Chapter Fifty-Four

�We�re recommending that he be allowed to remain out of school for the rest of the year and continue working with Mr. Lincoln,� Mrs. Golding told Dan and Nora. They were sitting in her office the Tuesday after Easter, watching as she paged through a manila folder on her desk, the report of what had happened with Isaac. �Clearly, running away was uncharacteristic behavior.�

�It was,� Nora agreed.

Mrs. Golding took a deep breath, leaning forward. Her hands were clasped in front of her. �There are a few things I�d like to discuss with you,� she said.

Dan nodded, swallowing hard. �Okay.� He scrutinized the expression on Mrs. Golding�s face, trying to predict what she was going to say.

�I know you�ve had the boys with you for a few months and have known them longer than that,� Mrs. Golding said. �But I did want to speak to you about a few issues that might come up. . . issues I think you need to be prepared for.� She rested her chin in her hand, her head tilted. �With many children who are being placed for adoption, there�s a �honeymoon period� during which they are on their best behavior.�

�I�d read about that,� Nora agreed.

�That�s good,� Mrs. Golding agreed. �I would recommend reading some of the adoption literature out there. I can find a list for you if you want.� She swallowed. �Anyway, for some children the honeymoon period ends relatively quickly, but for others it takes longer.�

Dan nodded. He�d heard this before.

�For many parents, it comes as quite a shock when children who previously seemed to be behaving well suddenly begin acting out,� Mrs. Golding went on. �It can be very disheartening when this kind of behavior persists over a period of months or years.�

Dan swallowed. �Years?�

�Some kids take a long time,� Mrs. Golding agreed. �When parents really aren�t prepared to handle this, or the situation becomes overwhelming, it is easy to have doubts about the adoption itself.�

�I don�t think we�d reconsider,� Nora said.

�No,� Dan agreed.

Mrs. Golding scrutinized them for a moment. �Don�t hesitate to ask for help,� she said. �I want you to be prepared.�

�Ike, we talked to Mrs. Golding about school,� Nora told him later. �She�s going to try to see what she can do about it.�

He sighed. �It doesn�t matter.�

�It does matter,� Nora said.

Isaac glanced up at her, then glanced back down. �I don�t care that much about it.� It was true. Right now, he really didn�t care about anything.

�Don�t talk to him.� Taylor appeared, his arms folded across his chest. �He�s in a bad mood.�

Isaac bit his lip, his eyes impossible to read as he withdrew even more deeply into himself. He was in a bad mood. So what?

Nora smiled, mildly. �He can be in a bad mood, if he wants. Sometimes everybody is.�

Taylor shook his head. �Not Mr. Rogers.�

�Okay,� Nora assented, beaten. �Not Mr. Rogers.�

�I hate Mr. Rogers,� Isaac muttered. Nora stifled a grin.

Taylor looked shocked. �Isaac, you take that back right now!�

Isaac set his jaw. �I. Hate. Mr. Rogers!�

�Nora!� Taylor�s eyes were as wide as saucers. �He says he hates Mr. Rogers.�

Nora shrugged. �Maybe he does. Maybe he�s just saying it.�

Isaac buried his head in his arms. He didn�t really hate Mr. Rogers. He just felt like he did.

�Ike,� Taylor persisted, �do you really hate Mr. Rogers?�

�I hope he gets hit by that trolley!� Isaac burst out.

Nora coughed, but it was a suspiciously mirthful sounding cough. Taylor was appalled.

�There�s something wrong with that show!� Isaac went on. �Why does he come to that house and change his shoes and put on a sweater? Why does he leave at the end of the show? I bet that isn�t even his house! I bet it�s somebody else�s house, and he comes and hangs around in it while the real people are at work!�

Nora tried not to snicker. Isaac was seriously upset.

�They probably always wonder why they never have to pick up the mail, or feed their fish, and why their sneakers are always in a different position every day when they come home! They probably wonder why there are trolley tracks behind their couch! Why doesn�t Mr. Rogers get his own house?�

His energy spent, Isaac buried his head in his arms again. Gently, Nora rubbed his back. She knew he wasn�t really that angry about Mr. Rogers.

Taylor, however, had absorbed what Isaac had said as pure heresy. �I can�t believe you would say that! If Mr. Rogers heard you, he�d be crying!�

�Good,� said Isaac. �I hope he�s crying.�

That, for Taylor, was the final straw. �You are so mean!� He stamped his foot. �You want Mr. Rogers to be sad!�

�So what?� Isaac demanded. �I don�t care if I�m mean. You�re. . . you�re. . . you�re mean, too!�

�He said I was mean!� Taylor pointed at Isaac.

�He said I was mean first!� Isaac protested.

�Stop this, the two of you.� Nora rolled her eyes. �You�re giving me a migraine.�

�You�re giving Nora a migraine,� Taylor told Isaac.

�No, you are. . . what�s a migraine?� Isaac asked.

�A bad headache,� Nora said. �Everyone is entitled to his own opinion about Mr. Rogers. Neither of you are mean, so it�s stupid to call each other that.�

�He�s mean,� Taylor pointed out, �and his �pinion is wrong.�

Isaac turned his face away. �I don�t care,� he said.

�Taylor, he isn�t mean and his opinion isn�t wrong and you are being a tattletale.� Nora was exasperated.

�Ooh,� Taylor breathed. �You called me a tattletale. I�m telling Dan on you.�

�Tattletale,� Isaac muttered.

�Nora, he called me a tattletale!� Taylor screeched.

�That�s how you are acting,� Nora pointed out, �and it isn�t a nice way to be. Do you want to get other people in trouble?�

�I want him to be in trouble.� Taylor pointed at Isaac.

�Well, he�s not in trouble,� Nora said, �and he�s not going to be in trouble. Nobody�s in trouble.�

Taylor sighed. �Okay.�

�Where�s Zac?� Nora prompted.

�He�s playing a dumb game.� Taylor rolled his eyes. �With animals. He puts the baby animals with the mommy and daddy animals, and then he builds little houses for them.�

�Why is that a dumb game?� Nora asked, bemused.

The answer was obvious. �Because he won�t let me play!� Taylor exclaimed.

�Oh,� Nora nodded.

�Ike, eat something,� Dan prodded, watching Isaac push a piece of chicken around his plate. �All right?�

Isaac sighed. �Carrots look at you funny.�

Taylor�s mouth dropped open. Zac�s eyes grew wide. Nora giggled. Dan blinked. �Carrots look at you funny?�

Isaac nodded, dejectedly. �Yeah.�

�What kind of face do they make?� Dan asked.

�They. . .� Isaac rested his forehead in his palm for a moment. �They stick out their tongues at you.�

�They stick out their tongues at you,� Dan repeated.

Isaac nodded, sadly. �Yeah.�

�I want to see!� Zac piped.

�Why do they stick their tongues out at you?� Nora prodded.

Isaac sighed. �Because they�re carrots.�

Dan nodded. �And that�s what carrots do?

Isaac swallowed. �Only these ones.�

�I want to see them do it!� Zac was shrieking. �How do I make them do it?�

�What about chicken?� Dan asked.

Isaac shook his head. �I can�t say. It�s too gross. People are eating.�

�What about rice?�

�There�s too many of them. It�s scary. It�s like eating a crowd of people.�

Taylor paused, a forkful of rice halfway to his mouth. Nervously, he deposited it back onto his plate.

�Ike,� Nora asked, �do you really feel like eating?�

Isaac shook his head. The carrots were looking at him funny.

�You don�t have to,� Nora said.

Zac banged his fork against the table. �How do I make them stick out their tongues?�

Dan and Nora were sitting side by side on the couch, each reading a section of the New York Times. Nora sighed hugely, waited a few moments, then sighed again.

�What?� Dan asked.

�Ike�s really upset about school,� Nora said. �He still thinks he has to go, I think. If I was sure they wouldn�t make him go back, I�d tell him, but we really don�t know anything yet. . .�

�I don�t think he should have to go,� Dan remarked. �I don�t think anybody should have to go to school at all.�

�Tell Taylor that,� Nora suggested. Dan smirked.

�You know, it�s suspiciously quiet up there.�

Nora nodded. �I was thinking that. Then again, if they�re falling asleep. . .�

�Which may or may not be likely,� Dan broke in.

�I don�t want to ruin a good thing,� Nora finished. She took a deep breath. �Dan, do you think I�m being. . . too lenient. . . with Ike?�

�Yeah, I think you should be coming home and whipping him,� Dan responded, dryly. �What are you asking?�

Nora swallowed. �I was just thinking. . . if Taylor or Zac ever said his carrots were looking at him funny. . .�

�Shut up and eat�em anyway,� Dan finished. �I know.�

�I don�t know.� Nora shook her head. �I mean. . . no, I don�t think we should let him get away with murder, and I don�t think we�re doing it. But I do think. . .�

�He�s putting up with a lot of crap himself,� Dan suggested, �and we should put up with his?�

Nora nodded. �Not only that, it�s not as if he�s constantly complaining and asking for sympathy, so when he is in a bad mood or something, it�s kind of like he has a right to his moments.�

�He told me he thought Easter was a disgusting holiday,� Dan grinned. �His words: �First some rabbit comes into a person�s house and leaves a chocolate statue of himself, and then the next morning the person gets up and says �hey, the Easter Bunny was here!� and then they eat the Easter Bunny.�� Dan grinned. �There is something screwed up about that.�

�I thought he didn�t believe in the Easter Bunny,� Nora remarked.

�He doesn�t,� Dan told her. �He thinks the idea is stupid.� He thought for a moment. �He also told me that when archeologists dig up our civilization in the future, they are going to laugh at us and talk about how dumb we were. He thinks they will laugh the most at those little egg trays that go on the inside of refrigerator doors.�

Nora laughed. �Is he still up in arms over Mr. Rogers?�

Dan groaned. �My lord! It�s Mr. Rogers this and Mr. Rogers that, and why does Mr. Rogers have a traffic light in his house, and what if Mr. McFeeley brought a letter bomb. He told me the entire Neighborhood of Make Believe must be on drugs, because all of the animals talk, and that one cat says �meow meow meow� everything, but everybody still understands her. And why is the King Friday and not Thursday or Monday?� Dan paused for breath. �I�ve never realized how much mileage a person could get out of Mr. Rogers.�

�Poor Mr. Rogers.� Nora grinned. �Of all shows for him to develop a personal vendetta against. . .�

�I�ll never be able to watch it the same way again,� Dan agreed. �And me and Zac watch it every day. We sit on the couch.�

Nora smiled. �I mean, I think it would be worse for Isaac if we weren�t easier on him in a lot of areas. I just don�t want the other two to think that, because he�s sick, we�re letting him get away with everything and being harder on them.�

�Nor, the worst thing I said to Taylor and Zac was that they should stop yelling and be quiet, and I felt guilty for about five days after that,� Dan told her. �Nobody�s being hard on them.�

�It is hard for them, though,� Nora pointed out. �It�s hard for all three of them, because things have changed so much.� She blushed, guiltily biting her lip. �I called Taylor a tattletale,� she whispered.

Dan chuckled. �He is,� he pointed out, fondly. �All day long, it�s �he did this!� and �he did that!��

�Still,� Nora shook her head. �I shouldn�t call a seven year old. . .�

�I bet you were a tattletale,� Dan told her. �When you were a kid.�

Nora shook her head. �Me? Never.�

�You were, too!� Dan insisted. �Your sisters told me. You were a little informant!�

Nora laughed. �Okay, I was a tattletale. But not past the age of eight.�

�Eighteen,� Dan corrected.

�Eleven,� Nora amended.

�Eleven,� Dan agreed, tongue in cheek. �Or thirty.�

Nora changed the subject. �You don�t think. . . I mean, that thing Mrs. Golding said about the honeymoon period? Do you think it�s over?�

Dan grinned. �I asked Ike that. I said, �Ike, is the honeymoon period over?��

Nora raised an eyebrow. �And what did he say?�

Dan chuckled. �He said, �If you wanted a honeymoon, you shoulda did it when you got married.��

�So, I guess it�s over then,� Nora inferred, smiling.

Dan shrugged. �I don�t know.�

There came the distinct sound of small bare feet pattering down the stairs and a little figure appeared in the doorway. �Hi,� Taylor said.

�Hi,� Dan answered. �Go back to bed now.�

�Dan!� Nora admonished. �Tay, what�s going on?�

Taylor folded his hands behind his back. �Everybody�s sleeping,� he whispered. ��Cept me.�

�Oh,� Nora answered, unconsciously whispering back.

�And I was getting scared,� Taylor went on. �Of the dark,� he added, unconvincingly. He smiled, broadly. �I think maybe I�m getting to be scared of the dark now, so I came here to be with you. Aren�t you happy to see me?�

�Do you want a light on upstairs?� Dan asked.

�I was going to wake up Ike,� Taylor informed them, �but I decided to come down and see you instead.�

�Oh,� said Dan. �Thanks, I guess.�

Taylor climbed between them on the couch. �Because I like you,� he finished. �And I missed you when I was upstairs.� He set his mouth. �Did you miss me?�

Dan and Nora exchanged a glance. �Oh. . .� said Nora, �oh, yeah.�

�We did,� Dan agreed. �Of course we did.�

Taylor smiled. �You can see me now,� he told them. �So you don�t have to miss me anymore.�

Chapter Fifty-Five?

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