A Very New Day by Steven Salmon

Author:Steven Salmon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Published: 2016-03-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

When the bell rings, students start to fill the hallways as the wheelchair’s wheels touch the white speckled linoleum. I zoom down the ramp, passing white cinder block walls. The sun shines through the small windows when I race down the incline. I love to drive down ramps or hills, going fast in my chair. There is nothing that I love better than racing my electric wheelchair. At the end of the inclines I drive a short way before entering the main hall of the elementary school. After I enter that hallway, I hang a sharp left before turning right, heading into the open double doors of the cafeteria.

The smell of baked chicken makes me hungry. I am starving! A line of students starts to form inside and outside of the lime-colored cement hall. I drive across the green tiled floor, passing rows of white metal picnic-style tables with grey tabletops and benches. The bright sun glares through the glass window. I head to the last table near the window. After spinning around I drive up to the table, and I turn off the wheelchair, raking my hand on the power switch. Where’s Mrs. Day, I wonder? I want to eat my lunch.

Mrs. Day catches up with me. She stuffs the windbreaker in my pack. Mrs. Day takes out the brown paper bag from my backpack, and sits down on the bench, putting the paper bag on the table. Mrs. Day reaches into the sack, taking out four plastic bags and a pile of napkins. In one plastic bag is a meatloaf sandwich, and in another are potato chips. The third contains grapes. The fourth baggie holds a red flexible straw, ten milligrams of Baclofen, two quarters and a peppermint. Mrs. Day grabs the coins and asks, “Rich, what do you want to drink?”

“Juice, Dee,” I say.

“Is punch, okay?” Mrs. Day asks.

“Okay,” I tell Dee.

“I’ll be back,” Mrs. Day says, disappearing into a crowd of students in the far corner of the lunchroom where classmates purchase cookies, soft pretzels, fruit; crackers with cheese or peanut butter, and punch.

I don’t drink milk. When I was nine months old, I refused to drink milk. For some reason, drinking milk makes me gag even chocolate milk. My Mom puts powdered milk into meatloaf and mashed potatoes to get calcium me. My favorite food is ice cream! Dad and I can eat a gallon of ice cream in two days. The best flavor is chocolate with some kind of candy bar. Sometimes I just eat ice cream for lunch. Mom allows me to have ice cream whenever I want it. Imagine that!

My stomach growls I notice three women, wearing white aprons and hair nets, standing behind a stainless-steel counter. A thin woman with black hair serves the mashed potatoes and gravy. Another lady with blonde hair puts drumsticks on the trays. The third woman who is overweight and has red hair serves peas and some kind of white custard fruit dessert, making me want to gag.

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