Wheels of Steel, Book 1 by Pepper Pace
He sighed and looked at her. “Well, we’ll be late but I guess that can’t be helped. Wheel me out to the living room so that I can get my things.”
“I got here at seven on the dot.” She said, unwilling to take the blame for his tardiness to school.
“You’re supposed to be here at six am.”
She sighed. “Well I won’t be late again.” He didn’t speak, and she silently cursed Ben for making her look so stupid for this job.
He instructed her to get his book bag out of the closet while he went to his computer and unplugged something from the modem. He pocketed whatever the thing was and then rolled to the door waiting for her to open it. At her car, she helped him to stand again.
It took a while but she got him folded into the small car while he looked at her like she was an idiot for not having a mini-van. After opening the trunk she tackled the chair. It was light weight but still big and awkward! And because she’d never done anything like this, it seemed to take forever. Jason had eventually bellowed that there were latches that would need to be undone. She found them and lifted the suddenly collapsible chair. Something metal scraped against her bumper and she cursed. It had left a mark! Now she was really in a foul mood; rude client, Ben lying about the job and now her car was scratched!
Robin climbed behind the wheel, refusing to look at Jason. “Where to?” He pulled out a cell phone and checked the time before answering.
“Head to the main campus. I’ll direct you from there.”
“Which main campus?”
“UC. “ He raised a surprised brow that she didn’t know. He put on headphones and proceeded to ignore her for most of the ride.
Robin was not particularly happy to navigate through the congested early morning traffic as Jason directed her through the maze of buildings. She would have to draw a map in order to find him again! He directed her to a parking spot, scowling again because she didn’t have a handicap sign. Silently she retrieved the bulky wheelchair from the trunk. Jason had already unbuckled himself and had his feet positioned on the ground. He stood without her assistance, using the door to steady himself.
She came around to the side of him with the chair and he turned his body and again flopped down into it. “Okay, can you take it from here?” She asked, already counting down the seconds when she could be done with him for a while.
He eyed her.
“I can wheel you inside if you want-”
“God…” He sighed in exasperation. “You aren’t dropping me off. You’ll be spending the day with me.”
She frowned at him in disbelief. “I-uh…I thought-”
“What? That you’d just drop me off and go off somewhere and do your own thing and still get paid? No, you are my aide for the entire shift.” Her heart dropped as she glanced nervously at the other students moving about. She did not want to be here—more, she didn’t want to be here with this asshole!
Swallowing back her disappointment and trying not to become anxious, Robin wheeled him to the entrance of the building. Jason suddenly stopped the chair by gripping the wheels. He turned his head to look at her. He had a frown on his face and his muscles jerked so much that it caused his unkempt hair to flop around him.
“You do know why I need an aide, right?”
Robin did not want to answer that question and appear even more clueless then she already felt. Yet she did need the answer to that simple question.
“No. No one explai-”
“Damnit.” He turned back in his seat, straining to look at her. “I don’t have time for this.” He was back to being annoyed which made his speech even more slurred and hard to understand, and his movements even more jerky and spastic. She wanted to roll her eyes and was on the verge of telling him to just shove it!
He was digging for his cell phone. “I have seizures; about two a day—maybe less maybe more. I need you to help me with my seizures, help me with my books and my laptop. I can do pretty much everything on my own. But if I have a seizure then I do need someone with me. Um, mind coming around in front of me so that I don’t crane my neck looking at you?”
Robin moved from behind his chair to stand in front of him. People looked at them curiously. He was jabbing at his phone. “The duration of a seizure is anywhere from one minute to three. They don’t hurt me, but sometimes I’m tired afterwards—Hello? I need to speak to the manager in charge. This is Jason Hamilton. “
He ignored her momentarily as he focused on his call. She felt stupid, just standing there as people moved around them. UC was a huge campus and a guy with Cerebral Palsy in a wheelchair and a black girl standing in front of him looking like a kid about to be punished by her parent…it just garnered a lot of attention.
“Who am I speaking to? Mary Louise. This is Jason Hamilton. JASON.” He said distinctly, obviously attempting to control his enunciation. He talked as if his tongue was half a second behind the movement of the rest of his mouth. “Yeah…I’m not doing very well at all Mary Louise. Pinnacle lied to me.” Robin’s eyes widened. She listened intently to the one-sided conversation.
“First you took my m-money promising that you could do ALL of the th-things I asked.” He stuttered a bit, face turning red. He suddenly sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes, seeming to gain a bit more control of the movement of his neck and the jerking of his head and facial muscles. “Oh yes, it was a lie. You didn’t have an assistant lined up for me. You threw this…inexperienced girl into the job, probably lying to her the same way that you lied to me.”
His eyes flashed. “Mary Lou-Louise, don’t patronize me! I’ve already missed a week and one day of school, I’m late today and it’s all Pinnacle’s fault! You will be crediting me for the loss of my time.” He sighed. “The only thing I want to hear from you is, ‘Yes, Mr. Hamilton.’” He snorted. “Then I’ll just stay with the state or I’ll just keep looking elsewhere-” Jason suddenly looked at Robin. “Fine. That’s acceptable. Robin needs a course in seizure emergencies if she’s going to assist me.”
Robin tried not to stare but couldn’t help it now that the conversation had turned to her. “As soon as possible or she’s no good to me. Because I can get the Access bus to drive me around—but I NEED someone who knows how to handle seizure emergencies.” He listened quietly. “That’s not good enough. No. I need you to tell me something today. Find out today and call me back this evening. Let me make sure we understand each other; You are crediting me two full days—today and yesterday, you’re providing Robin with training in a certified seizure emergency course. No. That’s not good enough. Oh my god, you should know this! Contact the Epilepsy Foundation, or the National Institute of Neurological disorders and they will tell you exactly where—”
He winked at her suddenly and she almost jumped. A slow smile crossed his lips. “Thank you, Mary Louise. I don’t mean to be an ass, but this is…a job for others; for me this is my life.” He disconnected the call and replaced it in his pocket. He gave her an intent look.
“Okay, so I guess your boss will be contacting you to set up training.” She nodded stunned. He had handled himself so well; better than she ever had with Pinnacle…and he made a good point. Obviously he had every right to be aggravated because to her this was a job that she’d leave behind at the end of the day. But this was his life.
Chapter 7
Robin felt guilty for her impatience. She moved back to push his chair but he had already begun rolling himself to the entrance. She hit the automatic door opener for him and followed him silently down several hallways.
They reached a set of double doors and Jason stopped abruptly. “Please don’t disrupt class. If you have questions then write them out on paper. As soon as we get inside I will need for you to get my backpack from behind my chair and set up my laptop.”
Set up his laptop?
“If you have a cell phone then set it to vibrate. If I have a seizure, don’t panic, I will tell you what to do. Got it?” She nodded, nervous at the instructions he gave
She moved ahead of him and opened the door. She could hear the voice of a male teacher who paused to watch her as she stepped inside of the auditorium, using her body to hold the door for Jason to wheel inside.
Her face burned as the attention fell on her. It was a large auditorium and she calculated that there was close to seventy bodies there…all focused on her. And then Jason wheeled inside, and they one-by-one dismissed her as they recognized a routine.
A tall, white-haired man looked over his glasses at Jason and continued his lecture. Jason moved to the front of the room. Robin would have definitely moved to the back, but the back was up on risers…
He locked his wheelchair in place directly in front of a long table that looked like it was used for nothing more than to hold books and other things that no one needed. No one else sat at the table and it awkwardly positioned Jason at the front of the class; away from the rest of the students. But, she supposed he needed the space for his laptop.
He gave her a look and she jumped into action, grabbing his heavy book bag that had been hanging behind his chair. She put it on the table in front of him and waited for him to unzip it and retrieve the laptop. He handed her the power cord and gestured where she should plug it. Once that was done he ignored her. Another student gestured to a spare chair and she smiled her thanks and pulled it up next to Jason.
Robin listened quietly. But she had no idea what was going on, or what the teacher was talking about. She heard phrases like ‘analyzing diversity’, and ‘rational argument’. She wondered what those things meant in connection with the types of classes she was familiar with from High School. She just watched Jason typing up his notes; his fingers pecking out quickly. The teacher talked a lot but so did the students, including Jason. He was a constant contributor to the conversation, but again, the topic was completely out of her realm of understanding.
Was she really expected to sit through his classes with him every day? Not to mention the fact that she was hungry. She’d only had coffee all day, which led to her next dilemma; she had to pee! And what was she supposed to do if Jason had a seizure? He would have two a day. Maybe he wouldn’t do that until after her shift was over. She prayed that she could end this hellacious day without any further embarrassment. Then she intended to get her shift changed back to some little old man or lady where all she needed to do was give them medicine and maybe make them something to eat!
No bell rang, but about twenty minutes later the teacher dismissed the class, reminding them about an upcoming writing assignment. After unplugging his laptop she replaced his backpack behind the wheelchair. He led them out of the class and several students high fived him. He ignored her as he took a few minutes to joke with them. They looked at her curiously, if they looked at her at all, and when he was done with his friends he just moved on towards the next class, never introducing her.
She was quiet for a while as she followed, but then curiosity got the better of her.
“Jason?”
“Yep?”
“What class was that?”
“That was a humanities class.” He said blandly. “Western philosophy.” He looked at her. “How old are you?”
She hesitated. “Twenty-one.”
“You never went to college?”
“No.” She fidgeted with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. “How old are you?” She asked as an after-thought.
“Nineteen.”
“Is this your first year of college?”
“Second.”
“So, what’s the next class?”
“Business.”
“Um, Jason, I need to use the restroom.”
He didn’t respond for a moment and she was just about to repeat herself when he finally spoke. “You’re going to make me late for class. You should have said something earlier.”
Yeah and he should have introduced her, and he should accept the fact that she did have biological needs! “I’ll be quick, I promise.” She craned her head searching for the facilities.
“Follow me.”
They rounded a corner and she saw the female facilities and hurried to it. “Be right back!” She yelled over her shoulder.
She didn’t dally and when she returned he was listening to his headset again, bobbing his head to the beat of some unheard song. When he saw her, he began wheeling down the hall, forcing her to hurry in order to catch up.
The business class was incredibly boring, but at least there were several good looking guys that she could peek at since he wasn’t positioned at the head of the class. After that, they could finally stop for lunch. Her stomach was a big empty hole!
The cafeteria had a smoking and non smoking area, and then further there was an upper and a lower level. It was huge. He went right to the hot food line while she tried to take in everything to decide what she wanted to eat. She caught up with him. Man was he good at ignoring her. She reached for a tray and he looked at her.
“Are you going to eat?”
“I was planning to, why? Am I not allowed because I’m on your time?” She replied sarcastically.
“I don’t use a tray, too hard to maneuver a wheelchair if I’m carrying one.”
“Oh.” She said sheepishly.
“But since you’re carrying one then just put my things on it, too.” He pointed out things that he wanted; ham sandwich, potato chips, pudding, and a fountain coke. She got a cheeseburger and fries and a fountain drink as well.
She was sliding the tray down the aisle and reaching into her purse. “I got it.” He pulled out a wallet and then withdrew a card with the UC logo on it. She thanked him; surprised at the kindness.
“What’s up, Top?” A girl with punk hair was working the cash register. “Got any new mixes?” She asked while ringing up their order.
“I’m working on something.”
“Oooo.” She scanned his card. “What is it?”
“And you know I don’t tell anyone what I’m working on-”
The girl looked at Robin. “You can tell me, I won’t blab.” The request was directed at her and not him. Robin gave her a confused look.
Jason just chuckled and rolled away, leaving her to follow behind with the tray. What in the hell were they talking about? Top? She’d called him Top. Was that his nickname?
He wheeled up to a table with other students and Robin’s step faltered. Normally at lunch she would find a corner where she could be alone and read a book. Being around crowds had always caused her to clam up. She ignored the knot forming in her stomach and followed her client. She saw another student in a wheelchair but he didn’t seem to have any problems controlling his muscles the way Jason did. He was joking and talking loudly without any slurring.
“Hey, Top.”
“What’s up, Link.” They slapped hands.
“You got one hundred thousand eight hits on the More Love mix!” A guy with hair as long as Jason’s spoke.
“I saw that this morning!” Jason said in excitement. “Dude I’m hyped!” He looked at Robin and his eyes were bright and happy. “Put the tray down and pull up a chair.”
She placed his food in front of him and no one paid much attention to her. She just wanted to stay out of the way. They were young, animated white kids that didn’t even look at her. She ate her burger quietly and tried to pay only enough attention to Jason so that she could be sure that he wasn’t choking.
There were a total of eight people present. Link was in a wheelchair. She didn’t know the name of the other guy, the one with the long hair. Then there were two girls; one had the same disorder that Jason had but she wasn’t in a wheelchair. She didn’t have an aid either. The other girl was very butch and it was hard to tell that she was even female. The other students left one by one; their vacant chairs filled with different butts. However the three original people seemed a bit closer to Jason; almost like they were in a club.