One Young Fool in South Africa by Joe Twead
Author:Joe Twead
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: coming of age, child abuse, south africa, family relationships, two old fools, victoria twead, old fools, johannesburg south africa
Publisher: Ant Press
21
Oddballs and Bad Behaviour
With so many boys at the Home, there were bound to be some oddballs. Macky had an uncanny ability to assign nicknames that stuck to various individuals.
One boy, for example, always tapped his foot on the ground when uncertain about anything, especially when claiming innocence for some misdemeanour of which he was clearly guilty. In Mad, a popular magazine doing the rounds, a character (I forget which one) always tapped his foot on the ground. To highlight the behaviour, the cartoonist had inserted toc, toc, toc above the characterâs foot. Macky quickly identified the similarity to that of the boy and from then on the poor chap acquired the nickname of Toc Toc.
To discover if Toc Toc was guilty of a crime, one had only to ask him. For instance: âToc Toc, were you late for prep tonight?â
If Toc Toc denied the charge without moving a muscle, he was innocent. If he was guilty, his toe would hammer a rat-a-tat on the ground. He would also break out into a sweat and show signs of extreme agitation. The odd thing was, when these traits were pointed out to him, his guilty behaviour escalated to the point where we had to calm the poor chap down.
Another boy, Fonebone, arrived at the Home a few years after I did. Fonebone, also a character in Mad, was the nickname Macky allocated him soon after his arrival. Poor Fonebone suffered from epileptic fits.
Before his arrival, we boys needed to be instructed on how to handle any patient afflicted with the malady. Sister McArdle, the Homeâs live-in Matron and responsible for all things medical, was on hand to explain everything to us.
âHe will behave oddly,â she began, âdoing strange things like standing in front of a wall and perhaps talking to it. Donât be alarmed. Simply follow him around and make sure he doesnât do anything to harm himself. When the fit is over, he will lie down and sleep. If he is wearing a tie, loosen it and take off his shoes. Make him comfortable. Make sure he isnât lying on his back because he could swallow his tongue. In a few hours he will wake up and carry on as if nothing has happened. He will be fine then until the next attack. Any questions?â
âWhy does he have fits?â somebody asked.
âStress, probably, so try to make things easy for him. I should mention that he might bubble around his nose and mouth. Itâs just mucous and will need to be wiped away.â
We stared uncertainly at one another, unsure that we liked the sound of that.
âAny other questions?â
We had none. When Fonebone arrived we all stared at him as if he was some kind of freak. The expected fit soon arrived and Fonebone behaved just as Sister McArdle had described. We religiously followed him around and, when he frothed, we wiped his mouth and face and when finally he lay down to sleep, we undid his shoes and left him to sleep under a table.
Download
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.
Spare by Prince Harry The Duke of Sussex(4787)
For Baby's Sake(4509)
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom(4401)
Machine Learning at Scale with H2O by Gregory Keys | David Whiting(3621)
Never by Ken Follett(3524)
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom(3334)
Fairy Tale by Stephen King(2947)
Reminders of Him: A Novel by Colleen Hoover(2755)
The Clitoral Truth: The Secret World at Your Fingertips by Rebecca Chalker(2583)
Will by Will Smith(2579)
Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom(2575)
Borders by unknow(2117)
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk MD(2067)
Cruel to Be Kind by Cathy Glass(2046)
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry(1992)
The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom(1935)
Finding Chika by Mitch Albom(1881)
New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional by Paul David Tripp(1812)
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood(1811)
