Angry Wolf and His Deaf Mate

Nai

I close my eyes before taking a deep breath, trying to calm the butterflies in my stomach. My nerves are slowly starting to get the better of me. I feel a gentle hand on my shoulder, I open my eyes. Mum is smiling at me.

'You'll be fine,' she signs to me.

'Fine,' I think bitterly.

Mum's said that before, especially about my previous school. However, it had been anything but fine.

It had started ok, then when everyone found out I was deaf the taunts and bullying started.

I would see people laughing and looking behind me. When I turned, everyone would look very interested in their zippers, shoes or the walls. They would all be wearing identical smirks.

Idiots would barge past me knocking me into walls or lockers, saying they hadn't heard me there. A few times I would shout back 'look with your eyes then!' Which usually ended up with me being beaten up by three or more jerks.

They would call me a freak, or act like I had a disease like deafness was catching and or fatal, which of course is stupid. I haven't been deaf all my life.

When I was seven, I was in a car accident. Dad had been driving me home from school. Another driver had fallen asleep or was drunk, either way, they veered into our lane.

The doctors told Mum that I had an inner-ear concussion due to my neck being whipped around in the crash. This caused my hearing to go.

It took a long time for me to get used to it, used to the silence. Sometimes I would be fine, then I would see Mum dancing or laughing. Those days I hated it. I also had to learn how to sign and lip read.

My Dad didn't want to have a disabled son and left when Mum refused to put me through countless surgeries that may or may not have healed my hearing. There were lots of other major risks to the surgeries but he didn't care, he just wanted it fixed, wanted a normal son.

Mum was amazing, she learned to sign with me. She also helped me hear on the days I hated myself. She would play music loudly on the radio and get me to touch the speakers. I would feel the beats and smile as she danced.

Whenever we're out she will sign if it's just us, or if we are with someone she signs and speaks. If someone speaks to me and I don't see their lips she repeats what they've said.

I did have one saviour though at that school, Max, my best friend. He'd defend me but get into trouble for it. I always told him to stay out of it, but he promised to defend my honour. He was an idiot, but that's what I loved about him.

The teachers didn't always know what was going on, or if they did they didn't care because they hardly did anything.

Max helped me remember I wasn't a freak and that I was just me. Unfortunately, he got into so much trouble that his family moved him away. The day he left was worse than the day I lost my hearing.

Things at school got worse and Mum decided to move us. She found a job at the local doctor's office as a receptionist in a town called Wolfstone.

Wolfstone is a very small town in Texas, it looks just like the typical small towns you see on Tv. One main road that has all the main stores on it, lots of trees and fields. The town is football mad and very religious.

With my half Asian features, I already stood out amongst the locals. I look more like my Chinese mother than my white father.

My hair is short on the sides and only slightly longer on top. Most of the guys I've seen look like bodybuilders, I'm definitely a lot smaller and leaner than them.