Jeremy Cole had once taken Ben’s lunchbox and held it high above his head, saying:

“If you want it, say the word right.”

The word was excavator.

Ben said it wrong three times. The children laughed. The teacher was out in the hallway. Jeremy finally threw the lunchbox to the floor. The apple had come loose from the bag and rolled all the way to the radiator. Ben did not cry then. That was the worst part. He had already learned that tears in classrooms become public property.