A Season of Miracles Read Free Page A

different. This is school. You gotta be good. You can't make trouble."
    "Irv, you don't understand. Hanukkah is a holiday that is about not taking it from
bums and bad guys. We fought then, and we always fight when we have to. I have to do this."
    Just then, a red-faced Mrs. Catalano led a redder-faced Mr. Sullivan into the room. Sullivan
attempted an opening.
    "Okay, Samuel, what's this all about? You have upset your teacher and insulted her in front
of the class. I think you owe her an apology, and then we can get back to normal."
    Sammy's face assumed a firm appearance. He spoke evenly, but there was a quiver in his
voice.
    "Mr. Sullivan, I didn't mean to make trouble. But Mrs. Catalano insulted every Jewish kid in
the class, maybe every one in the world. She said that we call Christmas 'Hanukkah,' and that we
celebrate it. It's not true. And she never talks about what Christmas is supposed to mean, only what
presents you can get. She owes the class an apology."
    Mrs. Catalano looked at Mr. Sullivan with a "See what I told you?" look. Mr. Sullivan
cleared his throat and put on his Voice of Authority.
    "Samuel, apologize to your teacher and get back to your seat. This has gone far
enough."
    "No, Mr. Sullivan, I can't do that. I'm right."
    "Now look, either you listen to me, or I'll have your parents in here, and I'll keep you after
school for a month!"
    Sammy set his jaw. He said nothing, but his eyes spoke for him. They flamed defiance.
Sullivan turned on his heel and left the room. From somewhere in the room came a muffled, "Holy
cats!"
    Mrs. Catalano stood tapping her foot for a while, then tired of that and sat down. She tried to
get an arithmetic lesson started, but she might as well have been trying to teach to someone in a
coma for all the attention she was getting. She went on bravely, but it was no use. All minds and eyes
were fixed on Sammy, standing with his arms folded at the front of the room.
    About an hour later, a humiliated Mrs. Itzkowitz, with Mrs. Feigenbaum in tow, entered the
classroom. Sammy sighed and relaxed. He explained to his mother in a mixture of Polish, Yiddish,
and English what his situation was.
    She begged him, in the same mixture, to sit down and be a good boy. She said that it was not
good for guests in America to act this way. She was terrified that they would throw the family out of
the country, or worse. She appealed to his emotions.
    Mrs. Feigenbaum begged him in Yiddish not to make a scene. She was afraid that the other
kids would take it out on Irving and Marsha.
    He held firm. She turned to Mrs. Itzkowitz with a hopeless shrug. Mrs. Itzkowitz turned to
Mrs. Catalano with a helpless shrug. Mrs. Catalano turned to Mr. Sullivan with an angry shrug. The
principal threw out his arms in a frustrated gesture.
    Sammy re-crossed his arms, unmoving.
    The class was dismissed. Mr. Sullivan and the three women got down to serious
negotiations, including threats, pleadings, promises, and rational arguments in several languages,
Mrs. Catalano having resorted to Italian at a tense moment.
    Sammy's position was unchanging: he demanded an apology before him and the rest of the
class. Mr. Sullivan lost his temper and grabbed Sammy's wrist. Sammy squirmed away, and ran
across the room, and the principal advanced toward him. Panicky, Sammy reached into his pocket
and pulled out his Boy Scout knife. He thumbed open a blade and put it up to his own throat.
    "Don't move," he yelled, "or I'll kill myself!"
    Sullivan stopped in his tracks, and Mrs. Itzkowitz fainted. The principal said, "Well, this is a
police problem, now."
    Although school had been dismissed, most of the kids hung around outside the building in
anticipation of something momentous. Despite several instructions from various officials, they did
not disperse.
    A few police cars had been added to the scene, and several cops barred the door of the
school. Upstairs, in the one lit schoolroom, Sammy stood with a knife against his throat. Before