His voice had kind of grown distant. “I’d wish that on no man, son, I can tell you that.” After a pause, his voice returned to normal. “I’ve models of the planes in my office, even the MiG-15s. Maybe Saturday you can come in with Mary and I to the Hoboken Office, look the place over, it’s not that big, and Larry will take you home afterwards.”
For a while, we didn’t speak. In no time we were over Washington, D. C.
“I radioed into the Washington International Airport and had to circle the airport twice before receiving clearance to land. Anybody who has flown a plane knows that the most difficult part of it is landing. The mixture was on rich and I turned the carburetor heat on full. My airspeed was reduced to 70 KIAS with the flaps up and as the speed dropped to 60 KIAS I put the flaps slightly down and aligned the plane with the markers on the runway. My hands perspired so much that the wheel was slippery. The nose lowered too sharply, but I corrected it at once. The back wheels touched the pavement. When the front wheels landed, I slowly worked the brake with the wing flaps retracted. When we pulled to a complete stop, a wave of relief washed over me. If Stan had been nervous, he didn’t show it.
“Good job,” he said softly, “I’ll taxi it in.”
I was half-surprised no one was there to meet us. In the weeks I’d stayed with the Tappets, they’d become in my eyes modest yet powerful. I pictured them as secretive magnates who knew people everywhere in the world. Stan rented a car and we traveled around the Capital, taking a tour of the White House with a group of about thirty tourists. I thought many of the rooms were ugly compare to the Tappet Mansion. They’d old furniture with bright garish colors and flashy settings, but I didn’t say anything. I’d once heard Stan comment that he thought America was the greatest nation in the world and didn’t want to hurt his feelings. However, I certainly didn’t think so myself, unless the rest the world was in a pot of trouble. To my mind, what I had seen so far of Jersey was pretty sad.
The many memorials and monuments in Washington led me to understand that the we were an incredibly rich country, yet, all they could do for me while I was in their hands, was Lloyd Mills and stinking halfway homes like Carling Street. It seemed inexplicable. Stan asked me if I wanted to pilot home, but I was so drained that I couldn’t face it.
“It was fun,” I said, “but you do it.”
When I got home I rushed to see Sally only to find that she’d gotten into trouble and been sent to her room by Una. I knocked on her door. When I came in, she hugged me. “What happened?” I asked.
“Una wouldn’t make me a milkshake when I ordered one, so I fired her. She sent me up here until I apologize to her, but I’m not going to. She’s going to be fired, you wait and see.”
“Una can’t be fired.”
“She can so. Mom and Dad pay her. They can fire her anytime.”
I didn’t understand how Sally could be so dense about what was clearly evident. It was childish. The bond between Una and Mary seemed unshakable. Every night before supper over port, they discussed business and markets in Mary’s office upstairs, the room which looked out above the pool and backed unto my closet.
I could hear them laughing and talking through a vent when I played war-bunker. The vent was behind suitcases and empty boxes. I’d begun to avidly spy on them. I was a tortured hungry prisoner of war, just like Stan had been in Korea, quietly listening to the enemies’ commanding officers. Una directly helped run Tappets. She advised Mary. Her power, whether for good or bad, was enormous. Her word in regards to Sally and me was absolute. Every time our names were raised, Mary always said something like, ‘You do what you think is best, Una.’
Although Mary’s expectations to my face were not much different than what I had heard from the closet-bunker, it soon became clear that the Tappets definitely followed a strategy and expected me to perform. “I don’t want her fired, Sally,” I said. “I like Una and so do you. Maybe you should apologize and then we can go swimming.”
Sally looked like she might pout, but I caught her eyes and kissed her on the lips. “Okay,” she said and kissed me back. “I’ll apologize for you.”
She was stubborn when she wanted to be and if she got into a snit, nothing could be done for it. Your time with her was ruined until her mood returned to normal. When we made peace with Una, we phoned Andy and Kurt and met them at the pool. The next day was Labor Day and we played the whole day in the backyard with Kurt and Andy. Una supplied us with snacks and drinks. She planned a special supper that evening with everyone ordering what they wanted, like in a restaurant.
I ordered steak and mashed potatoes. Sally ordered chicken wings and french fries. Mary and Stan said they would have whatever Una was having, which to me was a mistake. Una frequently made the meal inedible with her corky spices and putrid sauces. Often I’d try what she had prepared for them, and repulsed, I would hide my shudder and bolt down some juice or milkshake to rinse the foulness out of my mouth.
When we sat down to eat on Labor Day, I was surprised at the enormous platter put in the center of the table. It had clusters of chicken breasts with lime, red pepper, and sliced peaches on a bed of bright green lettuce. My steak and mashed-potatoes were scrump-delicious. I’d done my best to think little of what was to happen tomorrow and focused instead on what we were doing tonight. Kurt, Andy and their parents were joining us at eight o’clock to go to Staten Island to watch the fireworks over Upper New York Bay, but immediately after supper, Una brought out presents for me for passing the entry test to East Orange’s Wedgewood Private School.
“Congratulations,” Mary and Stan said hugging me.
Sally jumped up and down and kissed me. One of the boxes was big, and contained school supplies, a black backpack, a calculator, and other items. The second was small and was a black watch with a picture of an F-16 fighter aircraft on the face of it and with my name engraved on the back. The third turned out to be my new school uniform.
“Try it on,” Una ordered.
I left to my room and put it on, looking in the mirror. Again I was a stranger to myself. However, I must admit, with my short blond hair and blue eyes, I looked like a rich kid ready for school. I didn’t feel like one and realized I probably never would, but that was okay, too. I also noticed that my scar was almost undetectable now. I returned to the living room and everybody was happy. It had quite an effect and when I suggested wearing it to the fire display, everyone laughed.
“Go and change, silly rabbit,” Una said, “that’s only for school, not for play.”
The last thing I remember of that day is the beautiful fireworks, especially the brilliant blue balls of exploding fire high in the sky. I came home dog-tired, and for the first time since arriving at the Tappets, I slept through the entire night without going to see Sally. I dreamt of fireworks and they didn’t stop for the whole night.
Chapter Four
“What’s wrong?” Sally asked as we sat for breakfast the next morning.
I could see by the look in her eyes that she wasn’t angry I hadn’t slept with her, only concerned. “Nothing,” I whispered. “I just slept through.”
She was in the school-uniform, a blue dress, kerchief, white socks, and black shoes. Her long hair was in two braided pigtails and she’d a blue ribbon in her hair. She looked wonderful and I was excited, and also angry at myself for not waking up at one o’clock to cuddle with her.
Una prepared us cereal, milk, fruit and toast with jam. “I’ll bring the car around,” she said at twenty to nine. “Brush your teeth carefully, wash those faces.”
“Let me fix your hair,” Sally said when we were alone in the bathroom.
We kissed and hugged for a moment, then headed into the back of Una’s black Cadillac, buckling up. Una pulled up at East Orange’s Wedgewood Private School ten minutes later.
“Go to it,” she said without any fanfare but with a broad smile. “Grade four’s a piece of cake. I’ll be here at four.”
Sally and I both kissed her. The brig
ht morning sun was quickly warming the air and the early students gathered under the tall pine trees facing Tobler Street. Sally and I were joined by Andy and Kurt about three trees down from the front entrance. Kurt started grade five this morning. A thin grade-six boy with a short crown of curly black hair greeted us. He stood nearly a foot taller than me. Kurt introduced us. Wally offered his hand, but it was a cowardly shake without any firmness.
“How come you haven’t been to Wedgewood before?” he asked in a high-pitched voice.
“I needed an operation first,” I said, “the surgeons had to removed half my brain.”
Everyone laughed. Una had come up with this line, and some others, I should recite if I was asked just such questions.
“I was so excited this morning,” Wally said, trying to outdo my joke, “that I brushed my teeth with Brylcreem and put Pepsodent in my hair.”
I could tell he was trying to impress Sally, who laughed politely. If he put anything into his hair, why was it frizzed and fluffy. He looked like a goof. A sudden urge to sucker-punch him nearly overcame me. I looked over at Andy and recognized that he saw the hatred on my face. I pretended to cough for a moment to cover it up. Sally and I were in the same grade with a teacher about Mary’s age dressed in blue slacks and blouse, with a neckerchief like the uniform. She had a protruding stomach and I wondered if she was pregnant. Our seats were assigned to us and I was at the front beside Sally. This was a lucky break.
“Welcome to grade four,” she said without a smile, or at least her smile was in her eyes and not on her lips, if such a thing can be observed. She took attendance and passed us name badges looking at me with kind eyes. I counted the students, fourteen, nine of them boys. Competition for Sally would be fierce and I’d never be able to openly show my possession.
“This year we’ll be learning several new topics,” she continued after her preliminary tasks were done. “In new math, we will learn geometry and algebra. In English, syntactic structures, proper grammar, complex sentences and naming of the parts of speech.”
As she continued, I became alarmed about the work toll, especially since, everyone around me remained quite calm. Some of the topics she mentioned I’d no idea about. To learn so much so quickly was literally impossible. I opened a notebook to take notes, but Sally shook her head. Exhausted by the time lunch hour came, I wanted to go home.
“What’s wrong?” Sally asked as we sat for lunch.
“Aren’t you worried about how much we have to learn in grade four?”
She shrugged. “It’s almost a whole year. Let’s go out and play.”
On the schoolyard, Sally and Andy introduced me to Jeremy Harrison a grade-five classmate of Andy’s, shorter than him and with blue eyes and blond hair.
“This is Kelly Ann and her brother Shawn,” Sally said. I nodded. Shawn was in grade three, a short wiry seven year old, his sister was in our class. “You remember Thomas,” she added. I shook Thomas’ hand. I’d already met him this summer and he was a big gentle lad with a nice smile. He was in the other grade four.
“No touch-backs and no timeouts,” Andy shouted. “If you quit during a run, you’re out for good.”
To my surprised Andy agreed to be, it. He jumped from his position and dashed for me, tagging me easily. Though taken by surprise, I eyed Thomas, but he was focused and ready, so I faked to Sally chased her for five yards or so, and then, spun on my heels and dove for Thomas. I tagged him.
“All right,” I shouted in victory.
He wasted no time and darted toward Jeremy, who he dogged down and tagged by sheer superior speed. Jeremy cussed and ran for Sally, but she scooted away out of his reach and outran him even though he put everything into it.
“You tit-less bitch,” he swore when he gave up.
The tit-less part was true of course, but quite beside the point. Being nearby, I immediately flew at him, punching him in the belly and then in the face, finally pushing him to the sand. A male teacher was between us at once, a fit tall dark-haired man with a brush-cut. As Jeremy rose, I saw that he was more shocked than hurt, and was successful in holding back his tears in front of the others.
“Jeremy, what happened?” the teacher said surprised, as though the school had never seen a tussle between two boys in the schoolyard before. Jeremy looked up, shaking.
“I was just playing tag, Mr. Morton, and he jumped me.”
I offered no comment. I’d seen many an orphan at the halfway homes on the right side of an altercation get blamed and receive punishment for getting their story muddled up.
“Why?” Mr. Morton asked him.
“I don’t know,” Jeremy said with a guilty whisper.
“He called Sally Tappet a very bad name,” Andy volunteered. “He got what he deserved.”
Mr. Morton eyed Sally, who nodded. He looked then at Jeremy.
“Is the matter over?”
Jeremy nodded and so did I. We shook hands, but before we could continue, another teacher approached and whispered in Mr. Morton’s ear. She was a middle-aged woman, homely and with her hair all over her face. I remember thinking that if she was so sloppy on the first day of school what would she look like in a week, or even on the last day? She looked like a witch. Her eyes wandered to mine and she smiled warmly. I knew at once she was an orphan and knew that I had been one too. I felt ashamed for her.
“Mrs. Perry has let me know a number of students from grade two have informed the office of this affray, so, they may want to talk to you two. For now, go play.”
I hadn’t sat at my desk more than a minute for the afternoon lesson when I was called to the office. A typewriter could be heard from behind a partition when I arrived. I barely could see over the counter.
“Excuse me,” I said.
A tall woman with long blond hair leaned over the counter. “Hello,” she said in a super-friendly voice. I could see down her top inside her bra, even to the large brown nipples of her breasts, and her eyes followed mine, but she did nothing to cover up.
“Are you Christian Tappet?” I nodded breathing unevenly. “Just take a seat against the wall,” she added straightening up, “and I’ll let Mr. Adams know you’re here.”
I’d become excited and wished I could excuse myself to the washroom, but before I could form any strategy in my mind to escape, a stout man with short grey hair stood before me.
“Mr. Tappet,” he said in a deep weighty voice. “Come in.”
He closed the door behind us and it banged loudly. My excitement had completely diminished, but now from inside his office, I could peek a full view of the blond-haired lady’s fine hourglass figure as she shuffled from the desk to the counter. He must have followed my gaze. He rose and closed the blinds.
“Mr. Christian,” he said, his voice rather gloomy, as though he would expel me at the slightest provocation. “In this school, we play basketball.” What he’d just said seemed nonsensical and I noticed that his teeth were different shades of grey. “Did you know that?” he asked further. I shrugged. “You’re a tall fit young man and Coach Kray played ball semi-professionally. He’s good and is always on the lookout for a young tough candidate. He could do you a lot of good. Are you interested?”
I shook my head and saw the frown come to Mr. Adam’s face. “At Wedgewood,” he continued solemnly, “a zero toleration for any violence is in place, including punching, pushing, and any physical altercation at all on school property, before, during, and after school hours. When confronted with a situation, even if you’re in the right, you must use your words. Instant expulsion follows any infraction of this prohibition. Basketball practice goes from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30, Tuesday through Thursday, three times a week and on some occasional Saturdays. Are you interested in practicing and trying out for the team?”
Suddenly I saw the deal and realized I was being forced into it. “It sounds like fun,” I said. “I’ll ask my father.”
He groaned as though he didn’t believe me. “I understand Una’s the one to ask
in matters concerning Wedgewood?”
“I’ll ask Una,” I corrected myself and gave him a steady look.
“You seem awfully worldly for an eight-year-old?”
“I’ll be nine in a couple of weeks.”
“Will you now, Mr. Christian?” He passed me the phone. “Give Una a call and see if joining the basketball team would be okay with her. I need to know whether to return you to your class or to expel you.”
“Expel me? For good?”
He shrugged and then added, “Those are the rules, they apply equally to everyone. If someone cusses your sister, you go to a teacher or come to the office and report it. This isn’t the street and we don’t settle things with fisticuffs. If Jeremy Harrison had hit a Tappet or an Arckon, he would already be looking for a new school.”
Mr. Adams left his office for a minute, and as soon as I talked to Una on his phone, I knew he had already informed her. “I’m sorry, Una,” I said, “I didn’t know the rules. At Carling Street, there were fights everyday. It was common.”
She giggled. “I should have warned you. We’ll talk about it later today. Have you ever played basketball?”
“Just hoops.”
“It’s a fun game, my full-grown child. You’ll do fine.”
I rang off and sat down. “Una says that it would be fine,” I said when he returned.
“Terrific,” he answered with a quick smile and offered his hand. As I shook it, he drew me near and bent to my ear. “Just between you and me,” he whispered, “I know a fellow like you will never snitch on someone. If you have any further disputes to settle, you do it off school property. Next infraction, there’ll be nothing I can do to stop your expulsion.” He straighten out and let go of my hand. “Back to class.”
When I returned, I could see Sally was visibly relieved and the rest of the day passed by without incident. When the last bell rang, I couldn’t wait to get back home to my room. Wedgewood had frightened me. It was far more orderly and efficient than any other school I’d ever been in. No laughter or fooling around was tolerated in the classroom and the students all seemed pure as driven snow, even Andy was a snitch and Jeremy a coward. Sally brought home her friend Kelly-Anne to play Dresses and Zoo-Animals.
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