The Healing Horse, Ch. 24, Scene 6: Mama Explains What She Learned

After an exhausting day, Karen and Mama make their way home. Mama thinks she can manage the situation at school, and Karen wisely chooses to look at the day as a learning experience that she can grow from.

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Scene 6: Mama Explains What She Learned

As they walked, Mama said, “Oy veh! What a mess! I told Principal Stephie what you’d overheard in the ladies’ room, and for sure you won’t have to deal with Mrs. Pinzetti and Mrs. DeLuca, anymore. She can get rid of them. She thought something funny was going on. She just didn’t know what. So, now she knows. But these doctors, they don’t work for her, and there’s nothing much she can do about them. It’s up to me to keep telling him no, we don’t want his surgeries. I mean Dr. Lambert. This Dr. Muñoz sounds like he’s got his own screws loose. But he’s another one she can’t do anything about. She feels terrible about the situation, but she’s stuck with it. But it’s not all bad. She can ask the school board, again, for the money to hire a qualified special ed teacher. She has a meeting with them, tonight, so we should know, soon, and if that doesn’t work out, then she says she has the money to hire a tutor for you, anyway. She knew you were alone in that classroom, but she thought since you’re so determined to learn, that you would use the time to study on your own. She didn’t know you study at home, every night. Ach! Next time, you must tell Mama if there is a problem you cannot solve on your own. We don’t want to go through all this, again, not ever!”

They got into Mama’s car, and on the drive home Mama quietly listened to the radio.

Kitten looked out the window and thought to herself, Now, I can recover from this unpleasantness. Nothing those people said is going to hurt me. They are not going to decide my fate or take away my dreams. They are not going to define who I am. This has been a miserable day, but I am going to treat it as a learning experience, and I will never treat another human being the way these experts treat me.

The Healing Horse, Ch. 24, Scene 5: Mama Coaxes Karen

image of man fighting off a wolf

How can highly-educated professionals shame a child like this? What can a mother do to make it right?

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Scene 5: Mama Coaxes Karen

“My Krana Layala,” Mama said, as they walked down the school corridor toward the office. “Let’s take a few moments to talk things over. That was a very demanding and taxing experience for you, today. Now, there is only a half hour of school left. Perhaps you just want to go home? We can arrange that, if you want. All I have to do is tell your teacher or the main office. You just say the word, sweetheart.”

“Yes, Mama. I’ve had enough school for one day. I’m ready to go home.”

“And one other thing, my Krana Layala. Why didn’t you tell me about being left alone in an empty classroom? I thought you had a tutor. If I’d known the truth, I could have helped.”

“I was ashamed, Mama. I thought I must’ve done something to offend the teacher, and that was why she never came back. So, I tried to make the best of the situation and teach myself on my own.”

They arrived at the school office. Mama shook her head and then took a deep breath before opening the door.

“I need to see Principal Stephie right now!” Mama said to the school secretary.

The secretary opened her eyes wide, but before she could speak, the principal came out of her office and asked, “Katie, what’s wrong? Please, come in and tell me.”

Karen watched silently, as the principal led Mama into her private office and closed the door. Sitting in a chair, she stared at the office door and thought, Mama will know what to do. I should’ve told her long ago.

After a while, the door opened and Mama came out, followed by the principal. They shook hands, and Karen followed Mama to their car.

The Healing Horse, Ch. 24, Scene 5: Mama Speaks

image of diorama of soviet interrogation of woman

The story continues as Mama speaks up and rescues Karen from the evil experts.

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Scene 5: Mama Speaks

“Now, look here! I’m sure you found out all you need to know. You disregarded my daughter’s feelings, while being very intrusive. You wouldn’t appreciate being taunted, if you were the ones with braces on your legs. She is not a criminal, and you are not here to interrogate her. This evaluation is completely pointless. You’ve put her through enough. It is time to conclude this meeting. I look forward to reviewing your evaluation and recommendations with the attorney I work for.”

Mama took Karen’s hand and walked toward the door. Mrs. Pinzetti hurried after them. She looked confused for a moment before putting on her false smile and coughing, before speaking in her syrupy voice.

“You don’t really believe that, do you, Mrs. Hershstein?”

“Yes, I do believe my child knows what she is talking about.”

Mrs. Pinzetti said,“I want to be your friend, Karen. Please don’t fight me. This is for your own good. Someday, you’ll thank me. I’m only trying to help you.”

Recalling the unbelievable words she had overheard in the ladies’ room, Karen replied,“I don’t think so! How could I trust someone who treats me like this?”

Mama frowned and glared into Mrs. Pinzetti’s eyes.“How dare you! What do you think you’re doing? One moment, you order Karen around as if she were sub-human, and the next you think she is so stupid that a phony smile and sweet words will trick her into cooperating with you. I thought things were bad, when I walked in on the clinic this morning, but they are even worse than I thought.”

Dr. Lambert interrupted them, as he announced,“There’s nothing more we can do here today. We will resume with the next child, tomorrow morning at nine. Mrs. Pinzetti, I will speak with you later.”

He pulled his coat together over his belly and glared at Mrs. Pinzetti, as he brushed past Karen and Mama on his way to the door. The other experts hurried after him, leaving Karen and Mama behind with Mrs. Pinzetti and Mrs. DeLuca. Without another word, Mama led Karen away.

The Healing Horse, Ch. 24, Scene 4: Karen Explodes

Karen has had enough, and in this scene she tells off the whole room of experts.

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Scene 4: Karen Explodes

“Enough! I’ve had it! That’s it! I’m leaving! Your questions are humiliating and insulting. They take away a person’s pride. They make me feel like I am less than human. You have this bizarre idea that I’m obsessed with eating candy according to its color. And you’re armed with a binder of information about me that you won’t share with me or my mother. Every year, you ask the same questions, as if I might’ve forgotten how to tie my shoelaces or that Phoenix is the capital of Arizona. Then you have me do the same stupid tests of connecting dots, adding numbers and fitting together simple puzzles. You know the answers, and you know I know the answers. Yet, you put me through this humiliation and then assign me back to the same do-nothing classroom, where there isn’t a qualified special ed teacher, and where you know I’ll learn little or nothing. I am outraged at your refusal to help me—injured, violated and enraged at the low standard of your commitment.

Last year, you agreed that I needed more advanced education. But did I get it? You said you’d hire a tutor for me, because my classroom teacher couldn’t provide the educational assistance I needed. Did I get a tutor? No, I did not get a tutor. I got a teacher who stayed for three minutes to make sure I had something to study, and then left me alone in that classroom for a year. I’m the one who’s been sitting in an empty classroom for two hours every afternoon, for the past year, by myself, memorizing vocabulary words. I’m the one who’s been teaching myself. I’m the one who’s been trying to figure out how to educate myself.

You sit there putting on an attitude, and always going back to the same questions, looking for evidence to label me retarded. You don’t want to build a bridge between where I am now and where I’ll need to be, when I become an adult. You want to make me out to be worse off than I am! You want to write off my life.”

Karen paused, and Mama stood to speak.

The Healing Horse, Ch. 24, Scene 3: The Questions

image of brightly colored pieces of candy

In this part of the story, thirteen-year-old Karen undergoes a humiliating series of questions in front of her mother and a room full of adults. These are not questions people ask normal teenagers.

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Scene 3: The Questions

Karen knew what the questions would be. The eval team was interested in psychology and education, not in medicine. They would go on all afternoon. The eval team would ask about her daily life. They would want to know everything from how she tied her shoes to what kind of socializing she did. The questions had not bothered her when she was a tiny child. They asked the same questions every year. These were not questions that adults asked normal thirteen-year-olds.

Without warning, a man stood up in the back of the room, and shouted,“Excuse me, Mrs. Pinzetti, but I have an important question related to my primate research. I work for the county zoo, and I’mm studying color preferences for foods among primates. Karen, when you eat colored candy, which colors do you eat first, second and third?”

Karen said, “I don’t pay any attention to the color.”

The man glowered at her, and then sat down.

One of the other experts interjected,“What is the color of the sky, Karen?”

“Baby blue, the last time I checked, ma’am. That’s also my favorite color of cotton candy,” Karen snapped back.

The specialist sniffed and gulped water from her paper cup before sitting back down.

Mrs. Pinzetti coughed and said,“Please, everyone! I am conducting the evaluation. If you have additional questions to ask Karen, please wait until the end. As for you, Karen, I’m not going to tolerate any attention-getting behaviors. You will cooperate with me, or you will be in big trouble. Do you understand?”

Karen knew what she meant by attention-getting behaviors. She meant anything Karen did or said that contradicted the rule of the experts.

Mrs. Pinzetti immediately ordered Karen to answer a series of questions, her voice cracking with the usual dry cough.

“Why don’t you like math?”

“Who is President of the United States?”

“Phoenix is the capital of what state?”

“If today is hump day, then yesterday was? And tomorrow will be?”

“What is today’s date and what year are we in?”

“How come you wear pink jumpers?”

“What brand of shampoo do you use?”

“Who is Judy Garland?”

“How does the rain fall from the sky?”

“How do you make a Raggedy-Ann doll?”

Between giving short answers, Kitten watched as Mama’s frown darkened and darkened. Mrs. Pinzetti scooted her chair closer to Karen and raised her voice.

“Now, Sugar, I want you to answer the following questions. However, I want you to write the answers down on paper. I don’t want you to say another word. So, listen very carefully.”

“Excuse me, but—“ Karen began to ask.

“No! Not another word, Karen. Connect the lines on this paper, now! Don’t show them to me. Just keep them to yourself.”

Silently, Karen drew a line that connected a series of dots on the paper. It made the outline of a bear.

Mrs. Pinzetti snatched the paper from her and leaned closer.

“Here’s another one. Add up this set of numbers!” she shouted.

The paper had a column of single-digit numbers. Karen added them and wrote the sum at the bottom. Again, Mrs. Pinzetti snatched the paper from her and replaced it with a jigsaw puzzle.

“Now, put the pieces of this puzzle together. You have only one minute. Begin, now!” she shouted even louder.

Karen felt Mrs. Pinzetti’s breath on her face. Mrs. Pinzetti looked over her head at the rows of experts, a triumphant smile on her face, as she demonstrated her authority over everyone in the room. Inside herself, Karen felt a flame ignite. She looked at Mama and gave her “their look.” Mama frowned and then nodded encouragement.

The Healing Horse, Ch. 24, Scene 2: The Binders

After bracing themselves for another ordeal, Karen and Mama return for the evaluation.

Scene 2: The Binders

“Thank you for coming back, Mrs. Hearshstein and Karen. We are ready to begin the evaluation. I’m sure the afternoon will go better than the morning. Walk this way with me please.”

When she said that the afternoon would go better, Karen looked up at Mama. Their eyes met. They both had the same thought. Mrs. Pinzetti meant better for her, not for Karen.

Karen trailed along, as the therapist led Mama to a seat in the back of the room, behind the experts, as far from Karen as she could be. Then she followed her to a table in front of everyone. It had two chairs and a stack of thick binders in front of one of them. They held Karen’s school records, and the school policy was that no one but educators and therapists could see them—not even parents. Mrs. Pinzetti pulled out the chair without the binders.

“Please have a seat, Sugar. I have some questions to ask you.”

Karen knew what kind of questions they would be. Mrs. Pinzetti was not only a physical therapist. She was the closest thing the school had to an expert on special education.

Karen took a deep breath and sat down.

The Healing Horse, Ch. 24: The Evaluation, Scene 1: You’ll Never Walk Alone

image of movie poster for Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel This scene begins Chapter 24, which is all about the psychological evaluation that the school puts Karen through. She and her mother both know that the experts want to make her look retarded, but she refuses to go along with them.

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Scene 1: You’ll Never Walk Alone

As one o’clock approached, Karen and her Mama bussed their cafetorium trays and walked out into the deserted hallway. Karen’s butterflies returned, as memories of the horrors Mrs. Pinzetti and Mrs. DeLuca planned squeezed her heart.

Mama looked down at her and said, “Hum along with me, my Krana Layala. Have no fear. I am by your side.”

Mama hummed. Karen joined in, as they walked. The lyrics of the Rodgers and Hammerstein song swelled her heart with courage. She knew them by heart.

When you walk through a storm hold your head up high
And don’t be afraid of the dark.
At the end of a storm is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.*

They stopped in front of the door to the Physical Therapy room. As Mama lifted her hand to knock, the door opened, and the aroma of freshly baked lasagna flowed out. It smelled almost as good as Mama’s. One of the ladies from the school kitchen pushed an aluminum rack loaded with pastel cafeteria trays and dirty dishes by them. Karen held the door open for her.

“I’m glad you enjoyed your lunch,” the lady called back to the experts.“We wouldn’t want you to have to eat the same thing the students get or sit in the cafetorium with them. Someone will bring you fresh coffee and cookies later. We’ll bake the cookies, just before we bring them!”

Karen watched as the cook with her rack of trays disappeared down the hall. She looked up at Mama, whose slight frown said she was mildly annoyed. She would not reveal that she was furious. The experts got special treatment even from the kitchen, and the cooks knew the food they served the children was not good enough for adults.

Mrs. Pinzetti approached with her phony smile on her face.

*Lyrics quoted from https://www.songlyrics.com/rodgers-hammerstein/you-ll-never-walk-alone-from-carousel-lyrics/

The Healing Horse, Ch. 23, Scene 18: Yogurt and Courage

This scene concludes Chapter 23: The Promenade. Karen now knows what the evil experts are plotting for her. Even though she is frightened, she finds courage and knows she is fighting them not only for herself, but for everyone with disabilities. Stay tuned for the battle of wits…

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Scene 18: Yogurt and Courage

Karen looked up at Mama and said, “I’m sorry, but I’ve lost my appetite,” as she pushed away the yogurt carton.

“Oy vey, my Krana Layala, you look more upset than you did after the clinic. What’s wrong? I thought you were going to take a few minutes to relax.”

“I did, Mama. I locked myself in a stall in the ladies’ room, but then something terrible happened. Mrs. Pinzetti and Mrs. DeLuca came in, and…”

Her heart felt as if it were on fire, as she told Mama what she had overheard. Mrs. DeLuca changed her test scores to give her a low IQ. Mrs. Pinzetti exaggerated her CP so she looked hopelessly paralyzed. Now, Mrs. Pinzetti wanted to push her into a nervous breakdown. Then the doctors could give her electroconvulsive shock therapy. It would turn her into a vegetable, and Mama into a nervous wreck, who would agree to anything, even to amputating an arm and a leg.

As she spoke, Mama’s face went pale and sweat broke out on her forehead. She frowned and pursed her lips.

“My Krana Layala, know this: none of that is going to happen. Now that I’m onto them, I can stop them. There’s nothing they can do without my permission. How do you feel about standing up to Mrs. Pinzetti?”

“Mama, if I could stand up to Mrs. Schmidt, I can stand up to Mrs. Pinzetti. I have to stop these evil experts. If they want to do this to me, can you imagine what they will do to Tammy?”

Mama raised her eyebrows, as if she were stretching her face to relax it. Without speaking, she took a clean, white handkerchief out of her purse and patted her forehead. She opened her compact and powdered her face, then put on more lipstick.

Karen watched, and asked, “Mama, how come you’re so quiet?”

“Because I want to make sure everything goes right for you. Here, use my hairbrush to fix your hair. We are going into battle, so we need to look sharp. I can talk to Principal Stephie, later, but right now we have to face these monsters. Besides, she may not be able to do anything. These experts have a lot of power. She can’t just run them out of the building. This is going to be a battle of wits. We need to stay calm. No more Sarah Heartburn. Okay, my Krana Layala?”

“Okay, Mama, I’m ready for anything.”

“That’s my girl. Now, eat your yogurt. You’ll need your strength for this.”

The Healing Horse, Ch. 23, Scene 17: Mama in the Cafetorium

image ot school cafetorium While Karen tries to find some peace by being alone in the ladies’ room, Mama does the same over a coffee in the cafetorium. New word for you? Think school auditorium with folding down tables and attached seating for lunches.

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Scene 17: Mama in the Cafetorium

Meanwhile, Mama walked down the hall to the cafetorium. It was the largest room in the school. Folding tables with attached seats came down from the walls, when meals were served. The stage at one end was for school plays and performances. So, it was both the cafeteria and the auditorium.

She said hello to Mrs. Pearl and bought a cup of vanilla yoghurt for Kitten but only black coffee for herself. She was too fat. Maybe the caffeine would burn off a few calories.

There was an empty place at the end of one of the long tables. She took it so she could think. She needed help figuring out what kind of education Karen needed for her future. Karen needed to become a literate, well-read young lady, so she could succeed in college and a career. They had spent many evenings together, working on her basic reading skills, after the classroom teachers gave up. Principal Stephie had promised to hire a specialist teacher, who would be able to help, but the Child Study Team was useless. Dr. Lambert and the others were driven by greed for surgical fees and lust for power. They had spent the morning tormenting Karen so they could make their annual recommendation of experimental surgery. They would torment her more with insultingly simple intelligence tests in the afternoon. Then they would recommend that she continue the course of education they had prescribed in the past, even though it was not working. They were not even thinking about how Karen would support herself when she grew up.

Mama finished the black coffee and put down the cup. She wished she had said no to the second DPT shot, when her Krana Layala was a baby. Now, it was too late to change that, but how could she get her girl the education she needed?

Karen entered the cafetorium. Her forehead was pale, and her face was puffy from crying, but her cheeks were red like fire, red like the note Mama had written with her red hot lipstick, red like the words she had scribbled to the teacher about Karen needing homework that she could do by herself. Without saying a word, Karen hugged her and sat down.

The Healing Horse, Ch. 23, Scene 16: An Evil Plot Revealed

Evil therapists revealing their plans while powdering their noses? A frightened teen hiding in a toilet stall? Read on, as the stakes grow higher in the game of disabled girl versus evil experts.

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Scene 16: An Evil Plot Revealed

The door from the hallway opened. Karen took a deep breath. She did not want to be discovered in the grown-up restroom. The hard click of high heels sounded on the floor. She peeked through the gap between the stall’s door and frame. Mrs. Pinzetti and Mrs. DeLuca stood in front of the mirror over the wash basins, deep frowns on their faces.

Both women took compacts out of their purses and powdered their noses, as they talked.

Mrs. Pinzetti hissed, “We can’t let Little Sugar and her fat mother take control. Lambert is going to blame me, even though he’s the one who let them get away with throwing that tantrum in clinic. Sugar is already slated for surgery. That’s what Lambert cares about. He just wants his fee, and he’s going to make life hell for me if he doesn’t get it. Besides, you and I need our cuts. I wish Karen really were retarded. Are you sure you changed the scores on her tests, so we have paperwork to back us up?”

“Yes,” Mrs. DeLuca whispered. “They were all way above average, but I moved them down to be in line with her paralysis. The only problem with her learning is transposing, and she compensates for that. I can’t believe Muñoz scored her as high as he did! We need to get Lambert to straighten him out. If he thinks he’s going to get his cut, then he’d better get more creative with his testing.”

They closed their compacts and put them away in their purses before taking out shiny, gold tubes of lipstick. Mrs. Pinzetti added, “And I exaggerated her physical problems in my report. She does pretty well for a kid with a weak left side, but I make her sound like that arm and leg are useless and might as well be removed.”

For a moment, the room was silent as they colored their mouths bright red. Then Mrs. Pinzetti said, “I’m going to take a hard line during the eval and break little Sugar right in front of her mother. I’m going to make her look like the idiot we need her to be. And, if the mother won’t approve surgery, now, then maybe she will after I give her daughter a nervous breakdown.”

“A breakdown!” Mrs. DeLuca laughed. “But how?”

“Watch and learn. The kid thinks I care about her, so I’ll just lay on the smiles while I make her therapy hell. Eventually, she’ll crack. Once she cracks, Lambert can order shock therapy to cook any remaining charm out of that little brain. The mother will agree to anything to help her child. They always do. After that, Karen’ll be a slobbering vegetable. Seeing the effect of the shock treatment on her daughter will destroy the mother. It always does. She won’t object to surgery after that. Right now, we need to get back into that room and drop some hints, so Lambert doesn’t object when I browbeat Karen this afternoon. I’m really going to enjoy making her squirm, and I can’t wait to start twisting that left arm and leg in our next therapy session. I heard about the Nazi the school used to have for PT. I’ll be more subtle, but I’ll destroy that child one way or the other.”

Both women finished coloring their lips the red of fresh blood. They put the lipsticks back into their bags, then puckered their mouths and leaned forward to inspect them, looking as if they were going to kiss themselves in the mirror, or suck blood from a victim. Their heels clicked across the room’s hard floor. The door opened and closed with a sigh. Karen’s eyes filled with tears of silent rage.

Shush, Kitten, steady! So that’s what Mrs. Pinzetti meant when she said they were running out of children who needed surgery from Dr. Lambert. She meant they were coming after me.