Ch1
I was ten years old when I first saw him, and he was twenty years older than me. I was late for school, and one of my family jobs was to take the laundry before school. We lived in an apartment building in Brooklyn N.Y. on fifty-ninth street just below the school and here I was right before school with a disgusting old bag on my back. It was smelly, sagging, wet and stained and very heavy. I had six brothers, oh almost. One was on the way to make eight kids total. So with five big brothers, ya think one of those big husky boys could take it? Noooo, and there I was with that big awful muslin bag, on the corner waiting for the light to change.
There stood Peggy the cop in her beautiful uniform, straight, and tall, and in charge. Traffic stopped just to talk to Peggy. I'll tell you more about her later.
Hunched over, and heaving the bag up higher I heard a bell ring, two more bells and I would be late. My father didn't stand for us kids getting in trouble in school for any reason and that's what I was thinking about when that burdensome bag was suddenly lifted form my shoulder. One hand picking it up in the air, and telling me, hey kid, get to school, get smart! I looked up and saw him. I stood so still afraid to move he was so handsome and nice. He picked that smelly bag, that wet disgusting thing off my shoulder and asked if it went to the laundry across the street. He wore a brown pin-striped suit that I would come to know so well. Still standing close to him, he said a bit more sharply, get to school and I ran. Just as I almost got in the building he yelled, who's your teacher? Miss Poster! I yelled back.
So that was the guy, the one everyone was talking about, the new young principal all the girls had crushes on, except me of course. It wasn't long before he walked into Miss Posters' class. He stood looking around and she walked over to him smiling like a , well you know that kind of woman. The kind I wished I was just then. Yeah, I was just a kid. Poster had flair, but she was so obvious with her bright red every day lipstick to match her long red nails, and she wore a scarf around her neck, thick mascara, and frosted hair. She also wore spike heels and smelled like a perfume factory. I was looking at him as he looked around, and Poster went over gushing at him. Grr, I thought, leave him alone, you go after all of them. He sure was handsome, but I didn't feel a crush, not yet anyway. Then it happened.
Poster put her hand inside his jacket and asked, Can I do something for you Mr. Vitalo? Yes, that was him, Mr. Vitalo, the new Principal! He quickly and firmly took her hand off him, and said no thank you, I see who I came to see. He walked right to me, laundry ticket in hand and said, it will be ready at three. He started to walk out and stopped, turned around, and said, hey kid? What's your name? I told him and from then on he just called me Mac. It is was seeing him treat her differently than the other male teachers that started a slow change in me about him. If we could only look ahead.
Hunched over, and heaving the bag up higher I heard a bell ring, two more bells and I would be late. My father didn't stand for us kids getting in trouble in school for any reason and that's what I was thinking about when that burdensome bag was suddenly lifted form my shoulder. One hand picking it up in the air, and telling me, hey kid, get to school, get smart! I looked up and saw him. I stood so still afraid to move he was so handsome and nice. He picked that smelly bag, that wet disgusting thing off my shoulder and asked if it went to the laundry across the street. He wore a brown pin-striped suit that I would come to know so well. Still standing close to him, he said a bit more sharply, get to school and I ran. Just as I almost got in the building he yelled, who's your teacher? Miss Poster! I yelled back.
So that was the guy, the one everyone was talking about, the new young principal all the girls had crushes on, except me of course. It wasn't long before he walked into Miss Posters' class. He stood looking around and she walked over to him smiling like a , well you know that kind of woman. The kind I wished I was just then. Yeah, I was just a kid. Poster had flair, but she was so obvious with her bright red every day lipstick to match her long red nails, and she wore a scarf around her neck, thick mascara, and frosted hair. She also wore spike heels and smelled like a perfume factory. I was looking at him as he looked around, and Poster went over gushing at him. Grr, I thought, leave him alone, you go after all of them. He sure was handsome, but I didn't feel a crush, not yet anyway. Then it happened.
Poster put her hand inside his jacket and asked, Can I do something for you Mr. Vitalo? Yes, that was him, Mr. Vitalo, the new Principal! He quickly and firmly took her hand off him, and said no thank you, I see who I came to see. He walked right to me, laundry ticket in hand and said, it will be ready at three. He started to walk out and stopped, turned around, and said, hey kid? What's your name? I told him and from then on he just called me Mac. It is was seeing him treat her differently than the other male teachers that started a slow change in me about him. If we could only look ahead.
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