Corpulent Carl

"I could call her and see if she is free now. She lives next door."

"Great!" I walked to the kitchen and picked up the phone, suddenly nervous for some reason. I fumbled through my wallet to find the number she gave me the night before and carefully dialed it.

"Hello?"

"Annie? Carl. Look, Mr. Simon just stopped by to talk with me about our duet, and he would like to hear us together, but he wants to do it outside of class. Could you come over for a few minutes and let him hear what we have in mind?"

"Umm, OK. It will be about fifteen minutes before I can get there though."

"That's cool. Just come on in. You don't have to ring the bell." I hung up and walked back to the other room. "She's coming over in about fifteen minutes if that isn't too long for you to wait."

"For this I'll be happy to wait! OK, the second thing I had in mind. We have a young man in the school who plays cello beautifully. I have been looking for something for intermission for the concert, and if I can get permission to use the music I think I've found it, that is if you would be willing to play a duet of Tally's Lullaby with him? I can't offer to pay you, but I will give you extra credit, not that you need any. Plus, it may open some doors for you if you will agree."

Hesitantly I nodded my assent as the door opened and a nearly breathless Annie hurried into the room.

"Hi, Mr. Simon. I hurried as quickly as I could!"

"Oh, that wasn't necessary, Annie. I would have been happy to wait for you. Carl has been playing the piano for me. I didn't know he could play, and I certainly didn't know he played so well!"

Annie gave me a bright smile, almost as if she was the one who should be proud of me. "I know. That's why I volunteered to sing with him. I've listened to him practice and sing by the hours for the last few years. Even his mother didn't know how he can sing!"

"I'm looking forward to this. What do you have in mind for the concert?"

I said, "We were thinking about Franck's Panis Angelicus."

"Isn't that a tenor solo?"

"Yes, it is, but Annie does a sort of obligatto descant above me, and I think it sounds pretty good." I started playing some of the chords at the beginning, and Annie walked over to stand behind me with a hand on my shoulder. Annie quickly set the music I had marked up with her part on the stand, and then stepped behind me and put a hand on my shoulder again. It felt really nice! I started to sing, and then Annie followed along as we had worked on the night before. Obviously, we weren't as proficient as I would have liked for having someone listening to us, but Mr. Simon looked satisfied with what he heard.

Mr. Simon sat and rubbed his chin thoughtfully when we finished as Annie and I watched him. Annie started stroking my shoulder with her hand absently and I nearly melted onto the bench.

"Would you kids mind doing that one more time for me? I already know what I'm going to do, but I want to hear that again."

Once again we sang of the 'Bread of Angels' as originally written by Saint Thomas Aquinas over seven hundred and fifty years ago and set to music again by César Franck almost a hundred and fifty years ago. Its beauty has lost nothing over the years, and still moves people today. Mr. Simon was obviously moved as we finished the song a second time.

"I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to put you two last on the program. If I have you sing earlier everything else will be anti-climactic. Also, I think I will not have you rehearse it in chorus. We'll keep your piece a surprise right up to the performance. Carl, I wouldn't be surprised to hear from Mr. Franklin if I were you. He needs a piano player for the Jazz band, and the girl he's been trying to use is just not up to the task. Would you be interested?"

"Gee, Mr. Simon, I really don't know. I'm not much of one for being out in front of people."

"I understand. It wouldn't be this semester, anyway. It's too late to add the class. I'm sure he will call you. Please talk with him and consider it. It will be your decision either way. Could you give me just a few minutes after class Monday? There are a couple of things I'd like to talk with you about then."

I shrugged. "Sure. No problem."

"OK, I'll get out of your hair then, but could I get you to play Tip-toe Dancer for me one more time?"

I nodded and turned back to the piano, only to be surprised by Annie saying, "You ought to hear him play Ballade pour Adeline, too. And he can really tear up Scott Joplin's stuff!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monday morning when I walked out my door to go to school I saw Annie standing on her front porch waiting for me.

"Good morning, Carl! I thought I'd wait and walk with you if you don't mind."

Mind? Don't be ridiculous! I grabbed her backpack from her as soon as we met at her walk and we started for the school. Normally the walk to school was my low point of the day, knowing what I would be facing, but by the time we had made it past two houses and Annie's hand found its way into mine I forgot all about what awaited me. Of course, the jibes and taunts started as soon as we reached the school grounds. I fully expected Annie to withdraw her hand, but she just gave mine a gentle squeeze and held her head high as she walked through the mockers and we made our way in the doors and to our lockers.

I'll tell you right now that I've never seen another person who looked as beautiful to me as Annie did right then. I know the taunts had to have hurt her, too, but the way she shrugged them off with grace and dignity rubbed off on me and I found myself walking with my head up instead of looking at the floor for the first time in a long, long time.

My happiness lasted a whole fifteen minutes. It was just long enough to walk Annie to her class and then slip into my English classroom where we were working on vocabulary. Mrs. Anderson asked Alice the meaning of the word "corpulent" and before Alice could answer Ted Dawson called out from the back of the room, "Carl," and the whole room broke into laughter. Even Mrs. Anderson smiled, although she tried not to. My 'Joe Btfsplk' persona was back with a vengeance. Walking to school expecting the abuse was bad enough, but getting to school in a happy mood left me totally unprepared for the day.

Eighth hour finally came and a retreat to the Chorus room. Annie gave my hand a squeeze as we went in. "I'll wait for you outside after class so we can walk together, OK?" I nodded, but couldn't speak. I had to swallow hard to keep from losing it. After the day I'd had to have someone want to walk home with me almost was enough to unnerve me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Class today was taken up with us guys being fitted for our tuxedos for performances throughout the year while Mr. Simon met with each group and discussed the music chosen for the upcoming concert. Mrs. Little from the Drama Department was in charge of fitting us. My name was not called at all, and I spent the time working on my homework, as we were free to do when not meeting with either Mr. Simon or Mrs. Little, until near the end of class when Mrs. Little finished with all of the guys but me. Ted Dawson had to take another swipe at me.

"You didn't call on Carl. I understand Cabellas has a big sale going on tents. You can probably find something to fit him there."

There was a crash of keys being pounded on the piano as Mr. Simon stood to his feet, furious. "Mr. Dawson!" he yelled, instantly stilling the entire room. Ted looked up at him startled. Never before had he been called down for his abuse. "Come down here immediately!"

Mr. Simon's face was almost purple, and the veins stood out in his neck and on his forehead. Ted stood and walked insolently to the front of the room.

"I have had all of the mocking of Carl I'm going to take. He had never done anything to you that deserves it to my knowledge, and even if he had, such abuse is intolerable. Report to the Principal's office immediately. You are suspended from this class, and I hope from the school itself for the rest of this week. Do you understand me?"

"I didn't mean anything by it. I was just kidding."

"I don't believe you were 'just kidding.' Even so, such talk is unacceptable. Would you accept it if he made racial comments about you?"

"That's different!"

"How so? Can you change your skin pigmentation? Neither can he change his size. I've changed my mind. You are suspended from this class for the week, and you will not be allowed to return to my class until you write a paper of a minimum of twenty-five hundred words explaining the difference you claim to be between someone attacking you because of your race and you attacking them because of their size. Now get out of here before I call security and have you removed from the premises!"

You could have heard a pin drop in the room as Mr. Simon stalked to the telephone mounted on the wall by the door. "Simon here. I just sent Ted Dawson down to see the Principal for unprovoked egregious verbal abuse of another student. He is suspended from my class for a period of one week, and must present a paper, of which he is aware, before being allowed back in the class. I told him I hope he is also suspended from school for the same period of time. This is not the first occurrence, but it had better be the last." Mr. Simon's knuckles were white from gripping the handset so hard.

By the time Mr. Simon finished on the phone and turned back to the class the blood had drained from his face so that he was rather pale when he walked back to the podium. "Take your seats," he ordered. For a few minutes he paced back and forth across the front of the classroom, brow furrowed, as he thought. Finally he stopped and faced the silent class. Mrs. Little had not left, but took a seat over at the side of the room and stayed to listen to what Mr. Simon had to say.

"When I was a little boy I remember a guy by the name of Medger Evers who was murdered just because he was active in trying to make it possible for African-Americans to go to college at the University of Mississippi. I remember when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and go to the back of the bus and was jailed for it. I remember when the train station in my town had two sets of drinking fountains and two sets of restrooms, one for whites and one for 'coloreds', when restaurants had separate dining rooms, and laundries were for 'whites only'. We have come a long way since that time, although we have not yet arrived. Not one of you African-American students, who have never lived under that would want to go back to those times, would you?" Nobody moved.

"Since that time racial epithets are not acceptable either. Would any of you want to be called what your parents or grandparents were commonly called back then?" Again, nobody moved or answered. "I ask you what is the difference between what happened to African-Americans then, or going back to the Second World War era, to what happened to Japanese Americans on the west coast, or to the Chinese a hundred years before that, or to the Irish in the late 1800's, and what has been done to Carl in this room today. Carl is not the only one to have been ridiculed or mocked, but I can tell you that in this room he is the last. I cannot control what happens in other classrooms, but I can, and I will control what happens in this class, and in the hallways within my hearing. As I will not tolerate racial slurs, neither will I tolerate any other slurs of any kind against any person for any reason. Is that understood? Any questions?"

There were none. The whole room was cowed by Mr. Simon's wrath.

"Very good. Your assignment for tomorrow is a two hundred fifty word essay on the differences or similarities between racial abuse and any other inter-personal abuse. No one will be allowed into this class until that paper is presented." He stopped and took a deep breath. "I apologize for losing my temper. This has been bugging me for some time, but Mr. Dawson's remarks today were just too egregious to let stand. I will tell you this before we go, and if the bell rings before I'm finished it is too bad. You will not be dismissed until I'm through, which will not be long."

"I visited Carl in his home on Saturday morning because I was a bit concerned about his participation in the duet Annie volunteered him for. For very good reason Carl is rather reticent about being before people, and if the treatment received here today occurs elsewhere, as I'm sure it does, I would not be willing to subject myself to further unearned ridicule by placing myself out in front if I were him either.

I learned some things about Carl on Saturday that surprised me. I'm not at liberty to disclose them at this time, but I can assure you that when they are revealed you will be as amazed as was I." The bell rang, but no one moved.

"Go home tonight and give it some thought. How you treat other people, especially people you think are lesser than you for whatever reason tells more about you than it tells about the other person. Some of you have been on the receiving end of this kind of abuse to one extent or another. Hopefully you can understand what I'm saying, and maybe you can help others understand as well. Let me conclude with this: Just as you would not allow someone to racially abuse another student here in this school, neither should you stand by when someone abuses another student for any reason. You are dismissed."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I waited for a few minutes until everyone cleared out of the room and then walked down to the front where Mr. Simon was sitting at his desk, head in hands. He looked up when he heard me stop at the desk. "I really hope I didn't make things harder for you, Carl. I didn't mean to, but I couldn't allow that behavior to go on."

"No sir. You didn't make it harder. I want to thank you. You are the first teacher who ever said anything."

"That's not right. Now, you need to understand something. Most of the time when people pick on others it is because they are trying to deflect attention from themselves for something they perceive to be wrong with them. Most are not being vicious intentionally." He stopped and eyed me quizzically for a moment. "You look to be pretty strong. I want to try something."

Mr. Simon stood and walked over to the piano, one of those little spinets, and lifted up one end experimentally. "I think this might work. You don't have any back trouble, do you?"

"No."

"Try reaching around the piano from the back. Can you grab it under the keyboard at both ends?"

"Sure. No problem."

"Try lifting the piano carefully. I don't want you to hurt yourself."

I did so. I'm not saying it was easy, but it really wasn't all that hard either. It rated a big smile from Mr. Simon.

"I think this might work. Do you think you could carry it over by the wall over there?" I did by walking sideways and then set it down gently and slid it up against the wall. "Excellent! Here's what we are going to do. First of all, lift this end up and hold it for me for a moment."

Even though I was puzzled as to what he had in mind I lifted the end of the piano and held it. "Careful now. Don't drop it on me." Mr. Simon lay down on the floor and pried one of the casters loose and pulled it out. "Excellent! Now set it down gently." He carried the caster over to his desk and put it in one of his drawers before looking up at me with a grin. "It's a shame the piano is out of commission for the day tomorrow because somebody somehow broke it and it can't be moved, now isn't it? I guess all of my early classes will have to sing a cappella, won't they?"

"Grab a chair for a minute." He sat down behind his desk. "You are exempted from the assignment for tomorrow. I have a different task for you. Tomorrow I want you to be sure to be the last one in the room, but don't be late. I'd hate to have to give you a tardy for helping me. We obviously cannot work on small group numbers without a piano, so I will be waiting for you to move it. I don't know about the guys, but I know the girls will be impressed! Maybe we can start a bit of a campaign to quell some of the torment you've been going through."

"Now, what I asked you to stay for. I talked with Evan this morning, and he is willing to play the cello with you for intermission at the concert if you are still willing. Now, as has been pointed out so graphically earlier, we don't have a tux that will fit you, and to purchase one in your size will be rather expensive, but that is not your problem. It's mine. The second issue is 'What would we do with it after you graduate?'"

"I spoke with the principal this morning before school started and ran this idea past him. I cannot pay you for playing in the intermission, and you definitely don't need the extra credit I could give, so he agreed with this idea. We are willing to have a tux tailor made for you. It's the only way to get one in your size. You will then have the tux for use with the Chorus through high school, and then if you are willing to play with Evan, and are willing to provide two to three additional numbers, we will give you the tux when you graduate. I think it's a win-win solution for both of us. What do you say?"

"I'm not excited about playing in front of people, and if it was anyone other than you I'd not consider it, but after what you did for me today I don't see that I can say no. I just hope I don't freeze up on you."

"I have no concerns about you freezing up on me. I'm more concerned people won't get up and leave during the intermission, but will wait until we have others singing. I don't plan to give your names on the program for what you do during the intermission, but will announce them following your performance. I really think it will be more effective if it is a surprise. Can I ask you to not tell anyone? Not even your mother or Annie?"

"Sure. Annie is likely to hear us if we practice at my house, though."

"I didn't think about that. OK, you can tell her you and Evan are working on a piece for intermission, but tell her to keep it quiet. OK?" I nodded and stood to leave.

Annie was sitting in the hallway, leaning up against lockers waiting for me when I walked out. "Is everything all right? I was getting worried about you in there!"

I gave a little grin and said, "Everything is fine. We had a couple of things we needed to talk about. One of them is a secret, if you can keep it."

"I promise!"

"Evan Lewis and I are going to do Tally's Lullaby if Mr. Simon can get permission. We'll do it during intermission, but it won't be on the program. Isn't that cool?"

"Oh Carl! I'm so excited!"

"I didn't say anything to Mr. Simon yet, but when you and I do our duet I'm going to play the piano." Annie grabbed my hand in both of hers and leaned against me, putting her head against my bicep, which is as high as her head goes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I walked in the doors of the school Tuesday morning to say the attitude was glacial would be mild. The word had gone around the school that Ted was given a three day suspension for "bullying." I wasn't overly excited about his punishment, as I wasn't really sure what it could accomplish, but it was out of my hands. Since he was the star running back on the football team the suspension also meant he couldn't practice, and that he would miss Friday night's game. Although I cared nothing for football I really hoped it wouldn't cause the team to lose. We had a good shot at a championship this year, and a loss would kill our hopes.

Somehow I got through the day. The occasional smile from Annie as we passed in the halls was the only bright spot all day.

Finally, eighth hour rolled around. Rather than going straight to class as normal I stopped by Annie's locker and walked over with her, timing things to arrive just as the bell sounded, as Mr. Simon had requested. In fact, the bell rang just as I was entering the room, which Mr. Simon noted with a snide, "I'm so glad you could make it today, Carl," but he gave me a carefully hidden wink to belie what his words.