The bird won’ go away. He’s gone, Jerry. He not aroun’ no more. The police arrest him. Yessie tol’ me. But the bird don’ go away. He still show me his claws.
Teddy an’ me was at the class with Mrs. Schmidt. She teaching about going to the bank, how the bank give you money, how you fill in the book an’ they give you money. Teddy tell the class about his apar’ment, an’ he gonna be having his bank account an’ eberything.
Teddy look at me sometime. He don’ say nothing, but he smile at me.
Yessie tell me, “Don’ worry, don’ worry, eberything gonna be okay,” but I can’t help it. Yessie say I alla time espec’ bad things to happen. But I hoping for good things too.
Mrs. Schmidt always talks. I don’ listen to her. I don’ know what she’s talking about mos’ of the time. Like she jus’ say something to me an’ I din’ hear it. She say, “Stop daydreaming,” an’ I say, “Okay,” but I thinking about Teddy. Maybe he smile at me again.
I seeing the therapist they got here. She’s nice. I’m all finish with the pills. She asks me about the bad guy but I don’ wanna talk about that. She keep saying his name but I don’ like to say it. His name scare me.
The therapist wanna know about all kinda things. She say, “You tell me about the scars on you arms?” an’ I tell her I don’ know what she mean. She say, “The scars on you arms,” an’ I say I don’ know, I was little, I don’ remember, I don’ know what she talking about. She say, “You don’ remember who do that to you?” I don’ mind going to see her but I don’ like talking too much to her.
In the class, Mrs. Schmidt put a picture on the wall. It has pictures of all differen’ kinds of food on it. Apples, bread, meat. I can’t see too good from where I sit. The picture is call “Eating Right.” Like you should eat bread an’ milk an’ eggs an’ vegetables an’ eberything. Mrs. Schmidt say, “What kind of bread is good to eat? Like healthy to eat? Who gonna give a example?” An’ Teddy say, “Pop-Tarts.” The whole class laugh so much. Mrs. Schmidt laughing too. Everybody laughing an’ cracking up. Mrs. Schmidt get more serious an’ say that Pop-Tarts not good for you. Pop-Tarts not so good for you body. An’ she say, “What else is good, is healthy to eat?” an’ Teddy, he say, “Pizza,” an’ alla the kids jus’ cracking up an’ I cracking up an’ Mrs. Schmidt cracking up also. But she say how pizza not so bad. It not too bad because pizza is jus’ bread an’ cheese an’ they got those things in the picture. An’ then she say if eberybody do very good in the quiz, she bringing pizza for eberybody, and eberybody clap. An’ Teddy look at me an’ he’s smiling.
After class I have to wait for Jimmie to push me to the bathroom an’ then we go to the cafeteria. Teddy is talking to DeLeon. He’s not wearing his jacket today. He only wear his blue shirt tuck in his pants. I love his blue shirt. The blue shirt is his mos’ favorite shirt an’ my mos’ favorite. Then alla sudden he come to me where I am sitting.
He say, “Hi.”
I say, “Hi.”
He say, “You going to the cafeteria?”
I say, “Yeah. I going to it.”
He say, “You wanna ride?”
I say, “Okay.”
Then he tie my chair to his chair jus’ like always, an’ he take me real slow to the hallway an’ I remember—Teddy is my friend. An’ he say, “You not heavy. You don’ weigh nothing.” An’ he smile at me an’ I am so happy. I din’ know what to do, I jus’—happy. I say, “Oh, Teddy, I missing you very much.” He say I miss you too.
Thas jus’ how it happen.