Tales of Ricky #5

Ricky dragged his feet a little as he walked to the bus stop. It was only the fourth day of school but he was already exhausted. The bus stop felt like it was a million miles away. There were three other children that got on the bus with him, all from his new neighborhood. He didn't know them, and they didn't seem to want to know him. Erika was even in his class, but it's hard coming in as a new 5th grader. Friendships and groups are established and it's hard to break in. Same as 4th grade, same as 3rd grade, same as 2nd grade, thought Ricky. Four schools in five years is tough.

From behind him, Ricky heard the low rumble of the bus's diesel engine as it rounded the corner of Fern road and Anthem street. He was still about fifty yards from the bus stop, so he started to jog. He didn't want to miss the bus in the first week. He would have to show up late to school and walk in to his class with everyone looking at him. Being the new kid was hard enough. Seven steps into his jog, Ricky's backpack zipper broke. It was a hand-me-down backpack from his older brother Steven. The zipper failure sent his binder, his lunch, his library book spilling onto the sidewalk.

"You're going to miss the bus. You're going to miss the bus," played over and over in his head, an incessant drum beat of failure.

A girl roughly Ricky's age ran down from the bus stop at the corner to help him. She knelt down next to him and started picking up loose sheets of paper before they could blow away.

"I'm fine," said Ricky. "I don't need help and you're going to miss the bus." He looked up at her next to his right knee.

"No, it's fine," she said. "That's the middle school bus, not ours." She grabbed the last of the papers, a form that Ricky's mom had forgotten to sign last night before her sixth glass of wine, that she had promised to sign this morning before she had to run off to her job at Shepard's. He took the papers from her and stood up just as the bus pulled up to the stop 100 feet away. Sure enough, the older group of kids waiting there at the corner got on. The doors shut, the bus pulled away and Ricky stood there next to the girl, a confusing jumble of emotions rolling around in his body.

"Thanks," he said. "You really didn't have to help. I'm fine."

"Yeah, I know. I like helping people. You're new, right? Aren't you in Ms. Garming's class? I'm in Ms. Yellen's class but my best friend Ana is in your class I think."

"Uh, yeah, I am in Ms. Garming's class" said Ricky. He didn't remember an Ana. He only remembered two names from the first few days, Dorian J. and Dorian M., because it was so strange to him to have two Dorians in the same class.

"I'm Marianne," she said with a smile. "Nice to meet you, and welcome to the neighborhood. Didn't your family just move in a couple weeks ago?"

"Yeah, we did. Me and my mom and my brother Steven. He's in high school. My name is Ricky, by the way."

"Oh, I think I hear our bus coming! We better get to the stop," said Marianne. The two of them walked briskly up the block and made it to the bus stop with five seconds to spare. Marianne spotted three of her friends near the back of the bus and she ran to sit with them. One of them looked like a girl in Ricky's class. Maybe it was Ana, he thought.

Ricky took a seat on the left hand side of the bus, about halfway back. There was only one more stop before their arrival at Strasburg Elementary School, so the odds that someone would sit by him were pretty low. He was relieved.

Several minutes later, the bus lumbered to a stop in front of the school and the children started to exit. Ricky headed towards the front door of the school alone, walking slowly. There was no rush to get inside yet. Class didn't start for 10 more minutes. He shuffled down the hallway to the fifth grade rooms. To get to Ms. Garming's class he had to walk all the way to the end and take a left. As he turned that final left, he heard Marianne's voice behind him.

"See you after school, Ricky," she said. It was the nicest thing anyone at Strasburg had said to him yet. He turned to look at her and reply, but she had already turned right to head to her class room.

"Yeah, see you after school, too," Ricky said, trailing off, not sure if she'd heard him or not. He stood for a minute just to see Marianne walk away. So many people have come and gone, thought Ricky. I hope she stays.