When I first met Otter Boy, I was a boy myself. Eleven-and-a-half and the knees of my jeans were grass-stained. We were riding bikes by the river when James first became Otter Boy.
“I hate school” was the last thing he said before the chirps, the squawks, the other otter noises. Fur sprung through James’ coat and his teeth grew pointed. He became an otter so fast he never said goodbye. Instead he darted for the river, diving in before I could understand what was happening.
James’ otter tail smacked the running water and I knew at his other end a smile beamed on his otter face. James loved this place as a boy, and now that he’s an otter I could never compete with a muddy river that gets just enough sunlight. Bet the bright rays feel great on an otter belly after eating too many peanut-butter-jelly sandwiches. It’s sad James has to share those feelings with his river pals now…
But I don’t blame him.
School sucks. Some teachers give homework and the ones who don’t tell us that the ones who do are sadists. I googled that word the other day. Pretty extreme if you ask me. I also read something about masochism. I don’t think those homework-doling teachers are sadists but I do know James is definitely a masochist.
Imagine the humiliation of transforming into an otter. And then that smile on his otter face.
I saw how he loved it. How he reveled in it. The smacking tail, the speedy dives, the way his otter hands gripped those slippery rocks. My teacher says I’m well-read. She gives out so much homework. Anyway, I know that James is my best friend but I know there will be more. That same teacher says I’m likeable. “Because I’m a good listener, and also a good writer, but not annoying although sometimes long-winded.”
She is going to flip when she finds out James is an otter. Start calling him Otter Boy. She says she’s not the most creative, but she sees it in me. In spades. I didn’t get the best grade on my last essay but she said it showed promise. My parents think she’s grading me harder for different reasons, but I’m glad they’re involved.
James never met his parents.
The way he told it to me he was born on a riverbank in a war-torn country. His parents hid the best they could, but James’ cry must’ve alerted the bad guys. Because the bad guys came and took James. They executed his mom and dad. But then the good guys found them and took James back, and they told him this is what happened.
Considering that James is an otter, I have to believe that story.
