CHAPTER 8
“Did you quit karate or something?” Craig asked the next Monday in math class. “You don’t look hurt today.”
“The last class was weird,” Kenny said. But just then, Ms. Riaz walked in and the bell rang.
“Good morning, everyone,” Ms. Riaz said. “Let’s take a look at the homework. Any volunteers to show your work on the white board?”
Kenny looked around the room. As usual, no one volunteered.
“She’s going to call on me, man,” Kenny whispered to Craig. “I know it.”
“After what happened last week?” Craig said. “No way!”
Kenny nodded. “You’ll see,” he said.
He was right. For the third problem, Ms. Riaz called on Kenny.
Kenny pulled his homework out of his notebook and went up to the board. Ms. Riaz handed him a marker. “Thanks,” Kenny said, without thinking about it.
Ms. Riaz looked shocked. “Thank you, Kenny,” she replied.
Kenny looked down at his homework. It was a mess, as usual. He started to get frustrated.
I just can’t do this stuff, he thought. He was sure the answer on his paper was wrong again.
Kenny wrote the problem on the board. Then he stood back and looked at it.
I can’t do this! he thought again. The numbers in front of him started to blur. He couldn’t even see straight. He was getting angry.
Then Kenny thought about his last karate class. “It’s not the answer you needed, Mr. Parks,” Sensei had said. “It is the counting itself.” Kenny remembered feeling calmer as he counted.
Kenny closed his eyes and thought about the bus stop. He thought about the people he had counted. He pictured them in his head.
Number 1, the slow old lady. Numbers 2 3, and 4, the high school girls. Number 5, the man with his groceries. Numbers 6 and 7, the mother and her little girl.
As he counted and breathed slowly, Kenny felt himself relaxing. He looked back at the board. The numbers weren’t blurry anymore. The question made sense.
Kenny smiled. He lifted the marker and started to write.
* * *
At the end of class, Ms. Riaz asked Kenny to talk to her.
“You did a good job today, Kenny,” she said.
“Thanks,” Kenny replied. “I can’t believe I got that problem right.”
“I can,” Ms. Riaz said. “I told you that if you could stop letting yourself get frustrated, you’d do great! I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks,” Kenny said.
Ms. Riaz cleared her throat. “I hope you don’t mind me saying this,” she added. “Your mother and I were good friends when she taught here. She would be really proud of you.”
Kenny swallowed hard and nodded. “I know,” he said quietly.