Things as They Are by Guy Vanderhaeghe

Author:Guy Vanderhaeghe [Vanderhaeghe, Guy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Short Stories (Single Author), Literary, General
ISBN: 9781551995724
Google: fySwoK9TDREC
Amazon: 0771086962
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Published: 1992-09-01T16:00:00+00:00

5.

A description of a school photograph of me taken at the age of ten:

Glasses and freckles, a rigid smile, western shirt and western bola tie. (My father loved Zane Grey.)

A very good haircut.

6.

On my first day in grade six I claimed a seat where I always had, directly in front of the teacher’s desk in the first row. Unspoken rules guided me there. It was the place for someone like me, just like the back of the room was the place for retards like Wayne Leszinski. The world ordered itself that way in those days.

So it came to be that two legends, myself and Mrs. Dollen, were separated by less than four feet when she opened the register and proceeded to call the roll.

“Deborah Atkins.”

“Here.”

Without lifting her eyes from the register, Mrs. Dollen said: “People in my room answer properly when I call the roll. In my room ‘here’ is not acceptable. The proper response is, ‘Present, Mrs. Dollen’ or ‘Present, teacher.’ Is that understood?”

“Yes, teacher.”

“Deborah Atkins.”

“Present, teacher.”

“Robert Bing.”

“Present, teacher.”

And so it continued until she came to me.

“Myles Rampton.”

“Present, Mrs. Dollen.”

For the first time that morning, Mrs. Dollen directed her attention away from the register and towards one of her students. She stared at me with eyes so expressionless and dry that mine began to itch in sympathy. “So,” she said at last, “here I am, face to face with the Boy Wonder.”

I beamed a smile back at her, never imagining that this was anything but a compliment. I was accustomed to being complimented by teachers.

“I wouldn’t smile if I were you until I had something to smile about,” she said, meaning it. Laughter burst at my back.

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