Show & Tell

Fourth grade, I vomited on a stack of workbooks Mrs. Smith was grading. That was the day Amy Pelham brought a cake to school, but only for the girls. She had a crush on Russell Rodriguez, who had a souped-up bike and a fancy jean jacket. That year, it only took a small coup to rule the safety patrol, to own the blue badge on the orange belt. I panicked the day Dee Ann and Sabrina hung the flag upside down. I released my balloon too soon. The balloon held an unimportant message. Luckily, as captain of the safety patrol, I didn’t know how many of our citizens were armed. Amy was the first girl I pictured naked, spaghetti in her right hand. Under the table was my favorite place to learn. This began my affair with mood lighting. One day the teacher passed her glass eye around the reading circle, reminding us not to throw sharp objects. I could see her point.