Verse by Moses Roth Page A

himself, but the way the other students regard him.
     
    I’m freezing, I can see my breath. I fold the paper up and jog back to the house. I was expecting a news report but it’s one of those magazine-style puffy profiles.
    I’ve left the door cracked and I go inside, the warm air a relief.
    I go to the kitchen, where Mom stares at me, from next to the coffee maker. “What the hell is going on?” she says.
    I unfold and hold up the Local News section for her to see.
    “Oh my god,” she says. “How did they find out about you?”
I shrug.
    “Did you tell them?
    I shrug.
    “What the hell! After that conference we had!”
    “Well, I called them before the conference.”
    “Don’t be a smartass. This is getting out of control, Manuel.”
    I nod. “I know.”
    I set the paper on the counter and lean over it and read it. Mom comes around me and reads over my shoulder.

Chapter 35
     
    I go to school, my stomach shaky.
    I walk in and people are looking at me, talking about me, everywhere I can hear my name. Copies of the Times are being read and lying all over the ground.
    I walk down the hall and one girl calls out to me, “Can I join?”
    I’m trading textbooks in my locker and a boy shouts, “Messiah!”
    I go into first period History class and another boy shouts, “Manuel! Manuel Kadur!”
    On the way to English, more people yell at me.
    Just block it out.
    The final bell finally rings. I head for the exit and no one is paying too much attention to me. I’m already yesterday’s news. Maybe tomorrow things will be normal again.

Chapter 36
     
    I get off the bus, flashing my pass, and I walk toward the school. There’s a news van with a satellite dish on top parked in front.
    Has there been a shooting?
    No.
    Oh no.
    There’s a camera crew on the other side of it.
    I walk by them, trying to act casual.
    Some kid yells, “There he is! The messiah!”
    The camera crew is saying, “Who?” and “Where is he?”
    And then they’ve caught up to me and this guy in a suit is shoving a microphone in my face saying, “Manuel, can we have a quick interview?”
    I stop.
    Wait, what?
    What am I doing?
    The cameraman comes around me, filming me.
    I say, “I… I have to get to class.”
    I walk around them and keep walking to the school.
    The students are yelling, “Messiah!” “Hey dumbass!” and I push through the doors.
    Inside, people are all looking at me and I push through the crowd.
    I look over my shoulder. The camera crew didn’t follow inside, at least. I guess they can’t.
    I keep moving, keep my head down. My Calculus textbook is in my locker, but oh well. I head for class. I sit down in the back, avoiding eye contact.
    I go to History and someone has turned on a television and they’re watching a news report about me.
    It’s that reporter from outside, standing in front of the school with the microphone, saying,
     
    a different kind of disturbance. A group of students claiming one of their number as Jesus Christ reborn. Conflict has arisen between these students and the PTA
     
    People keep glancing at me, but I stare at the TV.
    My head is thrumming.
    There’s footage of me saying,
     
    I… I have to get to class.
     
    My hair is messy, so I run a hand through it.

Chapter 37
     
    I approach the school and there are three camera crews and a crowd of people, maybe fifteen, some of them holding signs like
     
    Jesus Saves
     
    and
     
    Blasphamers Burn In Hell!!!!
     
    They see me and they yell and run toward me.
    I run for the door, but they’re blocking the way and they surround me and tug on me and yell things at me. One of them tears the neck of my jacket, as I pull loose from them.
    I finally shove my way into the school where a crowd of students mobs me, screaming and tugging on me.
    Mr. Harris runs over and yells at them to disperse. He finally breaks them up and escorts me to my first class.
    At lunch, I won’t even bother to risk the cafeteria, yesterday was such a nightmare. I go