The Schwa Was Here by Shusterman Neal

Author:Shusterman, Neal [Shusterman, Neal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult, Humour, Contemporary, Fantasy, Childrens
ISBN: 9781101660522
Goodreads: 35522181
Publisher: Puffin
Published: 2004-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

As it turns out, Crawley had fractured his hip again. It wasn’t bad, but a fracture is a fracture. He couldn’t keep the news from his “sson,” but as Lexie’s parents were still in Europe, their war was limited to transatlantic phone calls. They insisted he spend time in a nursing home, and he told them what they could do with their nursing home. In the end, Crawley agreed to hire a full-time nurse, but in the meantime was happy to torment the nurses at the hospital.

From his hospital room, Crawley commanded Lexie to go to school the next day rather than visit him, and he raised such a stink she did as she was told. My parents, on the other hand, let me take off school that day, since I had been up all night with Crawley, and that gave me time to take the subway down to the Academy of the Blind before school let out.

At the end of their school day, the students left with precision and care, unlike the mob scene at most other schools. Many students were escorted by Seeing Eye dogs, parents, or nannies. A few older ones went out alone with white canes tapping the pavement in front of them. Some of Lexie’s schoolmates seemed well accustomed to their state; for others, it was a serious hardship. I never imagined there was such a range in how people handled being blind.

The strangest thing of all was the way drivers used noisemakers to guide their student to the car. Some clicked, some whirred, some whistled—and no two were the same. It was amazing, because every kid found their way to the right car with just a couple of toots or clicks.

Moxie spotted me before I spotted Lexie, and he brought her to me.

“Moxie? What’s wrong, boy?”

“Hi, Lexie.”

It only took an instant for her to recognize my voice. “Anthony, what are you doing here? Is my grandfather all right?”

“Yeah, yeah, he’s fine. I’m here because I needed to talk to you.”

“So you came all the way here? Couldn’t you wait till I got home?”

“Yeah, I guess, but I didn’t want to.”

Someone pulled up to the curb, rolled down the window, and blew a slide whistle.

“Do they do that at all blind schools?” I asked Lexie.

“I don’t think so,” she said. “This one is just weird.” She turned her head slightly to the side. “I hear my driver further up the street. C’mon, you can ride home with me.”

She led me to a black Lincoln—a car service that the Crawleys had hired to take Lexie to and from school. The driver had a Pakistani look about him, and rather than using a plain old noisemaker, he was playing the harmonica. Badly.

“My father started him off with a kazoo. I gave him the harmonica because it’s so much more dignified. I figure he might actually be able to play by the end of the school year.”

We got in the car and sped off, with Moxie lying across our feet.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
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.