Annie and Auggie Family and Home part 11
The days after Auggie´s visit at school were different for Jeremy. The boys who had been teasing him before for having a blind father, had become extremely „tame" and quiet. The lesson that Auggie had given them, showed its impact and Jeremy started to enjoy going to school again.
„Your Dad is a nice man" Kevin said one morning during their break when all the kids were playing outside.
„I did not know that blind people can read" one of the other kids said.
„Of course they can" Jeremy replied. „As you have seen, my Dad can read stories with his hands and he reads something to me every evening when I go to bed"
At the rehab centre Auggie had just started his second lesson. „May I have your attention please" he said to the group.
„I would like you to try out something new. Please open your internet browser, search for the page Vision Issues, and in 45 minutes we will talk about the content of that page. You can either use the screen reader or the Braille display or even both if you like"
Whilst the students were busy with looking up the information, Auggie left the room to get himself some coffee. Caffeine was almost an addiction for him. Without a decent dose of coffee, it was hard for him to function. He walked to the lounge room and made his way to the coffee maker. During lunch break he had planned to talk to Garret again and to start phase two of his plan. He just hoped it would work.
Back in the classroom, Auggie listened to the students typing and sipped on his strong, black coffee. After a while, he was a bit lost in thought. Since he had started working at the centre, he had more and more flashbacks. The events of the time when he was a patient and student at the rehab centre for the blind, came back to him in his mind and some of the memories were not very pleasant. Initially, after going blind, he had had a really hard time, accepting the cane as a helpful tool and he had never assumed, that he might ever work with a computer again. Since then, a lot of time had gone by and his life had changed significantly.
Sometimes he asked himself whether he would be as satisfied with his life as he was now, if he was still sighted. Nobody could answer that question. He had a lot more than most people. He had a job that he loved, he had colleagues who appreciated him for his capabilities, he had a wife, a house and a great kid. What else could he want?
Three quarters of an hour were over. Auggie felt for the lid of his tactile watch opened it, checked the time and said „Time is up. I want you to stop your research now and give me a summary of the content of the page. Anybody here who wants to start?"
„I would like to" Silvia, in the first row said
„Okay, what have you found out?" Auggie asked
„There are 20 million vision impaired people in the USA, most of them are not blind but seriously sight impaired."
„Good" Auggie said „What else have you found out?"
„Most people who are blind, went blind as adults and cannot read Braille" Jason, a man in the second row said.
„That is correct" Auggie confirmed again.
He continued the question and answer procedure for a while before he said. „For homework I want you to research a page that you like and give me a summary of the content. And don´t forget to write down the link, so that I can check."
The lesson was over and Auggie grabbed his messenger bag and his folding cane and went over to the teachers´ lounge. He had switched off his cell phone for a special purpose.
When he entered the room, he heard Garret talk to the other instructors and made his way towards his seat. Taking his leather jacket that hung over the back of the chair, Auggie asked.
„Garret, could you do me a favour? I need to call my wife but my cell phone doesn´t work, maybe it is the battery, maybe something else. Could I just borrow your phone for a short call?"
„Of course" Garret said.
„Do you want me to dial the number for you, I mean my phone is otherwise not accessible for you"
„That would be nice" Auggie replied. „Would you mind me taking the phone and talk on the corridor. It is some sort of private call"
„No, it is okay, just take it and give it back to me when you are done" Garret answered, dialled the number and Auggie took the phone and swinging his cane back and forth he walked to the door.
Once outside, he listened whether somebody else was there. He heard no sound, no other voice and quickly opened the back of the phone. His fingertips slid across the inside and he inserted a tiny bug, the size of a needle and put the cover back."
Now the phone was bugged and Langley would be able to listen to the conversations. When he was done. He took the phone in his hand again, held it up to his ear level and pretended to be talking. When he finally heard the door open he quickly said „Bye darling, see you in two hours...kisses" and slightly touched the button on the right of the phone, faking the end of a call.
„Thanks for the phone" Auggie said when he had entered the lounge room again and handed the phone over to Garret again. „May I invite you for a coffee now?"
Auggie asked and Garret nodded and replied „Sure, I appreciate your offer. Could use a coffee and a sandwich now"
„Okay then let´s go to the café at the end of the street" Auggie suggested and set his cane in motion. This time, he did not take Garret´s arm. Five minutes later, they sat at the café and Auggie ordered a cheese sandwich and a Cappuccino, Garret chose a tuna sandwich and Caffé Latte.
„You already have a good reputation among teachers and students" Garret said after a while. „This is something you can really be proud of. I mean, given the fact that you are not a teacher, you do a great job"
„Thanks, that is very kind of you" Auggie was proud and relieved. His plan seemed to work and that was what he needed to get further with his investigations. If they really took him for a teacher, it would be a lot easier to get what he needed.
Auggie slowly felt for the plate to his right and took a bite of his sandwich. On one hand, he had to admit that he liked Garret, on the other hand he had a job to do. These were situations when he sometimes hated his job. He had to deceive a person he liked. But if this person was involved into dirty businesses, it was easier to do the job. Up till now, Auggie only suspected that Garret was in trouble, but he had no real evidence, at least not yet.
„How long will you stay with us?" Garret asked
„I am not sure. My contract is six weeks, but if they need me a bit longer, I will stay, in case I have not found anything else" Auggie answered.
Garret liked Auggie as well and so he said „You really fit into our team.
There are not many teachers here who can teach IT things so well. And you know what you are talking about, I mean, you know it first hand so to speak because you are blind, too. The other two teachers are sighted. They sometimes cannot relate exactly to the students´ problems when they learn."
„I am glad to hear that the others appreciate my work" Auggie smiled and took a sip of his Cappuccino whilst Garret munched on a piece of his tuna sandwich.
They chatted for a while whilst enjoying their lunch break and finally Auggie called the waitress, paid and gave her a tip before he left with Garret.
The last lesson after the lunch break passed quickly and Auggie was looking forward to going home.
„Please read the page that I have just given you and we will talk about it tomorrow"
He said, before the students left the room. Then he packed his messenger bag, took his cane and walked to the bus stop. Fourty minutes after, he unlocked the door of his home. Annie was already there and sat in the kitchen reading a newspaper. When Jeremy heard Auggie come home, he ran down the stairs and like a whirlwind he threw himself into Auggie´s arms.
„Daddy, Daddy...school was good today. Mrs. Williams said that I am really good at reading already and the other kids do not laugh about you anymore. Kevin even said that he likes you"
Jeremy was excited and Auggie was glad that his little boy was happy again
„Hey, that is so great to hear, I am happy things are going better at school"
Auggie said before he walked over to the fridge to get some juice for Jeremy and himself. He grabbed two glasses from the shelf above the sink, put his index finger over the rim and poured slowly two glasses of orange juice.
„Daddy, can we continue with reading the dots?"
„Sure, if you like. Get the book from my desk and I will show you the next letters"
Jeremy ran up the stairs again and grabbed the Braille book from his father´s desk. Seconds later, he sat at the dining table with Auggie by his side and slid his finger across the book. Annie watched them looking up every now and then from her newspaper.
„What is this letter Daddy?" Auggie felt for the dots under his fingertips
„That would be a D, E. F, G and H" he answered and Jeremy kept sliding his hand across the page.
„Do you think I can do it with my eyes closed Dad?"
„Well, try it...maybe you can."
Jeremy closed his eyes and tried to figure out the shape of the dots.
„Is this an E Dad?"
Auggie followed with his fingertips and confirmed „Yes, that´s right. You did a great job"
Jeremy smiled „reading dots is fun" he said and opened his eyes again to look at Auggie
His son´s comment had made Auggie think. For his kid reading Braille was fun. It was like an interesting game. But for him it was a necessity. He had no other choice and it had been anything else but fun, when he had started reading with his hands. There had been a lot of frustration about his loss of sight. He had been quite reluctant to learn it, until he realized that there was no other way.
„What is wrong Daddy?" Jeremy had noticed that Auggie was quiet.
„Oh nothing, I was just a bit lost in thought, nothing more"
Jeremy was a very intuitive kid „Did I make you sad?"
„No, you didn´t, don´t worry."
Annie had noticed the change of Auggie´s expression and she assumed, that it had to do with Jeremy´s question. „I guess yo should stop now for today." She said „Dad is going to show you the next letters tomorrow if you like."
Now, Auggie rose from the table and went up the stairs. He put the book on his desk and sighed. Teaching at the centre and teaching his son Braille brought back memories. Memories of the time when he had just lost his sight. He thought he had overcome the grief about his loss of sight but from time to time everything was coming right back to him like a boomerang. He hated this feeling and above all, he hated showing vulnerability.