Page 29 of Sycamore Circle

“The world is made up of all sorts of people. I always thought it would be a shame not to meet half of them on account of thinking that you wouldn’t have anything in common with them, right?”

Chance shrugged. “I couldn’t say.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway. What matters to me is that you reached out to get help with your reading. That’s what’s great.”

“Not really.” He lowered his voice. “I can’t hardly read much.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s why I’m here, right?”

Looking even more ill at ease, he shrugged.

Boy, she hated that a young man like him would have to carry around such a burden. “Did any of your teachers ever mention what they thought was wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“Did they think you had dyslexia, maybe? Or another reading disability?”

“No. But I didn’t go to that kind of school.”

She was confused. “What kind of school did you go to?”

“The kind of school that had a whole lot of kids in every classroom and old, worn-out textbooks.” He shrugged. “Maybe the teachers were worn-out too.” Still looking pensive, he added, “What I’m trying to say is that all anyone seemed to care about was that you were sitting in your seat. It didn’t matter if I understood what was going on, as long as I was quiet, yeah?”

Joy hated to hear his story but had long ago made peace with the fact that there were a number of reasons people never learned to read—one of which was that no one at the school took the time to even notice if they could.

“All right. Well, I have a workbook for us to use.” She pulled it out of her bag and slid it across the table toward him. “We’ll use this every time we meet.”

He looked at it like it was going to bite him. “Yes, ma’am.”

He still hadn’t touched the workbook. She gestured to the workbook and the other books she had on the table. “Do you have any questions before we get started?”

“Yeah.” Chance seemed to brace himself, then blurted, “Do you ever have anyone who never ends up reading? You know, who just can’t do it?”

She looked him in the eye. “No.”

“You telling me the truth?”

“I am. I wouldn’t lie about that. Some students might take a little longer than others, but everyone learns. Especially since I don’t give up.” She smiled.

“Huh.”

“Chance, I promise I’m a really good teacher. You’re also worth me doing everything I can to help you learn to read. Now, are you ready to get started?”

“Yeah.”

She smiled. “Open up the book.” When Chance did as she asked, Joy pointed to the first word on the page. “This word is can. That c is a hard c.” She made the sound. “Most times you see that a-n combination, it’s going to sound like an.” She lowered her voice. “You say it now.”

Chance narrowed his eyes. “Can.”

“That’s good. Now look at these words: man, ban, pan, fan, ran.” She broke apart the words and said the sounds, asking him to do the same.

Almost an hour later, she closed the workbook and leaned back in her chair. “Chance, we made really good progress today. I’m proud of you.”

He smiled before seeming to remember himself. “All I did was read just a couple of words that most first graders can figure out.”

“Who cares? It doesn’t matter what other people can do. All that matters is what you can read.”

His lips twitched. “Does thinking like that really work for you?”

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