Chapter Thirteen
M ercedes kept her eye on Evan throughout the day.
He hadn’t liked that she’d shared his heroic moment with others, especially the people he didn’t know.
It was interesting how different he was, depending on who he was with.
In the Deaf community, he was all full of himself and the life of the party.
At an event like this, with mostly hearing people, he became smaller and softer.
She wasn’t sure she liked him this way. Yes, she teased him about being loud and proud, but she enjoyed that side of his personality and hated to see it diminished in any way.
Recalling the conversation they’d had recently about his reading level, she sought out Cheryl Jameson, his mom. Maybe she could give Mercedes a little more insight into what happened.
Throughout the day, she waited for a perfect opening. One came when Cheryl popped into the kitchen while Mercedes was refilling a tray of appetizers.
The food is so good, I think I might have gained a few extra pounds today, Cheryl joked.
I appreciate that you brought the crock pot of meatballs. They’re so tasty. Evan would eat the entire pot if you let him. She made sure to voice off since she didn’t want anyone else to hear what she wanted to talk about.
He does like to eat. I’m surprised he isn’t overweight.
He works hard at his job and plays lots of baseball to work it off. I wanted to ask you something.
Cheryl tipped her head. About Evan?
Mercedes nodded. We were talking the other day, and he mentioned his low reading level. It seems to be something he’s very down on himself about. How did the school never catch this?
Cheryl sighed and her lips pressed together.
We made a mistake with Evan. Because Brian is hearing, he went to the public school.
They assured us that they could provide Evan with an appropriate education, too.
We didn’t know any better. Mike and I had gone to a Deaf school and neither of us are super great readers, but back then we also weren’t allowed to use sign language in the schools.
Mercedes stared aghast at Cheryl. What? Why?
At the time, the thought was deaf children needed to learn to speak and read lips to integrate into society.
Which is certainly helpful. However, they figured if they used sign language at all, it would keep them from learning standard English.
Unfortunately, because of this, many children didn’t get language of any kind until they started school.
Imagine a baby not having any form of communication until they were two or three.
So many children suffered from language deprivation, and the result was lowered reading ability.
I didn’t realize. But Evan comes from a Deaf family who uses ASL. How did he get language deprivation?
Cheryl licked her lips and peered around the kitchen.
He had plenty of language at home from us, which is why he’s a very bright young man.
But while he was at school, he was the only one who spoke ASL, except his interpreter who was also his aid.
He had a few different ones throughout his years in the public school, but they were all charmed by him and perhaps helped him too much.
Too much? Mercedes didn’t understand how that was a bad thing.
Cheryl nodded. The public school really didn’t have the right kind of program for him, but we didn’t realize this until it was too late.
Thankfully, someone told us to look into the North Shore School for the Deaf a few years later when Carli was ready to go.
We sent her and Deanna there, but Evan had already been in school for several years at that point and had made some friends.
We didn’t know at the time that he was basically being pushed through the grades.
The teachers had no experience with deaf children and figured his skills were typical of the ‘disability’.
I hate that word, but compared to the other children, he was definitely at a disadvantage.
They simply pushed him through the grades. Mercedes was shocked and infuriated at the same time. Poor Evan.
By the time we realized, he was already in junior high and had gotten lazy about doing his work.
His friends were in the public high school, and he wanted to be with them.
Still, he’d come home so tired every day after school that he’d sometimes plop down on the couch and fall asleep.
I even took him to the doctor to make sure there wasn’t anything wrong with him.
They ran tests and stuff, but he was fine and healthy.
School just always took a lot out of him, and he got frustrated so easily.
Mercedes nodded. Thanks for telling me about this. I want to help him, but he’s kind of stubborn about things.
Cheryl laughed. You don’t need to tell me he’s stubborn. I raised him for over eighteen years. But he’s also a good man, and I love that he’s done so well on his own.
He has. I guess I want to make things easier for him when it comes to reading. It’s one of my favorite activities, but I know he hates books or reading of any kind. I don’t like that he gets so frustrated or feels poorly about himself.
Cheryl reached out and tugged her into an embrace. When they let go, she signed, It’s wonderful how much you care about my son. Makes me glad the two of you have moved in together.
The expression on Cheryl’s face was impish, like she was insinuating there was more between them than simply living in the same apartment.
Oh, no, we’re merely friends. Good friends, but friends only.
And that half, almost, sort of kiss thing they did yesterday wasn’t clogging up her brain with thoughts of being more.
The tiny grin that played about Cheryl’s mouth let her know they weren’t fooling anyone. We all need as many good friends as we can get.
True, but why did she never want to press her lips on any guy’s lips, except Evan’s? The memory and feel of his lips connected to hers wouldn’t leave her alone.
The phone in Evan’s pocket vibrated right as he was shutting down the backhoe for the day. When he checked it, Vince, his boss, had sent a text.
—Come see me before you punch out.—
Crap. He hoped he hadn’t done something wrong. He might be a jokester at times, but he was dead serious about his job. Playing around on the equipment could be deadly to the user and anyone in the vicinity.
Once he’d followed all the safety protocols, he headed to the trailer that housed the office for this project. Vince sat at his desk, so Evan turned in his keys in the correct location, then faced his boss.
“What’s up?” If it was only a few words, Vince usually understood him. Anything more and they used a phone app for voice to text. When his phone was scrolled through and Vince spoke into it, Evan started to sweat. It would be a longer conversation.
Vince sent the text to Evan’s phone. He scrolled to what had been written.
—We’ve got a new applicant for the job, and he’s deaf.—
“You want me to interpret?” That made him nervous. He didn’t want to be responsible for another person not getting a position with the company.
Vince spoke into his phone again, then sent it.
—No. We had an interpreter for the interview and decided to hire the man.
I want to ask if you’d be willing to be this new person’s mentor?
You’d actually be in a supervisory role and make sure he learns the equipment and follows our rules for safety and quality. —
He wanted him to supervise another employee? That wasn’t what he’d expected.
Evan typed a response on his own phone. —Sure. How long will it take?—
Vince lifted one shoulder. —At least a few months or maybe more to learn our routine. Then, it depends on how fast he picks up the equipment. He’ll do grunt work at first, like you all did. Shoveling up the loose gravel and dirt and any other cleanup.—
—Okay. You don’t really need a Deaf person to show someone how to shovel, but I’m happy to give him the basics of the job so there’s nothing lost in translation, then teach him how to use the equipment.—
Vince smiled and nodded. —Good. I appreciate the help. I think it’ll go smoother with someone who speaks his language.—
Evan tapped away. —When does he start?—
—It’ll be at least a month. He needs to give notice at his previous job. I’ll have him working on the same projects as you.—
Evan forced a smile. —What happens to me if this new guy takes all my jobs?—
Vince laughed. —Like there’s not enough work to do around the jobsite. I was also hoping to get you to train on some of the bigger equipment. Have you thought about taking the level two test? You have the instruction guide, right?—
Oh, geesh. Why did everything seem to come back around to that stupid book and his inability to read it? Sure, his Pops had helped him figure out some of the math and measurement stuff, but the book was enormous.
—I’ve got it. I skim through it every now and then.— Maybe he’d have to take Mercedes up on her offer to help him with it like she’d suggested. He hated the thought of appearing dumb when she realized how much of the book he couldn’t understand.
Vince frowned. —Do more than glance at it. You’ve got an excellent work ethic and seem to have good intuition to operate most any of the machines. You show up for work on time, put in over a hundred percent, and never ask for any kind of special treatment. That says a lot about your character.—
“Thanks.” Evan wasn’t sure what else to say to the enormous compliment. He’d been told he did good work before, but it had never been spelled out quite like this. It felt good.
Vince spoke into this phone again. —You’ve gone as far as you can on the machines you currently operate. Which is fine because we always need someone to use them. I could really use a man of your skill on some of the larger equipment. Bigger machines mean bigger money.—
If he could just get past the test.