The Civil War Kid

It was Saturday. Saturday meant one thing: It meant pulling out the box of Civil War memorabilia Jack had been collecting and going over everything. It meant using his father’s laptop and researching (again) the things in his collection. Reading. Some notetaking. Putting everything back until next Saturday when he would do it again.

First thing’s first. Jack got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. His parents were still asleep. Jack was sure to be quiet and make sure he didn’t disturb them. After he had his breakfast, he unplugged his father’s laptop from the office and took it upstairs. Jack put the laptop down on his bed and got dressed. He wanted to be ready to start his day and get right into his weekly inventory and note-taking. From there, well, it was Saturday. Jack hadn’t quite decided what he would do with his Saturday. He would probably play basketball with some friends. Some teachers had the nerve to assign homework over the weekend. Jack was just a couple of weeks into his freshman year in high school, so he was still trying to figure out what made teachers so mean when it came to the weekends.

School was a bore. Jack was a good student. That didn’t mean he had to like it. Classes were boring. He wished he could sneak into the juniors’ American History class, especially when they started to cover the Civil War. That would be a lot more interesting than the Ancient History class the freshmen had to take.

Jack sat down at his desk. His father’s laptop was unfolded and sitting in front of him. To his right, on his bed, was a box leftover from one of his mother’s online shopping sprees. Jack had repurposed the box into a keeper of Civil War memorabilia that he hoped to grow enough for another box or maybe one bigger box. Jack knew, much to his father’s dismay, his mother would have more boxes coming in.

He looked at every piece guarded by the cardboard guardian. There were some framed rifle balls and bullets. Replicas of letters written by Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis to various officers and relatives. Maps. A belt buckle. Jack referenced some of his favorite websites to see if any new information had been posted since his last visit.

His mother had awoken. He went into Jack’s room to check on her son.

“How’s it going, General?” his mother asked.

“Okay,” Jack smiled at his mother. She went downstairs to make coffee for her and her husband. Jack continued to look over his collection. He looked at the websites and took some notes.

The doorbell rang. He heard his mother open the door. He recognized the other voice. It was Anthony, Jack’s friend. Jack and Anthony had grown up together. Anthony was two years older than Jack. They had managed to stay friends despite being in different schools two years at a time.

Jack heard footsteps coming upstairs. He looked up as Anthony came into his room.

“Hey,” Anthony said.

“Hey,” Jack replied.

“Did you get anything new this week?”

“No,” Jack answered.

Anthony furrowed his brow. “Then why are you taking notes if nothing has changed since last week?”

Jack shrugged. “I like to see if there’s been anything added to the websites I like to go on,” he said. “I want to see if anyone has new information on a battle, a site, or a soldier.”

“Well, hurry up,” Anthony said. “Guys are meeting at the basketball court.”

“Okay,” Jack said. He put his collectibles back in the cardboard box, closed out the website, and folded his father’s laptop. Anthony went with him to the office where Jack plugged the laptop back in. The boys said goodbye to Jack’s mother and went outside to the basketball court.

“Why do you keep looking at those websites?” Anthony asked. “You act like something new is going to be on them every week.”

“I like looking at them,” Jack said. “I like looking at the things I’ve collected and seeing if anyone has anything like that. If they do, I like seeing what they have to say about it.”

“You’re weird,” Anthony said. “Why don’t you collect video games or Pokémon?”

“Pokémon?” Jack answered. “I’m in the ninth grade, not nine years old.”

They reached the basketball court. There were four other kids shooting baskets when Jack and Anthony arrived.

“You made it,” one of the boys said.

“Yeah,” Anthony said. “I was able to tear him away from the Civil War.”

Boys laughed. They then chose teams for a game. After the game, they chose different teams and played another game. They sat down against the fence after the second game.

“Why are you so interested in the Civil War?” a boy asked Jack.

“I don’t know,” Jack said. “It’s just something I like. I like reading about it. I like learning things. I like history. The Civil War is my favorite subject in history. I don’t know why I like it. I just do. Why do you like Kevin Hart so much?”

“Because Kevin Hart is funny,” Anthony said. “And he’s from this century. Why don’t you try something a little more modern?”

The boys laughed. Jack didn’t laugh. Boys in the neighborhood had been teasing him for a long time about his hobby. No one understood why Jack was as interested as he was in it. Sometimes, Jack wished someone with the same interest lived in the same neighborhood. He would really like it if there was someone he could connect with.

The boys went home. Jack played some video games. That night, he watched a movie with his family. He did his homework the next day. The weekend soon ended. Monday came and Jack had to go to school again. He got to school and saw Anthony talking to a couple of juniors. Jack said hi to them.

“There he is,” Anthony said. “The Civil War Man. Hey, maybe you can ask the basketball coach if he needs a shooter.”

The juniors laughed. Jack rolled his eyes and kept walking. He met up with some freshmen and talked to them until the bell rang for the start of school.

The day came and went. Soon, the final bell of the day rang and freed the students for the afternoon. Jack walked out of the school alone. Two of Anthony’s friends walked past him.

“Are you going to ask someone to the Ball?” One said.

“Maybe you can ride a horse to school,” said the other.

Jack ignored them. He kept on walking home. It was the same thing every day. Jack would go to school. Anthony and his friends would see him and make a joke about Jack’s interest in the Civil War. It happened before school. It happened after school. It happened on the weekends. Sometimes, Jack wondered why he kept hanging out with Anthony.

One day, Jack got home from school. He went to his room and pulled out his books for his homework that afternoon. The phone rang. His mother answered it and said, “Jack! Phone!” Jack got up from his desk and went to his parents’ bedroom to get the phone. It was Anthony.

“Hello?” Jack said.

“Hi, Jack,” Anthony said. “Listen. I found out I have a test next week. Do you think you could tell me a little about the Civil War?”