the dead man - 6. school

by nick nelson

part six of 31

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when the time came, lucas went to school, to kindergarten. lily mae brought him to the school to the first day, but after that he just went by himself. lucas had never had much contact with other children before, and did not much enjoy school. in the school he went to the children could either go home for lunch or bring a lunch with them, and lucas preferred to go home and not have to associate with the other children more than he could help. in this, as in most things, lily mae indulged him. lily mae continued to sleep late, but she was usually up by the time lucas returned for lunch. “how do you like school?” she asked him one day. “it’s all right, i guess.” this was, and would remain, lucas’s answer for almost all questions put to him by his fellow humans, old or young, but especially to the questions put to him by anybody in any semblance of authority. by this time he had forgotten his friendships with bugs, but he missed joe the dog. joe had been a good dog, and a good friend. later in life, lucas would refer to joe as a “real pal”, and “the greatest there ever was”. next