Servo 15:1
Servo 15:1
Monday rolled around and I secretly hoped for a snow day. No such luck. Grandpa spent Sunday on the tractor plowing the driveway so we could make it to the road. I wanted so much to have another day that I could scrutinize all the code in the bot’s memory core. The frustration that it wasn’t working made a sore pit in my stomach. How could I have messed it up? I was the son of one of the finest bot designers on the planet. What rookie mistake had I made? Now I’d be forced to spend an entire worthless day in school before I could get home and work on it again. The three of us sat in our tiny broom closet classroom. Mrs. Graham was droning on about Outer States history. Normally I enjoyed history, but not today. My mind was firmly fixed on the bot in the barn. I contemplated the snow falling outside the tiny window. This had to be the longest, coldest winter I can ever remember. “Jonah? Will you please explain to me the Constitution of the United States?” Mr. Graham said.I snapped back into the here and now. “Uhhhh.”“You did the reading assignment for chapter eleven, didn’t you?”“Uhhhh.”She rose from her chair, folding her arms. “That’s not like you.”“Sorry,” I squeaked. “And would you care to explain why you did not do the assignment?”“I was busy working on a project.”“Project? Certainly not a school project.”“No. Something personal.” I imagine the amount of remorse in my tone of voice was enough to prove I felt guilty about skipping the assignment.She stared me down. “Don’t let it happen again.”“Yes, Ma’am.”“Suzette, would you be so kind as to explain the Constitution of the United States?”I watched my sister stretch tall and straighten in her chair. She placed both hands on the desktop and gave her lips a quick lick. “The Constitution of the United States was a document created the seventeenth of September in the year 1787 by our founding fathers. It was designed to outline how the country would be run, rights of the citizens, and government.”Mrs. Graham nodded. “Very good, Suzette.”My sister shot me snotty glare. Had I not had Rory in the desk between us, I’d have reached over and smacked her. Of course that would have led to being in more trouble than I already was. Tonight, I’d make sure I did the assignment. Mrs. Graham always gave us tests on Fridays, so I had a couple days to prepare. My perfect grade point average would not be tarnished. The morning session ended and the bell sounded for lunch. I was starving. We hurried out of class and jostled our way to the cafeteria. Since there was so much snow on the ground, we were forced to eat inside. I didn’t like eating in such close proximity to the other kids; they always seemed to gawk at us. You’d figure that with all the time we’d been there, the novelty would have worn off. Nope!Rory selected a table far in the back. I think he felt self-conscious about being watched as well. Suz plopped down with her back to the wall. For some reason, she wanted to see what was going on. The noise was intolerable. Hundreds of voices competed to be heard above the others. Shrill cackling, bellicose laughter, and the occasional screech; I hated it. I’d no more taken a huge bite of a delectable roast beef sandwich when Dagwood showed up. He sat down on the bench with enough force that it bumped me into the air slightly. I was certainly not expecting that. Some of my sandwich went down the wrong pipe. I began to cough. “You okay, Jonah?” Dagwood said.I shook my head.“I’ll fix ya.” He reached behind and smacked me in the back with terrific force. I was nearly sent face-first to the table. I coughed a couple more times and felt the bite of sandwich realign to the correct direction. Grabbing my drink, I took a swallow, helping it down. “Now are you okay?”“Yes, I think so,” I croaked. “But you didn’t have to sit down like that.”“Like what?”“You sent me flying.”“Pishaw! Did not!”“Yes, you did.”“Oh, well, then I’m sorry. I’ll sit down more careful next time.” He opened a beat up steel lunch box and dug out a sandwich. “Momma made me peanut butter and jelly.”“How delightful,” I said with a heavy note of sarcasm.“This is extra special jelly.”Rory decided to join the conversation. “What’s so special about it?”“Peach blush marmalade.”“Then it’s a peanut butter and marmalade sandwich.”Dagwood frowned. “Aw, don’t be so technical about it, Rory.”“Well, it’s not jam, and it’s not jelly, it’s marmalade.”“Peanut butter and marmalade—there’s no ring to it.”“Ring?”“Yeah, you know, somethin’ catchy.” He began to gyrate in his seat. “Peanut butter—jelly! Peanut butter—jelly! Peanut butter—jelly!”“Ah.” Rory turned his attentions back to lunch. “Jonah?” Dagwood said.“Yes?”“You gonna work on the bot today?”“Shhhh!!!!”“Geez, come on, no one in their right mind can hear you.”Suz regarded Dagwood. “I heard you.”“You don’t count.”“Don’t I?”“You know about it.”“And what if I said something to someone else?”I gave Suz a vicious glare of daggers. “You better not!”“Or what?”“Don’t taunt me.”“Why? What will you do to me?” “Suz, this is not the time or the place. Please, just drop it.”
Monday rolled around and I secretly hoped for a snow day. No such luck. Grandpa spent Sunday on the tractor plowing the driveway so we could make it to the road. I wanted so much to have another day that I could scrutinize all the code in the bot’s memory core. The frustration that it wasn’t working made a sore pit in my stomach. How could I have messed it up? I was the son of one of the finest bot designers on the planet. What rookie mistake had I made? Now I’d be forced to spend an entire worthless day in school before I could get home and work on it again. The three of us sat in our tiny broom closet classroom. Mrs. Graham was droning on about Outer States history. Normally I enjoyed history, but not today. My mind was firmly fixed on the bot in the barn. I contemplated the snow falling outside the tiny window. This had to be the longest, coldest winter I can ever remember. “Jonah? Will you please explain to me the Constitution of the United States?” Mr. Graham said.I snapped back into the here and now. “Uhhhh.”“You did the reading assignment for chapter eleven, didn’t you?”“Uhhhh.”She rose from her chair, folding her arms. “That’s not like you.”“Sorry,” I squeaked. “And would you care to explain why you did not do the assignment?”“I was busy working on a project.”“Project? Certainly not a school project.”“No. Something personal.” I imagine the amount of remorse in my tone of voice was enough to prove I felt guilty about skipping the assignment.She stared me down. “Don’t let it happen again.”“Yes, Ma’am.”“Suzette, would you be so kind as to explain the Constitution of the United States?”I watched my sister stretch tall and straighten in her chair. She placed both hands on the desktop and gave her lips a quick lick. “The Constitution of the United States was a document created the seventeenth of September in the year 1787 by our founding fathers. It was designed to outline how the country would be run, rights of the citizens, and government.”Mrs. Graham nodded. “Very good, Suzette.”My sister shot me snotty glare. Had I not had Rory in the desk between us, I’d have reached over and smacked her. Of course that would have led to being in more trouble than I already was. Tonight, I’d make sure I did the assignment. Mrs. Graham always gave us tests on Fridays, so I had a couple days to prepare. My perfect grade point average would not be tarnished. The morning session ended and the bell sounded for lunch. I was starving. We hurried out of class and jostled our way to the cafeteria. Since there was so much snow on the ground, we were forced to eat inside. I didn’t like eating in such close proximity to the other kids; they always seemed to gawk at us. You’d figure that with all the time we’d been there, the novelty would have worn off. Nope!Rory selected a table far in the back. I think he felt self-conscious about being watched as well. Suz plopped down with her back to the wall. For some reason, she wanted to see what was going on. The noise was intolerable. Hundreds of voices competed to be heard above the others. Shrill cackling, bellicose laughter, and the occasional screech; I hated it. I’d no more taken a huge bite of a delectable roast beef sandwich when Dagwood showed up. He sat down on the bench with enough force that it bumped me into the air slightly. I was certainly not expecting that. Some of my sandwich went down the wrong pipe. I began to cough. “You okay, Jonah?” Dagwood said.I shook my head.“I’ll fix ya.” He reached behind and smacked me in the back with terrific force. I was nearly sent face-first to the table. I coughed a couple more times and felt the bite of sandwich realign to the correct direction. Grabbing my drink, I took a swallow, helping it down. “Now are you okay?”“Yes, I think so,” I croaked. “But you didn’t have to sit down like that.”“Like what?”“You sent me flying.”“Pishaw! Did not!”“Yes, you did.”“Oh, well, then I’m sorry. I’ll sit down more careful next time.” He opened a beat up steel lunch box and dug out a sandwich. “Momma made me peanut butter and jelly.”“How delightful,” I said with a heavy note of sarcasm.“This is extra special jelly.”Rory decided to join the conversation. “What’s so special about it?”“Peach blush marmalade.”“Then it’s a peanut butter and marmalade sandwich.”Dagwood frowned. “Aw, don’t be so technical about it, Rory.”“Well, it’s not jam, and it’s not jelly, it’s marmalade.”“Peanut butter and marmalade—there’s no ring to it.”“Ring?”“Yeah, you know, somethin’ catchy.” He began to gyrate in his seat. “Peanut butter—jelly! Peanut butter—jelly! Peanut butter—jelly!”“Ah.” Rory turned his attentions back to lunch. “Jonah?” Dagwood said.“Yes?”“You gonna work on the bot today?”“Shhhh!!!!”“Geez, come on, no one in their right mind can hear you.”Suz regarded Dagwood. “I heard you.”“You don’t count.”“Don’t I?”“You know about it.”“And what if I said something to someone else?”I gave Suz a vicious glare of daggers. “You better not!”“Or what?”“Don’t taunt me.”“Why? What will you do to me?” “Suz, this is not the time or the place. Please, just drop it.”
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