The Five Pearls (13 page)

After he showered, Mrs. Powell sat him in the kitchen and applied a light dose of makeup to hide the light bruises and veins that had become apparent on his face.

“My, my! Look at you! You look twenty years younger!” She pinched his cheeks.
“Ah! The magic of cosmetics! You're sure you don't want to join me?” he asked for the fifth time.
She refused, of course. “This is your night, John!”
A stretch limousine arrived at six-thirty. Before John could escape the house, Mrs. Powell pinned a boutonniere to his lapel and had the limo driver snap a Polaroid picture of them together. She handed him his small bag of Christmas presents for the kids and presented him with a card.
“Remember, John. The principal's name is Mrs. Ledger. She's absolutely thrilled you’re coming. Have a wonderful time!” She was so happy.
“See you in the wee hours,” he said.
“Nothing too strenuous!”
John’s shoulders sagged as he took his cane. “I just hope it all turns out.”

Matt Golden arrived at the Garfield school first. He wore a used tuxedo that Pete and Alice had bought for him at a Salvation Army secondhand store. It was white with black lapels. His parents even found a pair of shiny black patent leather shoes. They were half a size too small and the only pair available, but Matt insisted on wearing them to match the ensemble. He had an instant camera in his pocket to capture the event.

Marie arrived in a modest ankle length blue satin dress with long sleeves. Bejeweled Julio showed up in white painter’s pants and a ruby-colored open-collared shirt under his dad’s black sport coat. Toby strutted up to the school in a blue suit with a cream colored shirt and ruby tie.

When Miss Feely delivered Amber just before seven, all the kids whistled and catcalled as they approached the school. Under her matching shawl, Amber wore a satin champagne evening gown with a plunging v-neck and spaghetti straps.

“Movie star on the premises!” Matt yelled.
“No autographs, please!” Toby insisted.
“Very elegant!” Julio whistled as he spun her around. “You

can’t even tell you’re five months pregnant!”
“Oh my God!” Marie squeezed her hands. “That dress is so
hot! How did you get it?”
“It was a present,” Amber said.
“From who?”
“I don’t know. It arrived this morning.”
“Not even a note?”
“Yes, there was a note. It said, ‘for a night to remember.’” “What else did it say?”
“Nothing.”
“How exciting!” Marie jumped up and down. “You have a
secret admirer!”
Julio raised his hand. “For the record? I know I didn’t buy
her the dress.”
“We know that,” Matt said.
“How do you know that?” Julio asked.
“’Cuz you ain’t got no class, bro,” said Toby.
“Look at you!” Matt told Julio. “You look like a big
Mexican pimp daddy pinăda with all that bling-bling on your
neck and white pants in the winter.”
“Nobody wears white pants in winter. It isn’t fashionable,”
Matt said with a dignified air.
“Well shut my ass up, Mr. Goodwill Industries
ambassador,” Julio said. “In case you didn’t notice, your tux is
as white as my pants, and the reason I am wearing what I am
wearing is so I can bust some moves on the dance floor. You know, slide and glide!” He clutched Amber to him and held
her cheek to cheek, arms extended and lips pursed. “Don’t break the dress,” Amber warned.
Miss Feely returned from her mini-van with a camera.
“Okay, you bums. Let me get a picture of all of you together
on the steps.”
The Tadpole gang gathered and struck a pose for the
flashing camera just as the stretch limousine arrived. It was a
long black Cadillac. The chauffeur jumped out of the driver’s
seat and hurried around to the rear right door, holding the
door open for Mr. Battle.
“Ladies and gentlemen, your chariot awaits you!” Battle
called out from the backseat of the giant car.
The kids hurried up to the limousine and examined it front
and back, inside and out.
“It has a wet bar in the back!”
“And a sunroof!”
“Where’s the Jacuzzi?” Julio asked the driver.
“Sorry, sir. No Jacuzzi.”
“You hear that?” Julio reminded the other Tadpoles. “He
called me ‘sir’.”
Matt handed Miss Feely his camera. She had the kids strike
a few more camera poses around the car before they piled in.
Matt got in last.
“Anybody ever been in a limo?” he asked nervously. “I was in a hearse once,” Julio remembered.
“There’s a first time for everything,” Mr. Battle said. “Can we use the wet bar?” Julio asked the driver. “Fully stocked with sodas, sir,” said the chauffeur as he slid
behind the wheel.
Julio opened the refrigerator and passed out drinks. “A
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 dumbfounded. “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