School Days

by Ed Nelson

  The drawings would only be accepted in India ink on a white background. Mr. Christenson was licensed to practice in front of the Patent Office and could handle everything we needed. It was simple to get started, all I had to do was hand him a check for five hundred dollars and be prepared to spend at least another one thousand.

  Dad wrote the check out from Jackson Engineering on their checking account. He had set up a company as I had requested including opening a checking account. He and I signed contracts with Mr. Christenson and gave him our power of attorney to act on our behalf for this matter. It took about two hours to go through everything.

  He estimated that it would take from six months to one year to obtain a patent. Once we had the postcard back from the patent office we could claim patent applied for. This would give me enough prior claim to share the device with others. That could be as short as one month depending on how the patent search went. The search would be performed by a specialist that Mr. Christenson would hire in Washington, D.C.

  As he explained, “Patents can be cheap, fast or quality. You can have any two, take your pick.”

  As we were finished earlier than we thought we decided to go around the corner several blocks to the main Lazarus store. I was there to buy the clothes and shoes, both street and running that I had been putting off. After spending one hundred and seventy dollars I was the well- dressed young man again.

  Among other items I had picked up a solid royal blue tie. The fashions were changing it was wider than those I had bought a year ago. Other than that I needed new cowboy boots, but they would wait till I was out in California. My hats still fit.

  When I was buying my shoes they examined my feet with an x-ray machine. I would put my foot in it with my shoes on and we could see how they fit. It was neat. Dad wondered about all the x-rays, but I told him not to worry, this was the wave of the future.

  While leaving the store we saw a section with typewriters. They had the IBM Model B in stock. Its price was reduced twenty fire percent to forty five dollars. The salesman told us that IBM was bringing the Model C out in January so they were trying to clear their inventory.

  They also had the same book the typing class used in school so I bought that and a machine. Of course I then needed spare ribbons, carbon paper, typing paper and eraser sticks. I ended up spending as much as the original cost of the typewriter.

  The salesman arranged for all of our packages to be taken down to the will call desk. This was a door in the parking garage where you could pick up your packages. You drove right up, opened your trunk and they brought it right to you.

  On the way out of town we saw something real neat. At every street corner were three policemen. They were all wearing white gloves. All the traffic lights in the main intersections downtown in front of the state house were turned off. The cops in their white gloves were directing traffic.

  Dad who had lived in Columbus for a while when he was a kid explained that this was part of their police academy training. One of the policemen was their trainer. They all had whistles and were blowing them like crazy. It was fun to watch.

  The trip home was uneventful. Dad managed to get through Dublin without a speeding ticket. That city had a reputation as a speed trap since the 1920’s. Dad swears it was because they were jealous of Columbus being the state capital. Way back when the cities were in competition for being the capital. Dublin was apparently a sore loser. I had the funny picture of horse and buggies being pulled over for speeding.

  When we got home I had to show off all my purchases to Mum. I noticed that Denny was paying close attention to the clothes I had bought. My little brother was growing up. I would have to get him some nice clothes for Christmas rather than toys.

  Eddie was definitely still at the toy stage. Mary actually liked clothes. She had picked out of the J C Penny catalog a matching mother daughter outfit she wanted for her and Mum.

  In bed I finished up the story about the castle. The guy didn’t end up holding it for a year and a day or get the girl. The English got creamed at the last battle in the book but won in the long run. It did give me an idea who the Black and Red Douglas’s were.

  Saturday was a wonderfully quite day for me. I actually stayed in bed until eight o’clock which was unheard of for the last several months. After my morning exercises, breakfast and helping Mum with the dishes I made my way downtown. Helping Mum with dishes was her idea, not mine.

  I browsed DeLongs but didn’t find any records I wanted. I did run into Eleanor Price and some of her friends. They all teased me about being the first one to get detention after paying for the program. They were complimentary about our family sponsoring the entire program. They hadn’t realized some kids had nowhere to go.

  They also told me that there were questions raised with Mr. Stevens at the last school board meeting about money being redirected in the budget. The budget is now being reconsidered with monies being returned to their original purpose.

  This made me wonder since the detention program was now funded where would the money go? I then realized it wasn’t enough to get excited about.

  I went to Don’s for lunch. Tom and Tracy were there so I joined them for an hour. We had lunch and I got to catch up on the school gossip. It appears I had unleashed a group of monsters. The mice had come out of their shyness with a vengeance. Every member of the group had a date for the Sadie Hawkins dance.

  Some of the more popular girls at school had assumed that the boys would wait on them to be asked. They found out different. Now those girls were asking some of the less popular boys for dates so they could go to the dance. The entire social order was in disarray. Apparently it was my entire fault.

  Someone had been quoted as saying I must be a communist because of my paying for detention and upsetting the dating order. That was the same as having concentration camps and forced socialism. I didn’t think that anonymous person was getting good grades in history or social studies.

  I went home to find my typewriter was in heavy use. It was set up in the basement. Denny and Eddie had been practicing typing. I thought it would be a mess when I heard the keys pounding downstairs. They had the typing lesson book out and were really learning how to place their hands and type. I told them they were welcome to do that when I didn’t need it, just be sure to put the dust cover over it when they were done.

  They promised. It would be interesting to see how it worked out. Mary hadn’t shown an interest yet.

  I received a phone call from Columbus, Don Thompson called to give me an update on the work he and Paul Samson were doing on the hairdryer project.

  It sounded like they were making good progress and might have drawings in my hand right after the first of the year. The bill of materials would take longer as they were identifying exactly which components could be purchased and which fabricated.

  They also had spoken to a plastic molding company in Worthington, Ohio a suburb of Columbus. They were recommending that I have them sign an NDA, and provide quotes on prototype molds for the hairdryer housing. This could be done by mail. I told them I would get the NDA’s to them, and they could talk to the company.

  Since they were now going beyond the original agreement I asked what a fair amount would be for them doing this.

  Don told me, “Another one hundred each would keep them motivated plus a hairdryer for each of their wives to try out when they were ready.”

  It was easy to agree to those terms.

  I went to the garage and updated my notebook. I also talked to Mum and Dad. She would write the checks and Dad would get the NDA’s from our attorney.

  We then watched Dick Clarks American Bandstand, after that Perry Como, The Gale Storm Show, Have Gun will Travel and my parents ended up with Gunsmoke.

  I leafed through one of the Hardy Boy mystery’s just to have something to read.

  Sunday Dad and I hauled the furniture I had cleaned out from the garage next to the pit to the unoccupied side of the other duplex. This is where the S
immons would live.

  That took most of the day and we were pooped. We watched Maverick followed by the last half of Ed Sullivan, then Mum and Dad watched the General Electric Theater. Dad liked the way the host presented himself and thought he should go into politics.

  I started an adventure series about a professional hunter in Africa. The way he was described he wasn’t very nice looking but he was a deadly shot.

  Chapter 19

  It was an overcast, cold windy day, though unpleasant it was better than a dark and stormy night. After running I was definitely awake. When I got dressed I noticed that my new shirt really fit better.

  I weighed myself and came in at two hundred and ten pounds. My height was still six foot four inches. I hope I had stopped growing up. Size wise I was as big as or bigger than the seniors at school. I made the rest of the ninth grade look like midgets.

  I was very fortunate. Most kids that grew to my size were very awkward during their growth period. That happened to me in my first growth spurt, but not this time around. I hadn’t lost my coordination while growing. I wonder if all the exercising I was doing had helped.

  Mum had the radio tuned to WOHP listening to the local news while we had breakfast. The announcer came on with some very bad local news. Last night on the Mad River Road a car careened out of control. Two local teenagers were killed. They were Steve Hamilton and Bill Cairns. It is suspected that alcohol played a role.

  That was a terrible shock. We quietly finished breakfast. School was going to be pretty grim today. Tom was waiting for me as I came out the door.

  “Did you hear,” were the first words out of his mouth.

  He looked extremely upset.

  “I just heard it on the radio.”

  “It’s my fault!”

  “How come it’s your fault?”

  “I saw Bill sneak out of his window last night, and didn’t tell anyone.”

  “How does that make it your fault? By the time you could have told someone he was gone.”

  That stopped Tom. He let out a large sigh.

  “I guess you’re right, and if I had tried to stop him, it wouldn’t have worked.”

  “I thought Bill was being sent to a Military Academy.”

  “His parents let him talk them out of it. They were trying to work out a deal with the County Prosecutor. Since they are related he wasn’t forcing the issue.”

  We had walked to Eleanor Prices house by that point in the conversation. I had seen very little of Eleanor recently. She came out as we arrived at her house. It was obvious she had been crying. Being guys we knew exactly what to do, we ignored it.

  “Good morning Eleanor I guess you’ve heard.”

  “Yes I have.”

  “It is a real shame. They had their problems but didn’t deserve that.”

  “No they didn’t. I just started dating Steve. I thought he was turning himself around. I was wrong.”

  “I’m sorry Eleanor.”

  “Well as my Mother told me, Life must go on. I’m really not looking forward to this day, but it must be done.”

  We silently walked to school. We were young teenagers, we weren’t supposed to die, and we’re immortal. I knew better than that. I had dealt death to two men. It just didn’t seem fair for these two young men to die. The ones I had shot were hardened criminals, murderers even. These were just two guys out on a lark.

  It was hard to believe they were gone. I knew they would be at the school door laughing about the trick played on the town. They weren’t at the door.

  Eleanor was met at the door by a group of girls, her friends I guessed. They converged on her and the wails started. Tom and I kept moving. I understood now what Eleanor meant by having to get through the day.

  Something else dawned on me. Eleanor would have to get through this raw grief. There were parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents and the rest of their families. They would all have to get through the day.

  The only ones with no problems were dead and gone. They just had to lay there and start to rot. For some reason this made me incredibly angry.

  Home room as expected was buzzing with rumor. There were three people in the car, no four. Someone said he heard five others were involved. By lunch it would be like those clown cars in the circus.

  Mr. Gordon came on loudspeaker with the school announcements. He relayed Steve and Bills demise. He ended with the statement.

  “This is why we urge you not to drink, this is especially why we urge young inexperienced drivers not to drink and drive. I’m sorry that this point has been made in such a tragic way. There will be no classes on Thursday. Most of the school will want to go the funeral home to pay their respects.”

  At lunch, one fact came out. When the police searched the car they found the bag the beer was in, it had a receipt in it from a carry out located on the curve just going out of Bellefontaine to the west on route 33. It had no signs, other than, “Carryout” so we didn’t know its name.

  Every kid in school knew that is where you go to buy beer when underage. The place had been in business at least twenty years. Now the police had arrested the owner and locked the doors.

  The County Prosecutor Tom Patterson had already announced that their liquor license would be revoked. Way to go Mr. Patterson. Really saved your nephew didn’t it?

  Of course there were all sorts of gruesome descriptions of how they died. They hit a tree head on at eighty miles an hour and went into the windshield so it was quick.

  At lunch it was noticeable how the different age groups were reacting. The older you were the quieter you were. Some of the freshmen in the cafeteria were making loud crashing noises and making jokes. I thought they were acting like little kids. It didn’t seem possible that I was their age. Today I felt tired and old.

  I wrote Judy a letter but it was so morose that I tore it up. She didn’t need my gloomy thoughts.

  I overheard Mr. Hurley say to Miss Bales, “It’s a shame we have to go through this every three to four years. One group learns, and then another has to do it all over.”

  She replied, “I have been teaching for twenty years, this is my fourth time. It’s such a waste but you can never tell them.”

  “Cora at least they will be quiet for a week or so. We can get some teaching done”

  “Unfortunately Myron you’re correct.”

  I don’t think I could take it, knowing that I would see the same cycle of young deaths over and over. And who would have thought she was Cora, and he was a Myron.

  I was so glad when the school day was done. I think that was the longest day I had ever spent. Mum had a snack ready when I got home. It is a wonder what Oreo cookies will do for your mood. I asked her if she would order my scout uniforms. I had filled out the order form and addressed an envelope, so all she had to do was write a check.

  We still had our Spanish lesson. Denny and Eddie both knew about the deaths, but said nothing. Mary didn’t need to hear any of this. So we played Monopoly in Spanish. Mrs. Hernandez and Mary teamed up early then landed on Boardwalk and Park Place. We never had a chance.

  After dinner I played with my typewriter but my heart wasn’t in it.

  I didn’t feel like reading tonight.

  Chapter 20

  The next morning Tom and I walked to school together. He had calmed down about yesterday. He had thought it through and short of physically attacking Bill he couldn’t have stopped him.

  He probably couldn’t have even done that because Bill would have been in Tom’s car and gone by the time he got outside. He was able to reconcile that he had no way to stop the tragedy or even know it was coming.

  We didn’t see Eleanor on the way to school. I hoped she was alright.

  In home room it was announced again there would be no school on Thursday. Steve Hamilton’s viewing would be at Kennedy Funeral Home and Bill’s at Eicholtzs. They were only a few blocks apart on Main Street, so I would walk from one to the other.

  While the school atmosphere w
as still on the somber side it wasn’t as shocked as yesterday. Some of Steves and Bills better friends were wearing black arm bands. I wondered where they came from. It wasn’t anything you could buy at J C Penny.

  I soon found out when I saw a freshman with a box of black armbands, selling them for ten cents each. I appreciated the sentiment but was repelled by the commercialism. It takes all types I guess. I didn’t buy one.

  Classes went on as normal. I did hear a lot of kids planning for their day off on Thursday. The funeral homes would only take a little while. I heard Delong’s Record Music shop for records, Don’s for hamburgers and The Holland Theater for a matinee for Elvis’s new movie, “King Creole.”

  Actually Don’s and the movie sounded good. Maybe a stop at Buchenroths, Huber or Wolfeins to see if I could find some more new shirts that fit me. This growing was expensive business.

  At least Sue Barton would speak to me again before Algebra. We didn’t have anything specific to say. We talked about what there was to do on Thursday, but no hint of doing it together. That suited me just fine.

  The more of this boyfriend, girlfriend stuff I saw the more it scared me. The progression was scary. First casual dates, then official friends, then going steady which as far as I could see was a practice engagement; next the real engagement then a wedding.

  I’m only fifteen for goodness sake. I think casual dates with a little bit of necking will do me for now. Well maybe a lot of necking, but nothing serious. Well maybe a little more fun stuff, but nothing serious about it. Heck I don’t know! I’m only fifteen.

  I also had one of my many letters from Judy. This one got to the point very quickly. She had met this boy. They were dating, more than occasionally, but not going steady yet. She wanted me to know. She would still like to write as pen pals, but that was it. I had to think about that for a while.