The Red Ball

By Ebe Behnia

A red ball travels around the world. It touches the lives of four boys just as each finds himself in a precarious situation. The boys make a difference with their lives. Each boy struggles to surmount great odds, conquer fears and exceed perceived limitations. The ball is a conduit for establishing relationships, the thread that weaves these four boys’ lives, indeed all of our lives, together.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ebe Behnia
• Release date: Apr 2, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301794881

Ebe Behnia

Born in Tehran, Iran brought up in Perth, Scotland and living in Chevy Chase, United States. I have been a teacher all my adult life. I have been a student the rest of the time. I am married and have have had many children.

Book preview

The Red Ball

By Ebe Behnia

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.

Smashwords Edition: April 2013

Synopsis

1

2

3

4

Synopsis

A red ball travels around the world from Toft, Minnesota to Banda Aceh, on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. It touches the lives of four boys just as each finds himself in a precarious situation.  Each boy is afforded an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. George, Mahdi, Shivraj and Kenji are four ordinary young boys who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. What follows is each boy’s struggle to surmount great odds, conquer fears and exceed perceived limitations. The ball acts as a conduit for establishing relationships, the thread that weaves these four boys’ lives, indeed all of our lives, together. The confusion within each child is exacerbated by the external conflicts wreaked by adults. These children simplify a maze of complications and approach equilibrium, in the hope that it can serve as a model for our future.

To all the muggle children.

Acknowledgment

Front cover design by Kymberlee Behnia

1

There wasn’t much to get excited about in Tofte, Minnesota. At least George didn’t think so. Like every other small town, it had a post office, a bank, a movie theater, a choice of fast food restaurants and a hardware store where George’s grandfather Mr. Topper was the proprietor. Every day, George walked to the hardware store after school. He went straight to the back where his grandfather had a little office. There was a small refrigerator under a large pile of catalogues from various cabinet companies and other assorted businesses which were brought daily by the postman. Inside the refrigerator was always half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which was left from his grandfather’s lunch packed every day by his daughter, George’s mother, Penelope. Every morning, as George and his grandfather left the house, Penny told her father to make sure he ate his entire sandwich. Every afternoon half of it was left, which George eagerly consumed along with a soda, which still cost a quarter, from the rusty red vending machine just outside the front door of the store. Even though George had eaten his own sandwich for lunch at school, he seemed to enjoy his grandfather’s sandwich even more.

As George walked past the antique cash register, he pressed the no sale button. There was a big kachingg and the cash drawer opened very rapidly. He took out a quarter and wished he would become tall enough to use his hip to push the drawer back like his grandfather did every time someone bought something from the store. He reckoned he was doing his grandfather a favor by eating the remaining half of his sandwich so that his grandfather would not get in trouble with his mother. He opened the cool wax paper wrapped around the sandwich and with his soda in the other hand, he would stare at the calendar on the wall, which had a different woman modeling some home appliance every month. The month of July had a woman in a blue and white checkered shirt with cut-off jeans bending over to pick up a pitcher of lemonade from one of those small refrigerators. After examining the woman for the eleventh time that month, George wondered if his mother would like a refrigerator like that.

George was oblivious to the sight and sound of customers who might be in the store about the time he came in. So it was no surprise that he didn’t notice the man putting together a large bin made out of wires. The balls, all pumped up, were in two giant trash bags. As the man clicked the last fastener and placed the bin next to the display of color swatches for the paint department, George finally looked out of the little office and noticed the man bending over to pick up one of the large trash bags. The man held the trash bag over the bin and tore the tape and part of the bag. A bunch of red playground balls fell into the bin bouncing up and down on top of each other. By the time he bent over to pick up the second bag, George was standing by the bin. He looked at the man intently, trying to figure out what he was doing without having to ask him.

The man saw the quizzical look on George’s face and decided to end his angst. The man told George that the bin and balls were a promotion for some new electric kettles his grandfather had ordered to sell in the store. George’s expression hadn’t changed the slightest bit. Obviously, more explanation was required. The man continued to explain that he was a representative for the Fujitronic company. Topper’s Hardware was going to sell three models of the Fujitronic automatic-dispensing hot water pot with safety lock. The man went on to describe each model, highlighting such salient features as the dechlorinate mode that reduced chlorine and musty odors from tap water. The man assured George that these features were very important for people who drank tea or instant coffee.

George couldn’t stand it any longer. He looked the man straight in the eyes and asked what any of this had to do with those red balls. It seemed the man had almost forgotten about the red balls, which were the point of this whole conversation for George. The man picked one of the kettles from the shelf and pointed to the narrow see-through water level gauge. George looked down along the gauge, vaulting his gaze over each calibration measure until at the very bottom he noticed a little red ball. As one filled the Fujitronic FP30A with tap water, the tiny red ball rose to display the level of water in the machine. With the purchase of any of the three Fujitronic hot water pots, a red ball from the bin would be a complimentary gift. By the time the man had finished this explanation and made sure that George understood that this was his very own brilliant marketing idea, Mr. Topper was standing beside George and the bin of red balls.

Mr. Topper, a full-blooded Ojibwe Indian, was a very large man. His hand would cover George’s entire face, which was something Mr. Topper liked to do when he finished talking to George about something. He would grab George’s face and pull him closer before he would let go and then kiss his forehead. Although an old man, Mr. Topper always stood upright, with his long gray hair, sometimes worn in a ponytail, flowing about his shoulders. A brown leather apron covered his plaid shirt and his denim jeans.

I am almost done, Mr. Topper, the man said.

Hmmm, was the only reply.

Do you like it?

Hmmm, he said again this time shaking his head.

Is there anything else I can do?

Lower the price! Mr. Topper’s voice boomed in the man’s ear.

These are state of the art electronic hot water pots, the man tried to explain, hoping he wouldn’t have to rehash all he had said and faxed three weeks ago to convince Mr. Topper to carry these appliances.

"Not too many people in Tofte have $49.99 to spend on an oversized electric kettle with