Train Go Sorry by Leah Hager Cohen

Author:Leah Hager Cohen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Downstairs, under the smart and crabby tutelage of Adele Sands-Berking, James works on his college-entrance essay. It’s the last period of the day, and it’s wet outside, with great metallic sheets of rain rippling past the window, but warm in here, in Adele’s box-shaped yellow classroom. On the back wall, chunky letters cut from construction paper spell out the advice GOOD READERS MAKE PICTURES IN THEIR MINDS. A pair of gold-rimmed spectacles perch elegantly on James’s nose; they are new, obtained after much prodding from Adele. Through them he can see what people say without needing to squint.

Right now Adele is saying, “This is a very good start. Very good start, James.” She sits in a kid’s chair right beside him at the table and holds what exists of his draft—one neatly printed paragraph on yellow legal paper: “I is Interested in Archessurial Drafting because I took Art and woodwork class for two years and also I’m interest to build bridges, house, etc . . . that how I’m interest and I want to improve the city.”

The way James writes is no measure of his intelligence. It is a measure of how difficult it is to master an oral language without audition. No hearing person, not even someone who is illiterate, would say, “I’m interest to build.” Hearing people do not need to be taught the proper construction, “I’m interested in building”; we acquire that knowledge through exposure, without effort. Adele understands this, and James suffers no loss of dignity in her eyes. Outside of Lexington, however, he will probably always bear a stigma because of the way he uses English, no matter how hard he and his teacher work together now.

Adele points to his opening. ’“I is/ James?” she queries, with indignation that may or may not be feigned. He uses his eraser, writes in “I’m.”

“You cheater. What’s that really supposed to be? 1 what?”

“Am?” he fingerspells.

“Yes. This is very formal, James; no contractions.” She waits while he makes the change, then tackles the next error, and the next, and they slog through the entire paragraph, correcting grammar and spelling and punctuation. Adele helps him clarify concepts as well; they decide that he means carpentry rather than drafting, furniture rather than bridges.

“F-U-R-T —” James gets stuck in an attempt to fingerspell the word before writing it down.

“Fur-nih-chur,” pronounces Adele, trying to help him sound it out.

“I have no hearing aid,” he protests.

“Well, thank you, James. That makes it easy.”

“I lost it,” he tells her defensively.

“Okay, look: fur,” she repeats out loud, breaking it down.

“F-U-R,” he spells.

“Nih,” says Adele.

“N,” spells James.

“Nih,” she repeats.

“N” is still all he gets.

“I.” She gives him the missing letter, then, “Chur.”

“T-U-R-E,” he finishes, plucking the last four letters from memory.

When they finish editing the first paragraph, Adele launches him into the next part of the essay, in which James is supposed to describe himself, his experiences and attributes. “Remember last year when we talked about supporting your ideas with examples? You’re trying to convince them to accept you,” Adele explains.

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