Page 34 of The Pilot

“Yes, I do,” Kash countered. “If I want to get into MIT, Harvard, or my first choice, the University of Arizona, I need a four point oh. I can’t let freaking art class mess that up.”

“The University of Arizona?” Linc couldn’t help but ask. It was a long way from Maine, and he had a feeling Harper wouldn’t like her baby being so far from home.

“Yeah. It’s the best astronomy program in the US. It receives the most government funding and gets money from NASA. It even has an optical engineering program . . . which is where people learn the science behind optics and design and build objects that use light. Like lenses, microscopes, and of course . . . telescopes.”

“Right,” Linc said, impressed that even at twelve years old, Kash was already thinking about where he wanted to go to college. At that age, all Linc could think about was planes. Although, given that he’d gone into the Air Force, maybe he’d also known what he wanted to do way back then.

“I’m sorry you aren’t enjoying art, but what about the social aspect of school? I don’t hear you talking about your friends that much.”

Kash was quiet for a moment, then he shrugged. “I hang out with the kids in the robotics club.”

It was like pulling teeth. Linc decided to stop beating around the bush.

“When I was your age, I was bullied in school. I was a late bloomer, scrawny, and a bit of a nerd. There was a group of mean girls who delighted in calling me names and making my life miserable. I did everything I could to try to avoid them, but that wasn’t really possible.”

He wasn’t going to tell Kash that his mom was one of those girls. It was water under the bridge, and the last thing he wanted was to do anything that might undermine the close relationship between mother and son. But he wanted to make sure Kash knew that he could empathize with him.

“You were bullied?” Kash asked, sounding absolutely shocked.

“Yup.”

“I don’t believe you,” he mumbled after a brief silence. “And it’s not very nice to lie, you know.”

“I’m not lying,” Linc insisted. “Hang on.” He sat up a little and pulled out his phone. “Mom sent pictures to all of us boys a while back. She was going through her albums after our dad died, and I guess feeling nostalgic. She sent them off to be digitized, then sent the link to the albums when they were done.”

Linc had saved the link, of course. The pictures made him laugh at the time. They’d brought back such good memories of growing up with his brothers on Lobster Cove.

He found the email and clicked on the link, scrolling through the folders until he found the one with the year he was in the eighth grade. He opened it, then passed his phone to Kash. “That was the year I turned thirteen. I was in the eighth grade. I’m the tallest of the boys in the various pictures.”

Kash took the phone and began to scroll through the images. He was quiet as he took in the Young family from all those years ago.

He stopped on one picture that still had the power to make Linc wince. He was an awkward-looking kid. Tall, skinny, his hair too long and, as usual, not brushed. He was standing by a table full of model airplanes that he’d spent hours upon hours building.

Linc remembered being so proud of those models. He’d done everything in his power to make them as accurate as possible. He was grinning like a dork and wearing shorts that were too small for him and a T-shirt with the words “Air Force Academy” on the front.

“I brought one of my models to school once,” he said quietly, as Kash stared at the picture. “I wanted to show it to my best friend, a kid who was just as into planes as I was. I was carrying it down the hall when I first got to school, and who did I run into? The mean girls. They surrounded me, taunted me, made fun of my model, told me I was the biggest geek they’d ever met. Said I was going to be a virgin the rest of my life because no girl would ever want to date such a huge nerd. Rinky-Dink Linc. That’s what they called me. They were relentless.

“By the time the bell rang and they finally wandered off, giggling like a bunch of hyenas, I was devastated. I’d worked so hard on that model, and they’d made it seem like such a stupid thing. I threw it away in the first trash can I came across. I still regret letting them get to me like that.”

Kash looked up from the phone and glanced at Linc. “They call me Trash-Kash,” he admitted in a soft voice.

“Are they older than you or in your grade?”

“Older. The guy who picks on me the most is in the eleventh grade. His name is Donny. And his girlfriend, Ginger. I mostly just see them at lunch, but they always look for me. Make fun of me being in robotics club. My red hair. How skinny I am. It doesn’t matter if I ignore them or try to think of things to say back, it just eggs them on more. I hate it. I hate them. School sucks because of them.”

Linc’s heart broke for the boy. He knew exactly how he felt. “I wish I had some magic advice for you. Something you could say to those kids that would make them leave you alone. But I don’t. All I can do is tell you . . . it gets better. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not next year. But eventually they’ll graduate and be gone. And you’ll fill out and gain weight and height. Your hair will always be red, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s unique, just like you. Like your mom.

“There’s nothing wrong with doing what you love. For me, it was planes. I used to sit out here for hours and watch the planes and dream about flying myself one day. For you, it’s the stars. You can sit outside and watch the sky for just as many hours. Don’t let anyone tell you what you love is wrong. Or stupid. Or make you feel as if you’re less because of it.

“Karma is a real thing, Kash. That might sound like a cop-out response, but it’s not. Donny and Ginger? They’ll reap what they sow. That means they’ll get what’s coming to them. Again, maybe not tomorrow, but one day.”

“Did your bullies?” Kash asked.

Linc was walking a fine line here. But he honestly believed that, yes, karma had come for Harper. He hated that for the woman he knew today, and she’d more than paid for the sins of her childhood. “Yes.” He left it at that.

To his relief, Kash nodded as he handed Linc’s phone back to him.

“You’re smart,” Linc went on. “Really smart. I have no doubt you’re going to do great things. No matter what field you study, you’ll make a difference in the world. Believe that. When those bullies get to you, remind yourself that you’re tougher than most kids. You and your mom have been through some stuff that they have no idea about. You think Donny would know what to do if he was plunked down in the middle of the night in New York City? No way. Or Ginger would be able to handle it if she had no idea where her next meal was coming from? I’d say definitely not. Just be you, Kash. Because you’re a hell of a person. Inside and out. And I’m proud to know you.”