The Abnormal Child
1959, Detroit
(An excerpt from the novel "Sitting Shiva" by Elliot Feldman to be published by FOXROCK in winter 2002)
 

    The child psychologist's office was in the converted garage of a stylish ranch home in a residential area of Royal Oak. Dr. Dalrymple was a dreary old woman with permanently pursed lips, horn-rimmed glasses, and crepe-soled sensible shoes.
    
Although Charlie's inventive interpretations of the Rorschach ink blots- particularly the "elephant kissing a ballerina"-gave the psychologist pause, she assured Celia and Morris Fish that their son was a "normal yet creative boy, but his creativity is causing disruptive behavior in the classroom." The doctor recommended that both parents actively encourage their son's creativity "outside the classroom." That Celia should enroll him in private art lessons at the Detroit Institute of Art downtown, that Morris should take him to "sporting events," and that they should invite "more gregarious" neighborhood boys over for lunches.
     The psychologist's parting words were a warning that if Charlie's disruptive behavior continued, vice-principal Artunian wouldn't hesitate to put him in "a special class for the emotionally disturbed."
     These words alarmed Charlie. He knew that hoods "pounded" the "special ed" kids on a daily basis.
     Charlie's classroom personality changed because he had no choice. To bait him, Mrs. Lipkis would toss out comedy straight-lines, and he would say nothing. Charlie would say nothing to anyone. In class, his sense of humor was not only stifled, it was gone.
    For years, his jokes and his one and only friend, Joe Murphy, kept the hoods from stomping him every day. At 6'4," Joe was the largest and toughest hood in the neighborhood. Charlie and Joe became friends because of a shared interest in collecting movie monster magazines and drawing comics. Every day they'd either meet at the comic book rack at Hammerstein's Drugstore, or behind the old one-room schoolhouse to ogle a Playboy Magazine that Charlie filched from his father's underwear drawer..     Unfortunately, when Charlie was transferred to Dewey Elementary, Joe wasn't there to save his ass. Like nearly half of the kids in Oak Park, Joe Murphy's parents had decided to send him to Our Lady of Mercy Catholic school instead of public school.
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