The Five Pearls

by Barry James Hickey

  toast! To Mr. B and our first Christmas dance!”

  “Cheers! Right on! Hell yes!”

  Amber put her hand on Mr. Battle’s knee and whispered in

  his ear. “Thanks for the dress. It’s fabulous.”

  “You’re welcome, Little Miss Sunshine,” he whispered back. The dance didn’t start until eight, so Mr. Battle let each

  student pick one place to drive by. Matt had the driver pull

  through his trailer court and called his parents from the car

  phone.

  “Look outside,” he shouted into the telephone. “I’m the

  man in the big black ride!”

  His parents came out with beers in their hands, inspecting

  the car. “Damn, Brittles. You got some class!” Pete Golden

  slyly remarked.

  Amber called the group home and stood up in the rear, half

  her body swaying through the sunroof as she waved to all the

  girls standing on the front porch when she drove by. Marie

  ordered the car to stop at Denny’s. Her mother ran out to say

  hello to the gang and their teacher. Julio had them pull up to a

  liquor store where he went inside and bought gum. When Julio returned to the ride, Mr. Battle asked, “What

  did you talk about?”

  “I told the clerk I was a chaperone for a bunch of high

  school kids, but I’d be back later to place a big order,” Julio

  winked.

  “Since you seem to be in charge, I guess I can sit back and

  relax for the night!” Mr. Battle said.

  “Will you dance with me later?” Amber asked Mr. Battle. “Me, too?” gushed Marie.

  Mr. Battle blushed. “Gee, ladies. I don’t know…” “He’s old enough to be your father!” Matt laughed. “Don’t worry, ladies. You’ll get plenty of dancing out of

  these legs,” Julio slapped his white pants with a loud smack. “So, Tobias, you’re last on the list for a drive-by,” Battle

  said. “Where to?”

  “Nowhere,” Toby said soft-spoken. “Let’s just get to the

  party.”

  “Come on, Toby! Let’s cruise by your house,” Marie

  shouted. “I’ve never even seen it.”

  “Where do you live anyways?” Julio said.

  “Yeah, Toby. Let’s go by your crib,” Matt said.

  “I’d like to meet your parents,” said Amber.

  “Not a good idea.” There was steel in Toby’s voice. “Like I

  said, let’s just get to the party.”

  The five Tadpoles squeezed together and stood up in the

  back seat of the limo, their upper torsos popping out through

  the open sunroof.

  A light snow still fell, sticking to the ground now. Amber

  and Matt caught wet snowflakes on their tongues. The limousine turned south on Union Street to the

  intersection of Pikes Peak Avenue and took a right. It moved

  slowly past Memorial Park, a lovely, sprawling expanse of

  snow-sprinkled fields. The downtown lights of taller

  buildings loomed ahead.

  “Where are we going?” Marie wondered. “There aren’t any

  high schools this way.”

  “Except Palmer,” Julio said. “No way we’re going to

  Palmer. Most of us got kicked out of there.”

  The limo traveled less than a half mile and slowed down.

  The vehicle turned right on Institute Street.

  The Tadpoles peered through the snow at the one school

  they had forgotten about, a school they never even

  considered for a dance.

  “No freakin’ way!” Julio complained loudly.

  The limousine cruised down the street along a three-foot

  tall wrought iron fence. The Tadpoles looked at each other

  with dread as they heard the tick tick tick of the limousine’s

  turn signal.

  The car pulled into a big oval driveway past an illuminated

  wooden sign:

  COLORADO SCHOOL

  FOR THE DEAF

  AND THE BLIND

  ESTABLISHED 1874

  “Is this some kind of joke, Mr. B?”

  “No joke,” he said calmly.

  “This place is for retards!” Julio shouted into the cab. “Read the sign again,” Mr. Battle said.

  “Okay, the next worse thing to retards,” Julio said. “Deaf

  and blind! What’s up with that?”

  “Shut up, Julio. What do you know about it?” Toby

  snapped.

  “Deaf kids, they talk with their hands like monkeys,” Julio

  said. “And the blind ones, they’re always bumpin’ into walls.” The school’s west parking lot was faintly aglow with oldfashioned pole top lamps made of wrought iron. There were

  no cars to be seen.

  “Looks like we came on the wrong day,” Matt said. The limousine pulled up to the school’s administration

  building. A hundred years old and three stories tall, it was

  made of impressive giant blocks of limestone. All the teens

  but Toby dropped back in the cabin of the limousine. The

  chauffeur came around and opened the door for Mr. Battle.

  He climbed out with the aid of his cane and stared at the

  dark building.

  “This can’t be right.”

  “This is the address sir,” said the chauffeur.

  A pair of very young teenage boys appeared around the

  corner of the building, impressed by the limousine. They

  started speaking to each other with sign language, mouthing

  words as they spoke.

  “Nice cah,” one said.

  “Can we ha’ rie?” the second boy asked the limo driver. “I’m sorry,” said the driver. “I don’t understand.” The boy repeated himself. “Can we ha’ rie?”

  “He asked if he can have a ride,” perturbed Toby said to

  the driver.

  The driver smiled. “Sorry. Not tonight guys. The car is

  booked.”

  “Hey, guys,” Mr. Battle waved to the deaf boys with his

  cane. “Where’s the dance at?”

  The boys busted up laughing. “You no wan go dance,” one

  said.

  “Why not?” Battle asked.

  “Da girls are vewy oogly,” said his friend.

  “The girls are what?” Jason asked.

  “The girls are very ugly,” Toby said, with a slight hiss in his

  voice.

  The boys looked up at him. Toby used his hands and

  exchanged perfect sign language with them.

  “They say the dance is on the other side of the school

  campus in the new gym,” he told his friends.

  Toby signed down to the kids again. They signed back. “We have to drive around the whole school to get to it,”

  Toby said.

  He signed again, a question this time to the kids. After their

  signed answer, he said, “These kids are just freshmen. They

  don’t even like girls yet.”

  Toby dropped back into the car.

  “I didn’t know you can sign!” Amber said.

  “That’s me. Man of mystery.” He sounded sullen. Battle and the driver got back in the car. The driver turned

  the limo around in the lot and exited for the other side of the

  campus.

  “Who did you learn sign from?” Matt asked.

  “My parents…” Toby paused. “They’re deaf.”

  The other Tadpoles looked at each other. Friends with Toby

  for four years and they realized how little they knew about

  him.

  Marie broke the silence. “Sign language is awesome! Can

  you teach me some?”

  Toby seemed dumbfoun
ded. “You’re serious?”

  “That’s a skill, man,” Matt said earnestly. “I’ll bet it’s hard

  to learn.”

  “At first, but you catch on,” Toby said.

  “How do I say, ‘want to dance’?” Julio asked.

  Toby demonstrated with hand gestures.

  “That’s all?” Julio asked.

  “Yep.”

  “They got blind kids here, too,” said Matt. “How do I ask

  them to dance?”

  His friends gave him a stupid look.

  “Uh, Matt, I think you say ‘do you want to dance,’” Toby

  said.

  Mr. Battle and the driver laughed.

  Toby took a deep, relaxed breath. His secret was out about

  his deaf parents and nobody seemed to care.

  “Know anything about this place?” Mr. Battle asked him. “A little. My parents met here,” Toby said.

  The limousine turned left out of the parking lot and headed

  back towards Pikes Peak Avenue.

  “The school’s over a hundred and twenty-five years old,”

  Toby said. “It was founded back when Colorado was still a

  territory. It’s on thirty-seven acres. Some guy named Kennedy

  ran it. He had three deaf kids of his own. If you live in the

  state, the tuition, room and board is free.”

  “You say your parents met here?” Amber touched his hand.

  “How romantic!”

  “I guess.”

  The limousine made two more left turns and pulled into a

  lot on the east side of the campus. Ahead of it was the gym.

  The big black car pulled up to the main entrance where a

  cluster of teenagers, some in wheelchairs, some with

  collapsible quad canes was gathered.

  “Dang, Mr. B!” said Julio. “I can’t hit on no blind chicks!” “I don't expect you to hit on anybody.”

  After the teacher and his Tadpoles got out of their ride, a

  handful of girls, some blind, some deaf, swirled around the

  car, touching it and poking their heads inside.

  “You don’t mind if we check out your car?” a pretty

  blonde-haired girl spoke and signed at the same time. “Sure. Go ahead,” Toby signed and spoke back.

  He started towards the entrance but she stopped him with

  an arm on his. “Dance with me later?” There was a slight

  speech impediment in her voice.

  “Uh, sure. Okay,” Toby said.

  “My name’s Betty,” she said. “I’m a senior.”

  “My name is Tobias. Toby.”

  “Toby,” she repeated before a pair of cute girls pulled her

  away to examine the limousine.

  Julio slapped Toby on the back as they headed for the

  entrance. “You scored before we even get inside! Right on!”

  The Hubert Work gymnasium was a combination of old meets new. Blonde bricks and a steep slate roof ran up the eastern side of the building housing the gym area then intersected with giant limestone blocks of an old three-story building. Inside were a swimming pool, two-lane bowling alley, wrestling and weight room and a full-size gymnasium for full court basketball play.

  The Tadpoles shyly entered the gym through an old pair of white doors behind their teacher, wondering what other surprises awaited them.

  The school’s principal, a rail-thin woman with hair dyed a bright red, practically jumped in front of them. She was wearing a green dress, green shoes and an elf hat with a jingle bell on the tip of it. She glanced at Battle and his posse and smiled.

  “Mr. Battle, I presume?”

  “Mrs. Ledger?”

  “These are the Tadpoles?” she asked, talking with her hands

  and fingers in American Sign Language at the same time. His students looked at each other uncomfortably. “Our gang name sounds pretty juvenile when you hear it

  from a stranger,” Amber sighed.

  “Are you guys and gals going to be frogs or toads

  someday?” Mrs. Ledger asked.

  “Someday we hope to be salamanders,” Matt joked. “Definitely salamanders,” Marie said.

  Mr. Battle faced his students proudly. “Mrs. Ledger, may I

  have the honor to present my students; Matt Golden, Amber

  Beulah, Marie Fuentes, Julio Ramirez and Toby Chambers.” “Well,” she said with open arms, “Welcome one and all! We

  have all kinds of Christmas goodies to eat and drink in the

  trophy room across the gym and I hear we may even play a

  little disco for you all tonight!” She smiled at Matt in his

  tuxedo. “What was your name again, young man?” “Matt. Matt Golden.”

  “You look like a regular man of intrigue in that special

  tuxedo! Like a young and handsome James Bond 007!” She

  giggled. “Save me a Twist for later?”

  “Uh, sure,” Matt said. He whispered to Amber. “What’s a

  Twist?”

  “I think it’s a dance,” she replied.

  “Oh, man,” he sweated, “I didn’t get all dressed up to

  dance with some old lady! She’ll probably fall down and break

  her hip.”

  Mrs. Ledger smiled at Toby. “And Toby Chambers! You’re

  all grown up!”

  “Hello, Mrs. Ledger.”

  “What’s it been? Five years since you finished here?” “Six years,” he said.

  She smiled at his friends. “Toby learned to sign right here at

  our school.” She pinched his cheek. “I’m so proud of you!” Another minute of idle gossip and chitchat went by before

  the teens drifted into the gym and left Mr. Battle behind with

  Mrs. Ledger.

  “It was very nice of you to invite us,” Mr. Battle said. “Oh, my pleasure,” said she. “Before I was an

  administrator, I was the English teacher here. Toby’s parents

  used to love to read!”

  The tanned brick gymnasium was decorated with white

  twinkling lights strung along the walls above folded wooden

  bleachers that ran the length of the gym. Green and red

  strings of lights drifted down from four ceiling skylights,

  dangling overhead just out of reach. A big tree decorated by

  the student body with their own handmade ornaments and

  more strings of lights, ribbons and bows stood proudly

  against the south wall near the trophy room, giving the whole

  room a real Christmas glow. There was a giant red and white

  flag hung on one wall with the words BULLDOG PRIDE

  depicting the school’s muscular mascot wearing a spiked

  collar. All sorts of red pendants and flags with white letters

  graced the walls revealing more school pride:

  COLORADO D-8

  FOOTBALL

  STATE CHAMPS – 1977

  STATE

  BOYS TRACK 2ND PLACE

  DISTRICT

  BOYS TRACK CHAMPIONS

  Like all teenagers, the Tadpoles meandered across the gymnasium towards the room where the free food and drinks were. Julio slid along, dragging his feet on the shined and polished wooden floor.

  “I could eat off this thing,” he told Marie. The spike-haired lead singer for the dance band stood on a makeshift stage performing a sound system check. “Check, check. Is this thing on? Check, check.”

  “What kind of music do you play?” Matt asked him. “Something for everybody.”

  The Tadpoles left the gym and entered the trophy room. A

  snack counter was laid out with cookies, cakes, pies, finger sandwiches and bowls of punch. A blind girl in a wheelchair gave them each a candy cane while they over-loaded paper plates with a little bit of everything. After the Tadpoles ate, they examined all the trophies and awards in the gla
ss cases around the room.

  “These guys were state champs in wrestling, football, soccer, just about everything!” Matt was awed.

  “They kicked some serious ass in chess and math, too.” Julio was amazed.

  “You should have stayed in school here,” Matt advised Toby. “You’d have been a super star.”

  “I only took an American Sign Language course.”

  They stared up at a pair of giant stuffed bulldogs on top of one of the cases.

  “I think I’ll steal one of those later,” Julio bragged.

  “I’m sure Mr. Battle will be thrilled,” Amber said.

  The Tadpoles returned to the gym and stood in a corner together by themselves, watching a beehive of activity as deaf, dumb and blind students buzzed around the room.

  “They’re just like anybody else,” Marie said.

  After a couple of minutes the band started up. “It’s hammer time,” the singer announced.

  The band broke into an old rap song and the dance floor immediately filled up with dancing kids. The Tadpoles sat together on plastic chairs, anxious and nervous. They saw Mr. Battle across the room getting an earful of happy talk from the principal. After the third song, Betty, the girl that greeted them on their arrival, boldly yanked Toby by the arm towards the dance floor.

  “I’m not ready yet,” he protested.

  “Who is ever ready?” Betty laughed.

  A whole crowd of other kids moved in on the remaining Tadpoles and started chatting away. “You’re from Garfield? What grade are you in? Do you play any sports? Do you want to dance?” One by one, Tadpoles were dragged kicking and screaming to the dance floor.

  The party was on.

  After an hour of BOOGIE NIGHTS, the artist formerly known as PRINCE, a polka and BABY GOT BACK, the Tadpoles collapsed in chairs with a handful of resident students for small talk.

  Amber searched around the room with her eyes and saw Mr. Battle sitting quietly in a corner by himself, his cane across his lap. He seemed suddenly old and tired to her, as if he was all worn out from life. She set her soda down under her chair and approached him when the band started playing an old-fashioned slow song.

  “Will you dance with me?” she asked bravely.

  “Absolutely,” he smiled.

  They stepped out onto the dance floor.

  “Remember the six inch rule!” her teacher joked. They turned in slow circles around the room together.

  Amber felt his arms and shoulders. She never realized how thin he was before. She noticed his face up close. Deep wrinkles around his eyes, a permanent sorrow behind his smile.

  “Chin up, Mr. B. It’s Christmas.” She hoped to cheer him up.