Bia and Abe Schneider had lived together for eight years, since Bia was two and Abe sixty-five. Bia found nothing strange in their situation, actually she never thought about it. It took entering first grade for Bia to realize that she was different, starting with her grandfather. It wasn’t only that the other parents were younger than Poppa Abe; they dressed differently and spoke without accents and on subjects he made fun of—like football. How to deal with these differences became a greater source of anxiety the older Bia got and the more she wanted to fit in. So when the opportunity came to show off her grandfather in a flattering way, she grabbed it.
*
It was October, 1956 and Bia was in the fifth grade at P.S.114 in Belle Harbor when Mrs. McKendry gave class 5-2 their first assignment for marks. That night Bia waited for her grandfather to come home from the union hall, ready, with class notes in her hand. She started to read them out loud before he took his cap off.
“The 5-2 class presentation is to be on an event, or series of events, of major importance to American history. The class will be graded on choice of topic, oral presentation and use of visual aids. Originality will count.”
“Major event,” Abe said. “Craziness. What do eight-year-olds know from such things? Ridiculous. Teachers should teach and students should study. Why are they called teachers if…?”
“They’ll throw me out of school,” Bia said. “You don’t know. This is...
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