Chaz and Becky stopped at the corner of Massachusetts and 10th streets.

Their next move was up to Becky.

“Do you want to go right, or do you want to go left?” Chaz asked.

Becky, seated with a belt strapping her waist to the wheelchair, dropped a hand to a side wheel and pushed. The chair hooked to the left, and they continued across the street, just like any other teens on a shopping trip.

Lawrence High School students Chaz Steele and Becky Huffman formed an uncommon bond that transformed their high school years. Chaz graduates this weekend, and he credits Becky for helping show him the right way.

“I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for her,” he said.

There was a time when Chaz was cruel to students like Becky, who has cerebral palsy.

He called them names. Stupid. Retard. Idiot. When he saw a student with disabilities he would point and laugh.

Bullying

Chaz Steele, left, wipes Becky Huffman's face at her home after school on Thursday. Steele, once a self-proclaimed bully, has come full circle in life and left his old ways behind him -- a transformation that he attributes largely to Becky, who has cerebral palsy. He hopes to become an engineer someday to help people with disabilities by designing special electronics.

Chaz was fighting back, dumping his anger on other people. He did this because he, once, had been the butt of jokes. When Chaz was about 9 years old, school life was tough. Those are the awkward years for many kids, and for Chaz, they were awkward because of his teeth.

There were bullies, and they were never far away. They had last names that were close to Chaz’s when ordered alphabetically. So, whenever teachers asked to line up alphabetically, the kids were there, armed with a lexicon of belittling names.

Bucktooth, they called him. Saber tooth. Snaggle tooth. Bucktooth tiger. The words cut deep. He would remember them for years.

He feared the bullying kids. At one point, battered by the ridicule, he fled his school and hid in the bushes. Work crews discovered him and called security.

The bullying changed him. Chaz would fear his next encounter with the bullies. He couldn’t focus in class. His grades slipped.

To fight back, Chaz became a bully. He aimed his rage at students who already had struggles, students with disabilities. He pointed at them. Called them names.

It didn’t help. It only made Chaz feel worse.

“I didn’t really like being mean to students, but it was a way to deal with my anger,” he said.

When he entered high school, he kept a low profile.

“I figured if I didn’t talk to anyone, I wouldn’t be made fun of,” he said.

Fighting and winning

Becky, short for Rebecca, is Carol Huffman’s youngest child.

Chaz Steele, left, helps Rebecca Huffman into her wheelchair Thursday at after school. Steele, once a self-proclaimed bully, has come full circle in life and left his old ways behind him. He helps Huffman after school two days a week while her parents are at work.

When Becky was born, doctors told the Huffmans she could spend the rest of her life institutionalized. The Huffmans refused.

When she was young, Becky attended a segregated school for children with disabilities. But Carol Huffman wanted more for her child.

“It was really important for us to help enhance her opportunities,” Carol Huffman said.

Huffman fought to have her daughter included in regular classrooms, a situation known as inclusion.

Becky needed the socialization. She had high anxiety. At the slightest change — a new bus driver or a new routine — she would rebel, hit her head or pull her hair. She would cling to her parents. She couldn’t go into a gymnasium to watch a basketball game because the noisy atmosphere would have overwhelmed her.

But Carol Huffman fought, and she won. Becky was placed in regular classrooms. And she improved.

“It happened over a period of time,” Huffman said.

Becky began feeding herself. She ate lunch with other kids. She got used to change, to people. The Huffmans moved to the Lawrence district in 1996. In Lawrence schools, Becky was placed in regular classrooms.

She learned how to behave in class. She connected with other kids. She met Chaz.

Unique bond

Lawrence High school honors Free State High school honors

Zoanne Hough, a special education paraprofessional who works with Becky, recalled the encounter and the unique bond Chaz and Becky formed.

“Chaz decided that he would take the chance,” Hough said. “I don’t think there are a lot of people who would.”

In botany class, students paired up for lab work. Chaz’s lab partner was out that day. Hough made a suggestion: How about pairing Becky and Chaz?

The idea scared Chaz. He didn’t want to do it. Becky was different.

“I was afraid of students with disabilities,” Chaz said.

They paired. At first Chaz kept his distance. Helping hold a slide beneath a microscope for Becky, he would stretch his arms so his body kept a distance.

Becky was not so rude.

“I think she trusted me all along,” Chaz would later explain, “because she sensed I was a good person.”

It took time, but Chaz warmed up to his lab partner. He noticed how in class she would cast an inquisitive glance his way, wondering what this new friend was all about.

Chaz went to a holiday party at Becky’s house and was surprised to find some of his other friends there. Becky wasn’t so different after all, Chaz thought. In fact, they had more in common than not.

Chaz and Becky traveled to Topeka last fall to make the case for inclusion before the Legislature. Chaz took Becky to the prom this spring. He made the corsage by hand.

“He wanted to make sure it would fit her tiny wrist,” Carol Huffman said.

Chaz also takes her horseback riding, shopping, to the movies.

“Who’d ever thought my daughter would be going on a date for the high school prom … and be out until 4 in the morning?” Huffman said. “Chaz made that possible.”

Rare friendship

Friendships like that of Chaz and Becky, unfortunately, are rare, said Deb Engstrom, an LHS special education teacher.

“Most of the people with severe disabilities have a lot of people in their lives, but they’re a lot of people who are paid to be there,” she said. “What they’re missing in life are friends, people who are there when they want to be there and aren’t paid.”

Chaz plans to attend Kansas University in the fall. He wants to be an engineer, helping to make electronic speaking devices for people with disabilities.

Becky has one more year at LHS. But the two plan to stay close.

On a recent shopping trip, Chaz and Becky browsed the racks at Brits, a shop that sells imported goods. They strolled the aisles at Weaver’s, where Becky glided her hand along the dresses.

At one point, on the sidewalk, Becky snatched Chaz’s sunglasses and put them over her own glasses, grinning in the sunlight.

Chaz has put his bullying behind him. He has since forgiven and befriended the kids who picked on him. And he tries to forget about the bad words he once used.

“I never want to do it again,” he said. “Now, I’m a better person, honestly.”