Mom was right. A good night’s sleep was all I needed to see things differently in the morning. After a hot bowl of oatmeal with a dash of cinnamon and a few blueberries, I was off to school.
Once there, I noticed David Waters and Roger Gilmore standing in the cold, against the red brick wall of the school building. They were reading something. I walked towards them.
“Get outta here, Alex,” David said. “Go inside before we punch your lights out.”
Not wanting my lights punched out, I went inside the classroom. Wendy Newman was standing at her desk, showing off the new pink laces in her sneakers. I shrugged and sat down as the remainder of the class wandered in. The morning bell rang. She kicked my desk and said, “See if I ever bring cookies to your house.”
I turned around and said, “Fine, don’t.”
She kicked my desk again, “Don’t worry, I won’t.”
Mrs. Haverbacky asked me if I needed to visit the principal’s office. Me? Why did she ask me? Wendy was the one kicking desks.
“No, Mrs. Haverbacky.”
She frowned so hard that I could see a giant crease in her forehead. I folded my hands and looked at the blackboard.
“We have something that needs to be discussed, class,” the teacher said. “Last night when I left the classroom, the answers to today’s test were on the corner of my desk. I left them here in error. None of the other papers that were left on my desk are missing, only the answers to the test. Has anyone seen them?”
I looked directly at Roger. He looked back at me. He shook his head. Mrs. Haverbacky must have looked at me while I was staring across the room. She wasted no time in her detective work. “Have you seen them, Alex?”
“No, Mrs. Haverbacky.” Roger and David could have been reading their homework for all I knew. I never got close enough to see what they were holding in their hands.
“If anyone knows who has them, please see me at recess,” the teacher said.
The morning session went by quickly. The geography test wasn’t until after lunch. I read the notes written by Gerald Ford in my special book while munching on a chicken roll sandwich and bag of Fritos. After eating, I went outside in the schoolyard for some fresh air. Mr. Ford was waiting for me.
He looked bigger than most of the other men I had met. Gerald was sitting on the bench watching my classmates play tag football. “Ah, that boy has terrible form for a quarterback. All wrong,” Mr. Ford said. “I played football at Michigan. Did you know that, Alex?”
“Yeah, I read all about you while eating lunch,” I said.
“Did you read where I turned down a chance to play for the Green Bay Packers? Instead, I attended Yale Law School. While I attended Yale, I was an assistant coach on the football team. I loved golf later in life, but football, now that was always my first love when it came to sports.”
“Yeah, I read that too,” I said. Gerald spoke with a slow easy tone. He seemed like a very kind man. Some of the other presidents I had met; acted as if they were in a hurry to get somewhere. Gerald sat and smiled while watching the football game in the schoolyard.
“You will be tested soon,” he said. “All men are eventually, but this will be a big one for you, my young friend. When I was a little older than you are now, I was an Eagle Scout. That experience taught me the value of telling the truth and not to cheat.”
I sat next to Mr. Ford watching the game. After Greg scored a touchdown, he spiked the ball. I asked Gerald if he knew about slavery and if he agreed with it.
“Heaven’s no. I would never have stood for slavery. My roommate, when we traveled as a football team at Michigan, was a black man. I can remember one game when we played Georgia Tech. The Tech players refused to take the field if my best friend, Willis Ward, played in the game. All because of the color of his skin. I told the school officials I wouldn’t play if Willis couldn’t play. It was a nasty mess.”
“Those guys over there won’t let me play because they don’t think I’m good enough. It’s hard when you can’t play and you want to. What did you do, Mr. Ford?”
He sighed. “To this day I don’t feel good about it, but Willis talked me into playing. He sat out the game. He and I were like brothers. So no, I would have never been on the side of slavery.”
“I’ll bet that was hard. One time, my friend Bruce wasn’t invited to a party and I was. I felt so guilty for going and having a good time. It was weird. Was that the hardest thing you ever had to do, Mr. Ford?”
I noticed a tear fall from Mr. Ford’s eye. He slumped down in the bench. “No, not even close. But the funny thing is; the hardest thing I ever had to do was also the easiest.”
Mr. Ford lowered his chin to his chest. Neither of us spoke for several minutes until I asked him what he meant by his last comment.
“I served as Vice President under President Nixon. It was horrible having to watch him struggle with the pressure from the Watergate scandal. You asked me earlier about slavery. I don’t believe our country was torn apart as much as it was during the time of slavery, but it was still a time of distrust of government. Did you realize that I wasn’t the first choice for Vice President under Mr. Nixon? Spiro Agnew had that honor. Mr. Agnew resigned from office after people learned he accepted bribes.
“What’s a bribe?”
“Mr. Agnew took money from people and used his political power to help others. It’s against the law to do such things. After my appointment as Vice President, I felt the nation had endured enough strife. Many political insiders believe I sacrificed my own political ambitions to do what I thought was right. I couldn’t allow our country to be dragged into impeachment hearings for President Nixon. I had to end the turmoil.”
“Did you tell Mr. Nixon he couldn’t be President anymore?”
“No, Alex. President Nixon quit his job soon after being reelected. Because of the 25th amendment, which allows the vice president to become president, I automatically became president when Mr. Nixon resigned. I appointed Nelson Rockefeller to take my place as vice president. I still believe it was the proper decision to allow Mr. Nixon to live out his life in California without any chance of prosecution. I wanted to put the Watergate scandal behind us.”
“Yeah, Mr. Nixon told me he really didn’t like those two reporters, Woodward and Bernstein.”
Mr. Ford laughed. “I’ll bet not.”
Sometimes when adults would talk with me, I could tell if they were telling the truth. President Ford was telling me the truth. However, sitting there I was thinking there was still more to his story.
“Did you get to be President for a long time since you were doing the right thing, Mr. Ford?”
He stared at the boys playing football. President Ford never looked at me again. “Maybe it would have been better to play for the Packers or even the Lions,” he said. “I know in my heart it was the right thing to pardon Mr. Nixon. I ran for president but lost to Jimmy Carter. Many believe I lost the election because of my actions. But I would do it again. My country always came before my own political ambitions.”
I sat there with President Ford watching the game until right before the school bell rang. I thought about all the times at dinner when Dad and Grandpa would talk about how politicians only worry about the next election and not about what was best for the country. I didn’t know if Mr. Ford had done the right thing for the country or not. I thought maybe I would ask Grandpa what he thought the next time I saw him. I liked President Ford. It was nice to know that while he was President, he did what he thought was best for everyone else and not himself.
I stood up and walked towards the classroom when David and Roger approached me. “Thanks for not ratting us out with Mrs. Haverbacky,” David said. “Since you didn’t, we decided to show you the answers. Hurry up before the bell rings. After you peek at them, stash the paper over there in the big trash bin so we don’t get caught.”
I took the paper. I started to open it when I thought about what President Ford had told me about being tested and learning not to c
heat. I never cheated on a test in my life. I refused to start. I crumbled the paper and tossed it in the garbage bin.
The test was easy. I was happy I didn’t cheat. It was twenty questions of multiple choice. When I finished filling in the answers, I looked over at Roger and David. Both had already put their tests on the teacher’s desk. Roger smiled at me. I looked at Mrs. Haverbacky and she gave me that same frown as earlier. I hoped she didn’t think I had cheated.
I asked Dad at dinner if he knew about President Ford. “He pardoned Nixon and was excoriated for it,” Dad said. “He also spent the least amount of days of any president who didn’t die in office. Did you know he almost got shot by a supporter of Charles Manson?”
“What is it with you adults always wanting to shoot presidents?” I said.
“Ford didn’t deserve to be shot for pardoning Tricky Dick, but I sure didn’t vote for him after he did.” Mom said.
“Mr. Ford seemed like a nice man to me, Mom. Plus he did what he thought was best for the country. Wouldn’t you do what you thought was right even if you couldn’t teach anymore?”
Dad smiled and ate his pasta. Mom stared at me for a second before refilling her glass of tea.
“We’re not talking about me, young man. We are talking about allowing a criminal to go free and not to pay for his misdeeds,” Mom said.
“My friend Mr. Nixon lost his job. I don’t think any of them got off without a punishment, Mom.”
Mom laid down her fork. She folded her hands and put them under her chin as she leaned her arms on the dinner table. I would have gotten in trouble if I leaned my arms on the table.
“What do you mean your friend Mr. Nixon? And when could you have met Gerald Ford?”
“I sat and talked with both of them. Mr. Nixon told me it was a bad idea to make tapes and not to be a journalist. President Ford told me not to cheat on my test today. President John Kennedy told me he wished Grandpa Frank had voted for him.”
“Sweetie, President Kennedy has been dead for many years now. Mr. Nixon is somewhere in California writing books and last I heard about Mr. Ford, he was giving speeches and hitting old ladies with golf balls. You didn’t meet any of them.”
“Whatever you say, Mom. I liked all the presidents I met except for the one who wants me to go Princeton. He told me I was lucky to work hard so I could give him all my money.”
Mom sat straight up. Her eyebrows almost touched in the middle of her forehead. “Go to your room. I’ve had enough of your story telling. I’ve warned you before about lying to me.”
“I’m not lying, Mom.”
“Do as your mother says, Alex.” Dad said.
Another night without dessert. I didn’t know why Mom thought I was lying to her. I did talk with those men. Gerald Ford even told me his favorite part of being president was one time he piloted Air Force One. He told me it was our secret. The pilot allowed Mr. Ford to sit in the pilot’s seat for two minutes. Mr. Ford told me it was long enough. He called it part of his “bucket list.” He didn’t go see the aliens at Area 51, but considered it. Mr. Ford told me if he had won the election, he woulda seen them. He knew all about the aliens.
As I made my way up the steps to my room, I felt someone behind me. With one hand on the bannister, I turned. At first, I was scared until I recognized him. The same tall thin man who appeared in the bathroom days before was following me up the steps. He was hunched over some with his hand on the railing too.
“Why are you following me?’ I asked.
“Alex, many are not going to believe you, even your mother. There is a plan.”
He was gone. He creeped me out. The guy never stayed for more than a few seconds at a time. At least the old dudes from my book would tell me their stories. This guy talked in riddles.
I stayed in my room for the remainder of the evening other than taking a quick bath. I read more about Nixon and Ford. Mr. Nixon wrote about how he loved to play the piano. He enjoyed classical music. Mr. Ford wrote that he never cared who was playing the music as long as he could dance, especially with his wife. Gerald Ford loved to dance.
Mom came into my room to tuck me into bed. “Alex, I don’t know why you are making up these stories about meeting presidents, but it has to end.”
“Mom, I’m not lying to you. I met them. They tell me cool stories. I like talking with them.”
Mom sat next to me on my bed. “Sweetie, tell me why you think you are meeting these men?”
I pointed to my book on the nightstand. “I read my book and they come to life. They sit with me and tell me about their lives. Some even walk around the bedroom here. Tommy Wilson tried to steal my piggy bank. He tried to tell me that giving him the money I get from doing chores will make me feel better.”
Mom picked up the book. She turned the pages. “Where did this book come from?”
“Grandpa gave it to me the day before my birthday last year. I was outside when he came over. Grandma walked inside and Grandpa got the book out of the trunk of his car. He had it in a case. He had to remember the combination to get open. He told me not to take it out of the house or tell anyone I had it. Please don’t tell him I told you, Mom. Please.”
“I don’t know where he would have gotten a book like this. I’m sorry but I’m going to have to ask him where it came from. He’s right. I don’t think you should be carrying this around outside, especially until I can find out where he got this book and who owns it.”
I sat up in bed and grabbed it from her hands. “It’s mine. That’s who it belongs to. Grandpa gave it to me as a secret birthday present. I don’t understand all the words in it, but I like reading it. It’s mine.”
Mom sighed. “Alex, these men, they’re in your imagination. Do you remember when you read Tom Sawyer? You told me that you wanted to run away with Huck and Tom. It’s the same thing, sweetie. You have an amazing imagination. But you’re going to have to learn to tell the difference between what is real and what is in your mind.”
Mom kissed me on the cheek and said goodnight. She took my book and placed it on the shelf next to my stereo and tape player. After she went back downstairs, I placed the book in bed with me. I knew the difference between real and imagination.
When I woke up the next morning, I hid my book in the closet between the extra blankets. I didn’t want Mom taking it from me. I also didn’t want her to see me taking it to school. I went downstairs for breakfast. Dad, as usual, was grumbling at the morning paper as Mom prepared eggs and toast. I ate my favorite cereal, Wheaties, the breakfast of champions. I barely uttered a word during breakfast before heading to school. Lucky for me, school was three blocks away. Grandpa told me that he had to walk ten miles in the snow to his school when he was my age. I wasn’t sure I believed him.
Wendy caught up with me a block from school. She was walking with Bruce.
“Do you like my new bracelet, Alex?” Wendy asked. “It has a pretty pink opal in it. My mother bought it for me last night because I got all A’s on my report card. Look, see how beautiful it is. It’s my new favorite bracelet.”
I looked at Bruce. He shrugged. I stopped to look at Wendy’s wrist and her pink opal bracelet. “Yes, Wendy, I like it.” I lied. Who cares about jewelry? The only thing I got for getting all A’s on my report card was Dad telling me to “Keep it up” and Mom telling me, “See all that hard work and extra reading over the summer does pay off.” Whatever.
Wendy must not have believed me. “Are you sure you like it, Alex? I wore it today just to show you.”
I looked at Bruce again. He shrugged. “Just tell her you like it, Alex. I had to tell her four times before she stopped asking me.”
“Yes, Wendy, I do like it.” I tried to be more sincere the second time.
“Boys are so stupid sometimes,” Wendy said.
Once settled in our desks after the morning bell rang, Mrs. Haverbecky asked all of us to think very hard before answering her question. “Did anyone find the answer sheet to yesterday’s test? The
reason I ask is because, two in the class received a perfect score. Two others only got one wrong and they got the same question wrong. Does anyone else find that odd?”
My eyes drifted across the room to find David and Roger. Both were sitting straight up, looking directly ahead, neither moving a muscle.
“Roger and David, I must tell each of you how impressed I am. You each earned a perfect score on yesterday’s exam.” Mrs. Haverbacky said. “I find it remarkable that despite being solid students, neither of you have gotten a perfect score on any other test all year. Would either of you like to comment?”
Both shook their heads no. I was sitting there thinking she would continue to pressure them and leave me out of it. She didn’t. “Alex, you and Wendy only got one wrong and it was the same question. What is the number one export from France? Any idea how that could happen?”
I sat as still as the two boys across the room. I couldn’t even shake my head no. I started to wonder if this was what Mr. Ford meant when he said I would be tested. I thought it had been when I tossed the answers in the trash without peeking.
Our teacher continued. “Yesterday during lunch break I was looking out the window. Roger you and David huddled off to the side reading something most of the break. As you were walking in, whatever you were reading was given to Alex. Care to tell me what was on the paper, Alex?”
I couldn’t take the pressure any longer. I was about to come clean and tell the teacher all I knew when Wendy blurted out, “Alex didn’t look at the paper, Mrs. Haverbacky. I was walking over to talk with him when Davy handed him the paper. I watched him. He threw the paper into the trash and never read it. I swear it. I never did either.”
Mrs. Haverbecky cracked a small smile. “I wasn’t accusing you of cheating, Wendy. It’s very common for you to score high on tests. It’s also common for Alex to score well. Also, almost everyone in the class got the same question wrong.”
I sat there wondering what the problem was. I knew I hadn’t cheated.
“One last time, Alex, do you care to tell me what was handed to you by David or not?” Mrs. Haverbacky asked.
“I don’t know. I didn’t read the paper. David handed it to me and asked me to throw it in the trash. It could have been the answer sheet, but I didn’t read it. I didn’t cheat.”
“You will make a good politician one day, Alex, giving answers like that one. I know you didn’t read it. I was watching you the entire time. However, we both know what was on that paper. Don’t we?”
Wendy kicked my desk. “Tell her the truth,” she whispered.
It took every ounce of strength to nod while looking the teacher right in the eye.
“It took you long enough, Alex. As for David and Roger, the two of you will be given a second test after school tomorrow during detention. I suggest you both study hard tonight.”
Wendy kicked my desk again the whispered. “Boys are so stupid sometimes.”
~~~*~~~
Chapter Seven
Presidential Shadows Page 6
