Sequel to "The Tax Collector"

By Julia S. 

Tony's story: "What Happened When I Went to School"

Sequel to “The Tax Collector”

     

Chapter 1

 I sat in the deserted classroom, copying that darn sentence on the board. Five hundred times, he said after whipping me. For a teacher, this Foster fella knew how to hit hard, and I was only on sentence two hundred eighty-eight. How’d I end up here on my very first day? Long story....

 It was about eight months after my whole thievery ordeal when Andi Carter approached me about school. It was a Thursday afternoon in early October, and I was helping my friend out with her chores in the stable. For the selfish thief Sid makes me out to be, I’m pretty amazing.

“Can I ask you something, Tony?”

I threw a forkful of manure over my shoulder. “Shoot, Andi Oakley.”

Andi rolled her eyes. “What’re your thoughts on school?”

I looked at her in surprise, then laughed uncomfortably. “What rock did ya pull that out from under?”

“I’m serious. You want to make it on your own, right?” When I didn’t answer, she continued.  ”Well, then you have to be able to stand on your own feet, and you need learning to do that.”

I grimaced. “I don’t like schools.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve never been in one.”

“That’s a bad reason.”

Saint Nick in a nightshirt! Since when was Andi a lawyer? “I wouldn’t fit in there.”

“You’d fit in fine.”

“I can’t sit still that long.”

“Practice it.”

I threw my pitchfork aside. “Andi, you’re worse than a horde of mosquitos on a cattle drive!” Yeah, you heard me. Picked that one up out here in California. “I ain’t goin’ to school because I don’t know a thing about anything. I don’t know the Emancipation Proclamation from the Declaration of Independence, I can’t write worth a darn, and I bet you a thousand dollars that Taffy could read a novel before I finished the headline on The New York Tribune.”

“I’ll take that bet.”

I stopped mid-rage to see Mitch standing in the doorway. By the look on his face, I assumed he hadn’t heard how loud I had yelled at his sister in the beginning, and I could only be glad that it wasn’t Sid standing there.

“Doing Andi’s chores for her? C’mon, Tony, haven’t you learned how things work around here? That’s my job.”

I gave him a small smile.

Andi turned to face him, hands on her hips. “He thinks he shouldn’t go to school, Mitch, but I told him now’s the best time because there’s nothing going on.”

“Plenty going on,” I mumbled under my breath.

Andi shot me a glance and Mitch laughed. “Tell him he has to, Mitch. He needs it.”

Mitch looked at his sister with a smile. “You sure you don’t just want someone else in that schoolroom who hates it as much as you do?”

Andi glared at him. Seeing she was serious, Mitch looked at the both of us seriously. “You’re both right. I guess it’d be hard to jump right into school. If you did, you wouldn’t want to be in the primary class. And even if there seems like there’s nothing to do around here, there’s usually always something that needs done. But Tony, Andi’s right too. If you don’t want to stay here till you’re old and gray as, well, Sid”—He grinned—“I’d suggest getting an education in your spare time.”

He grinned when I opened my mouth to argue. “Don’t worry. We won’t let you go that often. But I really think you should try it, at least once. “

I smirked, despite the churning in my stomach. “Ya ain’t gettin’ rid of me that easy, Boss.”

Mitch chuckled. “Don’t I know it. But honestly, I’d give it some thought and talk to Chad about it. You know Rosa goes to school with Andi sometimes.”  

I full-fledged glared at him, and he grinned. Everyone on this side of the Atlantic knew that Rosa and I hadn’t been on good terms since she’d fallen for my latest prank—

telling her and Andi that a bunch of sliced jalapeños were actually “a special variety of pickles from the Sandwich Islands.”

Needless to say, she’d actually stuck her head in the horse trough before realizing that one of the younger hands—who just happens to be pretty good-looking—was standing nearby. “Sorry, sorry. I only said it to get to you.”

Once Mitch left, Andi looked at me pleadingly. “Think about it?”

I shrugged. I’d already thought about it. 

The answer was no.  

Chapter 2

“You really want to do that? Have you given it any thought?” Chad was looking at me seriously, as though I didn’t understand the gravity of my idea. “You realize I’d take that time out of your pay?”

Shoot. He was being dead serious. Luckily, I already had it sorted out. 

I actually thought about school recently since last week when I talked to Andi, and let me tell you, it actually seemed like a good idea. I wanted to try it. So, I’d told Chad I wanted to talk to him, dumped a gallon of water on my hair to make it lie flat (it didn’t work), and headed up to the house. He’d been uncharacteristically quiet, letting me get it all out, before giving me his opinion. Now, I told him my plan. 

“Mr. Blake said I could work at his livery till the term’s over. I’ll sleep in the haymow, buy my own food . . . Heck, the only time he’ll see me is when I’m working. I’ll come back when I get tired of it.”

“And just how long will that take?”

I shrugged.

“Look, Tony. I think school’s a good idea, but you’ve got to factor in that you’ve never been, not to mention . . .”

I looked at him, confused. “Not to mention what?”

Silence, then a look like I should’ve known.  

“Do they trust you?”

 Do they trust you? It was like a punch to the gut, a cheap shot, but it was in every way a valid question. Did they? They had every reason not to. They all knew about what I’d done. That whole town could very well hate me. So why had Mr. Blake accepted me? Cory, that blonde fella who’d been with Andi when she found me, had probably told him. Why trust me?

Again I shrugged, and stared at Chad cockily. “Guess we’ll just have to find out.”

Chad sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “You really want to do this?”

I nodded.

“Alright. It’s not my choice. I can’t tell you yes or no. But Tony?”

I raised my eyebrows.

“This isn’t Brooklyn.”

I grinned. Brooklyn? No kidding. The tallest building here was two stories, not twenty. The population in Fresno was probably 1,000 not 50,000. “Sure, Boss. See ya when the term’s over.” I gave him a two-fingered salute then headed out to the stable, where I found Diego taking care of the horses.

When he saw me, he grinned. “How did it go, chico?”

I took a deep breath, all that put-on cock streaming right out of me. “I can go.”

“And it is what you wanted, sí?”

“Yeah. I mean, I know it’s what’s best in the long run. I just kinda . . .” I shrugged. I didn’t want to tell him that I was nervous. I mean, c’mon. What did I have to be nervous about? I’d lived on my own from age eleven to fourteen. I’d seen my parents die, I’d even been to jail. And here I was, scared of an old school building?

Pull it together, I told myself sharply.

One good thing about me: I do listen to myself, even if I don’t usually listen to other people. 

*******

  I slept pretty well that night and was up earlier than anyone. Justin had said that I could take one of the horses. Taking care not to wake anyone, I saddled my favorite, a black stallion who reminded me of a war horse. In private I called him General, and I don’t know why, but he responded. I swung hurriedly onto his back. If I was going to school this morning, I’d have to hurry. 

 It was a pretty uneventful ride to town. When I reached the livery, the sun was halfway risen and I could hear movement inside. I looked around, drinking it all in. I’d missed the sound of people opening shop, shouting across the masses, and while this wasn’t anywhere near Brooklyn, it was the closest thing I’d get. If all went well, I was going to be part of it for the next few months. I knocked at the door. 

Wouldn’t you know? It was answered by none other than the infamous Cory Blake. Just my luck. His eyes turned hard and suspicious when he saw me. “What’re you doing here?”

“I’m here to see yer pa,” I said just as coldly.

“Why?”

“That any of your business?”

“You bet it is.”

“Nah. It’s not. You just wanna make it your business.”

Cory glared at me. “Just tell me what you need, and I’ll go get him.”

I smirked. “Nice try. No, I’m comin’ in.”

“What’s so urgent that you can’t just tell me what it is?”

“Cory?”

Cory turned back into the livery. “Yessir?”

“Is that Anthony?” And then Mr. Blake was standing there, and Cory was staring at me in astonishment. It was all I could do to keep from smirking. Alright, fine. I smirked a little. 

 I followed Mr. Blake into the stable and threw my war bag into the haymow. Cory raised his eyebrows when he saw that, like it impressed him a little, but he didn’t say anything.

Easily impressed. I checked that away in my brain.

“Well, guess there’s not much to show you,” Mr. Blake said. “I assume you know how to take care of horses, living on a ranch and all. I’m willing to pay you a dollar seventy five every week. Am I missing anything?”

I shook my head. “Don’t think so.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “One more thing, Anthony. I know at the Circle C some things were a bit more relaxed. Things like respect. I demand that respect, and as much as I want you to feel welcome, remember you’re working for me. I’m in charge. Clear?”

 I felt my face redden in embarrassment, but I still fought the urge to laugh. Had he met Sid? Chad? Mrs. Carter? As much as Mr. Blake assumed I didn’t understand respect, I did. I just wasn’t very good at it yet. “Crystal . . . sir,” I added as an afterthought, even though it nearly choked me.

He nodded, then waved a hand out the door. “Off to school then, both of you.” 

Cory and I walked in silence for a few minutes before I tried talking. “So, school. What’s it . . . What do we do?”

Cory raised his eyebrows. “You’ve honestly never been to school?”

I shook my head.

“First things first, you need books and a slate.”

“And if you don’t have one?”

“You figure it out till you can buy ‘em.”

I gave him a sidelong glance. “Look, the Carters forgave me.” It sounded stupid, I know, but it was all I had.

Cory shrugged. “It’s easier to forgive when someone wrongs you than when they wrong your best friend.”

I tried to put on my mask of indifference and nodded. “True. Been in multiple situations like that.” Even though I hadn’t. My whole life had been looking out for me. 

We spent the rest of the walk in silence, me because I had to figure out this whole book and slate business, and Cory because he despised me. 

We got there just as the bell was ringing, and I followed Cory into the classroom. It was a small place, but I suddenly felt compelled to not screw up, especially when the teacher’s eyes found me.

“Go up to his desk,” Cory mumbled in my ear before sliding in to sit with another boy, who looked at me real funny.

I strolled up as nonchalantly as possible, my heart pounding as everyone’s eyes drilled into my back. All of a sudden, I wished I hadn’t come. The teacher regarded me scrutinizingly and picked up a pen. “Name?”

“Uh, Tony.”

He raised his eyebrow. “Full name.”

“Anthony Regalio.”

He nodded and scribbled in his book. “Age?”

“Fourteen.”

“Academic level?”

I screwed up my face in confusion.

“What Reader are you in?”

“Don’t know.”

A snicker from the girls’ side of the room made me whirl around. Sure enough, a little blonde-haired slip of a girl was giggling. I clenched my fists. That little...

“Mr. Regalio, stop glaring at Miss Foster.”

With one parting glance, I did as I was told.

“Thank you. Now, have you never been to school?”

A pause. “No.”

That did it. Instead of just one person, I heard at least a dozen choking and giggling behind me.

The teacher whipped out his ruler and rapped his desk- hard. “Silence!” When everything was quiet, he continued. “So you don’t know how to read? Write? Figure?”

“Can do all of that, just not real well.”

He nodded. “I see grammar is not one of your strong suits either.”

I shrugged. “Where do you live?”

“I’m working for Mr. Blake right now,” I said quietly, suddenly embarrassed.

“And your parents?”

“Don’t got any.”

The teacher nodded. “Siblings?”

“Don’t got, er, have any of those either.”

He finished scribbling, then nodded for the hundredth time. “Mr. Regalio, please take that open seat over there in the back.”

I followed his gesture and headed toward the back to where a kid about my age sat.

“So, Tony, huh?”

I looked at the kid suspiciously. “Yeah.”

He nodded. “Name’s Walter Hancock. Ain’t you the one who stole from the Carters last February?”

“I put that behind me,” I said coldly.

He looked me up and down, then smirked. “Where’s your books?”

“Don’t got any yet.”

A sly smile wet his lips. ”Why don’t you just steal your ‘em from the mercantile?”

I clenched my fists at his mocking tone, but ignored him.

He laughed quietly. “Dunce,” he muttered. 

Dunce? Let me tell you, I was ready to knock his doggone block off. I raised my fist, made ready to yank him around—

Then stopped. Why? Chad’s voice replayed itself in my head. Love your enemies. Love your enemies. It replayed over and over and over till my hand unclenched and fell to my side.

When Walter turned back around from telling the kids next to us that his seat mate didn’t even have his own books, all danger to his person had disappeared. I took a deep breath and only fought with my eyes as Walter smirked at me. 

This was going to be a long day.  

Chapter 3

        

 I was the first outside as soon as Foster dismissed us for lunch, even though I didn’t have any lunch to eat. I took a couple deep breaths to clear out the smell of people then flopped down on the grass. My first day of school wasn’t going too well. 

 First, that Foster fella had called me up front to work at the blackboard since I didn’t have a slate. I’d screwed up a problem about two vertical angles. What in tarnation were vertical angles? And why was diagramming a sentence so important?

 Anyways, I’d told Mr. Foster that I was under the impression that words were used for talking, not dividing, and last time I’d checked, angles were angled not vertical which had made everyone, even Andi, start laughing.

On the way back to my seat, I’d pulled Miss Foster’s hair because she’d whispered, “Dummy,” as I passed her.  

She shrieked, even though it had been a light tug. That got me a stern look, ten licks, and a fair warning. Ten minutes later I found myself back up front again, this time because Walter had dug a slate pencil into my hand. I’d kicked him, and he told on me like the coward he was. Anyway, I got thrashed for no reason. 

 I looked up as Andi sat down next to me on the grass. “Sorry,” she said.

I shrugged. “Not your fault. Guess I’m just pretty stupid, huh?”

Andi shook her head. “No, Tony. You’re not stupid. You’re actually really smart.”

“Yeah,” I retorted, “Street smart.”

Andi rolled her eyes. “You’ve got to be smart to jump right into school without any warning. You’ll catch on.”

“Will he?”

I looked up at Walter.

“You got a lot of faith in him, Andi, ‘specially since he’s dumb as a door nail. Did you hear him? ‘Last time I checked, angles weren’t vertical!’“

I got to my feet and looked Walter up and down as he roared with laughter. My hands jammed in my pockets. “Ya know, Walt,” I said after a minute, “there’s a time and place for everything.”

He folded his arms and smirked as though patronizing me.

“Inside the classroom . . . that wasn’t the right time.”

“Oh, it wasn’t?” He unfolded his arms and came closer. “And here I thought,” he said in a whisper, “that thieving, impoverished, backstreet orphans fought whenever they wanted.” 

 That’s when I punched him right in the nose. 

A satisfying crunch and a howl told me I’d hit my mark. So did the fact that Walter came charging into me after the first shock. We tumbled to the ground and rolled over and over. I was winning until someone yanked me off and held me fast. I thought they were breaking up the fight until I realized something . . . 

Nobody was holding Walter. 

I thrashed around and saw that the kid holding me was the one Walter had told about me not having books. A cold, hard lump formed in my stomach as I realized the fight wasn’t being broken up. He was holding me so that Walter could get a few good shots. I braced myself as he wound up to sock me in the face—

”Let go of him, Johnny.” 

Cory? 

Nah, Cory hated me. He wouldn’t step in to stop me from getting soaked. But sure enough, there he was.

Johnny smirked. “Says who?”

Cory’s eyes burned.

Well, I didn’t need Cory to stand up for me. Johnny’s hold on my arms relaxed. Quick as a flash I wriggled out and pinned Walter against a tree. Johnny tried to get at me, but Cory tackled him, and that started a whole new fight.

“Listen, Walt,” I said. “There’s this thing called respect, and it ain’t just for adults. It’s for everyone, everywhere around you. It ain’t a law. It’s a choice. But ya know what? If you respect other folks, a fella’s more inclined to respect ya back.”

Walter stared at me for a minute, and I almost thought he was gonna try to light into me again. 

But he didn’t. 

Because right then and there out came Miss Foster with her daddy right behind her. He dragged Walter, Cory, Johnny, and me inside and whipped us so hard that it hurt to sit down afterwards. I was real uncomfortable and angry for the whole second half of my first day of school.

When school was over, everyone went home except the four of us. Foster handed me a copybook and wrote “I will not engage in violent conduct” on the blackboard. He told us all to write it four hundred times. “You are all lucky,” he said, “that I’m not having the four of you expelled.”

That kept every man of us quiet. 

I wish I could say that I finished in record time, but if I did, that’d be lying. By the time I was on sentence one hundred and eighty-two, Walt had finished up. Cory was done before I reached two hundred, and Johnny had up and left before I even got to two hundred and seventy.

Finally, Foster looked at me. “What number are you on, Mr. Regalio?”

“Three oh one. Sir,” I muttered.

He looked at the clock.

I looked at the clock. Ten minutes to five.

A ghost of a smile wrote itself across Foster’s lips and he cleared his throat. “Mr. Regalio, I hope you realize that I could very well expel you.”

I stared at the copybook. “Yeah, I get that.” An awkward pause. “So, why didn’t ya?”

“Because, Mr. Regalio, I am convinced that there is more to you than what first meets one’s eye. With hard work, persistence, and diligence, I think you would stand toe to toe with the other pupils your age. Of course, you would have to work for it. I am offering you a second chance. Would you like to accept it?” 

  Oh boy. Would I ever.

************

I busted through the doors of the schoolhouse as soon as Foster let me go. Suddenly I skidded to a stop. There, right there in front of me, was Cory Blake, leaning casually against a tree.

“You ready?”

I blinked. “Saint Paul’s pajamas,” I muttered. “What’re you doing here?”

Cory rolled his eyes. “Nice way to greet someone.”

“Well, I thought you hated me, so didn’t see why ya’d wait. Yer pa’s already gonna skin me alive. Don’t see why ya’d risk yer hide for me.”

Cory rolled his eyes. “Look, I was thinking, alright? I think I may’ve been a little too quick to judge. I want to give you a second chance, if you’ll let me. Deal?”

I looked at him and smirked. “Deal. Now let’s get home and take what’s coming to us like a couple o’ men.”

Cory laughed. “You’ll get it worse than I will.”

“Not if I beat you back!” 

The town biddies sure had a lot to gossip about that afternoon is all I can say. 

Epilogue

Seems to me that life is full of second chances. I wouldn’t be where I am without them. None of us would be. I wouldn’t have stayed at the Circle C if it hadn’t been for Chad. I wouldn’t have gone to school the next day if it hadn’t been for ol’ Foster. I wouldn’t have had a friend in town if it hadn’t been for Cory.

It gets me to thinking that the ALMIGHTY’s got a pretty big plan for me. Otherwise He wouldn’t want to put folks in my life to teach me about second chances. Now I know how important second chances are, and I’m more than willing to give them to others.

Thanks to the Carters and to the Blakes.

But most of all, thanks to Andi. She was the first to give me a second chance. 

The End