The Denver sun glowed through Marie’s bedroom window. As she opened her eyes the bright sunlight reminded her of her native Haiti. The memory brought a great smile to her face. She showered, dressed and quickly went down to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Jean-Pierre, her only child always looks forward to his mom’s Haitian cuisine.
Jean-Pierre hesitantly walked into the kitchen. “How about your favorite cornmeal and herring for breakfast?” asked Marie? “I am not very hungry may I please have a mango?” replied Jean-Pierre. “Yes, mon petit,” Marie said. Jean-Pierre peeled and ate the mango. “Mama, do I have to go to school?”, “Yes, mon petit, you must! school is very important”, Marie responded. “But, Mama, some of the kids make fun of me. They say that I am zebra color”. Marie’s heart skipped a beat as she responded to her son. “My dear boy, you know how kids can be, I was made fun of a lot too when I was your age.” I knew very little English, this one mean girl used to call me French toast because I only spoke French at the time. “Run along now, mon petit, so you will not be late for school.”
Jean-Pierre obediently grabbed his backpack and walked two blocks until he arrived in front of Laval Academy. There he quickly walked to his French class.
After Jean-Pierre left for school Marie contemplated on her son’s situation. She decided the best approach is not to over react. She reasoned that perhaps she should go secretly survey what goes on during recess.
“Bonjour les enfants”, “Good morning, Madame Laval”, replied the children. “Who would like to recite the days of the week?” asked Madame Laval. Jean-Pierre raised his hand and said, “I would”. “Lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi and dimanche.” Some of the children in the class snickered, as Jean-Pierre recited in perfect French the days of the week. “Not bad for a zebra colored boy”, whimpered the boy sitting behind Jean-Pierre. Giggles turned into hoots of uncontrollable laughter. The children lowered their heads in shame as Madame Laval reprimanded them. “Stop it at once”, said Madame Laval. “You must apologize to Jean-Pierre, “Sorry,” shouted the children. Jean-Pierre’s face contorted with pain. Jean –Pierre’s best friend Marc was moved with a deep compassion, he could hardly wait for recess so he can go cheer up Jean-Pierre.
The recess bell rang; the children quickly lined up and followed Madame Laval to the playground. Most of the children ran toward the soccer field, but Jean-Pierre walked over to the opposite side of the soccer field. There he sat on a nearby bench staring into space unaware that he was being followed.
“Let’s go pay a visit to our friend Zebra Boy”, bellowed Erick sarcastically to Marcel. Both boys approached Jean-Pierre and echoed, “Hey zebra boy, you think you are so smart don’t you?” “Well, well what have we here, looks like Mama Zebra has taken zebra boy shopping.” Erick and Marcel cornered Jean-Pierre, cleared their throats and spat all over his brand new shoes. The tears welled up from Jean-Pierre’s eyes. “My mother is not a zebra, just leave me alone”, retorted Jean-Pierre. In the distance stood Marc who angrily screamed “stop bothering him you creeps or I will go tell the teacher on you.”
The end of recess bell rang just in time to avoid further altercations. Everyone lined up and followed the teacher back to the classroom. Silent tears flowed down Jean-Pierre’s cheeks as he walked back to his assigned seat. He sat down and zoned out mentally until it was time to go home.
Marie wore a large straw hat which disguised her well and at the same time protected her from the glaring sunlight. Although she did not hear what was said to Jean-Pierre, she watched in total disbelief while two boys spat over her son’s brand new shoes. Silently, she said to herself “I will consult with my husband tonight on how to handle this terrible ordeal.”
Hurriedly, Jean-Pierre headed home hoping to avoid running into his tormentors. Marc caught up with him and said “I am very sorry that Erick and Marcel are giving you a hard time.” “I hate them, I wish I was never born,” replied Jean-Pierre angrily. “Come on now, I know of a way to get them to stop bothering you,” replied Marc. “You do!” exclaimed Jean-Pierre. “But first, how about walking to my dad’s office with me, I am sure he will be glad to see us, besides we can raid his office for some good snacks.” In less than ten minutes, the two boys were in suite 327 munching on pepperoni pizza. The door to suite 327 was slightly ajar, a loud knock startled Jean-Pierre and Marc. They turned and made eye contact with Erick and Marcel. Jean-Pierre instantly lost his ravenous appetite. Erick and Marcel staggered for words and after endless seconds of indecision they took two steps backwards and said, “Sorry for bothering you Mr. Dupont, we were wondering if you know where our dad is?” Mr. Dupont peered down at Marcel and Erick with his bifocals perched on the tip of his nose. “Your dad had to go see a client at the last minute”, explained Mr. Dupont.
Jean-Pierre sat motionless, his mind went blank, his heart began to beat faster than a locomotive, and he stood up and tried to take a step forward but his feet felt like they were cemented to the floor. Meanwhile Erick and Marcel gasped with astonishment upon seeing Jean-Pierre and Marc.
Marcel and Erick were momentarily relieved upon hearing about their dad’s absence from the office; they cleverly used that as a way out, a way to escape further embarrassment. They quickly left suite 327. As they rode the elevator to the ground floor, they dared not say a word to each other, for they knew deep inside of what was to come later.
Jean-Pierre hurriedly and angrily stormed out of suite 327. He ran home and locked himself in his bedroom. Luckily, his mom was out in the backyard attending to her rose garden. He needed time to subdue his anger towards his best friend Marc and his two tormentors.
“What is going on?” demanded Mr. Dupont. “Well dad, Erick and Marcel make fun of Jean-Pierre, they call him zebra color, and I was hoping you could have a talk with their dad.” “I knew from the start that those twin boys would be trouble, I will gladly talk to their dad”, replied Mr. Dupont. “Go home now, my boy, I will see you around six for supper.”
Mr. Dupont was just about to leave when his partner strolled into his office. “Howdy, partner can we talk?” “I am afraid your twin boys have been making fun of Jean-Pierre”, explained Mr. Dupont. “According to Marc, they call him zebra color.” “I am very sorry, I will be sure to talk to the boys when I get home”, replied Mr. Duval.
Mr. Duval sat down contemplating on how he will approach his boys about their anti-social behavior. He knows what if feels like to be picked on. He remembers too well the nick name “nerd” he did not like being called nerdy, nor did he like being called "Pillsbury dough boy."
“Jean-Pierre”, shouted Marie, “will you please set the table; dinner will be ready in thirty minutes.” Before Jean-Pierre could reply yes, the door bell rang.
Jean-Pierre opened the front door; he could not believe was he was seeing. His heart began to race; he could feel his breath becoming very laborious. The blood rushed to his face unable to say anything, Mr. Duval politely asked, “Can we come in please, we are here to speak to your parents.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Dimanche, I am truly sorry about my boys’ behavior, please accept my apologies?” “I believe Erick and Marcel have something to say to Jean-Pierre.”
Jean-Pierre’s face flushed with embarrassment, he wanted to go crawl under a rock and disappear forever.
The twin boys looked at Jean-Pierre square in the face and muttered, “We are very sorry for calling you names, we promise to not pick on you anymore.” Jean-Pierre’s parents listened attentively. Marie was especially thankful; she felt a great sense of relief considering what she witnessed earlier today during recess.
“We do appreciate your thoughtfulness since we are neighbors, it is so much better to look out for each other, have a good evening and thank you again” , replied Jean-Pierre’s parents .
Jean-Pierre and his family sat down and had a great feast for dinner. They ate poule en sauce, du riz et pois, banane frite et une grande salade verte. For dessert they had a nice slice of pain patate.
GLOSSARY
Cornmeal- ground corn
Herring-sardines that have been smoked and salted
Mango- a yellowish red tropical fruit with a firm skin
Mon petit- my dear boy
Bonjour les enfants- good morning children
Lundi-Monday
Mardi-Tuesday
Mercredi-Wednesday
Jeudi-Thursday
Vendredi-Friday
Samedi-Saturday
Dimanche-Sunday
Au revoir- goodbye
Madame- Mrs.
poule en sauce- chicken with gravy, tomatoes and onions
du riz et pois- rice with beans
banane frite- fried plaintain
salade verte- green salad
Pain patate- sweet potato cobbler
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