The Crab, The Boy And The Apple

The Crab, The Boy And The Apple

Chapter 1

It was a good day today. It was a good day today because the warm summer sun was shining on my smiley face, a gentle breeze was at my back, it was the last week of school and my dad was walking me to school. It was a good day. Dad didn't walk me to school too often. He worked a lot. Most times mom would drive me.

In the car Joseph, buckle up to save a life she would say. Then mom would turn on the car radio to some old time gospel music station and just like that; unbuckle your seat belt Joseph and just like that we were at school. About the only conversation we would have was mom checking to see if I did my homework the night before. Mom didn't talk much maybe because she was always on her cell phone with her job. Mom was a boss of something and she was always telling people what to do.

But with dad walking me to school it was different. Some times dad would race me for a short distance. I would win most times. I'm really fast for a ten year old. Other times dad would give me piggy back rides. He would be my horsy and I would be the shining knight in armor. It was on walks like this that dad and I would talk man to man; I mean son to man. On this particular day while dad was walking me to school as we passed the same little trees that we would always pass; I noticed the ground beneath me filled with what looked to be hundreds little tiny apples in all different hues of red and green. It felt like I was walking on little tiny peas, little tiny peas squashing underneath my feet. Only there was a sweet aroma in the air and they bled purple as if the trees was dying. I picked a few up for a closer look. I then offered a few, only the biggest and nicest for my dad.

"Here dad these are for you," I said joyfully holding out a handful.

"Where'd you get these Joseph, off the ground? You didn't eat any of them?" He asked concerned. "Do you know what these are?

"Little apples." I said

"How about Crab apples." Dad answered laughing at my response.

"Crab apples." I repeated. "Can we eat them?"

"No don't do that Joseph. That'll make you sick." Dad paused for a moment looking upwards. "That reminds me," he said

"Reminds you of what dad?" I asked.

"I had a friend. He was a bully and he tried to eat those crab apples like you a long time ago.

Confused I asked, "How could you be friends with a bully. Were you a bully to?"

I immediately began to remember the bully in our school. How he would pick with every one in school, even me at times. But I was safe with dad walking me to school. He would never bother with me now. The sad part about that was, that dad couldn't walk me to school all the time.

"Well it's a long story," said dad.

"We got a little time dad. Tell me about it, please...




The Crab, The Boy And The Apple

Chapter 2

I think I was about your age; just a little taller and a little heavier. Let's say about five, eight weighing in at one thirty five.

"Wow dad, you were a beast at ten," Joseph his son responded.

"That may have been how I became Friends with Arnold Jorworski.

"Arnold Jorworski," Joseph repeated.

"Yea, We called him A.J. For short", said dad

"Was he a big kid dad?" Joseph asked trying to imagine his dad at the age of ten.

"He was about five eleven weighing in at about a hundred and fifty five."

"Gee's ! He was a student ? Could he fit in a classroom desk or did he need a special one?"

"Yea, he sat in a regular desk. He just couldn't get up that quick. As a matter of fact, we used to walk to school every morning on a street much like this one."

Joseph was trying to imagine the clothes his dad wore back then and the games he played on the way to school.

"So dad you were saying that your friend A.J. tried to eat some of these little tiny?"

Yea, one day we were on our way to school and just like you A.J. Picked up a handful of these and offered them to me.

"Hey John Roberts how about a few of these tiny apples."

"Naw man I don't think you should eat those."

"Why not?" A.J. Roared back. "Little tiny apples the breakfast of champions," he laughed.

"They're not apples," I said.

"Then what are they Mr. Know it all Roberts ?"

"Crab apples." I said

"Says who?"

"That's what my grandmother told me."

"Crab apples little tiny apples. What's the difference. Sure you don't want any? Hey look at me I'm Johnnie apple seed," he said doing a funny dance. Because of his size dancing didn't become him.


"A.J. I wouldn't eat those. You might end up getting sick," I said.

"Sick shmick, I'm hungry. Be a chicken if you want. I'm eating some of these apples.

That day when we got to school A.J. Was his regular self. In class whenever he could, he would make little jokes under his breath just under the teachers hearing. He would try pulling the students chairs out from underneath them when they weren't looking. He would Tak the pencils and erasers of other students; arguing that they were his. If anyone would dare to tell the teacher, it was a sure thing that A.J. would see them at lunch time and do a lot more than take there lunch. One time I saw A.J. Pick a kid up with one arm by the front of his shirt, he wasn't even mad when he did it.

"Did A.J. Ever take your lunch or beat you up?" Joseph answered; bringing his father back to the present.

"No A.J. Never beat me up. We were friends. He never took my lunch maybe because I would give it to him before he would ask if I thought he wanted it. I guess I kind of felt sorry for him."

"sorry for him?" Joseph asked; finding that hard to believe.

"You see when you're big like A.J., it's hard finding friends."

"Hard!"

"Yea, hard. People usually tease you when you're different. They make fun of you. Sometimes like in A.J.s case they can be just plain scared of you and talk about behind your' back not having anything to do with you."

"Which did you do at first?"

"Neither! You see A.J. Was really a nice guy underneath it all. It's just that nobody ever gave him a chance. But little did A.J. Know that things were about to change for him. I guess today was the beginning of the first day of the rest of his life.


The Crab, The Boy And The Apple

Chapter 3

"It was the end of the school day," dad went on to say…

"All we could hear was the clang clang clanging sound of lockers opening and closing. The swooshing of book bags being tossed over shoulders, put onto backs. The end of the school day suddenly had the smell of a huge gym and orange school busses were everywhere. But A.J. and I were walking home. We were making our break.

On the way home we passed by those same crabapple trees.

"Hey Johnnie Appleseed, how about a few more little tiny apples," I said playfully tossing a few A.J.s way.

"No, I'm full. It must have been all those lunches I took at lunch time," said A.J. Rubbing his stomach "As a matter of fact I'm thirsty, if you really want to know the truth. Hey, let' go by that little lake in the park.

"I though you hated that lake. You always said it was so dirty.”

"But the water smells so fresh."

"A.J. What are you talking about? Who smells water?"

Once amid the greenery of the park by the lake, A.J. Acted as if he had never seen this lake before. It took us forever to leave, to finally make our way to my house. There we would listen to music and get an after school snack. All the way home I kept hearing this clicking noise that seemed to be coming from A.J.. It was a sound as if someone was sucking on their tongue from the inside of there back teeth.

“What’s that noise?” I would ask.

“What noise,” A.J. would respond.

But before long we were at the house. We immediately went to the kitchen.

“So what will it be today?” I asked A.J. preparing to make a monster sandwich.

“I don’t know. I just want some water,” said A.J. going over to the sink bending, over drinking the water right from the specked.

“You might want to get a glass,” I said jokingly. “A big glass!” I watched A.J. drink as if he had just came off a desert.

“I’m just so thirsty.” A.J. responded

“So I see. Are you O.K.?” I asked. “You look a little off color and sweat and it’s really not that hot outside.”

“Yea, I’m good. Just thirsty,” he said only momentarily lifting his head up from the sink coming up for air.

Suddenly without warning A.J. blurted out. “Got to go to the bathroom.”

‘I guess so,’ I thought to myself. ‘All that water he’s been drinking, it’s a wonder he just didn’t swim upstairs to the bathroom.’

After a few moments of A.J. being upstairs I heard water running. It had been running for a few moments as if someone was preparing to take a bath. I thought that that was strange but my boyish hunger overrode my curiosity of what was going on up stairs; that is until I heard this loud splashing sound. I went upstairs to see. Not knowing what to expect; not knowing that what I was about to see would change my opinion of A.J. forever.



The Crab, The Boy And The Apple

Chapter 4


I had gone up those stairs a million times. How could I have planed for this one more time up the stairs? The closer I got to the top of the stairs the louder and the more violent the splashing sound was coming from the bath room. I could see small pools of clear water peering out from underneath the bathroom door. I heard this clicking sound; a sound as if someone was sucking on their tongue from the inside of there back teeth. It was louder and louder still until I flung open the door of the bathroom. There before me was the unspeakable, the unthought-of the impossible. There was A.J. fully clothed flailing around in a tub full of water.

“A.J.! What in the heck are you doing? What is wrong with you? Are you O.K?”

When I looked closer I noticed that his skin was starting to change colors. There was a green tint to him. His shoes were on the floor beside the tub as if they were just kicked off and his hands and his feet were twisting into claws right in front of my eyes, crab type claws.

“A.J.! A.J.!” I screamed frozen in terror.

Instead of a voice, I discovered for the first time where that clicking sound was coming from. It was A.J. Between that clicking sound and a few high pitch screeches this was his new voice. His eyes now black and beady, were now sad eyes helplessly watching me; as I watched his entire body shrivel up into a shell like casing and submerge completely underneath the water.
As if it wasn’t enough to see a five eleven, one hundred and fifty five pound frame of my best friend shrink into a large crab about three feet in diameter weighing about fifty pounds; I heard the front door of the house open. And then even a greater fear became a reality. My Mom was home.

“Hello John. I see you are home. Is that you and A.J. up there?”

“Oh hi mom. Is dad with you? Why are you home so early?” I shouted down the stairs; looking for something to put A.J. in.

“Don’t tell me you are taking a bath. What happened at school? Were you and A.J. playing some sports?”

“Oh yea mom. We were trying out for the team.”

“What team John? The football team?

“Yea mom the football team,” I nervously answered. With one great swoop I grabbed what was once A.J. up in a very large towel and ran to my room and slammed the door shut. It was at that point that A.J. let out with a very high pitch screech as if fearful as to where he was going.

“John, I have told you a hundred times about running in the house. This is not a football field; coming out of that bathroom like that you could very easily fall and hurt yourself. What was that screaming sound?”

“Oh nothing mom, that was just the sound of my wet bear feet across the floor.”


I waited until I was sure my mom had gone into the kitchen.

“John, how many times have I told you and A.J. to clean up after yourselves for these after school parties?

“Oh mom speaking of A.J. he left the keys to his house up in my room and I have to run and give them to him before he gets too far. I’ll be back in a bit mom. I said darting down the steps and out the door with A.J. wrapped up in a large towel tucked close to my chest.


The Crab, The Boy And The Apple

Chapter 5

I ran straight out the house down the street for several blocks away before I stopped to catch my breath and even consider where I was going and what I was going to do when I got there.

‘The zoo!’ I thought to myself, ‘A fifty pound crab once boy could be quite a spectacle. But who would ever believe that A.J. was once a boy. Could this have been because he was a bully? Or maybe was it because of those stupid crab apples? I was scared and to be honest I really didn’t care what the reason was. All I knew was that my best friend is now a monstrous crab and it wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair.

All that time running I suddenly noticed that A.J. was motionless with the exception of a tiny shiver from time to time. It was if he was as scared as I. The clicking sound was a small tapping sound. His eyes were still sad. Before I knew it was back at the lake in the park. It was there I put A.J. down for the first time, on the bank by the lake. Once on the bank A.J. walked or should I say crawled toward the bank. Stopped for a moment. Looked back at me, as if to say thanks and disappeared into the lake. I wanted to jump in the lake and get him but what would I do take him home to his parents. What would I tell them. 'Oh her's your new son, the giant crab! I sat on that bank most of the evening. I sat so long that I could actually smell the water like A.J. had mentioned earlier. I sat so long that is was almost dark before I realized I had to go home.

Once home I went straight to my room. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t watch T.V. I could barely sleep. I heard a knock at my bed room door.

“Come in.” It was mom.

“Just came in to check on you. We noticed that you didn’t come down for
Dinner.

“Is dad home?”

“Yes he is. I’ll tell him you asked about him. Is
everything alright?”

“Yea, it’s O.K.

“Are you sure?” mom asked; stroking the back of my neck.

“Mom have you ever hurt a friend by accident?”

“Well most times we hurt people, it’s by accident. I don’t think that people
purposely go around wanting to hurt each other.

“Well you see mom, I have this friend of a friend who has a friend and this friend
Has a friend who is a bully, a nice bully. Sometimes he’s mean to people.”

“Let me get this right a nice bully who is mean to people who is your best friend. Could this by chance be you friend A.J.?

“No mom a friend of a friend.”

“O.K. I get it.

“Mom it’s just that being his best friend I should have told him that bullying people around was wrong.

"It sounds to me that you got it all figured out for your friend of a friend. If I were you the next time I saw A.J. I would tell him what you just told me."

"Thanks mom."

"You welcome baby. Your dad will be in soon to say good night. Oh and I didn't tell him about the mess you and A.J. Left in the kitchen and the upstairs bathroom."


The Crab, The Boy And The Apple

Chapter 6

That night I didn't sleep at all. The stripy patterns on the walls of my bed room danced around laughing at me. Desperately I prayed like crazy asking God to keep A.J. Safe and to please turn him back into a boy by morning. The first thing that I'm going to do when I see him is to tell him to stop bulling people around. That maybe if he can learn how to be nicer to people maybe, just maybe more good will happen to him.

The next morning, Saturday instead of my usual Captain Crunch and cartoons, I ran right out the door headed for the lake to see if A.J. was O.K. There weren’t that many people out that early in the morning. I guess that was a good thing. I mean what if he is still a gabby crabby. That click-ing sound he made was interesting but I would rather want to hear him call me by name like only he does.

“Yo Roberts’,” he would say. He would always call me by my last name.

Entering the park I could smell the water again. How strange. The grass beneath my feet was still wet with morning due. The birds were singing loudly, as if giving each other wake up calls. The lake was just in front of me. I was looking for a good size boy sitting on the bank, or on a near by rock but instead I had another surprise. Before me stood a great big giant turtle; I had never seen a turtle that large in my life. I didn’t even know that turtles that size could exist in this small park. The turtle had to be about three feet high on all fours, weighting about eighty pounds. It was a giant snapping turtle with this huge hook like beak groping in the air. He looked like he had just got through eating breakfast. ‘Oh No!’ I thought to myself, breakfast, A.J. I didn’t see A.J. anywhere. I tried to shoo the giant turtle away. I threw stones at it. I threw sticks at it but it just stood there staring at me. Lucky for me it was as slow as it was big. I quickly ran around the giant snapping turtle to the other side of the lake. With my shoes still on, I jumped in the lake I waded through the water up to my waste. Periodically I would put my face down in the dirty water to see if I could catch a glimpse of A.J. crawling. “A.J.!” I shouted each time I came up for air; Hoping that some how he would hear me and answer. Before I knew it I was literally swimming around in the lake fully clothed. I didn’t ever think that I would see A.J. again. ‘What would I tell his mother’, thought to myself. Surely he’s missed by now. What would I tell the kids in school? Then suddenly out of nowhere I heard this familiar voice.

“Yo Roberts, why are you swimming in this dirty lake with all you clothes on?”

It was A.J. he was sitting on top of a rock in the middle of the pond. His clothing was ripped and torn and filled with grass stains. But to me he looked like Mr. America

“A.J. Oh my God. You’re O.K. You’re O.K, I said finding my way to this rock in the middle of the lake.

“Of course I’m O.K. I just want to know why am I out here on this rock. And where did that giant snapping turtle come from.

“You know A.J. you really have to stop taking peoples lunches. You have to stop being a bully. You know I’m your best friend and I would never tell you anything wrong or un-cool. But a lot of people like you for who you are. They would like you so much more if you didn’t beat them up and stuff. I just want good things to happen to you in life A.J. Good things, just good things. Please believe me.

"Roberts’, what are you talking about?" Said A.J. Scratching some sea weed from his head. "But maybe I will stop taking people lunches. I think they made me sick. Or was it those little crab apples. Either way I wont be eating any of those again..."

When I came to myself my own son James was looking at me in astonishment.

“Wow dad that was an awesome story. Was it true?

“The part about the crab apples or the part about the bully?”

“I don’t know. Was any of it true?

“Do you believe in bullies?”

“No.”

“Do you think that it’s O.K. to eat crab-apples

“No.”

Good then. Look! Here we are at school.