Chapter 15: Opinions and Observations

It's amazing to think how quickly something can become routine. But that's what school had become in just one week. Things progressed just as expected right up to lunch, though I hadn't seen Bob or Susan all day. Then just as I thought it was going to be a complete bust, Mark caught up to me. He was really excited.

"Dude, you are not going to believe this. David stopped me at break and apologized for all that stuff yesterday! It was so cool. He said it was that last comment that really made it stick for him, that prejudice was prejudice no matter what color you painted it. And he actually thanked me for standing up for what I believed! Is that cool or what?"

Actually it was really cool. I felt a lot better about the day. I finally saw Bob when I got to class, but we didn't get a chance to talk as class was starting. At the end of the hour he announced that he had been asked to take over coaching the boys cross country team. He explained that he had coached the team for several years and was supposed to step down this year, but the new coach had been in an auto accident over the weekend and would be out for several weeks with a broken leg. Anyone interested in trying out for the team was welcome to attend tryouts either today or tomorrow after school. That at least would give me an opportunity to talk to him. After my last class I called my mom to let her know what I was doing, and that I would call her later. I went back to my PE locker and dressed out, then headed out to the track.

"Hey Mr. Shelby, how was your weekend?" I asked, walking up to join about a dozen others standing and waiting.

"Mr. Matthews, good to see you. Thanks for coming out. I had a pretty good weekend thank you. Mostly quiet with plenty of time to think and sort through some stuff I had on my mind," he said. It was pretty easy to read between the lines. "How was yours?"

"It had its moments, but not many. Uneventful would be a good description."

Then it was time to start. Tryouts consisted of a timed 5-mile run, beginning and ending on the track and winding throughout the surrounding area. Mr. Shelby would be observing here at the school and two others would be watching out on the course, specifically the assistant coach and Miss Jenkins. He started us in staggered groups. The idea being that it was a lot easier to observe a few people at a time rather than all of us running by at once. Running is of necessity a solitary sport, you can't really spare the breath for a conversation. Five miles wasn't far and didn't give me much trouble. Bob held me back to the very last group he sent out. It didn't matter to me; I just assumed he had a reason.

The reason was pretty simple, and made sense. By holding me back to the last group I didn't need to manufacture a reason to wait to talk to Bob alone. I finished my run and began some stretching to cool down while the last runners came in. Then it occurred to me that I had an easy way to facilitate the opportunity I knew we both were looking for. "Mr. Shelby, when we're finished here, could I talk to about today's class?"

"Certainly, just let me finish this up and we'll talk."

He spent some time conferring with the other coaches as well as getting some input from two returning members of last year's team. Finally it was over.

"So, Jimmy, smart move there; I was wondering if we were going to find a way to talk today. I had a counseling session at lunch. Are your parents coming to pick you up?"

"I left a message telling them I would be late. I told them I would call back."

"Here, use my cell phone. See if it would be okay if I brought you home. If nothing else, that should give us a few minutes."

I made the call. "Mom says it's fine to catch a ride with you. She wants to know if you would like to stay for dinner." He snatched the phone out of my hand.

"Mrs. Matthews? I am what most refer to as the perennial bachelor, and as such I would not even think of passing up a chance at a meal that I didn't actually have to cook myself. Just as long as you aren't going to any special effort, leftovers would be fine. We've got a few things to finish up here. We should be there in..." he glanced at me and I two fingers and a closed fist, "... about twenty minutes. Is that okay?"

Rather than changing I just grabbed my stuff. I could catch a shower at home. I'd exaggerated a little on purpose, it's probably only about 8 miles give or take from my house to the school. Depending on traffic it's maybe a fifteen-minute drive tops.

"We don't have a lot of time so let me just hit the high spots. I'm going to ask your parents if it would be all right for you to help me out in a research project that I am involved in. The idea is similar to what you did after tryouts; it's to give us a reason to spend time together outside of normal school hours. I thought about it all weekend and unless you want to tell your parents that you are actually a patient that's the best I can come up with."

"So what's the project?"

"I have no idea; I was hoping that you could help me think of something that it made sense for you to do rather than one of my more advanced students."

"Hmm. I don't think that's a good idea. It's a long shot at best and almost certainly doomed to failure. Plus, I try not to make a habit of lying to my parents."

"Normally I would say that is a good thing, but there has to be a way for us to get the time we need to actually talk about what is going on. I feel like I missed the whole weekend. To make matters worse I don't know that I'm any closer to really understanding it."

"Yeah, I felt the same way. It's a lot to try to absorb. I still am not nearly comfortable enough with the whole thing. I miss a lot of really obvious stuff, just like you are doing right now."

That got his attention. "How do you mean?"

"We can have all the time we need to talk. That is of course if I can successfully 'bridge' into your 'dream space.' If I can't then we have not only a problem with time, but also another puzzle to try and solve."

"Yes, that would be an interesting, if troubling, development. Okay, scratch the whole research thing. It would not have solved one of the other problems anyway."

"Which one is that?"

"Meeting your sister and sharing her perspective on things. Of the three of us, she seems to be the one that has the best handle on it. Not surprising since she is the one that has been thinking about and dealing with it the longest. Not that bridging into my dream solves that any better."

"Actually it might. But I don't want to get into that right now; we're almost there. I'll just show you if I manage to make the bridge, okay? It's that one." I said, pointing to my house just up ahead.

"That's fine with me. At this point anything you have is better than what I've got." He pulled up and said, "Nice place. Who's your gardener?"

"Actually, that would be me."

"Another hidden talent, at least you can take this one out where people can see it."

"There is that." I sighed and we headed for the house.

My parents of course met us at the door. Mom had dinner just about ready to hit the table so we did the introductions on the way to the dining room.

Allison was just starting to pour drinks, "Please to meet you, Mr. Shelby. I've heard a lot about you." She stopped pouring iced tea long enough to shake his hand. "Would you care for tea? We also have water, milk and there may even be a little lemonade left."

"Tea will be fine thank you. I've heard good things about you as well, Allison," he said. "For one thing, I understand you are quite the basketball player. Melinda is just beside herself thinking about getting you on her team. You just started school today, didn't you?"

"Yes sir. Not much happening the first day though. Jimmy tells me it was pretty much the same last week for him. Nothing really gets going until about the third day."

"Yes, it's pretty much the same every year. It takes a couple days before you settle into a nice routine, kind of a nesting phase. Drives some of the staff nuts but it's actually a pretty important step. You really can't get any serious learning done in a setting you are not comfortable in. Wow! Is that really home made sauce?"

It was only spaghetti, how desperate could you get? Mom sure loved it though.

"Is there another kind?" She smiled. "You look like you've been stranded on an island for twenty years and just found your first beer. How long have you been single?"

"Actually, I wasn't kidding when I said I'm the perennial bachelor. But don't worry, I don't starve, I'm actually a passable cook myself. I just live for the opportunity to eat someone else's cooking. And I'm not really big on restaurants so mostly it's just me. Cooking for one is a real pain; it's hard to get excited about it when you are the only one you are trying to impress."