I love Corey chapter 7

It was about fifteen minutes until dinner would be ready when I wondered if his mother had gone to work. I told him to check and if she hadn’t to invite her to dinner. I told him I could hold it for a little if she needed to get ready. He headed home and in about twenty minutes showed up with his mother. When he didn’t get back right away, I put the briefs out of sight.

It was obvious she had been crying. While she had fixed up a little, her eyes were puffy. I didn’t say anything as one shouldn’t intrude on another’s grief but wished I knew a way to help. It’s hard enough to accept death when you’re among friends and family but must be worse when you’re alone. Not much was said during the meal. Afterwards, I served coffee and as we set there I asked her if she needed anything. She apparently needed to talk and my question seemed to unlock the key.

She told me about how her folks had thrown her out at the age of sixteen when she had told them she was pregnant. The lady who had just died had taken her in and helped her. As she talked I could hear the anguish in her voice. She told of the times she had tried to talk to her parents and how they just kept rejecting her. Also about how scared she was when she went into labor. After Corey’s birth the lady (Mrs. Wilson) had helped her try to put her life back together. Mrs. Wilson had wound up almost like a mother to her. Corey was fascinated by what she was telling. It was apparent he had never heard the whole story. They had moved away and he didn’t remember Mrs. Wilson. I wondered why a parent could reject a child for making a mistake. She had finally run down and as I was trying to figure out whether or not to tell her about the visit to Dr. Logan when the phone rang. 

It was Vince. He started in by telling me he had talked to Jerry about Corey and then made a few calls. It seems a friend of his was a surgeon who specialized in this type of operation and he would donate his services. Also with some other help he had gotten the estimated cost down to five to six thousand. I told him I would ask and let him know. He told me that the sooner it was done the better as if it went too long there might be permanent problems. 

We hung up and I could see Corey had figured out who and what the call was about. As there didn’t seem like any way to break this gently I plunged right in.
“Mrs. Babcock, I noticed Corey has a limp. I hope you won’t mind but I took him to see Dr. Logan, the team doctor. He told us that Corey needs an operation on his leg. If it’s done, he thinks Corey will make a complete recovery. He just called to say he thinks the operation can be done for about five to six thousand dollars.”

I gave her a few seconds to absorb that. “I don’t know your financial circumstances, but think you should let him have the operation and if you’re short we can get the school and some other groups to hold fund raisers. I’d be happy to loan you the money if you would prefer that.” 

She said she just couldn’t afford it and Corey would have to wait. I told her what Vince had said about needing to proceed right away. It took about an hour, but I finally convinced her. I called Vince up and told him. He told me he would make an appointment with his friend, but someone would have to take Corey to San Francisco for it. I told him if it could be on a Saturday I would. Otherwise, someone else would have to. He called back in about fifteen minutes and told me to have Corey in San Francisco at eight-thirty this Saturday. He gave me an address and a phone number and hung up. 

By now it was nine-thirty and Corey and his mother went home. I kind of moped around the house picking up and getting the lessons graded. In the two nights he had spent with me I had gotten used to his company. Good lord, he’d only been gone a few minutes and already I missed him. I thrashed around in bed and finally fell asleep.

The next morning, I found myself hoping he would show up like normal. When he did, he brought his mother. I fixed some more breakfast. While we were eating she asked if it would be okay if she left today as Mrs. Wilson’s family was taking her loss very hard. I pretended to consider it and told her it would be fine.
School went about like yesterday except the suggestions were finally slowing down. I found myself with a few minutes during my free period and finally managed to look up Corey’s transcript. Interesting. Very interesting. He had started out with the tag of gifted for the first two years. Then his grades had started down and become very uneven. Some subjects he did fair in and others just barely got by. I started making lists to see if I could find a pattern. Suddenly, I saw the thread. He was poorest in classes that required good reading skills. When I thought about it I remembered that it seemed to take him quite a while to read web pages. I also realized the team reports were written very simply. His spoken vocabulary was good but maybe not so with his written. I would have to find out.
When we got home after picking up groceries and visiting with Mrs. Downie I decided to find out. I’d picked out a roast as it would take a while to cook and would give me time to do so. Corey booted up the computer to check Ebay.

He’d lost an auction and still had seven dollars to go with it so he started looking for more clothes. I started doing my grading. It wasn’t long until he found an item he wanted. He asked me to look and give my opinion. I told him to read it to me as I was finishing filling in the grade sheet. He didn’t seem to want to but I insisted. When I heard him read, I knew I was right. I’d just have to help him catch up with his classmates. No problem, at least I didn’t think so. I’d have to ask Mrs. Webb for advice on what books to use but was sure she could I finished up with my work and checked the time. Dinner would be late tonight as the roast still had a little over an hour before it would be done.

“Think we ought to go downstairs and have an appetizer before dinner?” 
He never said a word, just grinned, shut the computer down and we headed that way. Just as we stepped through the door, the damn phone rang. I debated but finally answered. 

It was Vince reminding me to pick up Corey’s records to take with us on Saturday. We chatted a few minutes and hung up. 
I was just starting to undress when it rang again. Corey was already stripped and my attention was on a certain part of his anatomy that I loved but I answered again.

It was Vern. He wanted to know if Corey was here. I told him yes. Could he speak to him? I handed him the phone and continued undressing. By now, I had a physical problem. They ached. I hoped the call wouldn’t take long. It didn’t but when he hung up he looked crestfallen.
“We’d better get dressed. Vern and some scouts will be here in a couple of minutes.”

It’s times like this that I hope Mr. Bell has his eternal rest marred by phone calls. While the phone is handy, sometimes I think we’d be better off without it. I put my aching balls back in some briefs and we got dressed and went upstairs.

They showed up and I passed around soft drinks and handed Vern a beer. Fred started his routine about dying of thirst because he didn’t get one and I told Vern one of these days I was going to pour enough beer down him to drown him. Vern said he’d help hold him. Fred started yelling Now, Now. That kid is impossible. I haven’t figured out which is the worst, Fred or Marty Logan. I wish all kids were like them but sometimes wonder what it would be like if both were in the same class. Naaaa, I don’t want to even think about that. None of us poor teachers could cope with that combination.