Hidden Talents

At the news of a fire, kids rush into the hallway and see smoke coming from one room. A kid named Torchie once again has set fire to papers on his desk. A teacher dashes up with a fire extinguisher and quickly douses the flames. He turns to the kids and asks about the three parts of a fire. He coaxes “heat,” “fuel,” and “oxygen” from a few students, then explains that the extinguisher foam smothers the fire and locks out oxygen. The teacher turns to Torchie—his real name is Philip—who protests that he didn’t do anything, not really, but hands the teacher a small lighter.

The kids wander back to their rooms. Principal Davis tells Martin that Torchie is his new roommate. He tells Torchie to give Martin a tour of the school. Torchie tries to be friendly, but Martin just tells him to give the tour.

The viewpoint shifts to Davis’s memo pad, which contains a boring list of to-dos, including keeping an eye on Martin: “There’s something about him I just can’t stand” (17). Science teacher Mr. Briggs’s notebook contains an idea about “using science facts in everyday life” (18).

Torchie points out the room of Lip and Bloodbath. Lip’s ok, but Bloodbath—it’s his actual last name—likes to beat up others. Many students have nicknames, like Goober Gobble and PeePee. Hindenburg is a kid famous for being full of gas.

Martin asks about the classes; Torchie says Miss Nomad, the English teacher, is “nice,” and Mr. Briggs, the science teacher with the extinguisher, is “pretty cool,” but some teachers are super-strict. They glance in at classrooms: Most contain hand-me-down furniture.

Because he gets a lot of punishment, Martin asks about how discipline works at the school. Torchie says it’s something different every time as if the kids are lab rats. Mostly they take away privileges or make kids watch behavior videos and listen to lectures.

Bloodbath and his roommate interrupt them; Torchie runs away. Bloodbath shoves Martin into an empty classroom and says, “It’s time for your first lesson” (24).

The viewpoint moves to Lester Bloodbath’s permanent file: “He does seem to display some wonderful leadership qualities” (24). Bloodbath’s desk is etched with graffiti, including “Kill” and “Hate is grate” (25).

Bloodbath leans into Martin, saying he’s in charge around here, that anything Martin receives from outside gets shared with him, and if Martin tells about this conversation, he gets killed. To teach him about consequences, Bloodbath orders his sidekick, Lip, to punch Martin. Lip, small and ugly with bad teeth, steps up and slugs Martin, but the punch is so weak that Martin merely looks down at Lip’s fist.

Bloodbath lectures Lip about throwing his weight into a punch; he demonstrates by slugging Martin powerfully in the gut. Martin doubles over and collapses. They leave, and Martin lies there, gasping, thinking about how to get revenge. Torchie returns; he helps Martin to his feet, and they return to the dorm room.

They clean up the fire extinguisher mess while Torchie talks inanely about his childhood. He adds, “It’s not that bad here—honest” (30). Martin finds that hard to believe.

At Martin’s home, his mom writes him a letter saying she misses him, but she crumples it up and throws it away. In the state senate, a bill sets forth the rules for alternative schools, including that they’re subject to inspection after five years.

A short Asian-American kid named Dennis Woo—everyone calls him Cheater—returns a magazine to Torchie. Cheater tells Martin he doesn’t cheat but is simply smart and that people hate Chinese because they’re intelligent. Cheater shows off about what he knows, including the history of the Edgeview building, which once was a factory but became a school four years ago.

They ask Cheater a few trivia questions; he answers all of them, including an obscure one about an actor in a movie from decades ago.

At dinner, the food is terrible. Martin notices Bloodbath sitting on one side of the room with a bunch of tough boys, while the smallest kids sit as far away from them as possible.

Torchie writes to his parents, saying his new roommate is a nice guy. He also says his teacher told him his latest paper is “intelligible” and that he’s sorry about the parrot’s feathers but that “I didn’t do it. Honest” (38).

At the cafeteria, Martin notices one kid sitting alone. He asks Torchie about him; Torchie says his name is Trash because he trashes things and once tore apart an entire classroom. Cheater says Trash is wacko; this starts a general argument about whether calling people names makes them act like those names. Martin stays out of it.

Trash suddenly throws his plate on the floor. It’s made of plastic and doesn’t break. Trash does nothing further; he just stares down sadly.

Cheater writes a story about Magnus Cranium, the strongest and smartest of his group of superheroes. He’s trapped in a titanium room covered in atom bombs but uses his vast knowledge of particle physics “and maybe some karate” (43) to escape.

On Monday morning, Martin wakes to a bell. Coughing, he realizes that, during the night, Torchie set fire to the student handbook Martin threw away.

In math class, Martin sits with Torchie and Cheater. The teacher, Mr. Parsons, whose bald head has hair combed over it, calls on Martin to introduce himself. Martin hates this pressure; not knowing what to say, he blurts out, “Hi. My name’s Martin Anderson, and I’m not bald” (48). Parsons’s scalp reddens; angrily, he turns away.

Parsons returns test papers to the students; Cheater’s has “F” written on it; angrily, he knocks over his desk and stomps out of class but returns a few minutes later. After class, Torchie says Parsons tries different teaching methods, including songs.

On a student evaluation form, Mr. Parsons claims Martin is “a vicious and destructive boy” (50).

Five years earlier, a local resident’s letter to The Edgeview Express decries plans to establish an alternative school. The town, she believes, will become unsafe: “Edgeview should not be the dumping grounds for other people’s problems” (51).

On the way to English class, Martin gets punched hard in the shoulder by Bloodbath, who grins and keeps walking. In class, young Ms. Nomad sweeps in, wearing long hair, a long skirt, and a beaming smile. She welcomes Martin and begins the lesson.

As she teaches, she walks around the room. While talking about how anyone can write, she stops at Martin’s desk and stares meaningfully at him as if hoping to inspire him. Martin responds that the arts are hard—he’s certainly no good at them—and sometimes people should know when they’re bad at them. She replies that since no one can judge another’s work, people are free to write as they wish.

Martin thinks of an uncle who writes books and gets nothing but curt rejection slips. He says writers want to communicate, but bad ones get no audience. Ms. Nomad thanks Martin stiffly for his thoughts and walks away. Cheater whispers that she sends out lots of poems to publishers, but no one ever publishes them.

One of Ms. Nomad’s poems is titled “Sand.”

A single grain of mighty sand,

I hold it lovingly in my hand.

Gentle orb, so small and simple.

A single grain, oh wondrous sand

Who came perhaps from a foreign land

A speck no bigger than a pimple. (57)

Mr. Acropolis, the slightly out-of-shape gym teacher, has the students sit and empty their thoughts. This goes on for a while, accompanied by the occasional joke fart and titters. Then they play dodge ball. Martin does fairly well but gets knocked out in the second game.

He notices a tall, skinny kid who never gets hit. Torchie says his name is Flinch. Flinch reminds Martin of other kids he’s known who are supremely good at something, who could “paint or dance or play the piano. Those kids were true artists” (60).

The food at lunch is bad. Torchie sometimes says Principal Davis reads to them or staff members play music, but today none of that happens.

Cheater calls his mom and says he met a new boy who kids him but isn’t too mean and is really smart, though not as smart as Cheater. His mom asks how his tests are doing, but Cheater says he has to go and hangs up.

In science class, Mr. Briggs welcomes Martin. Torchie sets fire to a piece of paper, and Mr. Briggs stomps it out, retrieves several lighters from Torchie, and urges the boy to face facts. Torchie denies that he did anything.

After class, Mr. Briggs tries to get Martin to open up, but he simply shrugs and says nothing. Briggs reminds him he’s here to help; Martin says, “I’ll bet you’re here because you couldn’t get a job at some big fancy college or some important chemical company” (66). As he walks away, he regrets his words, especially to a teacher who’s nice to him. He turns to apologize, but Mr. Briggs is staring out the window, lost in thought.

On a student evaluation form, Mr. Briggs writes that Martin is annoying, but “there’s something good inside him” (67).

Ms. Crenshaw’s history class is optional, and it’s having a costume day. She hands out wigs and other clothing parts. Martin learns he’ll be Jefferson; Torchie is Washington. Flinch gets Martha Washington and protests; the other kids enjoy his predicament.

To Martin, the exercise seems silly. Still, the bullies refuse to attend this class, and that’s good enough for him to stay. Lucky, a big, good-natured kid, suddenly gets into an argument with an invisible person; Torchie tells Martin this happens a lot, but it’s harmless. Lucky also steals things, though, and he gets mad if you mention it.

When the period ends, Ms. Crenshaw asks Martin if he liked the class. Martin tries to say “yes,” but what comes out is, “You must really have a desperate desire to be in the theater” (70). Angry, she says he doesn’t have to attend, but he says he wants to stay.

Martin asks Torchie if anyone ever gets out of Edgeview. He says there’s a review after a month, and if the teachers think you should stay, you’re stuck for the rest of your school years. Martin knows that, so far, he’s angered most of his teachers; his chances of getting out are slim.

Priscilla Nomad’s evaluation form for Martin says that, though she loves her students, Martin “might be an exception” (72).

Geography class is taught by Mr. Langhorn, a strict disciplinarian who yells at kids if they whisper and calls them names when they don’t pay attention. Martin can’t remember anything about the lesson except the anger and that maybe it was about a country in South America.

Toward the end of class, Mr. Langhorn struts around the room, questioning the students. He arrives at Martin’s desk and demands to know one item that Martin has learned today. Martin hesitates, looking around the room; Langhorn grabs Martin’s head and forces Martin to face him. Martin can’t hold back; he yells that Mr. Langhorn talks about countries but has never visited them.

Langhorn glares. Martin thinks the teacher will hit him, but he simply dismisses the class. In the hallway, Mr. Briggs calls to Martin and tells him he may be right about Briggs’s career problems but that Briggs is also right about being here for him. Awkwardly, Martin says, “Sure,” and makes his escape.

As he walks down the dorm hall toward his room, something flies out through an open door and just misses his head.

Meanwhile, Ms. Crenshaw receives a letter from a college in Kansas. Her application to become its drama teacher is rejected.

The flying object comes from Trash’s room. It’s a math textbook; Martin picks it up and brings it to Trash, who’s hunched over his desk, drawing. The room is pretty banged up, and the window is boarded over. Trash says he wasn’t trying to hit Martin. Martin looks at the drawing: It’s a magnificent sketch of a rocket ship soaring above the surface of an alien planet.

As Martin approaches his room, he hears Torchie talking to Lucky. They’re arguing about whether they can trust Martin. He walks in, sits at his desk, and begins some studies—he’s one of the few students who bothers with homework—but he also wonders what the kids need to trust him about.

Torchie is called away by the principal. Lucky says Torchie, Cheater, and Flinch are his friends, he’s loyal to them, and if Martin wants to get along with him, he’ll need to be nice to those friends. Martin’s fine with that. Torchie returns later, smelling of smoke, and says the staff made him light fires for an hour, hoping it’d make him tired of doing it: “But I didn’t do nothin in the first place” (80). Lucky brings in a stereo; Cheater and Flinch arrive, too, and they listen to music or read.

Later, Martin asks Torchie if they like Trash; he says yes, but Trash throws things too much to hang out with. Martin asks if Torchie has anything to read besides magazines; Torchie points to the closet, which is filled with books. Martin already has read the ones by Jack London and Jules Verne, so he chooses a collection of sci-fi stories.

A bell rings, and Martin realizes he’s been at Edgeview for one whole day. It’s his first time away from his family. He thinks it’s unfair to be housed with thieves, fire starters, and bullies. He figures he’s all alone here: The teachers won’t care about him, that’s for sure.

Principal Davis sends out a memo reminding the staff that a state inspection is coming up and that everyone needs to pitch in to prepare for it. He says some locals don’t want the school in their town, but the mayor still supports it.

Martin’s sister Teri writes him a letter saying she and their mom really miss him, but that Dad just storms around as usual, angry for no reason.