Crowam 281 by Frank Nunez

Tom sat a few rows behind me. The desks were too small for us boys. I fidgeted in my seat, trying to get comfortable. Those chairs were awful. I looked behind me to find Tom giving me a deadpan stare, followed by a mild and mischievous grin. He totally had it out for me.
    The door whisked opened. The professor, a tall gray-haired man entered the room with an efficient saunter to his step, knowing exactly where to place his briefcase and other belongings on his desk. He took his time settling in, ignoring us, as if we weren’t even there. He took a packet of booklets with a pencil taped to each book out from his briefcase, placing them on each one of our desks. “Good morning, gentlemen. My name is Professor Vanden. What I am passing to each one of you is a proficiency exam. You have one hour to complete the exam.”
    “What’s a proficiency exam?” Tom asked.
    “Quiet,” Mr. Vanden yelled. “You will not speak unless you are spoken to. That goes for the rest of you, too. You will do exactly as I say. If you have a question, you will raise your hand and, if I deem fit, I will answer your question. I will not tolerate any misbehavior. Rest assured of that. Is that understood?”
    “Yes sir,” the class said in unison.
    Professor Vanden sure was something, a by-the-books kind of guy. A cold son of a bitch, just like everyone else who ran this place. At least at the other orphanages, they pretended to give a shit. Here, we’re hoarded like cattle, like we’re nothing but an inconvenience. Shit, none of us wanted to be here. We didn’t have a choice. A boy opened his test booklet, ripping the seal with his pencil. Professor Vanden grabbed a ruler from his pocket and smacked the boy in the hand. “What did I say?”
    “I just…”
    “Just what young man?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “You answer a question with another question?
    “No sir.”
    “What do you mean, no sir? Did you not ask me a question, ‘what do you mean?’”
    “I don’t understand, sir.”
    “Stop asking me questions young man. I am the only one who asks the questions here. I do. You are here to listen and do as you are told!”
    “Hey, why don’t you lighten up?” I said.
    The classroom turned their eyes to me. Professor Vanden was not pleased. The expression on his face was priceless. His face was turning red like a tomato. You could see the anger boiling inside of him. “What did you say?”
    “I said lighten up. He didn’t do anything.”
    “What is your name?”
    “I’m the only one that asks questions here,” I said sarcastically.
    The class erupted in laughter except for our “wonderful professor,” who went back to his desk and took out a small wooden paddling board from the desk drawer, slamming the desk drawer as he closed it. He smacked the paddleboard on the desk making a loud banging sound tell class succumbed to silence. The sound that board made sure was loud. The smack rang in my ears. “Silence!” Professor Vanden looked at me with shock and disdain. I wasn’t making a good impression during the first day of class.
    “I said what is your name?
    “Hudson.”
    “You’re full name!”
    “Jake Hudson.”
    “Mr. Hudson. What a pleasure it is to have you in my classroom. Gentlemen, it seems we have a rebel in our midst. How fortunate and blessed we are to have the likes of Mr. Hudson in our class, so that I may teach my first lesson, on the importance of obedience. Mr. Hudson, do you know what obedience is?”
    I shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t give a shit about his question.
    “Oh you don’t know? Get up to the front of the class please.”
    “No,” I replied.
    Professor Vanden motioned his finger at the door. Two guards came into the room. They picked me up off the chair. “Hey get off me!” I yelled. The grip the guards had on me was strong, firm and unrelenting, making sure the lesson of obedience was well taught. They leaned me over on the desk, stretching out my hands on the desk. I tried to