Chapter 2: Homework and Other Nonessentials
Morgan walked to her mother’s van in tears. The first day had been the worst of her life. “They picked on me all day, Mom. They laughed and called me a fat ass and threw things at me. The gym teacher made fun of me.” With this, Morgan broke down.
Mrs. Daniels listened in horror. “That’s terrible. I’m going straight to the principal’s office tomorrow.”
Morgan shook her head. “No, Mom, that will only make it worse.” She wiped her tears as the rusty van pulled down the long cobblestone drive.
Mrs. Daniels glanced at her daughter and decided to change the subject. “Do you have homework, dear?”
“Yes, every teacher gave me work. I don’t know how I’ll finish it by tomorrow.”
At East Hollywood High, not everyone received homework. Only the slower students – meaning those who were unattractive – received real assignments. Cartwright believed smarter students – those who were good-looking – should get breaks. He called the slower students defective and said they needed the work to be normal. The more defective the pupil, the more work they received.
All students were required to be at all athletic events and all school functions. This included dances, concerts and plays. Accurate records were kept with bar codes and scanners. Parents were required to chaperone dances. If you wanted to live in this community and have a good-paying job, you needed to be ambitious, intelligent and physically appealing.
* * *
Ryan Alvarez and Kyle Samples stood by the door and made comments to all those who passed by. They both played sports and were exempt from homework. They hung out in the student lounge playing pool and listening to rap. Sometimes they rapped about other kids. The songs were rarely positive. Most of them made fun of defective kids, and the lyrics were posted on the Hollywood Jabber website and social media sites. These sites provided East Hollywood’s smart students with places to gossip and slam non-jocks and slower students. The principal was aware, but he felt it was good, healthy fun. He also believed that making fun of others would encourage them to do better.
The cool kids placed bets on pool games and used the student lounge as a home away from home. It was open every day, all day, and parents were assigned to chaperone various shifts. The lounge was attached to the recreation room and pool area. Vending machines lined the walls with profits going to Cartwright. A massive computer lab was on the school’s second floor. Kids had access to all the latest technology. It was utopia for some, hell for others.
On the second day of school, an assembly was held in the school auditorium. Cartwright was scheduled to give his “welcome back” speech, followed by various speeches from other staff members.
“Students and faculty, I want to welcome you back to the educational Athens of America,” Cartwright addressed the auditorium. “Each year we strive to better ourselves in intelligence and appearance. I have to say that most of you look like true future professionals, but some of you dress like paupers. Each morning, you should come to school looking like successful business people. This means famous, brand-name clothing. Girls should wear dresses or skirts. Cheerleaders are exempt as a perk of being beautiful. Boys should wear button-down shirts with matching ties. Athletes need not follow these rules as our thanks to them for playing sports. We must set an example for other schools. As you know, the North Koreans will be visiting us to adopt our procedures. Now, I’d like to introduce our cheer advisor, Lana Moore.”
The audience gave Miss Moore a standing ovation as she adjusted the microphone. “I have a brief message about cheer tryouts this Friday. The weigh-ins will be in the school gym. All girls must weigh in at no more than one-hundred-twenty-five pounds. This is five pounds less than last year because of the amount of candidates. If you weigh over that, don’t embarrass yourself by showing up. The tryout sheets must be filled out and placed on my desk by Thursday. Be sure to answer all questions and list all your measurements. We pride ourselves on using only choice girls. Some of you who are overweight are welcome to sweep the gym floors before and after we practice.”
The bell for first hour started perfectly at the end of her speech. The students filed out quietly and moved toward their classes. As usual, Kyle and Ryan had to see who they could bully before first hour. The perfect location was the restroom. At that moment, Michael Powell happened to be in the wrong place at the right time for a confrontation.
“Hey, Powell, did you bring me my cigarettes?” It was Kyle, and as soon as he uttered the words, other guys in the restroom started to take notice. A circle quickly gathered around Michael. As they closed in, Kyle removed Michael’s glasses.
“I don’t smoke! I don’t have any cigarettes,” Michael protested.
“Too bad, asshole, because now you have to answer for it.” Kyle handed Ryan a pair of rubber gloves from the chemistry lab.
Ryan reached in the urinal for the round soap. “Hold him,” he said to Kyle. Then to Michael, “Open your mouth!”
Michael fought hard, but with five jocks holding him down, he was helpless. They managed to jam the urinal soap into his mouth. He choked, and they put their hands over his mouth. “Eat it!” They moved his jaws so he had to chew. Someone held his nose so Michael couldn’t breathe. He was forced to swallow the entire bar of soap. The others laughed as they watched him gag.
“Cigarettes tomorrow, or we’ll find something else for you to eat,” Ryan said. Michael stumbled out of the door choking. He saw Mr. Ratcliff in the hallway and tried to explain what had happened.
“Young man, before you say anything, I need to see your student I.D.” Michael pulled the I.D. out, and Principal Ratcliff examined it. “Well, I see you’re not from our town. What seems to be the problem?”
Michael adjusted his glasses and started telling the principal he was forced to eat urinal soap. His voice seemed to come from far away, as if not from his own throat. It was hard to hear around the pounding of his heart.
“Now, Michael, it’s just a prank,” the principal interrupted. “I’m sure it was all in fun. Why don’t you run along to your class? Here is six dollars for some cigarettes.” He reached for his wallet and pulled out the money. “After you give them what they want, I’m sure they’ll leave you alone.”
Amazed, the taste of the soap still in his mouth, Michael took the six dollars.
The day was tough on all transfers. “Morgan Daniels, it’s time for you to show us your cartwheel,” Coach Buck said in gymnastics class. He grabbed his grade book and pencil.
“I can’t do one, sir.”
Henry Buck walked up to her. “Why can’t you do a simple cartwheel?” The rest of the class started to point and clap. “Come on, Shamu, just play like you’re at Sea World.”
Morgan moved to the end of the mat. She took four steps forward and attempted her cartwheel. She flopped hard to the floor as the class broke into laughter. “Morgan, that looked more like a forward roll. For that, you receive a failing grade. Cherokee, why don’t you show her how to do a real cartwheel? Now, you best watch, Morgan Daniels, because you will do it every day until you get it right.”
Cherokee moved flawlessly, flipping over several times. The class applauded. As she stopped by Morgan, she pointed to the star on her sneaker. Morgan looked at her perfect body and felt hopeless. She went home that night and told her mom she wanted to lose weight. Michael stopped at the party store and bought a pack of Marlboro Reds. If nothing else, he would buy himself a day of peace.
