Dr Jew

slid it onto Eric's desk. As Jew put the rest of the paper in his backpack, Eric leaned over.
    "What 's that?" said Eric.
    Jew quickly closed the bag. "Nothing," he said.
    "Hey, Jew brought a toy to school!" said Eric.
    The class bristled with glee. Eric ripped the bag from Jew's hands, egged on by the attention.
    "Hey!" said Jew. "Give me that!"
    But it was too late. Eric opened the bag and pulled Robot Raccoon from within. He held it at arm's length as Jew reached for it. The teacher had noticed them.
    "Give it!" said Jew.
    "Go get it!" said Eric. And with that he tossed the toy. It floated magically, suspended in air for an eternity. And then it hit the far wall. And broke in two pieces.
    "No!" said Jew. "No!"
    "Ha ha, you dork," said Eric.
    Jew couldn't hear or see anything. He couldn't hear Eric's high-pitched voice mocking him. He couldn't hear the laughter of the class. He couldn't hear the teacher yelling at him and Eric for playing during class time.
    Instead Jew became an animal. All the rage and injustice of the morning turned him into a fox in a trap, and it reached a point where it could be tolerated no more. He was upon Eric before he knew it, knocking the freckled boy onto the floor. The two of them tangled for an instant, but Jew's rage was raw, pure and savage, and his claws let loose, slapping and poking at Eric. He zoomed in closer and some mad instinct opened his mouth. His teeth like a wolf's fangs, he bit into Eric's nose. Eric screamed.
    The class, which had been laughing, now became silent, intensely focused on the violation of manners a nd normalcy that they witnessed. This was beyond fighting. This was monstrous.
    Mrs. Morbel came out of nowhere. Aside from Jew and Eric, she was the only person to move inside that strange painting. Eric's mewling brought her to his rescue, and she grabbed Jew from behind and restrained him. His berserker rage almost made Jew strike her. Somehow he regained himself and ceased struggling.
    "Boys! What is the matter with you? On the first day of school! What is wrong with you children?"
    She held each boy 's twisted ear in her claws, and walked them out of the class and down the hall to the principal's office. Time slowed, lectures were dispensed, the nurse treated Eric's nose, phone calls were made, and the boys were sent home, suspended for the first week of school.

    His mother shook her head when she saw him, but said nothing. She knew that his father would handle the punishment. She only pointed to his room, where he sulked. Not because he had been sent home or laughed at or scolded by the principal. Not even for the drunk hand of his father when he would arrive home that night. None of that mattered. All of it had happened before, more or less.
    No, he sulked because he had no idea what had become of Robot Raccoon. After flying across the class and smashing apart on collision, Robot had been forgotten in the blur of battle, and never seen again as the boys were escorted away. Do robots die? Or could he be repaired and made whole once more?
    There was a silence so palpable in Jew's bedroom that he thought he might explode again. He didn't care if he was right or wrong, if his teacher and the other students hated him. None of that mattered. Robot Raccoon was right. They were gnats buzzing around him, sometimes powerful and stinging, but actually powerless and insignificant. It was only their buzzing that had the power to distract. It was his duty to ignore them. To learn that skill. That would be his real education.
    As he lay there, he heard sounds coming from downstairs. Ah, there it was. The recently arrived television. Locking in his mother. And when his father came home, it would get him too. But for Jew it was a suppressed background noise against his books, his mind. More buzzing.
    Another sound came. This time from the other direction. The window. Something scratching. Against the glass. It—
    "Robot Raccoon!" said Jew.
    "Let me in, kid."
    Jew got out of bed and opened the window.
    "How'd you get here?" he said.
    "Never mind that, Jew . We gotta talk."
    "Are you okay , Robot?"
    "Me? Sure, sure. It's you I'm worried about. The way you tore into that Eric kid. Sheesh! I wouldn't want to be him."
    "I thought he ha d killed… I thought he broke you."
    "Naw! Takes a lickin', me. I'm alright."
    "Good. Well, I guess I'll be out of school a few days. But when I go back, I won't let anyone see you again. It was an accident. It won't happen again."
    "That