Lots of stuff going on these days: Adam has gone off to the Nokhon city of Aket again, after having just returned from S&F's big USA Concert Tour, Melly and Lissandra are beginning their new Nokhon Culture project at the University of Washington, and our favorite Mexican kid and his Nokhon buddy, Bobby and Bart, have just begun their American High School experience. So Art and I are, once again, members of the local PTA, since we seem to be the designated Mommy & Daddy of two new students now enrolled at Monroe High. This is after many negotiations with the County School Board as to where these very special kids belong in the otherwise very pedestrian school system. Roberto (Bobby) was not so problematic: he's a 12 year-old boy who has been studying in rich kid international schools in Mexico, is very well educated, speaks absolutely fluent American English. He's established at a 7th grade level, but could easily be advanced a year. Or two, he's quite sophistocated. Dalarbart (Bart) is something completely different: he's a Bigfoot kid, age unknown so we're guessing at 15 years old. He has studied nowhere, according to any human school system, but we happen to know that he has been taught the Atli and the life-wisdoms of the Nokhon shamans (Sha-hakas), so he does know how to learn. He is, in fact, one of our very best Sasquatch students of conversational English and can communicate better every day. Half a year earlier he had never heard a word of English being spoken.
Monroe High School has already been world-famous for their first Bigfoot student; everyone knows about Adam Leroy Forest (my little boy!), who has become renouned as a communicator, in speech, in song. We offered the school a chance to do it again. It took some heavy convincing to get them to accept both boys together as a study team. Some of the school directors felt that Bart's education level would demand that he start in a kindergarten, which wouldn't do because he was already over 6 feet tall and bulging with muscles. "And being so hairy, he'd only scare the other children," said the most negative critics. Fortunately, less than half the teachers and directors felt that way. They remember Adam's time in their school as "inspiring". There was a community meeting about it and the best advocates for their case were the Bobby & Bart Study Team. I believe that Roberto deVega will become a successful lawyer one day (which his drug-lord father also seems to believe). Bobby made the argument that it was the study team of Adam & Melly that made it possible for a dyslexic Bigfoot boy to acheive a proper education, and that Bobby & Bart could do the same, but that it would almost be impossible without dedicated help, which Bobby was willing to offer. He said, "I know that I'm ahead of the curve scholastically and I could be promoted forward and just let Bart be left behind, but I'd rather accompany my friend because we are both foreigners who need to take advantage of the much needed socializing process a year in this American school could provide." He got a round of applause for speaking so well, but then the community looked to Bart to see what he had to say for himself, if he could speak English at all. And, of course, they are seeing what looks like a well-built full-grown man with a boy's innocent face, dressed exactly like a high school student might be, long sleeves covering his total hairiness (which is also trimmed short, as Adam's usually is), looking nothing like a Bigfoot monster. Bart was nervous and spoke with an unusual accent, but said: "Hello everyone here. I too am born here in Washing-ton, so I not really what you say foreigner, But lived all my life with Nokhon tribe so now I have to learn how to act right in this human world. I want to do it cool. Thank you, I am Bart." So Bobby & Bart got to be in the same classes, officially a study team.
Okay, so they got in. Now all they have to do is endure the Hell of six years in an American High Scool. Good luck, guys. School doors opened on Wednesday, the 2nd of September. The Monroe schoolhouse is about five miles from the Hacienda on country roads, they could have signed up for a school bus route, but it was more handy just to bike it for such strong young guys. Their first day of school, they were both excited. I packed them bag lunches, mostly crüsli, fruit, no white bread or candy bars, wondering if they would eat them or go for pizza slices from the cafeteria. I refrained from lecturing them about nutrition, or expense-- we're rich, it would be silly-- but I was tempted. Being a mother is a hard row to hoe and now I'm starting from scratch all over again. A nice sunny day, off they went on their bicycles, happy, worried, insecure, hopeful. Bart is only six foot one and 250 pounds so far, the bike should be able to bear him for a while yet, but in a year or two he'll need something more heavy-duty. Thinking about my kids in school: I wasn't worried about school bullies, figured they could handle it, especially Bart. But then I remembered that Adam didn't have it so easy bully-wise back in the day. An angry Bigfoot punching out a little human bully would cause a riot. I guess everyone has their own shit to deal with.
When the boys got back home they were still slightly stunned about their reception at the school. Amost all of their fellow students were fans of the world-famous Squatch & Friends rock band, all quite familiar with the history of the school's most famous alumnus: Adam, the first and only Bigfoot to graduate from Monroe High... or any high school, ever. So they were psyched to be part of it happening all over again, and maybe even becoming slightly famous themselves. For example, today the whole student body was on nation-wide TV. How cool is that? Roberto was well-spoken enough to carry out a TV interview with aplomb, but Dalarbart was too shy and unready to be the center of such intense attention, he mumbled something about "later, not today, not today..." It was actually a big production, which Bobby & Bart had not expected: TV cameras and journalists reporting live news, the county commissioner of Monroe applauding their noble township for being a beacon of light against racism and bigotry, etc, etc... Most students and their parents living in Monroe have previously met Adam at some point, perhaps just passing on the streets of town. He has several times given speeches in the school auditorium as part of being the local hero, so they have a favorable impression of Bigfoot capabilities. Anyway, there was no racist outcry this time, like there was back when Adam was going through it. Or like there will be if Bart decides he'd like to try out for the football team.
|