Chapter 31

Monday was clear and cold. Most of the snow was gone. There would be ice skating again before too long. I did my indoor exercises, but no way was I going to run outside.

At breakfast, I had two bowls of porridge, orange juice, and toast with strawberry jam and about three cups of coffee. To think a month ago I couldn’t stand coffee, but now I couldn’t live without it.

Mum suggested that for my typing practice I copy each of the letters in the Blackhoof collection. If nothing else I could use them as supporting evidence in some of the papers I would be writing. She planned on calling information in Oklahoma City to see if they had a phone number for the Shawnee Tribe so she could get their headquarters address.

Mum also had another suggestion, “Rick, you should take time to be a freshman.”

“What do you mean Mum? I’m a freshman.”

“How do the kids your age spend their time?”

I thought for a moment, “Go to class, play sports, hang out, go on dates, listen to music, go to movies. Stuff like that.”

“Have you done any of those things this year?”

“I have done every one of those. Why are you asking about this?”

“Rick, part of maturing and growing is socialization, learning to get along, with your age group, then others. You are all going through changes both mental and physical. You are a very driven person and have accomplished a great deal in the last few months. But they are things that an older person would do. I’m afraid you’re missing out on your teenage years and the socialization that goes with it.”

Dad wisely sat there with his mouth shut. You could tell he had no idea of where this was going.

“Learning Spanish and typing, being far ahead in classwork, overachieving in school, and inventing things are all good. But this isn’t what kids your age are doing. They are dating and hanging around, and yes, they get into some trouble, but they are being socialized as they do those things. You act like you’re above all that, but you aren’t.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Have some friends your age. Go on dates with girls you like, not girls that are using you. Do you realize that every girl that you have gone out with except for Judy was using you for their own ends? They didn’t want you, they wanted what you represented. You are a status item.”

“How do I tell the difference?”

“Experience.”

“How do I get experience?”

“Find a girl you like and ask her out.”

“What if she says no?”

“Then you have obtained some experience.”

“What if I ask a girl out and it turns out she only said yes because I have status?”

“Then you have gained more experience.”

“Mum!”

“Rick you are proving my point. If you don’t gain this experience now while you are young it will be really painful when you’re older.”

“When I’m older I should be smarter about such things.”

“Rick the only way to get smarter is to gain experience. Your I.Q. is just your I.Q. it won’t change now. Just remember it is easier to break up with your steady girlfriend than divorce your wife. I’m not only talking about your relationships with girls. What about your relationship with boys your age? I know you walk to school and spend some time with Tom, who else?”

“No one,” I replied quietly.

“I know you relate well with adults, but you do that by giving them respect, should you give that respect to your peers?”

“The kids in my class haven’t earned that respect.”

“So you know that you have to deal with the kids in your class differently than with adults, but you don’t spend any time with them. How will you gain that experience? The adults are going to get older and go away. The kids in your class will be with you your entire life. Not them as individuals, but as a group.”

“I have never given that any thought.”

“That is all I’m asking. Think this through and decide what you’re going to do about it.”

“I will Mum, but it seems cold and calculating to ask a girl out because you want to gain experience dating.”

“That is the wonder of it, Rick, asking a girl out is like a gamble. Is she the one? You will never know unless you ask her. She will never know unless she says yes. Both sides have something at risk. For a girl, the most horrid possibility is if she falls in love and the guy turns out to be a total loser.”