HOW I MET CHIP "CHIPPER" (MY BEST FRIEND) INTRO
By Cody Matthew James III

The story you are about to read is based on a true story about myself. 
As I grew up I had a few accidents in the first few years of my life 
that changed my life forever. At 3 years old I split my scalp open 
while playing with my older brother. When I was five, I knocked out my 
upper and lower front teeth while playing on a jungle gym. At six I 
fell into my bedroom window while I was playing with our dog and nearly 
cut my arm off below the shoulder. That accident left me my right arm 
with very little feeling and limited movement of my lower arm and right 
hand, and I was born right-handed. The doctors had told my mom I would 
need extensive physical therapy and more surgery after I was older. My 
mom knew she could never afford the cost of the surgeries and physical 
therapy I would need for the next few years, so she relinquished me to 
the custody of the child welfare department.

By this time my mom was divorced the second time and was supporting my 
brother, sister and me. My mom was looking for a job and a new husband 
after I turned seven. I remember the day I left home to go live in my 
first foster home after I had just turned seven, and how I was taken 
from my home screaming and fighting all the way. From age seven to 
fifteen years old, I spent those years of my life in three foster 
homes, one children's home, and a boy's home. The boy's home, and a 
friend I'll call Chip had the greatest influence on my life. Without 
the help and understanding from the counselors at the boys' home, and 
Chipper, I would not be writing this story today. I most likely would 
have ended up dead from a beating, or from a shoot out with the cops. I 
went from being one of the most despised boys in the boys home to being 
voted most improved and likable by all the boys and staff there towards 
the end of my stay.

The last of my big accidents happened while I was living at the 
children's home. It was there I was run over by a flatbed truck, over 
my stomach and groin when I was ten years old. It was then that I lost 
control over my bladder and was temporally paralyzed from my waist down 
for a few weeks. The doctors said it was a kind of spinal cord shock 
and they hoped I would recover which I did… with one exception. I 
didn't know from which point I was going to start telling my story 
until I remembered the first time I saw Chip.

It was the first day of class in the sixth grade for me, and I remember 
that day very well. In this story I will often reminisce about the 
previous years in my life, and how they influenced me. Growing up in 
foster homes, and other homes is hard on a kid, and being shipped 
around to new homes especially when you are going through puberty will 
mess up a kid quicker then anything else, I moved to the boys' home the 
day after I got out of the fifth grade, and it was the start of a long 
hot summer for me. I had one mean temper and thanks to Chip, the boys 
home, and a counselor I will name Tommy, I learned to control it, but 
it took time.

(All the names of the people in this story have been changed to protect 
their identities. The dates and names of the places were also changed.)

CMJ III

P.S. I am A.D.H.D. and typed these stories with mainly my left hand. 
(Like Tommy told me, nothing is impossible.) (THANKS ALEX FOR 
EVERYTHING)

HOW I MET CHIP "CHIPPER" Chapter 1 (MY BEST FRIEND) By Cody Matthew 
James III

This would be the 7th school I attended since I started going to school 
in kindergarten. I was hoping I would be able to finish the 6th grade 
with no more interruptions. The bus came to a stop in front of a group 
of teachers in front of the office. As we got off the bus, a teacher 
was telling the students, "Those with last names starting with A thru N 
I want you over here, and those with last names starting with O thru Z 
I want those students over there." As the students started separating 
into two lines, I found myself nearly at the end of a very long line. 
First day of school I thought to myself. I wonder if I will get a 
female teacher or a male teacher this year. I liked the male teachers 
the best. They seemed to be less strict then the female teachers I have 
had in the past. I looked down the long row of students in front of me 
and counted about 70 students. It's going to be awhile before I get my 
room assignment I thought.

The sun was now beating down hard on me on that hot September morning 
and I was starting to get thirsty. NOT NOW, I said to myself, you don't 
need any water yet. The school day has not even started I said to 
myself. I was trying to limit my water intake so I could make it at 
least until lunch before I needed to have my diaper changed. I looked 
at the mountains to my left and noticed how clear they seemed to be. I 
could even see the fire road I hiked up with some of the other boys 
from Mark Allen boy's home two weeks ago. The air was so clear I could 
see the area where we had eaten our lunch that day. How I wished I was 
still up there, smelling that beautiful pine scent. It was a good hike 
that day, and our counselor (Tommy) at Mark Allen boys home said he 
might start a hiking club this year if enough boys were interested. I 
told Tommy I would be the first to sign up if he had the paper to start 
a list. Hiking was one of the only things I could do really well. I 
played a little football at the boy's home, but being small and skinny, 
but fast, the only position I liked to play was receiver. I caught 
about half the throws to me, but when I caught them, it was only with 
my left hand. It had been almost seven years since I had my accident 
with my right arm. 'GOD' how I wished I hadn't fallen into that plate 
glass window I thought. I could be playing football with two good arms 
instead of one. Maybe I might have even liked playing baseball too, if 
I had two good hands. I looked at my right arm, it was there but it had 
very little function left in it. It just took up space between my 
shoulder and my fingers. I had very little movement and sensation left 
in my right arm and fingers now, and being born right-handed had made 
it that much harder for me to write left handed now.

I had just turned six when I was playing with our one-year-old German 
Shepard puppy named Pepper, when I climbed onto his doghouse in the 
back yard of our house. I lost my balance and fell into the glass 
window of my bedroom and slid down the outside of the house while the 
razor sharp glass cut through my skin, muscles, nerves and tendons. I 
lost so much blood, that my heart had stopped beating in the ambulance 
on the way to the hospital. Only the fast thinking by the paramedics 
kept me alive. So much damage was done to my right arm that it took two 
more surgeries to get my arm to the point where I can lift it almost 
above my head now, and the doctor said I would need physical therapy 
for a while and maybe more surgery. I looked toward the line and 
realized the line had moved about five feet since I had been 
daydreaming. I moved up quickly so I would not be embarrassed by 
holding up the line. As I strained to hear, I could hear the teachers 
at the table in the front of the line saying, "Last name first, First 
name last". There were about thirty students ahead of me now when I 
felt my pants getting warmer in the front and crotch. I was hoping I 
could make it at least until lunch before I totally soaked my diaper. I 
didn't have that much to drink at breakfast in the dining hall at the 
boy's home this morning, or so I thought. Well this means I will be 
seeing Miss Barns the school nurse earlier then I thought.

The line was moving more quickly now, and as I grew closer to the table 
I was practicing to myself James......Cody....…….. James.....Cody When 
I got to the table, the teacher looked into my eyes and said, "Last 
name, and first name" I said in a whisper, "James Cody." "I WANT YOUR 
LAST NAME FIRST....FIRST NAME LAST" she seemed to be screaming at me, 
"James is my last name, and Cody is my first name" I told the teacher 
as she looked at me.

"Oh then let's see........................... James , Cody …………….Room 
12A" she said, then wrote the room number down on a card with my name 
JAMES - CODY RM. 12A TEACHER- MR. MARKSON.

"When your class starts, you will need to give this card to your 
teacher," she said. As I looked at the card I thought to myself, good I 
got a male teacher this year. I followed some of the other students 
hoping they were going in the right direction, they looked like they 
were 6th graders like me, but they were much taller then me. Being 13 
years old and only in the 6th grade was a little embarrassing for me, 
but being only four foot 1 inch tall, some of my former class mates had 
thought I had skipped a couple of grades, until they found out how old 
I really was. That was not going to happen this time at this school, as 
far as I was concerned, I was only eleven years old like every one 
else, and short for my age. If anyone asked me, I was going to tell 
them I was born in 1979 and totally forget about 1977. Right now as far 
as I was concern, I was a small 11-year-old 6th grader. As I turned the 
corner of the first set of rooms, I noticed the sign: "Main Office and 
Nurse's Office'

As I looked at the sign, I felt my crotch getting warmer, and I figured 
I better make my way to the nurse's office now so I can change my 
diaper before it started leaking. As I walked down the hallway, I 
looked up at the numbers over the top of the doors and noticed they 
were getting smaller. Well I guess my room is in the other direction. 
As I got to the end of the hallway, I saw the door to the nurse's 
office. I reached down for the doorknob when all of a sudden the door 
opened and a female teacher started to come out. She stopped and stared 
at me and asked me were I thought I was going. I told her I needed to 
see the nurse.

"Why do you need to see her now, do you have an upset stomach on the 
first day of school?" she asked me sarcastically.

"I... I...I. just need to see the nurse" I told her.

"Well I don't think you need to see her now, SO get to your class NOW" 
I turned and headed back the way I had just come from. I could feel my 
diaper sagging lower now and wondered if it would last at least until 
the first recess break.

It seemed liked I had walked a mile before I saw a number 12 above any 
of the doors. Let's see ....12D........12C.......12B......12A, Good, I 
was finally here. I looked at the large note tacked on the door, "CHECK 
THE BOARD AT THE FRONT OF THE ROOM FOR YOUR DESK ASSIGNMENT! Signed Mr. 
Markson As I looked in, I could see all the desks were arranged into 
rows of about six, and there were five desks in each row. Let's see 6 
times 5 equals 30. 30 students must be assigned to this classroom I 
thought to myself. As I peeked inside I looked toward the rear of the 
classroom, I notice about eight girls talking amongst themselves about 
something or another. I started to enter the classroom when a student 
flew by me and headed toward the seating chart posted on the board, I 
watched him skim over the seating arrangements from the bottom towards 
the top of the list, He stopped on the first row left and said under 
his breath.

"Not the front row again" He turned and saw me still standing near the 
door, and without saying a word, rushed past me and out of the 
classroom. I looked around the room again, and feeling the coast was 
clear, I headed to the chart to see where I was going to sit. As I 
checked out the chart, I didn't have far to go. I was the first desk in 
the 2nd row. I was glad that I was assigned to a front desk like they 
promised, I felt more secure, and it was less likely any one was going 
to bother me or harass me in the front row like they did in the 5th 
grade when I was sitting near the back of the classroom.

I made my way over to what I thought was my desk and sat down. I was 
ready for the start of 6th grade I hoped. I had my notebook, pens and 
pencils ready. Maybe this year would be a lot better then last year, 
The school bell rang and I looked up at the clock. It was only 10 
minutes before eight. I was told that class started at eight sharp, so 
I guess I was a little early. Students were now coming into the 
classroom, and most were going straight for the seating chart on the 
board. I watched them as they checked the chart and went to their 
seats. It was almost two minutes of eight when the kid who rushed past 
me came in and took the seat to the left of me. I casually glanced in 
his direction to see what he looked like. As he sat there, he looked 
like he was over five feet tall. His hair was pure brown, straight, and 
cut across the front so he had bangs over his eyes. He had perfectly 
straight hair. How I wished my hair was straight like his and not 
curly. I always hated my hair. I took a second glance and noticed he 
was staring at me and checking me out from head to toe. I quickly 
pretended I was looking out the door so he would not think I was 
staring at him.

My timing was right as our teacher Mr. Markson was entering the room. 
He looked like he was about fifty years old and he was kind of short at 
about five foot five inch tall. He walked to a large desk at the rear 
of the classroom carrying a brief case that was worn and well beaten 
up. By the clothes he was wearing you would think he could afford a 
better briefcase. He was wearing a button-down yellow short sleeve 
shirt, and brown slacks that looked like they have never been worn 
before. I got a kick when I saw the shoes he was wearing; they were 
white and blue tennis shoes with red shoelaces. I think I'm going to 
like my new teacher I thought to myself.

"Okay new and returning students, I want you to pass the cards with 
your names on them to the front of each row, the cards the teacher gave 
you in front of the office building this morning. I will come by and 
pick them up in a minute, after you have done that, I want you to take 
out three pieces of paper for your first assignment of the new school 
year. When the students heard that all you could hear was Ahhh. Mr. 
Markson walked to the front of the class and started gathering the 
cards at the front of each row as he made his way from left to right. 
He put the cards in his shirt pocket and then picked up the board 
marker and wrote on the board: "SUMMER VACATION".

"Students I want you to write three pages on one of the following 
subjects: #1 WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION-------#2 WHAT I WANTED TO 
DO ON MY SUMMER VACATION---------#3 WHAT I THOUGHT I DID ON MY SUMMER 
VACATION or #4 WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION AND GOT AWAY WITH!" Mr. 
Markson said as he finished writing on the board, and eyed most of the 
students. When I saw the topics, I knew I was going to like having Mr. 
Markson for a teacher. I choose the third one because I knew I could 
easily write a thousand pages on the subject.

"You have about one hour forty five minutes to finish before your first 
break this morning. I will be calling each of you one at a time to my 
desk to talk to you. Now on the top of your papers, I want you to print 
your first name first and your last name last. Under that I want you to 
print your birthday, month, day, and year. Under that I want you to 
print your sex i.e. Male, Female, or Undetermined at this point of 
time, and I don't want to see any yes or no or I hope to some day 
answers," Mr., Markson said to us with a little smile on his face.

"Now for the first student I want to talk to………" I noticed the kid on 
my right start to sink lower in his seat.

"That's right, Chip Thompson, Come on downnnnn!!!" Well I now knew this 
kids name, and I guess Mr. Markson knew him pretty well too by the way 
he called his name out. As Chip got up, I felt my diaper start to warm 
up in the front again. I hope I can make it to recess before I need to 
have my Pamper changed. I started writing and when I got to the second 
line I wondered if Markson would be checking my birthday against any 
records he might have on me. I wrote 7-16-79 and continued with the 
rest of the assignment. I was temped to write, under sex, Not Now I 
have a headache, but I chickened out and just wrote male. I was about 
half way thru on my first page when Chip came back to his desk. I 
glanced at Chip and in a little whisper asked him what did Markson want 
to talk to us about?

"Oh a bunch of nothing" Chip said then he started working on the 
assignment. When I was just about finished with the second page, I was 
getting nervous because I was the next one to be called according to 
the way Markson was calling names. When I saw the girl in the last desk 
in Chip's row return to her desk, I knew I was up next!

"Cody James….or is it… James Cody, you're up! I got up and walked to 
the back of the room trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. I sat 
down in the chair next to his desk.

"Let's see your name is Cody Matthew James, right?' Markson asked me

"Yes" I said in a whisper.

"You were born on 7-16-77" and…..and you don't like peas at dinner 
time, and I see you hate the color pink" Markson said to me. After 
Markson made these statements to me, I could not help but to look him 
in the eye bashfully and say

"I hate peas anytime, and I don't mind pink as long as there are blue 
polka dots on it" Markson gave a little chuckle and continued

"You've had quite a few accidents in your life I see. You lost your 
hearing for awhile when you were two, you knocked out some teeth when 
you were five….and you fell through a window about six……….crack on your 
head at eight……. Where did Markson get this information on me I thought 
to myself? ……. and you were run over by a truck when you were about 
ten……. That's why you need…….so you haven't been wearing them too long? 
Markson said very quietly. When Markson made that statement to me I 
bowed my head a little and could feel my face turning red

"Yes" I said to him.

"You are thirteen years old, and held back about two years because of 
surgeries and physical therapy?

"Yes' I whispered, staring at the floor.

"When the recess bell rings, would you please stay here in the 
classroom so we can talk?" Mr. Markson asked me quietly.

"Well I need to…… well I….. I need to see the nurse first and then I 
can come back" I more or less asked Mr. Markson.

"I see. Then I will see you after that. You can return to your desk now 
Cody" I got up and was walking back to my desk when I heard "Kenny 
Walters, you're the next student I would like to meet" As I sat down at 
my desk, Chip looked at me for a second and asked what Markson talked 
to me about.

"Nothing much" I said When I said that to Chip, he looked me in the 
eye, and I guess that I knew at that point we were going to be best 
friends for the school year. As I sat there, I noticed Chip's nose was 
twitching every now and then. I was hoping it was not because of the 
smell of my wet diaper, but maybe because of the pollen in the air on 
this hot September morning. I had finished my paper and was going over 
it when the bell rang. The students were getting up and making for the 
door when I heard Mr. Markson say:" Hold on you animals, I want your 
papers on the top of your desk and put everything else under your 
seat……….then you made proceed outside and partake in some outdoor 
activities if you so wish."

It seemed to me that Mr. Markson had so many faces, that you never 
could tell what he was going to say or do next. I finished putting my 
notebook, and backpack under my seat and grabbed the blue sweater off 
the back of my chair and wrapped it around my waist just in case. I 
hurried out the door on my way to the nurse's office. When I cleared 
the doorway; I looked over my left shoulder and could see Chip leaning 
against a metal support pole that was holding up the roof over the 
walkway. He was casually eating an apple and his eyes followed me as I 
quickly walked down the hallway. As I turned the corner, I did a quick 
glance at him again and his eyes seemed to be following me until the 
next row of classrooms blocked his view. It felt like forever before I 
got to the nurse's office. I opened the door and walked in and saw the 
long counter in front of me. As I approached the counter, I heard a 
voice call out

"How may I help you?" I walked up to the counter and saw the nurse 
sitting behind her desk to the right of the examination table. When I 
saw her looking at me, the only thing I could think of saying:

" My….My Name Is…. Cody James, and I need something"

"And what do you need Cody James?" the nurse asked me.

"I was told to come here when I….I.. need to be…..changed"

"OH, you are Cody from Mark Allen boys home, aren't you?" she said as 
she got up from her desk and walked over to the counter.

"Yessss" I said

" Why don't you walk around the counter over there and I can help you 
get changed Cody." Miss Barns said with a large smile on her face. I 
turned and started walking along the counter while I took my sweater 
off from around my waist, and sat it on the counter. When I rounded the 
counter Miss Barns took my hand and led me over to the exanimation 
table. She turned me so my back was towards the examination table and 
reached under my armpits and lifted me up onto the table like I was a 
three year old. I was so embarrassed; I could feel my face was turning 
red. She reached up and ran her fingers through my hair. I felt a chill 
run down my back then she said: "I wish I had beautiful curly blond 
hair like yours, Cody."

My eyes slowly wondered up to see what she looked liked up close as I 
really didn't pay that much attention to her appearance until now. Her 
soft auburn shoulder length hair and hazel eyes reminded me so much of 
Sandy, the girl I fell madly in love with last year at Emerson 
elementary school. I guess it was a little too late for Sandy and me to 
get to know each other really good. Sandy and I started talking to each 
other about mid May and by the time school was out for the summer, we 
were kissing and holding hands. When the teachers saw us holding hands 
in the schoolyard, they would make us go to separate areas of the 
playground and try to keep us apart. She was the first girl that I 
thought wasn't yucky, and now it looked like Miss. Barns could have 
been Sandy's mother. Since I was taken out of the third foster home, I 
really missed Sandy. Now I was over thirty miles away from her now, and 
I missed her. Some people say you never forget your first true love and 
I will never forget Sandy.

"You stay right here Cody, and I'll be right back." I followed her 
every step as she walked around the table and headed to the walk-in 
closet at the rear of the room. When she got there, she turned on the 
light, lighting up the large closet. I watched as she disappeared for a 
moment and then appeared holding a white Pampers diaper and cloth 
canvas bag in her hand. I was hoping that when I was moved to the boys' 
home, I could at least wear a plain disposable diaper and not the 
Pampers diapers with the babyish prints on the front. Tommy, my cottage 
counselor told me, before school started this year, that if I wanted to 
wear disposable diapers at school, that I would have to wear Pampers 
because they still fit me and were about half the price of the other 
plain disposable diapers and the boys home could afford that. Otherwise 
I would have to wear a cloth diaper instead. I didn't want to wear a 
cloth diaper to school because I would have to take it back to the 
boy's home with me in a plastic bag on the school bus. That was the 
last thing I wanted to take home with me on a school bus was a, wet, 
smelly cloth diaper, so I opted for the Pampers diapers instead.

"Here you go Cody, now you can change yourself." Miss. Barns said as 
she handed me the diaper and my accessories bag. I took the diaper from 
her and set it down, and as I was about to take the bag, I looked up 
and said; I….I. can't ..do it all...by. . myself because of my…my arm.

"Oh, I totally forgot about your right arm Cody, I'm sorry. Here let me 
give you a hand" Miss Barns walked around to the right side of the 
table I was sitting on and placed the canvas bag down beside me on the 
table. She took my feet and lifted them over and placed them on the 
table.

"You'll will have to forgive me Cody, but this is the first time I have 
changed a boy your age, I mean, I changed my nephews' diapers over this 
past summer while I babysat him but he was only eighteen months old. I 
unbuckled my belt and unsnapped my pants, and then nervously lay down 
on my back and with my left hand, pushed my pants down as far as I 
could reach. Miss. Barns stood there while I struggled and then she 
reached over and took hold of my pants and slowly pulled them down to 
my ankles.

"I see you're wearing a bodysuit Cody, were you cold this morning?" she 
asked me as she unsnapped my shirt between my legs.

"No" I answered sheepishly

"I just wanted to make sure none of the other students found out what I 
was wearing at school" As she finished with the last snap, she pulled 
my body shirt up over onto my stomach and then pulled my blue plastic 
pants down my legs to my ankles. She unfastened the tapes holding my 
diaper on. I lifted my legs and rear up so she could take the diaper 
out from under me. As I held my rear up, Miss. Barns opened the canvas 
bag and took out one of my disposable changing pads and placed it under 
my rear. As I let my rear down on the pad Miss. Barns took out the tub 
of Pampers baby wipes and peeled of the protective plastic wrap 
covering the tub.

"These were the same type I used to clean my nephew with when I changed 
his diapers over the summer." Miss. Barns told me. I felt my face 
getting redder now as I imagined myself being eighteen months old again 
and laying on a dressing table with a baby bottle in my mouth and 
having my diaper changed.

"I read your medical report in your personal file a few days ago Cody 
and understand you were actually run over by the rear wheels of a 
truck? I'm surprised you weren't killed" My attention snapped back to 
where I was as I felt her lift my legs and rear up into the air and 
start cleaning my rear with the baby wipes.

"Well I kind of jumped off the back bed of the truck as it was going 
forward slowly and another bigger boy jumped off about a second earlier 
then me and I bounced off of him and landed on my back under the truck. 
Before I could get out of the way, the truck ran over my stomach and my 
hips. The doctor said I was really lucky that it was a stake bed truck 
with two tires on each side of the rear. He also said it was a good 
thing I was as skinny as I was or I might have been killed. The doctor 
said my liver, spinal cord and bladder were damaged and he didn't know 
if I would be able to walk normally again. I was in bed for over two 
weeks before I could barely stand on my feet. I had over three months 
of physical therapy before I could walk well again. I had to repeat 4th 
grade again and that's one of the reasons why I'm thirteen years old 
now.

"You're done Cody" I looked down and saw my body shirt was snapped 
closed now. I was talking so much that I did not realize Miss Barns had 
cleaned me up, put a new diaper on me, and pulled my plastic pants back 
up over my diaper. I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the 
table and hopped down to the floor with Miss. Barns help. I quickly 
pulled my pants up then Miss barns pulled my zipper up and fastened my 
pants. She buckled my belt and then pulled my shirt out of my pants so 
it would just hang out. I liked to let my shirt just hang there, 
looking unkempt; it made me feel better. As I walked around the counter 
to the door, I grabbed my sweater as I said,

"Thank you Miss Barns" I saw a glint in her eyes before the door closed 
behind me. I looked at my watch on my left arm and then started walking 
faster back to my classroom. There were only six minutes left in recess 
and I knew Mr. Markson still wanted to talk to me. As I turned the 
corner, I looked up and Chip was still leaning against the same steel 
pole. As I walked down the hallway, Chip caught sight of me and watched 
me as I walked by him and into the classroom. I saw Mr. Markson 
reading, I guess, the papers we had done before recess. He was at his 
desk, leaning back in his chair with his feet on top of the desk. I saw 
the smile on his face as he placed one paper down and started reading 
the next one.

"Mr. Markson," I said in a quiet voice as I approached him.

"I'm here"

"Oh, Cody, come on over here and have a seat. I need to talk to you for 
a few minutes. ……I saw in your file your living at Mark Allen boy's 
home?"

"Yes" I said.

"What cottage are you in?" Mr. Markson asked me as he looked me in the 
eye. I looked down towards the floor and nervously pushed my feet back 
and forth as I answered him, "Cottage A"

"I worked at Mark Allen as a boy's counselor a few years back. Isn't 
cottage A for the youngest boys there?" Mr. Markson asked me 
inquisitively.

"Yes" I mumbled.

"Why are you in cottage A, and not B or C like other boys your age?" he 
asked.

"I was put in cottage A because I was small and also because some of 
the boys in cottage A still wet their beds at night and they felt it 
would be easier on me." I said as I tried not to look Markson in the 
eye.

"What are the other boys ages in your cottage now Cody?" Markson asked 
me as he took his feet off his desk and sat up in his chair.

"Five, six, and seven years old I guess."

"How do you feel about it?"

"My mom said she thought it would be better for me not to be in a 
cottage where the other boys would tease me about having to wear 
diapers all the time, and since I was small it would be easier for me 
to defend myself in cottage A since the boys were about the same size 
as me."

"You do seem a little bit small for your age, Cody, have you seen a 
doctor about it?"

"The doctor said my growing slowed down a lot right after my arm 
accident, but after my arm heals up more I should start growing again."

"How tall are you now, Cody?"

"About four foot, one inch I guess" I said as I was getting nervous 
again. The recess bell rang and Mr. Markson said I could go to my desk. 
I got up from the chair and turned to go to my seat and I stopped right 
there when I saw Chip standing at the opened door leaning against the 
door frame with his arms folded across his chest. I hoped he didn't 
hear the discussion I had with Mr. Markson I said silently to myself, 
He had that same smile on his face. I walked over and then up the isle 
to my desk while I watched Chip take his seat about the same time as 
me. I heard my diaper rustle a little as I sat down. I quickly looked 
at Chip to see if he heard anything. Chip was writing something down on 
a piece of paper when he looked at me, and then started writing again. 
Mr. Markson got up off his chair and headed out the door to get the 
other students that were lined up out on the playground.

"Cody, I noticed your right arm is smaller then your left arm. What 
happened to it?" Chip asked.

"It's a long story…I fell into a window when I was six years old and 
almost cut my arm off" The students were coming back into the classroom 
now followed by Mr. Markson. He walked to the board at the front of the 
room and picked up the marker.

"Students, every morning I want you to bring the following items to 
class with you: Two number two pencils, sharpened, two pens, blue ink 
only, medium and or fine point. One ruler with inch and millimeter 
markings on it. Note book with plenty of paper. Eraser, and the 
following books I am going to hand out shortly. Also it would be a good 
idea if you brought a softbound dictionary from home too, for those of 
you who are not so adequate in their spelling of words. Yes Chip 
Thompson, I'm talking about someone else, not you." I looked over at 
Chip to see his reaction to Mr. Markson's remark and caught Chip 
mouthing the same statement Mr. Markson had just made. I was starting 
to wonder if Markson had something against Chip. Mr. Markson continued 
on telling us all the new things we were going to be doing and learning 
that year, and as he continued I sat back in my chair and thought; My 
last year in elementary school has officially started.

END OF CHAPTER ONE

Chapter Two As the morning went by slowly