Mr. Terupt Falls Again (5 page)

“Hey, you jerk!” Peter yelled. “You’re gonna get it.”

“Whatever,” Lexie said. She walked out of the office with a smirk and an extra shake in her hips. In my head I heard her saying, “Beep-beep.” Like the roadrunner, she’d won again.

I helped Peter pick up his books; then we left the office behind Lexie and Luke. I did wonder where Mrs. Williams was, but Lexie’s answer made sense. I decided not to worry about it, but that changed once we got to the doors heading down to the annex. Just as we pushed them open, Ms. Newberry came rushing through in the opposite direction. She was crying. And she didn’t stop to talk.

“Must be her time of the month, all emotional and sensitive like that,” Lexie said.

“Must be your time of the month to be stupid,” Peter said. “Wait, that’s every day for you.”

I didn’t even know what they were talking about, “time of the month,” and I didn’t get a chance to ask, nor did Lexie get a chance to come back at Peter, because Luke made another one of his observations. And this was a big one.

“Look!” He pointed.

An ambulance and a police car were parked next to
the annex. Peter’s books fell all over the ground (this time without anyone’s help) as he took off sprinting toward our classroom.

When Mr. Terupt collapsed after being hit by Peter’s snowball, I was scared. Scared like I’d never been before. I didn’t know what to do. I sank to my knees in horror. My hands covered my mouth and tears ran down my cheeks. I hoped I’d never feel like that again, certainly not so soon. But the sight of that ambulance, Ms. Newberry rushing by us crying, and Peter running to our classroom, all took me back to that day in the snow.

I
t’s hard to believe what happened—but it did. I swear it on my brother Michael’s grave.

I was riding my bike to school, same as always. I liked riding my bike because then I wasn’t stuck in the car with Mom or Dad with nothing to talk about. And I hated taking the bus even more because all that stop-and-go always makes me sick. So I was riding my bike, and I was almost there. I was just around the bend, where there’s a field on one side and woods on the other, when I heard it. It’s lucky that I did hear it. It was a faint crying sound.

I looked over in the direction of the sound and spotted a black duffel bag with something beside it in the weeds. It wasn’t far off the road. I dumped my bike and walked over. I figured it was a kitten. But as I got closer I knew it was something else. First I saw the blue blanket, and then I saw what was tucked inside a shoe box.

It was a baby! A real live baby! On the side of the road in a shoe box! I was scared. Real scared. I didn’t know what to do. I tried helpin’ him as best I could.

He was a mess, and so was the blanket. I had no idea how long he’d been there, but he had peed and pooped all over and he felt very cold. I took my sweatshirt off and spread it on the ground. Then I lifted him out of the box and he started wailing. I wrapped him up in my shirt, grabbed the duffel bag, and picked him up.

“You’re gonna be all right, little buddy. I gotcha.”

I left my bike and walked the rest of the way to school, cradling the baby. He calmed down some, and so did I. But once I got to school, I got really nervous and scared again. I rushed to Terupt. The nice thing about being in the annex was we didn’t have to go through the whole school to get to our classroom. You could get there just by walking up to it from outside.

As soon as Terupt heard the crying, he looked up.

“I found him on the side of the road!” I said.

F
ADE IN: LS of the classroom. We see JESSICA and DANIELLE sitting in the book area, with two classmates. Others sit at their desks and a few are still trickling into the classroom from the hall. MS. NEWBERRY is visiting with MR. TERUPT, like she does most mornings before the start of the school day
.

CUT TO: JEFFREY rushing through the back door with a crying baby in his arms and a black duffel bag slung over his shoulder
.

PULL BACK: MS. NEWBERRY hurries to the classroom phone and calls 911. MR. TERUPT rushes over to JEFFREY and takes the baby. He kneels and gently places the crying infant down on the floor
.

JEFFREY bends down and opens the zipper of the duffel bag. He pulls out a diaper and wipes
.

JEFFREY hands the diaper and wipes to MR. TERUPT
.

CUT TO: MRS. WILLIAMS enters the classroom—unprepared
.

Her hands fly up and cover her mouth. MS. NEWBERRY walks over and hugs her. The two women are both teary-eyed
.

CUT TO: An ambulance and police car pull up to the classroom. The paramedics and police officer hurry inside and take
over for MR. TERUPT and JEFFREY. MR. TERUPT stands and puts his arm around JEFFREY and pulls him close. MS. NEWBERRY walks over and leans into MR. TERUPT. She puts her head on his shoulder and he wraps his other arm around her
.

Paramedics tend to the crying baby. They check him all over with various instruments, and then hook up an IV
.

MS. NEWBERRY leaves, her eyes welling with fresh tears
.

CUT TO: PETER running into the classroom and stopping. LUKE, LEXIE, and ANNA burst in right after him. They all look paralyzed. They are statues, unable to move or speak
.

CUT TO: A paramedic lifts the baby off the ground and carries him to the ambulance. A second paramedic walks beside them holding a bag of fluid that is attached to the baby. We see the ambulance doors close. We watch it drive away
.

CUT TO: LS of the classroom. No one has moved. It remains silent. Camera zooms in on LUKE
.

FADE OUT
.

I
barged into the classroom just in time. The paramedics were bent over some small, softly wailing bundle. My ears told me what it was, but I took a few sideways steps so that I could see it to believe it. Sure enough, it was a baby. The baby was sucking intermittently on a wet washcloth, which explained the muffled cries. I also saw that an IV had been started. I knew from my previous science studies and Boy Scouts that the baby was suffering from dehydration. What my experience and background knowledge hadn’t prepared me for was the answer Mr. Terupt gave my question after the ambulance sped away.

“Mr. Terupt, where are the baby’s parents?” I asked.

“It appears he was abandoned, Luke,” Mr. Terupt said. “His mom and dad didn’t want him, so he was left on the side of the road. Jeffrey found him this morning.”

Our classroom was still and full of nerves when I walked in. I didn’t think there was room for any other feelings, but after Mr. Terupt said that, a shocked sadness consumed us. The air I breathed felt heavier. How could anyone do that to their baby?

That was when the police officer in attendance told Jeffrey he needed to talk to him since he had discovered the baby. It made me realize this was a case for a detective, and that everyone had made a huge blunder. Important evidence had been ruined when they cleaned up the baby.

O
fficer Stoneley was a big man—built like a block—with buzzed hair, sideburns, and a goatee. He wasn’t a donut policeman—one of those guys with a huge belly that rubbed on his steering wheel. He looked strong.

Stoneley took my report. Basically, I just had to tell him what happened. Afterward, we took a ride in his car over to the spot where I had found the baby. He needed to see the area and he wanted me to walk him through the details again.