Carving a Heart

 ELA scene                                                                         Ms. O’Hara

2/9/11                                                                           Nathan.H.Chackerian 711

            “Dad I really”. I stopped pausing for a second . He was up at his desk just typing on that electronic jail. He had been behind those bars for months.  “Dad there’s this thing at school”

my stomach was shaking. I walked over to his desk. I started to tap my knee. “ I think I might have given you the newsletter about it, from school” I said  .  He just kept staring into that thing like it was some long lost cousin. “Dad’ I said. I looked at the baishe cabinets just wondering what he kept in there.

I had given myvvv dad the pamphlet for this wood working class in Manhattan. The classes sounded really fun and most of my friends were going. My dad just hadn’t seen the potential of wood working. “If it wasn’t education it wasn’t anything” he always said.when I tried to show it to him he always just stared off into that computer. He also was a bit of a cheapskate which didn’t improve anything. We lived in a highrise building in Timesquare. My dad was a lawyer . He went to jobs at eight in the morning and came back around ten. that ment that I only had about one or two hours with him if i went to sleep late. I think that my dad was just so scared of being back in the past were he didn’t have enough money to support us. That was back when mom was around. She was gone now and remarried to this snobby guy called Jerry.He was an accountant and they both lived happily every after in Brooklyn Heights without me. That wasn’t technically true because I came to there house every other weekend.

Finally my dad turned around  “Is this that woodworking thing” he said.  I felt like he was trying to trap me into the wrong answer. I could see that he had put on his judgmental face he always used before going to his job as a lawyer.

“Yes” i murmured “could you sign me up for it” “I know how you normally feel about activities like this but it’s important” I said managing a small puppy face.

“Look, Jake it’s not what you really want inside, also I only get to see you three days of the week your mom gets the rest” I felt like someone had just thrown cold water over my face.

“How can you say that’s not what I want Dad” I yelled “All you do is type on that monster” I yelled

“ Jake I know i’m right okay, it’s just what is best for you” he said and brought his eyes back on that computer. I was just about ready to slam my hand onto the screen of that piece of garbage. My finger nails were making a long scratch on the bottom of his desk.

“Dad could you at least think about it” I finally managed to say through my anger I waited a minute for him to answer. I just sat there on the bench tired and all just staring at the clunking of keys. He never answered.

 Finally I decided to get my butt up off this tannish blue bench and go to sleep. I marched up the white stairs and I looked back at my Dad to see if he was answering my question. He wasn’t. I threw open my door . It hit the wood wall and made a cracking sound chipping the plaster. I didn’t care about the dent I had made as long as my dad didn’t care about the dent he had made. I threw my self into bed and pulled the  blue silk covers overs me. They were cold as ice. I put them on the heater. When I came back to it they were still cold so I just gave up throwing them over me and dozed off.

That night I had a dream. I was standing at the bus stop with my friend and the other classmates.The bus came rolling up the hill and stopped with a screash. The bus wasn’t colored at all. The doors s opened and a bar lowered down horizontally.  Each kid would pull out a paintbrush soaking with green paint and color the bus. Then they would walk up to the bus the bar would go up and they would get in. I was last in line. when it was my turn I reached into my pocket and found a paint brush I started painting the last area of the bus until I realized that there wasn’t any paint on the brush. There was a roar of laughter from all the kids they pointed at me and joked. Then the driver spat

“come on let’s go are you coming”.  I nodded to her and said

“ I’m out of paint could you bring up the bar?”

“ are you coming or not” she yelled

“ yes bring up the bar please” I said

“ I guess Ill take that as a no” she said slamming the bus doors in my face. The engine roared and the bus sped off.

I walked home In silence. I took the elevator up to are building and opened the door. My dad wasn’t home yet. Out of curiousity I ventured into his room.I opened the closet and saw 20 buckets filled to the brim with green paint.

I awoke the next morning to the crisp smell of pancakes. I got dressed and went downstairs. The nanny was cooking and my dad was getting on his shoes and suit. So was I except I was wearing Nike’s and he was wearing some dress shoes. I walked downstairs and sat down at the table

“ Dad could you at least think about the classes” I said. He turned his scrawny neck around like some animal.

“ No, Jake I already told you don’t you understand anything”

“ Don’t you” i growled back.

“No back talk young man” he said. The nanny brought some orange juice for me to the table. I chugged it and set the glass down sharply. A small piece on the glass chipped off and fell on the table. I should have cleaned it up but instead I just let it sit there. I stated going upstairs and turned my head to see my dad leave. I went back upstairs got all my school supplies and left for school. The cold breeze hit me as soon as i opened the door. It was a nice feeling with a refresing aspect. I walked to the bus stop and sat down on the wooden bench. I waited about five minutes. It started raining. I didn’t have any rain clothes so i just waited there trying to stay under the streetlight. Out of the fog I saw headlights emerge. I was so happy it was finally here. The doors opened with a burst of steam. I quickly stepped in and found a spot to sit on the bus. I felt like a refugee being taken away to safety.

“Hey,whats goin on” said a voice from the back of the bus. It was Westley my friend.

“Nothing” I said back

“Are you going on those classes” he said

“well uhh yeah maybe I dont know” i said back

“Thats cool i’m going” he said.

“Maybe you can tell us why you can’t go” came a low voice from the back. O reconized it as Paulson

“Shut up” I yelled jamming the back seat with my elbow.

“Is it money problems” he said getting a few people to laugh.

“No of course not” I said

“ Look Jake, just so you know you can admit financial problems like that here because this is a bully free school” he said trying to sound like our principal. That kid just was the most annoying person. If you were nice he would be all mean but when you stood up for yourself he would just crawl back into his shell and act all innocent.

“Why don’t you take this dollar” he said shoving a crumpled bill into my handsWe continued to talk through the bus ride.

“And that’s all we will be going over today you can all packup and i’ll see you next monday” said mrs Hopewell my teacher. I was out the door down the stairs and on the street i seconds. I was really excited about diner with my dad. It was also Friday so I didn’t have any more school for two days. I walked home being so nice outside. When I got home i found my dad sitting  at his computer. At least he was here early i thought trying to stay positive.

“What are we going to have for diner” I asked.

“im not sure yet” he said. I just went upstairs and used my computer. Finally it was eight o clock.I bulleted downstairs. My dad still sat at the computer typing.

“Dad did you forget about diner” I said sarcasticly

“what about diner” he said. I was shocked

“Dad you promised that we would have some nice diner together, remember!” I said

“well it just so happens that i have to type up a very long speech” in my anger i came over gripped the plug and pulled it out of the outlet.

“now look what you did that wasn’t even saved, do you want me to lose my job!” he snarled

“ Yeah I really do”

“You want us to be poor”

“You want us to live on the street and starve to death in a box “ He yelled   

“What are you talking about” I replied

“ I think you know” He spat

“ Dad we have tons of money, you could retire now and we would still be fine” I said

“ Thats what everyone says before there broke” He yelled  For some reason I couldnt help myself from laughing. I couldn’t stop myself i just kept laughing. On and on I went. I felt almost drunk in anger. I crawled up into my room and hid under the covers. Light was shooting out of the blinds. I srarted thinking about something. About money. My dad wasn’t going to just give away the money for these classes and if I didnt go to these classes than that idiot Paulson would keep teasing me.I needed to steal the money. It wasn’t like my dad would ever notice it. You don’t notice a fish gone in a pond. I started to get out a piece of paper and drew a really cheesy map of the house. Then i  added in the path i would take. I looked under my bed until I found my flashlight. I decided to leave at midnight. My dad should be asleep by then hopefully. He would work up to  three in the morning when he had a big job coming. I was sure that he wouldnt stay up tonight. I waited and listened by my bed watching the clock count of the minutes. I started to wonder if I should actually do this or not. Was I stealing or was i borrowing for a good cause. Finally the clock was at twelve. As I walked downstairs I heard the bells from a church chime. I walked into the next room where the cabinet was. The room was dark only lit up by a small lamp thats bulb was dying on it . I Reached for the handle and missed knocking over a pen. My pulse increased. There was a smalll shout. I hit the floor and started crawling under the sofa. After some time i came out and found that it was just coming from a movie someone was watching. I finally opened the cabinet and found twenty crisp bills. They were all only twenty dolllars bills but that still made four hundred bucks. More than iI needed. I counted out 120 dollars and left the rest. It  was really tempting just to take all of it. I just left it there through will power and stuffed the money into my pocket. I closed the cabinet and walked upstairs. The deed was done I had made it. I made no hesitation to walk straight without checking with my arms to see if there was anyhting in my way. I walked forward three steps and then hit something. I fell down on top of it. It was the green table. The light  from the other room flickered around. I heard footsteps and scrambled to get on my feet. It was my dad.

“What are you doing down here this late” he barked

“Oh ummm nothing, just getting a drink of water you know i can’t really fall-”

“Whats that on the floor” he said cutting me off  “It looks like money”

“ well it is” I said “ It’s my money”

“How did you get it” he siad “that looks a lot like my money” He said

He walked over to the cabinet opened it and looked through the envelope. Thats thats my money . You stole it how could you do that son.