Like Father, Like Son?
By Naomi Krant
()
About this ebook
Sixteen-year-old Tomás has just been suspended from school for a foolish prank. It’s the first time he’s ever been in trouble, and the harsh and fearful reaction of his normally loving father, Walter, bewilders him. In the midst of this tension, Tomás’s uncle Claudio arrives from Peru in a desperate state. Tomás wants to help his uncle, but Claudio’s problem is far more complex than Tomás imagines: he's being pursued by a threatening figure from the family’s past. A dangerous confrontation exposes the reason for Walter’s fear, the secret Tomas’s mother wanted to forget, and the shocking truth that forces Tomás to re-examine everything he knows about himself. In the aftermath, as father and son begin to talk, it is his father who gives him the answer he needs.
Like Father, Like Son? is a short, high-interest novel written at a third- to fourth-grade reading level. Its relatable characters are both teenaged and adult. Intended for use by high-school or adult English language learners (ESL/ELL students) and by adult basic education or literacy learners, it is packed with ideas, situations, and characters that stimulates student conversation and writing. Teachers who endorse the novel have reported that the cliffhanging plot stimulates students to read ahead. Chapter-by-chapter glossaries, comprehension questions, and discussion questions are available on line.
Naomi Krant
Naomi Krant taught ESL to adult for eight years in a community college in Washington State. Before that, she taught EFL to teens through adults in an English language school in Peru. She now lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband. They have an adult son who they adopted from Peru and two adult daughters. Naomi holds an MFA in creative writing from Boston University. She loves to travel in the U.S. and abroad, to write novels, and to garden.
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Book preview
Like Father, Like Son? - Naomi Krant
Like Father,
Like Son?
Naomi Krant
Campanula Press
Portland, Oregon
Smashwords Edition
Like Father, Like Son?
Copyright © 2019 Naomi Krant
All rights reserved.
This ebook or any part thereof may not be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a classroom or in a critical review. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. For further information, contact the publisher, Campanula Press: civoan@oz.net. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. The names of characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
ISBN: 978-1-7341601-3-0
Supplementary teaching materials, such as vocabulary lists arranged by chapter and page, comprehension questions, and discussion questions, are available as free downloads at the Teachers Pay Teachers web site. Enter this URL: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Campanula-Press. Alternatively, go to the Teachers Pay Teachers web site and use the search box to find Campanula Press.
Contents
1. Tomás
2. Tomás
3. Tomás
4. Bea
5. Sofia
6. Walter
7. Tomás
8. Claudio
9. Tomás
10. Walter
11. Claudio
12. Tomás
13. Bea
14. Walter
15. Sofia
16. Bea
17. Tomás
18. Walter
19. Tomás
20. Tomás
21. Tomás
1. Tomás
Don’t!
I try to grab the mouse out of Zack’s hand. But it’s too late. He has already clicked open the email. "You idiot," I say.
That’s funny, because Zack is brilliant. And an idiot.
Shut up, Tomás,
he says quietly.
Close the email! Close it!
I whisper.
He does.
I shut my eyes and exhale.
We are in the computer lab. Angela, the student supervisor, sits at the check-in desk near the door. We sit on the opposite side of the room.
Zack looks at Angela, then quickly looks away.
She’s watching us,
he says. Why did you yell?
You opened a teacher’s email!
Calm down,
he says. It’s not a problem.
Not a problem? The system keeps a record of every click we make. They’ll trace us.
I keep my voice soft, but it’s an octave higher than my usual level. I don’t know if I’m more pissed off at Zack or at myself. I should have stopped him. We’re screwed,
I say.
No, we’re not,
he says. Nobody will check.
He casually clicks out of the faculty intranet.
Typical. Zack doesn’t believe in trouble. He never worries about stormy weather. He’s always full of sunshine and positive energy. That’s one of the reasons I like him.
But Zack is wrong this time. A week later, my heart pounds as I walk into Vice-Principal Smithson’s office. When I see Papi it pounds so hard that it hurts my chest. I didn’t expect him to be here.
Mr. Smithson is in charge of discipline at Madrone High. He doesn’t say hello. He points to the empty chair.
Your son committed a felony,
he tells Papi. I think—I hope—Smithson is just being a jerk.
He will be arrested?
Papi asks. His voice is hoarse. He is worried. I feel bad about that.
Smithson makes himself comfortable in his tall, black leather chair. He unbuttons his jacket, smooths his tie. He is enjoying the anxiety in the room.
Papi sits up straight. His big, square hands grip his thighs. I see that he changed out of his work clothes and shaved before he came. Papi grew up in Peru. People there had more respect for schools than we have, although fewer kids graduated. He dropped out to get married and go to work when Mami got pregnant with me.
I slide down in my chair and stretch out my legs.
We don’t know yet if he’ll be arrested,
Smithson says. We’re talking with Miss Tripple. It was her email that Tomás hacked.
He speaks as if I am the only one to blame. Right this minute, Zack is waiting outside the door with Officer Turner, the school cop. His dad is late.
I don’t get it,
Papi says. For a moment, I think he’s going to ask what hacked
means. But that is not what’s on his mind. Tomás was always a good kid.
Smithson narrows his eyes. He studies a paper on his desk…my school record, I guess. It seems to disappoint him.
Honor student, eh?
he says, looking at me. "Do you want to explain to your dad what you and Zachery did, and why an honor student would break into a teacher’s computer account?"
Clearly, I’m supposed to squirm.
Searching for your grade?
he suggests.
I blink.
I’m not in Tripple’s class,
I say.
Smithson checks the paper. Oh.
He attacks again. "So explain—why did you do it?"
I cross my arms over my chest. I’m in trouble, yeah. I’m also pissed off. Smithson only wants to embarrass me. He doesn’t understand the position I’ve had in my family since I learned to read English. My parents have depended on me since I was six years old. That was when I translated the page of medical instructions after the doctor sewed up Papi’s leg.
I sigh and turn to face Papi. But words dry up on my tongue.
Papi is examining me as if I were a stranger. I have always seen love and pride in his eyes. Now, I see something that looks like…fear? That makes no sense.
…Uh,
I say.
Yes?
Smithson says.
I struggle. Well, uh, Zack and I are interested in computer security…in building a security system. So we were, um, testing to see how the school’s security system works.
Testing,
Smithson says in a sour voice.
Yeah. And it was ridiculously easy to break through it.
I’m starting to warm up now. We didn’t mean to open Miss Tripple’s email account,
I say. That was a complete accident.
Parts of my story aren’t true. Accident
isn’t the right word.
I’m sorry,
I add, with difficulty.
Papi continues to stare at me as if I were someone else, someone he doesn’t like. Someone he fears? My gut tightens. Papi has been angry with me before, of course, but this is different. He doesn’t believe me, I realize.
The security system is not there for students to play with,
Smithson snaps.
He turns to Papi. Thank you for coming in, Mr. Vargas,
he says. A lot of parents don’t care when their kids get in trouble.
He clears his throat. I encourage you to follow through with Tomás. He needs to take the rules seriously.
I agree,
Papi says. It’s clear whose side he is on. Not mine, not any more.
Smithson suspends me for five days. Later, Papi grounds me off the computer for a month. A month! I am only allowed to do my homework on the computer. Nothing else.
That hurts, but I know I deserve it. Zack and I got out of control. Some of the responsibility was mine.
But then Papi let his friend from church, Mr. Sanchez, install a parental control program on the computer. He showed Papi how to track everything I do. I wasn’t going to disobey him. I wasn’t going to use the computer for games or to work on the app that Zack and I are building. But Papi doesn’t trust me anymore.
That hurts much more, in a deeper way.
2. Tomás
A cold Western Washington rain murmurs through the gutters outside my bedroom window. In the big room of our second-floor apartment, Mami sits at the table, bent over the box of tiny beads she makes into jewelry to sell. Papi watches soccer from his lounger, a beer in the cup holder on the armrest. My little sister Sofia plays pretend
on the floor of her closet. She’s eight, but sometimes