Auggie and Annie family and home part 10
Auggie sat in the classroom. He was waiting for his next group to arrive. Two hours with the first participants were already over and he had ten minutes time in between. He rose from his desk and walked over to the lounge room to get himself some coffee. He did not use this cane for the short way anymore. The room was only two doors further down the hall and so he just slightly trailed his right hand along the wall.
When he arrived he heard that a couple of other instructors were already in the room and chatting. He slowly made his way to the coffeemaker, felt for a cup on the shelf above and poured himself a cup. He noticed that Garret was in the room as well. He heard him talk to somebody else. Auggie´s brain started rattling. How did he get more information about Garret without raising any suspicion?
Being a spy was one thing, but being a blind spy was something else and it increased the risks to be uncovered. Here, he was alone in all this. No Annie so far who could help and lend him her eyes so to speak.
On his way back into the classroom Auggie thought about a way to get to Garret. And then he had an idea. He would tap Garret´s cell phone. The only thing was that he needed to get access to that device without being suspicious. After a while, he had an idea and he hoped it would work.
Five minutes later the next group of students slowly dropped into the classroom and Auggie started his lesson by explaining how to handle the refreshable Braille display. Everybody listened and after ten more minutes the students were busy to try out what Auggie had just explained to them.
„Mr. Anderson?"
„Yes" Auggie followed the voice and slowly walked over to the second row ,where Sarah, one of the students had called him from.
„I don´t know whether I have done something wrong, but my Braille display does not seem to work. I cannot feel any Braille dots coming up"
„Let me see" Auggie pressed one of the buttons on the Braille display and then slid his fingertips across the Braille line and just like Sarah had told him, nothing happened.
„Must be some sort of software mistake or something with the settings" Auggie stated. „I think we will get to the solution of the problem soon. Just let me get my headphones"
Auggie headed back to his desk, opened his messenger bag and took out his Grado headphones, then he went back to Sarah´s desk connected his headphones and asked „Would you please let me sit on your chair, I need to check on something" Sarah got up, stood beside him and listened to Auggie typing.
And within a minute, Auggie was busy. He entered a couple of key combinations and finally got access to the system. Ten more minutes and he had solved the problem. The Braille display worked again.
„I think I got it" Auggie said with a smile. „You can take a seat again and continue working"
Sarah was stunned „Wow, that is really impressive. You seem to be a real computer genius. If I did not know you were blind I would not believe it"
„Thanks for the compliment. But it took me a while to get there" Auggie replied and continued walking around the room, checking if every student was making progress using the Braille display.
Lunch break was getting closer and Auggie had a plan. He needed to talk to Garret. After his last lesson, he walked back to the teacher´s lounge where he presumed to find Garret with the other instructors. He was lucky. Garret really was there and so Auggie took the opportunity to talk to him.
„Hey Garret, it is lunch time how about having a Pizza together? I am in for something else today than the cafeteria food here"
„Sounds like an idea, so why not, the Pizzeria is just around the corner"
„That is why I suggested it" Auggie replied.
„Let me just finish my text message." Garret said and continued typing on his phone.
„Sure, no hurry we got time" Auggie smiled
Seconds later Garret had put back his phone into his pocket and grabbed his jacket from the chair.
„Do you want to take my arm?" He asked
„Yeah, if you don´t mind" Garret touched Auggie´s hand with the back of his and Auggie grabbed his elbow. He was always grateful when he met people who were familiar with his situation.
Flashes of memories of his first time at this centre came up and Auggie saw himself standing in the hall with his new white cane, feeling lost and disoriented until his instructor offered him his arm again.
Garret led Auggie to the restaurant and up the three stairs to the door. Fifteen minutes after, they had taken a seat at the Pizzeria DA GIANNA a few hundred metres away from the centre. Auggie ordered Pizza Prosciutto Funghi and Garret Spaghetti Frutti di Mare.
„Since when have you been working here" Auggie started the conversation.
Garret took a sip of his beer and replied „I started working here about two and a half years ago. My wife had just left me and I moved over from New York. I needed a change to get over my failure as a husband".
„I see" Auggie said in a compassionate tone. „I consider myself lucky, my wife and I we get along well and my kid is great, too"
Five minutes, later the waitress arrived with their Pizza and noodles. Auggie slowly felt for the napkin and the cutlery on the table and then he asked the Garret. „Would you mind cutting my Pizza into quarters, that makes it easier for me".
„Sure", Garret took Auggie´s cutlery and cut the Pizza for him.
Sometimes it was still a bit humiliating for Auggie to ask for help when he went to a restaurant. But he did not want to make a fool of himself just because of his stupid pride.
The Pizza was good and Garret also enjoyed his Spaghetti with seafood.
„So, I take it that you are a computer geek?" Garret asked after a while
„Yes, so to speak but teaching is something I have never tried before. I was not sure whether I could do it. But now I enjoy it. It is fun to help others. I guess that is my way to give back. I mean...I would not have made it after my accident without the help of the centre" Auggie really meant what he said. It was not just a part of his cover story. He really felt he owed to the people who had helped him find some new self confidence after his accident in Iraq.
Auggie and Garret chatted for a while whilst eating and Auggie had the feeling that he was getting closer to the secret he was about to investigate. He already had a plan how to get to the next stage of his investigation.
An hour later both men were back and their jobs at the centre continued. Auggie had the last two lessons for that day and Garret two O and M lessons including field trips.
At 4:30 pm Auggie left. He made his way to the bus stop. On his way home he would pick up his son at school. He did not do that very often but Annie would come home late and so he was the one to get to school and talk to the teacher.
Twenty minutes later, the bus stopped, Auggie got up from his seat, made his way to the door, felt for the steps with his cane and stepped out. Twenty steps straight on and then to the right and he found the door of Jeremy´s primary school.
Entering the hall, he already heard the voices of kids. He trailed his right hand a bit along the wall, counting the doors. The third door led to Jeremy´s classroom. He knocked and shortly after the teacher opened. She had just finished the lesson and the kids were packing their bags to go home.
„Nice to see you Mr. Anderson" Mrs. Williams was as friendly as Auggie remembered her.
„Oh you remember my name, we have not really talked to each other since Jeremy´s first schol day. It is usually my wife who picks him up after school"
Mrs. Williams now felt a bit awkward when she replied „Well, I don´t know whether I can say that without being impolite...but...there are not many fathers here using a white cane ….and so...so I made a mental note so to speak."
Auggie turned a bit more towards the teacher, trying to meet her gaze „I don´t take any offense, of course you are right, this cane in my hand does not make me the most inconspicuous guy here at school"
Now Mrs. Williams smiled again. She appreciated that Auggie took her comment with his own sense of humour „I am glad I did not make a mistake by telling you that" She said before she called Jeremy.
The little boy did not look very happy when Auggie took his hand and both walked to the bus stop.
Auggie could not see his son´s face but Jeremy was very quiet and that told him that something was wrong.
„Is there something you would like to talk about?" Auggie asked whilst they were waiting for the bus to arrive.
„The other kids are being jerks again" Jeremy said and looked down on his feet. I hate Kevin and Eric, they are so mean to me"
Auggie had listened to his son and then he asked „Let me guess, is it again about me and the cane?"
Jeremy looked up again and replied „Well...yes...it is. This time they were kind of trying to walk with their eyes closed and their hands outstretched and they would always repeat blind and stupid , blind and stupid..."
Auggie himself was not hurt. He knew that kids at a certain age could be rude and mean but he felt sorry for his son who was suffering from that behaviour. And so he said.
„I think I have an idea how I can help you. But I have to talk to your teacher first"
Two days after, there was „project day" at school, as Mrs. Williams called it. During the first two lessons the kids were supposed to make new experiences.
Auggie took Jeremy to school. He had taken a day off at the centre because he had worked overtime the days before.
It was about 7:45 am and most of the kids were already there. School started at 8:00. Auggie talked to Mrs. Williams whilst Jeremy took his seat next to his friend Tom and unpacked his school bag.
When finally all the kids had arrived, Mrs. Williams introduced Auggie to the class.
„Good morning kids, this is Mr. Anderson and as some of you already know, he is Jeremy´s father and he is blind." Then Mrs. Williams looked around the room facing each single kid and asked
„Does anyone of you know what blind means?"
One of the kids in the last row replied „It means he cannot see"
„Yes that is correct" Mrs. Williams confirmed.
And as a sign that it was now his turn to speak, Mrs. Williams touched Auggie´s elbow and he started talking to the class.
„Good morning kids, as Mrs. Williams has already said, I cannot see. But being unable to see does not mean that I am supposed to sit at home and do nothing. There is a lot that even a blind person can do"
And then Auggie started to unpack his bagpack. He had brought his Braille books, a short folding cane and a couple of scarves.
„Maybe you will understand better what it means to be blind when you try it" Auggie grabbed two scarves and Mrs. Williams asked Kevin and Eric to come forward. Mrs. Williams now blindfolded the two boys and led them over to Auggie.
Auggie felt for Kevin´s hand and asked „So how do you feel now?"
„I am a bit scared" The usually cheeky boy who was always up for a joke and who loved teasing his class mates was suddenly very quiet.
„Would you like to try to walk with a cane?" Auggie asked . Then he unfolded a short folding cane that he had brought from the centre and which had the perfect size for a kid. Again, he felt for the boy´s hand and handed him the cane. Then he showed him how to swing the cane back and forth whilst moving slowly forward. Kevin slowly moved around with Auggie right behind him.
He suddenly trusted a man he had been making fun about the days before.
When they reached the end of the classroom, Auggie asked „Would you be able to find your chair?"
Kevin slowly extended his hand and felt for the table. „Are you here Marc?" He asked trying to talk to the boy who sat next to him"
„Yes I am" the Marc replied and Kevin slowly walked around the table using his hand for orientation until he had found his seat"
Now it was Erics turn. „Would you like to know how you can read with your hands?" Auggie asked the boy.
„Yes" Eric replied and then Auggie took his hand, walked him over to the teacher´s desk where he had stood before and opened the book for Braille instruction. Then he took the boy´s hand and put it on the first page.
„These are the first letters of the ABC" He explained „Being blind does not mean that someone is stupid and cannot read or write. There is just a different way how to do it"
Eric touched the little Braille bumps underneath his fingertips and he was impressed. „Can you really read that Mr. Anderson"
„Of course I can, and if the class wants, I am going to read something to you later"
„Yes please" some of the kids said having listened to Auggie´s conversation.
„Would you also like to try walking with a cane?" Auggie asked now, turning a bit towards Eric after closing the book.
„Yes"
„Okay, then let´s do it" Auggie handed over the cane that Kevin had used previously and walked the kid through the room. Finally Mrs. Williams led Eric to his seat and took his blindfold off.
„Kevin you may also take off the scarf now" she said and Kevin started to open the knot on the back of his head, trying to take off the scarf.
Then Auggie slowly walked back to the teacher´s desk, felt for the chair, sat down and unpacked a fairy tale book for kids. Then he started reading „Once there was a little girl called Isabella she was an orphan and she had a dog called Bonnie, Bonnie was not a regular dog he could do magic and so one day Isabella and the dog..."
The whole classroom had become quiet and the kids were listening to Auggie´s story, admiring how is hands flew across the page whilst reading to them.