Well, the rest of fall was more normal, as far as the weather was concerned, but it certainly was nothing like what I was used to. At school, I didn’t fit in too well.
Going to Whitsone Middle School has made me appreciate Jane Goodall, the primate anthropologist who observed apes. I feel like I’m surrounded by creatures I don’t understand. Their hierarchies are strange and incomprehensible most of the time. And I definitely do not fit into their society.
I dressed differently (and refused to change). I talked differently (too much like a nerd – or a grown-up). And I had begun to sit at lunch with a group of kids who were considered social poison. I find them much nicer than the “popular girls”. They’re definitely more interesting. I can’t imagine sitting around all day vapidly discussing clothes & make up, or viciously gossiping about those the group deemed less worthy. The “outcasts” I hang with have real interests, and are fun to be with.
Let me introduce my friends Ruby, Amelia, Dor and Carl.
My friends sit in the back of the lunchroom, and Dor had invited me to sit with them on my second day at Whitsone. Ruby, Carl and Amelia all went to the Orchard Road Grade School together. Dor went to Morningside, across town. As I’ve posted before, the town is about two square miles. But White Cedars has four K-4th grade elementary schools in town. I don’t know why – it’s probably something in the water. Anyhow, Dor has short hair and Carl has long hair. They both get teased about it – last year they called Dor “butch” and Carl “fag” because of it. Yeah, I know, real mature.
Dor’s really got it tough. Her full name is Dorcas Koludis. What kind of parents, in this day and age can’t figure the type of teasing a girl named Dorcas will get. She’s called “dork” and “dork –ass” because she’s smart. Dor says it’s a Greek thing—kids get named for paternal grandparents first, then maternal grandparents. Her Dad’s mother was named Dorcas. It’s also a Biblical name – Dorcas was a do-gooder that Peter raised from the dead in the Bible (Acts 9:36-43). Look it up if you don’t believe me.
Ruby’s mom is a cop, and her dad’s got a little farm and vegetable stand near the Horseneck Nature Sanctuary. He grows tomatoes & apples, but sells garden plants & farm produce from other farmers around the state, from spring to fall. That’s too blue collar for the popular girls, whose parents commute to NY or own businesses in town. Ruby refuses to own Ugg boots or a North Face coat. She has a Coach purse, but doesn’t use it.
Amelia’s an artist. She makes collages, mobiles and cool jewelry out of odd stuff. One half of the wall in her bedroom is hand-painted with various paw prints morphing from one animal to another. She calls it “de-evolution” because it starts with a human footprint. It ends with a bird’s claw print, near the window sill, as if it flew away. Amelia says that’s just for now. She may do the other half of the wall in the same way…or not. She may go with different leaves….
Carl’s grandfather was a folk musician, and he taught Carl how to play the banjo when Carl was a toddler. Carl also plays Pan-pipes and odd percussion instruments. The Whitsone Middle School Band incorporated a couple of pieces to showcase his talent, and some of the popular boys and girls and their parents thought that it was unfair. This year Carl’s been playing cowbell and that “cheese-grater” thing
The four of them came together as a group at the end of 5th grade, their first year of Middle School. I guess that suffering scorn and rejection together is better than suffering it alone. I’m just glad that they’ve accepted me, with my handmade caribou-hide jacket (a present from my Godmother who is an Inuit from Alaska), home-knit sweaters and work boots. I’m definitely not a fashion plate.
I’ve done homework at Emilia’s and Dor’s houses went over Ruby’s for New Year’s Eve, where Aunt Lina & I met Carl’s parents. His mom was impressed to meet Aunt Lina; she is an art teacher and has been to several galleries that have shown Aunt Lina’s work. The group has been over at my place, too, so I guess I’m beginning to fit in. Ruby’s mom had heard of this after-school program in Frost Spring, the town west of us. She wanted Ruby to go, and Ruby said she’d go only if the group did. So two days a week we go over to the Frost Spring Community Center for “socializing, games and good works.” That’s how Wren, the woman running it, explains the purpose of the group. I think she’s doing it to make sure her triplets make friends. Wren seems nice, but Alice, Janet and Sarah, her daughters who are a year younger than us, act like an unbreakable unit – they’d rather socialize amongst themselves rather than mix it up. If we play a game that needs teams, they’re all on one team, or they won’t play.
For the “good works” part, we’ve made sandwiches for a soup kitchen, collected canned food, and even made a huge casserole for Thanksgiving at the homeless shelter. We do this at Wren’s house. Whenever we do stuff at Wren’s, her daughters run off to play or watch TV, so those of us from White Cedars and this other guy Ron do all the work. We’ve gotten to know each other better at this group. Wren is enthusiastic about the group and its possibilities as a new program for tweens in Middle School. She wants to do something big, like go on an outing together during the spring break. Wren asked us what we’d like better – a museum or the Bronx Zoo. She said we’d have to raise the money together as a group. She said that maybe we could go caroling together. If we raised enough money, perhaps we could go to a local amusement park!
It all sounded great. I began to think that perhaps the move to NJ wasn’t the worst thing in the world. I was busy all the time, I was fitting in with the misfits, and I even managed to sneak out a couple of times to Horseneck Nature Sanctuary at night.
Hmm….perhaps I should save that adventure for another post. So far, I’ve covered most of what went on in November, except for Thanksgiving and report cards. Plus it’s getting late, so I’ll just save this & post it tomorrow.
Until my next post…
Randi
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