Things are slowing down. Yesterday I gave a make-up final exam to a student named Mark. He was originally supposed to take the exam on Monday but left a message for me at work that something had come up, could he make it up at a later date? It’s a tough call for a teacher when students do something like that. Half the time I would probably assume the worst and imagine some excuse sitting at the bottom of their claim. I was young once and a terrible student mostly and remember my own lazy moments, hell this could be another one. However Mark was an A student, never missed a class. It was a pretty quick and easy decision on my part and he showed up yesterday afternoon. I was furiously grading or blindly staring at screens and so when I handed him his exam I didn’t really get a decent look at him. It was only when Mark finished up and handed me his paper did I realize that the kid’s face was completely fucked. He had two black eyes, multiple cuts and bruises and his eyes had multiple burst blood vessels. Two front teeth were missing. I stopped short because I’m not really used to seeing fresh blood and violence. Mark’s a punker. He sported multiple mohawks of varying color and style throughout the semester. Tatted up with homemade patches on his black hoodie. Combat boots and a toothy goofy smile that made everyone around him smile back. One could easily peg him as a tough motherfucker. Mark looks small but springloaded. I asked him what happened and holy shit are you ok and what the fuck happened? Jumped by these guys I’ve seen around outside the subway platform in my neighborhood. Bensonhurst. No idea. Out of nowhere. We talked awhile longer and Mark never once displayed the type of anger or resentment toward the guys who jumped him one might expect. Instead he looked pained and deeply saddened that the kind of men who’d jump someone in their own neighborhood really roamed this earth. The injustice and disbelief of that reality flickered across his broken face in a soft current. As Mark was leaving my office he asked if I was teaching anything different in the spring because he wanted very much to take another one of my classes. I told him I’d be honored just to have him in the room and shook his hand and wished him luck.

Lives can be changed in small exchange.