Chapter 9

Bobby stood nervously at the school bus stop, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. There were a few other kids there as well, none of whom he knew. They regarded him with the typical silent teenage disapproval and distrust given to strangers from outside their known world.

The day had arrived for him to start classes at his new middle school.

He'd spent the prior weekend going through a pile of school textbooks. Using Bobby's new class schedule, his mom had arranged for the office at the school to collect the books from all his teachers. Then Sammy had brought them home to him, almost staggering under the weight of the huge backpack strapped to her slender frame.

Bobby had managed, to Sammy's delight, to join Sammy in most of the classes on her schedule — Advanced Algebra, English, and Spanish before a shared lunch period. In the afternoon he was also joining her Home Economics class. Bobby had really wanted the class, so that he could add cooking to the list of things he could help his mom with around the house.

His day would be finished off with two classes not shared with Sammy, a general PE class, and finally auto shop.

Sammy had already taken the auto shop class so that she could learn more about her father's business, but it hadn't been available at Bobby's old school. Bobby already knew a lot about cars from visiting and working at Raul's shop. It was something he had a natural instinct for. He could look at any part and easily see how it fit and interacted with the engine or subsystem it was part of. He was looking forward to getting more formal training about the technical aspects of it.

Since his new school was in the same city school district as his old one, the text books were the same as his old ones, though he'd had to turn in his old copies to his former school. But he'd been surprised to learn that, in every class, he was two to five chapters behind where the class at his old school had been.

He'd thought that his former school, being in a "nicer" neighborhood, was probably tougher academically than his new one. But after reviewing the syllabuses and talking with Sammy about it, he suspected that, if anything, the reverse might be true. These teachers could be tougher than his old set!

The plan had been for Sammy to meet him at the bus stop and help him begin the process of fitting in at his new school. Unfortunately, Sammy had come down with the flu over the weekend, and was still fighting off the fever and body sweats that came along with it. He hadn't even been able to talk to her the last two days. So Bobby was going to have to go through at least the first day or two at his new school on his own.

He could see the other kids talking about him amongst themselves as they eyed him suspiciously. He thought about introducing himself to some of them, but whenever he began to make eye contact, they would quickly avert their eyes or turn their backs before he could get up the nerve.

He had a map of the building with his classrooms all highlighted. Thanks to his major cram session over the weekend, he'd managed to read at least once, and in some cases twice, all the chapters that his former teachers hadn't gotten to yet. So he felt as prepared as he could be for the academic side of things.

The yellow school bus finally rattled around the corner, coming to a wheezing stop in front of them. It seemed a lot bigger to Bobby than what was needed for the group of kids waiting.

He hung back so that everyone else climbed in first to take their usual seats, then he took a seat in a fairly large vacant area in the middle of the bus. He noticed as he sat down that there seemed to be a renewed surge of whispered conversation and looking at him by the other kids. He assumed that it was because he had now confirmed for them that the unknown freak really was headed to their school.

The bus shuddered off down the street, the rattles if anything even louder from the inside. Eventually Bobby could see another small group of kids ahead, which the bus lumbered towards. This group appeared to be made up entirely of boys, and large boys at that. Bobby felt himself tense a little.

The door banged open, and a raucous clump of bubbling testosterone surged up the steps and down the aisle towards the empty section occupied solely by Bobby. His tiny bit of fear melted away, however, when Bobby recognized some of the boys as players on baseball teams that his team had played against over the last few seasons.

One of them he didn't recognize, though, was the tall black kid in the lead, who pulled up in surprise when he saw Bobby sitting in what was obviously 'their' section of the bus. "Who the fuck are you?" he demanded loudly, obviously expecting the others behind him to join him in expelling the intruder from their turf.

One of the kids that looked familiar stepped around the first one to stand in front of Bobby. He was a broad chested Hispanic youth with a diamond stud earring in his left ear. "Hey, I know ya'll." He broke into a broad smile. "You're the ass hole that struck me out, what, must have been 10 times last year? What the hell you doing in this shitty old bus, man?"

Bobby smiled back, trying not to look too grateful at the friendly greeting. "I'm taking this shitty bus because I moved, and I'll be going to the same shitty school as you." He paused and held out his hand and said, "My name's Bobby Taylor by the way."

"I'm Rick Bartollo, and this is Bill Korsin and Jim Dillardo." Bill had been the one to challenge him at first, and his initial glower disappeared instantly, replaced by a surprisingly pleasant grin splitting his dark features. Jim had the look of a hefty Scandinavian that was into lifting weights, wearing a t-shirt with the sleeves torn off to better show off his biceps. He had football lineman written all over him, though Bobby remembered him as a decent catcher in baseball. Jim merely nodded to Bobby without changing his impassive expression.

They all scrambled into seats surrounding Bobby as the bus rattled off again. "Hey — that means that you'll be on our school baseball team," said Rick excitedly. "Wow, with you with us, we'll kick some serious ass this year."

"I've kind of given up baseball, man. Sorry."

Rick looked at him surprise. "What are you talking about dude? You're a fucking fantastic player, man! You gotta play!"

Bobby figured there was no reason not to tell them the truth. "Well, the last time I played in a baseball game, I watched my dad die from a heart attack right on the field. Every time I think about playing baseball it just reminds me of that. I'm not ready to start playing again. Maybe I will be by the time the season starts, but right now I don't think so."