The Cowboy Kid had Cystic Fibrosis and spent a lot of time at home; usually watching Westerns. French used to ride his bmx bike down to the his house, set up a ramp, and then do crazy ass stunts in front of a picture window. The Cowboy Kid loved this entertainment. French and the bmx tricks was a short lived faze, but he was good...and fearless.
In junior high we had a house system - each house had a prince and a princess and they would form the student's council. The Cowboy Kid was the Prince of the Blue Raider House. That was our house. It was corny as hell, but we took great pride in it. We'd always try really hard to win banners for each house league sport.
The CF symptoms worsened when the humidity got bad one June, and the Cowboy Kid had to be hostpitalized. The Principal had a real soft spot for him and let him choose a new prince. The Cowboy Kid went on the announcements and declared his successor for the last month of school: "French". French was the new Blue Raider Prince.
French was actually sitting in the office with Mean Dean when the announcement was made. They'd had yet another dust-up. Dean's nose was bleeding and French had his hand in a bag of ice.
The Principal was so frustrated that he just told French and Dean to "just leave".
14 comments:
Great story Olie. Neat concept of the kids setting up a ramp in front of the kid's house.
this made me smile...at the recognition of the boys with his own challenges and in his choice of who to give it to...
You tell one heck of a story in so few, albeit carefully chosen, words.
You wrote another story recently about French having a friend who was a bit 'different', didn't you? He sounds like such a fascinating personality.
I like the justice here.
this is real, is it not?
one way or another it is. i ache all over it, the loving side and the sad one too.
xo
erin
In his better moments, French could do "Foundation for a Better Life" commercials. I just love him.
I just love your stories about French. You have a great way of making the reader feel transported back in time, I always feel I'm in the seventies when I read them. I don't know why?
man, but you've got VOICE. i'm sold.
for some reason i wanted to cry throughout this whole piece. it was so very tender. and i fell in love with the cowboy kid right away, and wanted so desperately for him to be okay. such good story-telling ollie.
Your storytelling just grabs me every single time.
There HAS to be a sequel! :)
Thanks for sharing!
I like this story, real in the way it catches the kids with their challenges and kindnesses.This is the kind of strytelling I grew up on. Reading it makes me feel warm and connected. And thanks for visiting my blog and commenting.
I love how French reaches out to the underdog. For a kid who had so much to fight (including sometimes small minded adults) he was so willing to fight and like others. Tell him I admire this, will ya.
Post a Comment