“Okay, what do you have today?”
Ben pulled out his math book and a very ripped and worn folder, slamming them on the table. Grimacing, Nick slid his chair across the concrete floor and sat down, immediately connecting his head with his hand. This was going to be a long morning…afternoon…what time was it anyway?
“Algebra. I don’t get some of this stuff.”
This was Miss Romero’s discipline from Ben’s absence and the tire slashing. Problem was, Nick felt a bit punished too. Especially this morning. Afternoon. Whatever. No fun and games for a few meetings. Cooperative school work. Get his grades up a bit to end the school year, focus Ben on what’s important and insist that the two communicate under a controlled setting. Neither were happy, but no one wanted to be there less than Nick did at the moment.
“Algebra…Christ. She has no idea what an idiot I was in math…okay, this oughta be good.”
“How long do we have to do this before we can shoot some hoops?”
“’Til it’s done, Ben. You know how it works. We did this last time.”
“Yeah, but that was English. I like English.”
“Same rules.”
As Ben found the right page in his book, Nick dug out a tin of pills from his pocket. Fumbling for two, he popped them in his mouth and chugged back a bit of his coffee, sighing as it warmed him and mildly eased his aching head.
“What the hell was that?”
“Tylenol…you find your page, yet?”
“What’s wrong with you today? You act like you’re….wait a minute….”
“What?”
“You’re hung over Mr. I’m-getting-better-so-why-don’t-you. You went on a bender last night!”
Acting as though he’d not heard a word out of Ben’s mouth, he pulled the math book closer to him and looked at the page. “Okay, x=5 and y=4. What problems do you have to do?”
“All of ‘em…you just gonna ignore me?”
“I’m not the one with homework here, you are…get to it.”
Seeing that he wasn’t budging, Ben sighed in resolve and looked at the book. “These first ones are easy. Let me do those and then…number 4. What are those little 2’s there for?”
“x2y2. That means x squared times y squared, doesn’t it?”
“Oh…yeah…hang on.” Ben jotted down the answers to the first three questions with ease and looked at number 4 again. And looked and looked. Giving up, he looked up at Nick who had since laid his head on the table. Popping him on the head with the back of his hand, and snapped, “Hey, teacher. I’m stuck.”
“Mmm? Yeah…you ready for the next one?” He had to get it together. His head throbbed, his legs throbbed from the constant…yeah…and thinking about that made his crotch throb. It was official. Today sucked.
“No…I forget what squared means.” Nothing. Nick didn’t even blink. “Nick!” Ben clapped his hands in front of the older man’s face.
Jerking himself out of his self-appointed pity party, Nick looked at Ben and fell right into the conversation as though he’d never left. “Times itself. Four times four, five times five.”
“Oh…that’s all it is?”
“Yep.”
“Okay…so, 5 squared is um…5 x 5 is, um…” counting off the fives on his fingers, he got his answer. “25, and 4 x 4 is….8….12…16…and then what do I do?”
“You didn’t know those answers by heart?”
“No…I can’t memorize ‘em very good.”
“You should know your multiplication tables by now, Ben.”
“I know…I hate math.”
“Me too, but you gotta know this stuff. Okay, so what’d you have? 25 and 16?”
“Yeah…”
“Plug ‘em into the problem there.”
“16 x 25?”
“Yep. Write it out.”
“God…I hate multiplying big numbers like this.”
“These aren’t that big, Ben…”
“Then you do it.”
“I already graduated…your turn.” Offering a cheesy grin, Nick glanced at the book and groaned. 30 questions and they were putzing around on number four. Today not only sucked, but it was going to last forever.
******~~~~~~******~~~~~~By question #12, Nick had had enough. Ben’s lack of knowledge of basic multiplication was slowing him down and Nick’s throbbing, although slowly improving headache was making him impatient. When Ben had to solve x2y4 and got stuck at 64 X 4, because for the second time in the problem he couldn’t remember what 6 x 4 was, Nick angrily stood and paced.
“Twenty four, Ben…twenty four.”
“Okay, okay…damn, I’m trying here.”
“I just don’t see how you can get through math without knowing this stuff by heart.”
“I don’t ‘get through’ math. I’ve had D’s most of the year.”
“You need to know this…okay, um…” Nick started looking around the empty center, wondering if there was something in amongst the books and games that he could use to help motivate the kid. Seeing Solana’s office door open, he peeked in. She always had a stash of something for the kids in that desk of hers.
Following him into the office, Ben scolded. Ironic. “Miss Romero’s gonna kill you if she knows you’re in here.”
“Eh, she’ll get over it. Ah-ha!” Seeing a stack of various flash cards on her shelf, he dug through them until he found a set for multiplication. “Okay…grab a basketball.”
“What?”
“Grab a basketball. We’re goin’ outside.”
He wasn’t going to ask twice. Ben jogged over to the bin where the outside balls were kept and grabbed his favorite one. “What are we doin’, man?”
“We’re doin’ math…come on.”
Ben followed Nick outside, dribbling the ball as he went wondering how this was doing his homework. He wasn’t complaining, but…
“Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do. You can dribble the ball hand to hand, right?”
Ben showed him quickly, still wondering what was up.
“Good. Okay, keep that rhythm going. Starting at the one’s I want you to just chant the stuff out and you dribble the ball back and forth. One times one is one, bounce. One times two is two, bounce. One times…and so on.”
“Ones are easy…”
“I know, but trust me…you’ll need the practice. Don’t break unless it’s between problems. Keep the rhythm going. That helps you memorize stuff.”
“It does?”
“Yep. You need to memorize the basic stuff here or your head will explode. Toss me the ball.”
Ben did and Nick started the rhythm himself, and continued to explain the ‘game’. “Okay, if you get all the way through ten in one set, you shoot a basket.” Nick turned, shot the ball and made it. Nice effect.
“Cool. And if I don’t?”
“You run and dribble around the court, keeping the one in your head you missed and come back and start that set again ‘til you go one through ten without breaking your rhythm.”
“Nines suck. I’ll always get stuck at the end.”
“Then you’ll be runnin’ a lot.” Nick tossed the ball back to Ben and he absent mindedly began the rhythm.
“This sucks.”
“You were havin’ fun in there?”
“No…”
“Then start multiplyin’. When the numbers get higher, I’ll use the flash cards so you don’t lose track of what number you’re on.”
“Okay, I think I’m ready.”
Nick snapped his fingers, helping Ben keep a steady rhythm. “One and two and ready and go!”
“One times one is one. One times two is two…” Ben finished through the ones without so much as a thought. “Woohoo! I did it!”
“Yep…good. Now take a shot.” Nick watched as the ball slid through the hoop without even nicking the rim. Snapping his fingers in rhythm again to get Ben going, he smiled as the boy picked it up right away.
“Two times one is two. Two times two is four.” With a small slow down before he started two times nine, he did that one without a hitch.
“Two’s are done…take two shots.”
“Cool!” Free throw and lay-up. Both in the hoop.
And the pattern continued, occasionally slowing down when he neared the 8’s and 9’s but Ben made it through the three’s effortlessly as well.
“Three shots…you’ve got it.”
“Yeah, but I suck at fours.”
“Then you’ll be runnin’. Want the cards?”
“Nope, not yet. Let me try.”
Ben started the fours and Nick was amazed. This was the most energy he’d seen in the kid since their first meeting. And miraculously, his headache was almost gone as well. Could it be? Could it possibly be an entire meeting that went well?
“Dammit!” Apparently not.
“What?”
“I missed 4 x 7…it’s 28, damn, damn, damn.”
“Yup…take a jog and just get that one in your head…work ahead if you can so you won’t blow it.”
“Ugh…” Ben started dribbling the ball around the perimeter of the court quietly chanting his final set of 4’s to himself. When he got back he was out of breath, but ready to continue. “I start again?”
“Yep…one, two, ready, go…four times one is…”
