Icky Waddles

“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” - Joseph Goldstein

My name is Melvin Jacobi Waddell. Everyone calls me Icky. Icky Waddles. Mother said when she brought me home from the hospital, my older sister Lillian could not say Jacobi. She said, Icky. Lillian couldn’t know the Jay in Jacobi.

Mother is being nice.

Lillian tells me I am icky.

The kids at school call me Waddles. You know, like a duck. You would think they do that because of my last name, but that is not true. They call me Waddles because my left foot does not work too well.

When I walk, I kind of waddle side to side.

The kids used to be mean to me, but not so much now. When we got to middle school, everyone started being nice. In middle school, several kids are like me. In elementary school, I was the only one like me.

My friend Max never calls me Icky. He calls me Jac. I like Jac. Max and I used to hang out more. When we played video games, Max would use just his right hand on account of my left hand. My left hand does not work too well.

But now, Max being older, we don’t hang so much. Ever since he found the Orb, we don’t hang. He also spends a lot more time with his friend Jamie. She is pretty and real smart. Lillian and Jamie are in the same grade. Lillian says Jamie is trash. Lillian thinks because when our dad died, and mom got a lot of money, we changed. Lillian thinks money makes us better.

Lillian is a snob, and she is mean.

No one likes Lillian.

Everyone likes Max and Jamie. They are kind and smart.

When Max found the Orb, he told me some things. Some things he saw in the Orb. Maybe he saw them in his head. I do not know for sure how he knows things, but he knows.

Max told me that in middle school, I would be a hero, and everyone would be my friend. Yeah, right, people like me are not heroes.

But Max was right. People like me can be a hero.

If you want, I can tell you the story. It is kind of long, and it will take some time. Sometimes I get tired, and my left hand starts to tremor, and my words get kind of messy. But I can tell the story if you want.