcus. Here, let me show you around as I tell you what we have here.”

He took my hand just as mom did, and placed it in the crook of his arm. When we got to a door he asked me to reach out and touch along the frame. And in the frame, I felt things. “I was told you do not know Braille yet. Feel the large X? That stands for ‘Exit’. If you feel that on a door frame, that means that the door leads outside. Each door has something similar, and in Braille give more information.”

After about 10 yards we stopped. And by the sound I could tell we were at a corridor intersection. He had me place my hand on the corner of 2 walls, and starting at a little over waist high I could feel there were plastic tabs that were similar. “Here, you can feel it is the same here. Feel the X and arrow? That points to the exit. D stands for ‘Dormitory’ or sleeping area. C is ‘Class’, for the classroom areas. F is for ‘Food’, the cafeteria. A is for ‘Administration’, where the staff will help you with anything you need. If you are ever lost just follow the A and there we will help you.”

I felt all the tabs, and familiarized myself with their feel. And indeed there were the large letter and arrow, then words in Braille. The Dorm was to my right, as were the classrooms. Administration was behind me, Classes and cafeteria to my left.

He then walked me to the cafeteria, where he guided me to where the trays were, then the silverware. As we walked down the line each server would say what they had and we would say if we wanted it or not. Each item went on a plate. I had Veal Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Corn, and Dinner Roll. I then selected Chocolate Cake and he guided me to a seat. I could hear other voices near me, ranging from young children to adults. I heard my parents and Dr. Marcus talking as I took this all in, it was almost overloading me with information.

“Doctor Marcus, how many are here?” I asked.

“In the room, or in the school?”

“Well, I meant the school, but I guess both.”

“We arrived towards the end of dinner, there are around 40 people in here. The school is host to around 150 full-time students and around 50 who are only here during the day. And around 70 staff members, from office staff and instructors to janitors, clerks, and cooks. There are always at least 10 staff here at all times, though.”

After we finished he guided me through what to do with my dishes, and was leading me to the dorms. “Dianna, you are on Floor 1, Dorm 1, Room 5. Here, feel along the corner.” And sure enough, I could feel the F, D, and R, each followed with a number of vertical lines. A left turn following the arrow to Dorm I, then touching the door frame to show where the D I was. Then down the hall to the door that had R IIIII on the frame. He knocked on the door and was told to enter.

“Hello Jackie, this is your new roommate, Dianna. Dianna, you will be staying with Jackie here. She will be with you at all times your first few weeks until you can comfortably navigate on your own. Mr. and Mrs. Wong, if you can help Dianne unpack, I will wait for you in the hall.”

Jackie told us I had the bed to the right of the door, and the dresser and wardrobe next to it. Soon they had put all of my clothing away, and showed me where everything is. I walked around the room a few times until I felt I was comfortable with the placement of everything. Then I gave them both a hug and kiss before they left. I finally relaxed and sank onto the bed.

“Well, welcome to the School. Unless we hate each other we are stuck together for the next month or so. So do you have any questions?”

“Well Jackie, how long have you been here?”

“This is my seventh year. I came here when I was 9, when I was taken from my mom.”

“Taken?” I said, shocked.

“Yea, mom was not taking me to school, and leaving me at home alone when she worked or partied. One day I burned myself when I was trying to cook soup, and the neighbor called the cops when I did not stop crying. They took me away, and after a few months I ended up here.”

“And you have not seen your mother since?” I asked.

Jackie giggled. “No, I have never actually seen my mother. But she has never visited me, no. I know she spent some time in jail, and has been out for years now. But she has never come here to visit.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I still forget sometimes.”

“It’s OK Dianne, I was told you became blind last year.”

I nodded, then realized and said “Yes, in an accident.”

“Well, you will learn the language in a bit. We rarely say things like ‘see’ in here, most of us were born blind. But nobody will get mad if you say that, we just use other words since sight does not apply to us. As you sill discover, most will never say they saw their parents. They will say they visited with their parents.”

“Makes sense. So you are my what, leader?”

“Mentor is the word we use. During the first week mostly we work on navigation. Teaching you how to make a mental map of your area, and learn where everything is on it. Then once you can find everywhere you need to go, we will start exploring the rest of the campus. The gym, other dorms, the clinic, and museum, and other areas. Then the week after that, you start classes.”

“What kind of classes?”

“Well, you will start with the usual ones. Science, math, history, English, everything you learn in school. And also Braille. And yes, they are aware that you will be behind for a while, but you still have to take the classes. They will give you an MP3 player at each class, where your schoolbooks will be there so you can listen to them. And tomorrow I will give you your backpack. Inside is your Braille book, your slate and stylus, and your peg slate. You will learn how to use all of those in the coming months. Here, come to me, Dianne.”

I walked to her voice and felt her find my arm, then go down it until she was holding my hand. “Here, once you get really good you can get one of these. This is a Mountbatten Brailler. It is like an interface between a computer and me. It even has an area I can read the text on, and I can type on it, and it can print papers for me. I bet you will get one once you are comfortable with Braille.”

“Wow, this is neat! And please, call me Di.” I then felt all around it. The top left Jackie told me had a printer, and it printed in Braille. To the right of that was an area several inches long. They made some movements, and I could feel bumps, I could feel them as I moved my fingers along it, then they changed. And a few seconds they changed again.

“Here, you can either read back what you typed, what is in a memory stick, or what is on a blind designed web page. These also work by themselves, kind of like a typewriter. I use mine for notes and class, and our textbooks are on memory cards they can read.”

I then felt the rest, and the keyboard was, weird. And when I commented to her on it, she laughed. “Oh yes, just 13 keys. It is based on an old keyboard made for court recorders. You will learn how to use it, you hit several keys in combination to make each character.” I told her I knew how to use a regular keyboard, and she moved my fingers to the side where a round opening was.

“You can plug a regular keyboard in here if you are already good at using one. Are you?”

“Naw, hunt and peck. But I could use the Internet, and type reports and things.”

“Well, this will be faster I am sure once you learn how. In fact, typing with one is really fast. In fact, one demand for us is in transcribing. Doing things like listening to a TV broadcast, then making the closed captions that those who can not hear can see on the TV.”

We chatted for a bit until she said it was time to get ready for bed. Thankfully we had a bathroom to ourselves so after showering we both turned in for the night.

Jackie became a great friend, and soon I was moving around the campus with confidence. She taught me how to make my bed, how to do my laundry, and many other things I used to do sighted that I now had to relearn.

Towards the end of my second month, I was laying on my bed when I heard her come in. “Di?”

“Yes, Jackie?”

“I was just told, on Sunday you are moving upstairs to the general dorms. I have taught you all that you need to learn to get by here, and there is a new girl coming in two weeks that will need my help. But I want you to know, it has been a delight to be with you. And I hope we can remain friends.”

I cried, and she took me in her arms and held me until I stopped. I took the tissue she handed me and wiped my eyes, then blew my nose. I thanked her for all she taught me, and then we talked for a little bit. Finally, it was almost time for bed, and she quietly asked “Di, can I touch you?”

“Jackie, what do you mean?”

“Well, I can not see you of course. But good friends, we often touch each other. On the face, so we can get an idea of what each other looks like. I would like to do that with you, so I have an idea what my friend would look like.”

“Of course, please do,” I replied, and her hands reached up for my face. Very gently, they caressed my forehead, then along the sides of my head and around my eyes, then down my nose. She touched my mouth, my lips, then along my jaw. Finally, she ran her fingers through my long hair, then back up and back to my eyes.

“Di, your eyes feel different. I have never felt this shape before.”

“Well Jackie, I am Chinese. So my eyes are more squinty than normal and turn up a bit on the outside. That is probably what you feel.”

“OK, that makes sense. I have been told that before, but never felt it. But you sound like anybody else.”

“Of course I do. My father’s family has been here for over 150 years. My mom’s family has been here for over 40, they came here from Taiwan after the revolution.”

I then said “I’m glad you are my friend” in Mandarin, then heard her laugh. I translated for her what I had said, and she said “That is so cool! You sounded so different!”

“Well, in Chinese I’m told I have an accent, but I rarely use it other than with my family. May I touch you also?”

“Of course Di, here.” She took my hands in her hands, and gently guided them along her face. It felt like a face, but her lips did seem a bit larger, and her chin was strong. Then I felt her hair, and it was crinkly. I moved my fingers to her face again and I once again caressed her, plotting in my mind the features I was feeling.

“Jackie, are you black?” I asked quietly.

“Well, I am told I am, and I am also African-American.” We both giggled.

“OK, that is cool. So you know, my hair is probably the same color as yours is.”

We hugged and chatted for a bit until we both went to sleep.

By this time I was starting to get the feel for Braille. Noelle was my new roomie, and she was a French-Canadian, down here in the US on a scholarship. We soon became friends, and it was only a month or so after I moved in that we touched each other.

She was also blind from birth but said she was told she had light blonde hair. It was quite long, reaching her middle back. With curls along the length. She had the cutest accent, and often swore in French when she was frustrated. And in return, I started to swear in Chinese in response.

The nice thing about being in a regular dorm was that I could have visitors other than my parents once a month. And most times if I did, it was Jean. She was actually my only visitor that was not family. And I was finally starting to become fluent in reading Braille.

I went home for 3 weeks after the end of the school year and quickly was able to navigate in my home again. In the evening my brother would walk me through our neighborhood. A day or so later my friends from school started to come and visit. I think my black sunglasses put them off a bit. If course I did not need them, but I had been told that my eyes were disconcerting to look at. One milky white, and the other normal but what looked like a scar running from top to bottom. And there were now faint scars on my eyelids and around my left eye socket. But large sunglasses that were completely black covered most of this.