Almost a Family by John Darnton

Author:John Darnton
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Autobiography
ISBN: 0307266176
Publisher: Knopf
Published: 2011-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

When Bob and I left for Phillips Academy Andover in September 1956, we had no money, and so we had to hitchhike to Massachusetts from New York. We got hold of a map, marked the route in pencil, and set out, each of us carrying a suitcase. I had packed a couple of neckties and wore an old herringbone jacket that I had picked up somewhere—jackets and ties were mandatory at Andover—along with a new pair of chinos. I was excited. I had never hitchhiked before. And here was I, my thumb out on a busy highway, on the threshold of a bold adventure.

We left early in the morning and made good time. By midafternoon we had reached Boston and found ourselves entangled in the web of highways encircling the city. A timid man with a small mustache picked us up and took us to his house for lunch. My suspicions were on alert. Growing up in the 1950s, we didn’t discuss homosexuality, but somewhere along the line boys learned about “queers” and we warned one another to avoid them. I was mistaken. Our host, a professor at MIT, gave us homemade soup and sandwiches on thick slabs of bread and engaged us in lively, avuncular talk. Learning that we were students at Andover, he impressed upon us the importance of science and the rewards of choosing it as a career. How he envied us, he said, posed as we were on the brink of adult life. Decisions we made now would have a cascading effect throughout the years to come. Then he escorted us to the entrance ramp of the route north of Boston and left us there. As the cars whizzed by, I stood on the roadside, well fed and excited about the future. I was in thrall to the infinite possibilities ahead. It was dizzying to contemplate them, the twists and turns to come, each one leading to new twists and turns. I felt impervious to harm, filled with blind confidence.

When we arrived at Andover, I got my first view of the campus. Both sides the road gave way to great green seas of pristine grass and perfect stone walls. In the distance were ivy-covered brick buildings and windows with creamy white trim. As if on cue, a bell tower clanged majestically. Other students were arriving in cars driven by their parents. They parked in front of dormitories, unloading trunks and stereos and soft armchairs.

I wasn’t nervous about starting school. I had Bob with me. He was to be a senior and I a freshman. As I already knew but soon was to see for myself, he was a star on campus—the head of a student civic organization, on the honor roll, a deacon in church, a member of the debating team. As always, his accolades were oppressive to me, since I had little hope of matching them, but at the same time a source of pride. I didn’t mind being “Darnton’s younger brother.” Standing in his reflected glory would bolster my own status.

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