Chapter 17 - Divisions
David was starting to notice something he didn't like about his new family; they seemed to be divided.
Elizabeth seemed to give most of her attention to Tom. She wasn't unkind to Han; she just didn't seem to notice him much unless she was criticizing him about something. At the same time, she barely seemed to notice Tom's faults.
Tom was all she talked about and thought about. She fussed over him and asked him endless questions about his day and what he'd been doing.
Elizabeth couldn't believe that she could have such a perfect son as Tom; she loved taking him out with her and showing him off to her friends. She was as proud of him as if she'd given birth to him herself.
Although David couldn't understand the extent of her obsession with her new son, he did understand something of it, because he was surprised by how much he loved Han.
Tom may have been Elizabeth's dream child, but David couldn't help but prefer Han. For a start, he saw Han as a real person, not the fantasy of perfection that Beth had built up around Tom.
Han had his faults, certainly. He got carried away by his imagination and the boy seemed to find trouble everywhere.
He was clever - which was part of the problem - but David was proud of how hard the boy was studying for school.
Han was so upset when Mrs. Benton put him into the lower class that David had gone to see her. The teacher explained that though she felt bad about putting the boy down, she had no other choice. To David, she confided that Han would probably still struggle with the work at Jed's level.
Han's reading wasn't too bad - it was below average, but passable for the lower level - but his handwriting was so bad that he could barely write his name. He was well behind the rest of the class. As for the rest of his education, it had mostly been ignored.
When David questioned Han about it, he learned that when Han was in the orphanage, they had simply placed him in the class appropriate for his age group. Since there weren't enough people there for individual attention, his deficiencies had been ignored, especially since he was one of the quieter students.
David hugged the boy and told him there was no need to feel self-conscious. They would work on it together and he would help Han with anything he needed.
They were all surprised when they saw how quickly Han could pick things up. Within the first week, his reading began to improve and, although his writing would need a lot of work, his vocabulary and composition were good. David rolled his eyes when he heard that; he'd already discovered that Han could tell a good story when he wanted to.
Mathematics was a subject that had always been neglected before, but soon proved to be his best and favorite subject. He was a natural. David glowed with pride when Han's teacher told him how well he was progressing.
Tom may have been impressive to look at, but he wasn't very clever and he wasn't studious. While Tom sat at the table each night and regaled Elizabeth with stories about his day, Han would take out his books and try to study.
After the first couple of days, weary of trying to tune out Tom's chatter, Han took his books to the barn and climbed up to the hayloft, where he was able to concentrate better. David would find him there, frowning over his slate and engrossed in his books.
David would look to see what he was working on and try to help him. They spent a lot of time practicing his writing. David loved to see the delighted smile on Han's face when the boy learned something new.
That was when he realized that he and Han would sit in the hayloft - usually studying, but sometimes just talking - while Elizabeth sat in the kitchen, hanging on Tom's every word.
Once he realized what was happening, David decided he needed to bring them together as a family. He persuaded Han to return with him to the kitchen, but it didn't work. Instead of sitting together as a family, Tom would talk endlessly (about nothing at all, it seemed to David), while Beth would smile and nod and make the required responses. Any attempt by David to turn the conversation was dismissed as an interruption and Han would frown in frustration as he tried to concentrate on his schoolwork over the chatter.
David noticed that Elizabeth's interactions with Han seemed to consist almost exclusively of correcting his speech, telling him to wash, tidy his clothes and do his chores.
The latter was an especially sensitive topic for David. Tom rarely finished his chores and Han frequently ended up finishing them for him. The first time David saw Han doing that, he'd been furious. He'd wondered why Han was working so late into the evening when he realized what Han was doing. When David questioned the boy, Han told him that he didn't mind doing the chores because Elizabeth liked to talk to Tom after school.
David had been angry for two reasons. First, because it was clear that Elizabeth's interest was in Tom alone and secondly, because - although David would never have said it in front of Han - Han was younger, smaller and not as strong as Tom. Han was four years younger and still had that underfed, scrawny look. Even though they tried to feed him up as much as they could, a few short weeks couldn't compensate for years of being hungry.
When David confronted Elizabeth about it, she defended Tom, saying that they had managed before without two boys, and - unlike many - they hadn't adopted the children for free labor. While David certainly agreed - he'd heard of some of the abuses adopted children suffered through - he didn't feel that expecting the boys to do a few chores fell into that category. And Elizabeth seemed to be fine with Han doing more than his fair share.
They descended into arguing and nothing had been resolved.
No-one liked the tense atmosphere in the house, but it seemed to affect Han most of all. He always seemed to be worried that any change or unpleasantness would result in him being sent back. Since the whole thing had begun because he wanted Han to be happy, David decided to apologize and leave things the way they were.
It wasn't right and it wasn't fair, but Han enjoyed working around the farm. David took on some of Tom's chores so that Han wouldn't be working all the time. Often, they would do the chores together and they enjoyed spending the time together. Sometimes, Jed would join in and the three of them would run around, chasing each other with handfuls of hay or splashing water until they collapsed in laughter.