So, once on the table, Nick had me lay on my stomach. He bent my foot back to my butt and told me to, “Kick!” Once I kicked my foot so my leg was mostly straight, he pushed my foot back to my butt and would yell, “Kick!” again. We did these motions in quick succession and after a few, “Kick!”s it changed to Nick saying, “Kit!” I knew what he meant so I continued kicking and thought about my Dad. And two of my brothers. My Dad was in the army. His basic training was in the south before he went to Vietnam and he and my Mother lived in Oklahoma after they were married while my Dad still had time to serve once his tours were over.
I write about this because at one time, I worked with two of my brothers. One was the vice principal and one was the behavior interventionist. Both of these roles called for them to address and correct student behavior. This address was usually at a high volume be it in the cafeteria or in the hallways. When either of them raised their voice it sounded especially like my Dad. It wasn’t until another teacher asked one of my brothers when they lived in the south. My brother (neither one) has never lived in the south. The teacher told them that when they raised their voice, they got a southern twang. I laughed when my brother told me this because they BOTH did it and I guess that’s because my Dad did it to them when giving directives when they were growing up and my Dad’s directives when he was in the army came from a southern man. Now, Nick’s, “Kit’s” sound just the slightest bit southern and I thought of this story of my brothers and my Dad.
Nick had me roll onto my back and he was having a heck of a time bending my legs. He was working SO hard! I could see it in his face. I always feel badly hearing his grunts and seeing him sweat and the look on his face because there is nothing I can do to make it easier for him. I try to, “will” my legs to bend but it is no use. They only loosen after he has exerted SO MUCH energy and after more than a few grunts.
So, I’m just laying on my back as Nick is working SO hard and an intern I have never seen before walks by. It took me awhile to figure out why I felt funny looking at this kid, until I realized that he reminded me of Phil! I think it was because he’s tall. I asked Nick who he was and he told me that his name was Michael. I told Nick that he reminded me of Adam (I know not refer to Adam as “Phil” to anyone at Barwis because I was the ONLY one to call him “Phil” and that was SOOO long ago now). Nick agreed and said he kind of looked like him.
I wasn’t sure if he looked like Phil. I still haven’t decided. I laid on the table and tried to decide. It took me a minute to figure out why he kept glancing over at me. It’s because I was straight up staring at him with my thinking face on. The damage was already done before I realized this; I’m creepy. But there was already a (or I already called someone) “Michael” at Barwis. And that was Mike Rhoades (even though he didn’t like me doing so).