Saturday Sessions

Last night, I tried to get in touch with Dale. He’s probably in 10th or 11th grade now. I used to tutor him at the East Harlem Tutorial Program. His home number was disconnected. So I called the tutorial center and they wouldn’t give me any information. Understandable.

I did a google search and his name came up under a youth filmmaker program through some Central Park organization. I wasn’t sure if it was him but after reading his bio I knew that I found him. The bio showed a bit of his mild ego and mentioned his favorite movie, The Wood. I sent an email to the program director. I’ll wait and see what happens.

Two things were the catalyst for trying to catch up with him. The Martian Child with John Cusack and a donation letter from the tutorial program. The movie made me want to reconnect and the letter was the reminder.

The Martian Child hit all the right notes for me. Cusack plays a writer trying to figure things out and the kid he’s trying to adopt has put up a lot of barriers because he’s really vulnerable and trying to deal with the fact that he’s been rejected so many times. At the end of the movie, predictably, Cusack is trying to convince this kid that he’s not going to leave him. The movie just hit all the right notes with me. During the movie I thought of my mom and Dale.

The reason I joined the tutorial program in the first place was because they paired tutors and students one-on-one. I liked the individual attention and I liked the fact that it was a year-long commitment, offering time to establish a relationship and to possibly have a positive effect academically for the student.

I was lucky to get Dale. He reminded me a bit of myself at that age. He was personable, a dreamer, open to learn, and yet, just a kid. Wait. Maybe of myself . . . now. Our relationship was more friends than teacher-student. We were both into music and movies. He was into the idea of being an actor. I went to one of his plays.

I signed up for Saturday morning sessions. I thought that by doing sessions early Saturday morning I’d tone down my Friday night antics. I did to some degree.

This was the routine. Invariably, he’d be late. I would remind him that I came all the way from Brooklyn. But I wouldn’t be too hard on him because waking up Saturday mornings to read and do school-related stuff sucks. We’d catch up on the week, do some reading and vocab exercises, and talk about it. Sometimes I’d buy lunch for him and his brother. I noticed that during these times he’d be really unsure of what to order and kinda nudge his younger brother to not order too much. The places we’d go would be so cheap and yet Dale was sensitive about me not having to pay too much. Good manners and poor circumstance I guess. I was like that too.

I hope the director forwards him my contact information. I had promised to school him in basketball and I want to follow through on that lesson.