"... and he said for me to stay away from him?!?!? And he walked to his car and yelled more names too.... He needs a vocab class, really."
Letters from Sky
By Jan S
Part 7
© 2008 by Jan S
>>Monday, April 28th (noon)
Hi, Marsh,
I'm banished to my room by the cleaning lady again.
Nah-uh, he didn't really grab me and hold or anything -- just sort of tried to hug, but rough. And I could have asked his mom or brother for my bike, but just didn't want to. And I looked where you said and saw how to block his emails too. It was just really scary, Marsha. But he did let me leave and, yeah, took no for an answer, I guess. But made sure I knew he didn't like it. But it's all creepy as H-E-LL.
I know you're right, and I'm just going to forget about the whole thing. Because I don't want to tell; I don't want to ruin him or anything. And boys sometimes do what he was talking about, and a boy letting a boy see his thing isn't that weird, is it? They do it in locker rooms all the time, right? But if he does that again -- WAM.
So I got to try and forget it. I need to make a list of all the stuff I got to forget about, because I always forget and remember them. (I heard that somewhere - but it's true.)
Well, he was really a jerk before too, you know. Just the way he talked about people and stuff. He didn't have friends, they were always "His posse" or "A dude of his". Which is OK, you know, but all the time, and he made it seem like he owned them and stuff. He even bossed his mom like when I was there, and it should have bugged me then, because now I know. Only when he was alone was he ever really nice at all, but you know, I just wanted it to be lots different and all.
OK. I'm forgetting about that. Starting now!
So, so, no, I'm not going to be home-schooled or taught by tutors forever (And the tutors aren't going to be every night - just a night each, too.). Daddy says there are some private schools around, and I'll get into one of those or a parochial one for next year.
I hope I get into Westcott Hall. That's where Lisa's going to next year. But I think it's real hard to get into because Wendy said her Mom had to pull strings for Lisa (And Ms Y. said she didn't, and had to save all of them for people that don't study their spelling, which shut Wendy right up.). But also, some of the guys in origami go there too, and Zack said that they were all dweebs because of it, and that makes it sound good to me, you know? But that won't work, probably, even if I was smart enough and hadn't done all rotten this year, because it's so late to apply and stuff, and they start at seventh, and I'll be in eighth.
The only other I've heard about is Sts. Ingrid and Charlotte , that's where that girl in the carpool people didn't like goes, and it's got a brother school that's something Hill.
He's sent me three emails already, one from early, but I haven't opened them. Duh!!
I g2g, Marsh. I got to work on my 'puter Math class, bye.
Loves and hugs.
Skye
P.S.: So you still haven't said what's happening with Daddy and you. What's up with the money? Is it going to work? What is Michael doing? I almost wrote to him, but better not. SO???????????
>>Tuesday, April, 29th (night)
Hi!
OK - OK. I get the message. "Be quiet, little kid." That's alright; I know I still kind of am. But can't you say if it looks like it's good and if Michael will get to stay in school and stuff? Anyway, bet I can get Daddy to tell me. :-P
And see I'll still talk to you about all my stuff:
Daddy took me to the Sushi place again tonight, and he said it is pretty sure that I'm going to get into a good school for fall!!!! Yea!!!!!!!! But he still wouldn't tell me where until it is all set and stuff. :(
(And Marsh, I am almost certain the sushi waitress lady called me Judey-tan. She had an accent and stuff but remembered us from before, and I was wearing jeans and a brown t-shirt. But I'm almost certain it wasn't kun. Weird again, huh??)
But anyway, I just did my 'puter classes (lots and lots) and read some stuff, and I ordered those sequels to "The Giver" because I've never read them yet. And in my pottery class we glazed our little bowls, and I did mine in a shiny blue and a sparkley rose -- I hope anyway -- because they don't look like the colors until they're fired, and the girls said the jars get mixed up sometimes.
And I went to origami, and we learned to make cranes this time. And Zack was there this time, but he didn't even look at me. He did -- sort of glared actually -- but then turned his head away real quick. And he was talking to the boys he calls dweebs and at least not breaking stuff this time. But he twisted a cranes head in the wrong place and screwed up the tail and then said it was a dragon. And at the end of the class he threw it over on my table and said I could have it. And I just left it there.
His emails were like he was real sad, and he wants to still be friends and stuff, and he took my bike over to Lisa's for me to get.
When I got home I made lots of cranes for practice, and I sent you seven in an envelope. I hope they go through for one stamp and don't get all squashed, but if they do that's what they were supposed to be. 'K?
Nite, Mars
Loves and hugs,
Skye
>>Wednesday, April 30th (Noon)
Hi, Marsh,
Well, Andrea's back, that's our maid person, so I'm stuck in my room again. She's not mean or anything, just -- something -- grumpy -- and like: "You're in my way!", all the time, and she really, really does move fast though. Today she's worse because Daddy told her not to cook because he has to do dialysis again, and I'm going to eat with the Youngers'. That makes her mad I think, because she thinks we don't like her cooking, but it's OK, it's just things happen and, also, she leaves at six thirty, and Daddy's never here 'til seven or more.
So anyway, I got over two hours before I can go to my appointment, so I can write a long letter, but nothing has really happened lately, you know?
I did a chapter of all my on line courses things already today, some are real easy, and some are even fun.
Zack is still sending me emails everyday. What a jerk!!!! And they're all like, he's sorry and, "Can we be friends", then like he's mad at me again, or about how can I not like him when I've seen his house and live in an apartment. yeeeegggggg.
Marsh, am I gay?? Do you think?? I think I think so, or maybe bi or something. I mean it would be OK with you, right? Because you're in that alliance thing at school that you know the girl that wrote those instructions you sent from, right?
But, I guess, the reason Zack was nice is because he thought that I was, and so would do that stuff to him. And there's all the girl stuff. And people've sure told me I was and hated me for it. And there was that time with Benny, and she caught us without clothes, and that's when we were still only eleven. And I guess I am. And anyway, even if I am, I don't want to do that like that. It's just that - anyway so nvm.
I hate home schooling. Tomorrow I've got my first tutoring, but that's at night though because it's with a teacher.
So, laters, I guess.
Love and a hug,
Skye
>>Thursday, May 1st (Noon)
Hi,
Not so bored this morning -- I can go to the kitchen and not feel like I got to sneak around, and watch TV some too. But still it's pretty dull. And I already got a bunch of chapters of 'puter stuff done. I'm ahead on it.
I went over to the Youngers' last night, like I told and, Marsh, they have two maids and a housekeeper! And I didn't know because I'm there in their time off. We got there as the maids were leaving but the housekeeper lives in their garage, and they used to have an au pair too but stopped after Christmas, which is why I got a job. And the house keeper was driving the van, because she does mostly except when Ms Y. gets to do the carpool, and when I got in she called me "The Famous Sky", and was nice but kind of old, and she's Connie.
At dinner I found out that Wendy thought I was real poor, and I guess compared to them we are, right? That was because we're in an apartment, and I babysit. And her mom said doing things for your own money doesn't mean you're poor, and that Daddy was 'imminent'! And how we hurried to move here. And she's been trying to get him to work out here for years and years.
So anyway, it's all your fault!! I asked Ms Y. how, since she knew Daddy so long, she didn't know about me. And she said that it was because you're not a boy. She knew Daddy had two boys and a girl and twins that had just started college, so she was all ready to meet the daughter because both boys had to be the twins, of course (and they had to look just alike too, huh?), and then the other stuff happened. So see -- your fault. It's not like she's dumb, just that she didn't think about it. You know?
But, anyway, that's OK; I'm not mad at you for being a girl.
Oh, and I got my bike back at last then too! And Zack had taped an envelope to the tube, and it was like a letter that he most've wrote on Sunday, and it said he was sorry and really wanted to be friends and stuff. But, Marsh, he had cut it out of red paper into a heart! Hehe - Weird?
All right, I g2g and get lunch and then back to the lesson things. Daddy checks every night to see what I've done.
Bye
Love and a Hug,
Skye
>>Thursday, May 1st (evening)
Arrrrrgggghhhhh!!!
Zack the Asshole strikes again!!!
We did pies today in cooking. I told you, right? And that jerk ruined mine.
And we peeled the apples and did the filling and used the dough that the teacher brought, and had to hurry too, but still had to take them home in like flat boxes to bake them.
He is just such a huge creep, Marsh. I don't get it.
When I first got to fishing class, his "partner dude" teased me about carrying the pie and tried to pull off a piece off the top crust, and Zack was like: "Leave it alone," and even shoved the guy away, and the guy was like: "Huh," and then Zack was like: "Don't take it around, unless you want to get hassled," and called me some more of his favorite names. And the teacher told them to knock it off, and I just stayed as far from them as I could, but it's a small class. And when we were trying to get our lines close to the ground but not hit, they were whipping theirs around like crazy, and they hit the little kid that's my partner in the head with the weight because we don't use hooks, luckily. So I yelled, "Hey! Watch out!!" And the kid had a red mark but wasn't crying, and the teacher made them go and sit under a tree because it was the second time today, and made them stay longer to talk to too.
Then, because I couldn't carry the pie on my bike, I was sitting at the bus stop, and he came over, and said I was a stupid -- those names again -- that had got him in trouble all the time and knocked the box out of my hands upside down, and he JUMPED on it even. And one of the bigger kids at the stop told him to go away, and he said for me to stay away from him?!?!? And he walked to his car and yelled more names too. All like queer and faggot and stuff the whole way to his car. He needs a vocab class, really.
And now I got to tell Daddy I messed up the pie he was expecting.
Gawd, I hate him, Marsh.
OK, so rant over. I just don't get it.
We don't hardly ever talk about you, you know, I guess. How's it with Jim, and with your school too?
OH, well. And all. What's up with him do you think, Mar??
Loves and Hugs,
Skye
>>Thursday, May 1st (night)
Hi again!
Happy May Day!!!
That's all I wanted to say -- so many letters a day is kind of stupid, right?
I'd forgot all about it 'til Daddy told me. He wasn't too sad about the pie; I just said I'd dropped it and would do another for him sometime.
OK. That's all. The tutoring stuff wasn't too bad. He told me to write a story, and I picked "Beauty and the Beast." I didn't finish though, but that wasn't the exercise. Then he read it and said I must be a great swimmer. (Yeah, I was like: "Huh" too.) And he said because when I write I never have to come up for air -- I just keep going and going and going, without periods and things, and how, even if I do use one, I put an "And" or "So" or something after it to make the reader rush and get their head back into the water. He also said lots about my grammar and commas too. And with that part I had been thinking of it like a school thing even.
So my letters are probably worse, but are they OK with you? It's like I want to get it all down, you know?
But I'm over being mad with that boy now, I guess.
So, I told Daddy at dinner that I really missed spring this year, and maybe that was because we moved after they had had it here. But he thinks most people would say it is always like spring here, except when it's summer. But we decided that was like never having a spring, and it was one of the best parts of winter too.
Loves and Hugs,
Skye
P.S.: And I still can't get Daddy to tell me about what's with you and Michael and money either. You guys are mean! But if it was terrible, I'd know right??? Huh??
>>Friday, May 2, (noon)
Hi, Marsh,
I'd promised, promised to me to give you a break from my saga today, but then I got your letter.
I'm trying to get it all straight, Mars, but remember I'm still a little stupid kid, partly at least, and letters like that make me know it.
So yeah, I really, really should tell Daddy and have him call Zack's parents. I know that. It could keep getting worse too, yeah.
But Marsh, what if his family is all like that? I mean look, I'm squirrely, OK, Marsh, really. I know it. And now that I'm thin, I'm more. That's why even nice people think I'm weird and a half. I mean -- Just am.
So his father might be like: "Someone like you's gonna have to deal with it," right? Some grownups think that way. And his brother was waiting to drive him when he yelled all that yesterday, so it could be they're all like that. And it would just be worse then! Wouldn't it?
Or his parents might be the opposite and go ballistic, and he deserves it, I guess. But they could hit him and lock him up and all that stuff, and I don't want that. I just don't!
And, also, he was almost the first nice person here, remember? Even before Lisa and Wendy and Ms Y., and sometimes he was after too. And even if it was for bad reasons, it's true. Even at his house, right up to when he wanted hugs and to do that stuff and did all what he did, he was like real nice. He said funny things and laughed when I did. Then it changed.
OK. So, maybe I'm stupid -- a dumb kid -- probably -- but it is like that other stuff -- the way he treats me -- and his friends -- and mom even, and the way he acts and calls me names is like on top of something good, and I don't want that part beaten. OK? You see, what I mean? I know it's maybe just an act and, even if he likes me, it is harassing and stuff and all, but still.
And it's like you said too, he might have a huge crush on me or something like that, and he can't admit it even to himself, and lots of people that say the most about gays are like they can't admit their own wants or curiosity. So could he just grow-up out of being like that maybe? And even if he's not gay -- and I know wanting people to do that is as much gay as wanting to do it, like you said, but he doesn't -- he could still be a nice person down under. You see? OK, it's real dumb, and all. But still.
So -- other stuff. You still didn't get around to talking about your stuff because of all my drama. About you and Jim and school, I mean, not the stuff with Daddy you don't want to. I do like hearing about it -- you. So could you?
Daddy and I are going out tonight, maybe a movie he said, and something is up with Ann and Beck for tomorrow. They were here when I got back Wednesday, talking to Daddy. And I'm going somewhere with them, but no one will tell me anything. :-( Except I'm supposed to wear something 'nice but comfortable', Becky said. :-) I can do that I think.
Loves and Hugs,
Skye
>>Saturday, May 3rd (night)
I've got a new big sister, Marsh!!!! And she is amazing -- really, really!!!!
But it's real late, and I'm exhausted! Totaled!!! So I'll tell you about her in the morning, OK?
Loves and Hugs,
Skye
P.S.: You're still my best and favoritest one though!!!!
Comments
progressing
The questions and half answers mixed in with more questions, very realistic Jan. The whole way you introduce things and the word choices. Zack bothers me a bit I must admit and the use of that word..squirrely has a hint of foreboding to it. I hope that's just a mild misuse by Jude. This is good watching you develop the whole theme. Keep on
Kristina
Quick question...
Is 'Daddy' doing dialysis due to a medical complaint or because he is a doctor?
The Legendary Lost Ninja
Good question
But I guess Marsha already knows so they don't talk about it much.
Showing and telling.
One of the things drilled into me by the tutor when I did a creative writing course was that stories should (as far as possible) lead the reader by showing by example detail about the plot and the characters. Bald statements like 'John was 5'5" tall and weighed 120lbs with blue eyes and fair hair' are definitely not recommended. The fact that John is blonde should rather be revealed by (say) a friend commenting "It's OK for you. You're naturally blonde. I need a little help to look as glamorous".
That's a rather long-winded way of saying that the way you're showing and gradually revealing Skye's family circumstances and social problems through this one-sided conversation is brilliant. The grammar is awful but I'm coping and only occasionally groaning in despair. I sympathise with his teacher's comment about occasionally coming up for air - or not, as the case may be. Will Skye's grammar improve as the emails progress due to his tutor's influence? If it does, will we lose a little of the excitement? :)
I know it's not you Jan, but thanks for posting Skye's letters. I just hope he's not litigious - there may be copyright issues.
Geoff
Sucks You Right In
I only started reading this series a couple days ago, but like many others quickly got sucked in wanting to know what is actually happening and why along with what will happen next. Very interesting so far.
If any of you are "texting" illiterate like me, this link is an ok translator http://www.lingo2word.com/dictionary.php
Character Juggling
This story fascinates me. It's a bit loose with grammar and characters but I imagine it'll tighten up as it progresses. I was also wondering if/when Skye's grammar will improve. I really noticed the run on sentences in this chapter. Oy! :)
Please keep up the good work and I'll keep commenting.
Thanks.
- Terry
Perhaps Zack sees a girl
It appears to me that Zack is infatuated with Skye, seeing only his femininity and is acting like any middle-schooler in trying to gain recognition from a girl. So the harassment and the other foolishness. Just a thought. I look forward in this story to see if I'm right! This truly is a great read, even with it's grammatical issues, but then these are letters of a 13-year-old. What else can we expect.
And frankly, I wonder why this story has so few kudos. It deserves better.