Chapter 11

After class I dawdled and waited for everyone to leave. Natalie caressed me with her hand and said that she really loved her gift.

"I am glad you like it. But you have to know that you are bringing attention to yourself. The boys in the room are eating you up with their eyes, and I have not been able to get much other work done, either. You are a very distracting influence."

"I think I can be much more than simply distracting."

"I know you can."

During lunch the reporter from the Toronto Star was actually still around. He asked me for a few minutes. My meal was finished anyway, and I excused myself and sat at an empty table with him. He said that he just wanted to get a little more background on the story and how I felt about some of the other ways that a school treated the students. I just finished when the bell rang and we shook hands and went our own ways.

After school there were no distractions. Rita came over and got her kiss. She was acting more like a lady now, but still showed her youth at the same time. To me it looked like a great compromise. She would still fit in with her friends and lead them into adulthood.

Helen was down, though, and it wasn't till we were away from the school that she said, "I am getting my period soon, and I was hoping to be with you tonight."

I stopped and gave her a kiss that showed my deep feelings for her. "You will be with me no matter what. Your period will only limit some of things we will do."

At the intersection, while waiting for Aron, we started on our kissing. There was no real place to hide, and we just sat on the grass. I used my fingers to tease her nipples and play with her clit. When a car went by, we just acted innocent till they couldn't see us even in their mirror. Aron was the only one walking up the road this time, and Helen managed to have an orgasm just before he got to us.

He looked at his flushed sister and asked, "You doing that stuff again?"

"Of course we were," I said as Helen blushed. "It is good for the heart to get the exercise and good for the soul to know that you have made someone you love feel so good. You will understand better when you get a bit older."

At home I made some coffee and started to make supper. Helen went upstairs and later came down after having a bath. "I don't quite have my period yet, Alex," she said in a coy voice.

I moved some food off the hot parts of the stove and we ran upstairs. In the background we heard, "Not again!"

When we came down later, we found Aron doing the cooking. I went up behind him and gave him a hug. "Thank you, little brother. You are doing a great job."

He said, "I have to. You two are always doing it, and I want to eat." The smile on his face let me know that he was not really angry.

I made a few phone calls to get pricing on various articles I could use for my building projects. The cast iron wood stove had not been installed yet, although the double-walled, stainless steel chimney had. The flooring could be linoleum, but I liked tiles, if they were not slippery.

Helen played 'Susie Homemaker', and I was glad of the attention. It was easy to see that even Aron got lots of attention and enjoyed the benefits of a happy family.

The phone, unaccustomedly, rang. This would be the first call I had got. For a split second I looked for the call display, and then just picked up the receiver. "Hello," I said cheerfully.

"Hi, Alex. I got your party in Chicago." I recorded the particulars and thanked Derrick for his help.

"No problem. I was able to sweet-talk a long distance operator."

I thought for a few minutes after hanging up how I was going to pursue this matter. Mr. Silva Cranz was a respected accountant with a penchant for the thin wire frame glasses that marked many of his trade. He was presently climbing the Chicago social ladder. He was well thought of and fairly brilliant in his field.

I met him in 1973 after he took the reigns of his families manufacturing business. We had some mutual business and continued to see one another. He liked old cars, planes, and women, the same as I did. On a few occasions we even traded among ourselves. We met many times at auctions, and both of us even donated cars so the proceeds could go to one worthy cause or another.

As time went on, I found many shady types in his inner circle of friends. It didn't take me long to see he was involved with the mob. I was no saint myself, but I tried to keep clean. I had even employed some of those shady types when the same types were sicced on me. Sometimes they found information that was not available otherwise. Screwing the taxman was a favourite hobby of most businessmen, and I was no exception here, either.

Mr. Silva Cranz was similar to me in many ways, with one exception. He craved excitement, and had been the person to introduce me to skydiving and many other dangerous sports. Since we were both not over the hill yet, we enjoyed many of these pursuits. One, though, he never mentioned.

On the night of April 22, 1949, a bank in Chicago was robbed. This was done with finesse and care. Nobody was even threatened, for the crime happened at night. Four other robberies happened in the next five years. Every one was the same. The last time they were found, and a guard was beaten with fists but not shot or knifed. His body was duct taped and put safely to one side. His capturers even used a water bottle to give him a drink and insured that he was as comfortable as possible.

After the robbery and the thieves safely away, one even called the police to inform them of the guard's location.

In every one of the robberies, gold seemed to be the main commodity taken. Other things of opportunity were not left behind, though. The robbers were not found until 1989, when the wife of the leader found herself at odds with her husband and told the police. I had watched this from start to the conviction a year and a half later.

Mr. Silva Cranz was 64 when convicted of the thefts. Some of his gang had died in the intervening years, and he alone went to jail for fifteen years. He never lived to see the outside again.

His wife got a divorce and his empire came crashing down about him. He had pleaded with me to take it over, and my lawyers told me that I might not be able to keep it. I did purchase some things that could be considered safe. One was the large motor home that I used at the original mine site.

I now had a lot of gold to sell and needed a way of disposing of it. It came out at the trial that Silva had sold, to some rich foreign and un-named buyers, all the gold and other things that he had stolen. Perhaps his connections could be used to help me dispose of my much more legitimate gold.

I dialled the number and a familiar, young woman's voice answered. I knew the voice very well and remembered how much I liked Silva's wife. "Hello, is this Millie?"

"Yes, it is. I don't recognize your voice."

"You wouldn't, Millie, because we have never met, yet, but I hope to, soon. I actually phoned to talk to your husband on a business matter. Is he available?"

"No, he went out already. May I take a message?"

"If you would, please, but would you write it down on a piece of paper?" I knew how forgetful she was, and if this wasn't recorded, the message might never get to its intended destination.

"Hold on, please."

In a moment she was back, and I gave her my name and address. I doubt if her family knew anybody this far north. I added, "I have recently been in the Toronto papers for taking a school board to court. It mentions that I found a gold deposit. That is the reason for this call. I want to sell some very large gold nuggets, and I hoped your husband could facilitate this for me. Please tell him that I went prospecting April 22 in 49 and June 15 in 50, but wasn't as lucky some were."

"Why do you want me to say that?" Millie asked.

"It is important to me, Millie. Your husband is under no obligation. Please tell him that very emphatically. I just want him to call me back after 4:30, any weekday. It would be preferable if the call was before ten."

"I will tell Silva."

"Thank you, Millie. I hope to meet you in a few months."

Millie was a very vivacious woman. By the time I met her, though, she was one of the few who had contracted poliomyelitis after the vaccine had been around for years. She had not been permanently paralysed, but it had effected how she was able to get around. Silva told me wistfully how much Millie loved to dance. She still managed to take me a few times onto the dance floor. Three years after my meeting Silva she passed away from, what I considered, complications arising from her condition.

Salk's vaccine was not even made public till March of 1953, almost two years from now. Millie's problem, though, still bothered me. Perhaps I could get the vaccine first and save many more people. In the US alone, three thousand children died and sixty thousand were paralysed annually. Worldwide, the number was even worse per capita, because of diet and hygiene. Sometimes death would be preferable to living a life trapped within an unresponsive body. Millie would not suffer as she did, if I could get her to take some of the vaccine when it came out.

That night I finished lots of my small writing projects. There were other games and puzzles out there that could make me a lot of money. Some I hoped to buy the rights to and reap the profits. It was not assured that just because a game worked in my time that it would work sooner now. The original people would have been able to spent more time on it, and perhaps do something that I was not familiar with. I might turn a prospective silk purse into an expensive sow's ear.

Helen and I spent the night snuggled up, and soon Aron came in wanting a place, too. He crawled in on my other side and we slept together till the morning.

School the next day was the same till a few minutes after the opening announcements. Mike was back with a small bandage on his head. His picture was in the local paper and in the Toronto paper as well. The article had to do with his younger brother's problems. I didn't get to read the article, though, but I heard that it talked of a resourceful young man who saved the young boy and disappeared. A search for the rescuer was fruitless and no name could be found. Apparently, nobody had asked Mike.

The class sort of just stared at me when Mike began to explain. I felt out of place. In the back of my mind I heard Mike talking about me running with his brother to the police car to get to the hospital.

Everybody seemed to start asking me questions at once. It started like an avalanche, with only one voice till it encompassed the entire room. Mr. Ross used his size and voice to get the rest to remain quiet.

"Is this true, Alex?"

"I haven't read the articles. I had no idea that it was even in the papers. There seems to be too much of a fuss made, and it was no big job to pull the plastic out. The only thing that helped was the proximity of some useful equipment. Speaking of tools, the mechanic helped just as much by holding the child still, and later by protecting me when the child's mother came to some wrong conclusions. The police did a great job; they let me continue the artificial respiration and got us to the hospital in time. Mike helped, too, or the woman would have come completely undone. There were five of us without even counting the people at the hospital."

Nobody talked for a minute and this was getting eerie. Rita spoke up and asked, "Why didn't you tell me Friday or this morning?"

"What is there to tell? I might have saved a youngster's life, but it is nothing to brag about. A doctor would save many lives per shift in an emergency ward. He gets his pay and the satisfaction of knowing that he did a good job. At other times he cries himself to sleep, or gets drunk, thinking of the young lives that somehow slipped through his fingers. He never makes it into the papers."

"But they're doctors."

"What is the difference, Rita? We are all human. I may have more knowledge than the usual person walking the street, and I was just in the right place at the right time to use it."

The class was getting nowhere. I didn't usually listen much, but then again Mr. Ross was not teaching me anything new. Mr. Ross was soon on the inter-school phone and in a minute he said, "Alex, I think you better go see Mr. Corfu."

"Alright, sir." I picked up my notebooks, and when I left I turned and said, "I am sorry for disrupting your class, sir."

I walked the deserted halls to the office. After pulling the door open I saw the same thing here. Mrs. Cranston and the two young secretaries just stared at me like I was a freak. Mr. Corfu came out and quickly hustled me into his office.

"Tell me what happened, Alex."

Since he was an adult, I gave him the unedited version. I told him about what I really saw and, more importantly, felt. I was surprised to see that it took ten minutes to get all of this out.

"Alex, this story hit the large newspapers all over the country. The CBC had got the story in time for the 9 o'clock news. I think it was the two reporters who were here to see you. They played it as a mysterious boy who simply vanished after rescuing the child. Ever since there have been updates of the search mentioned on the noon, 6 and 11 o'clock news. I am very proud of you, Alex. The entire school is proud of you."

"Thank you, sir, but all I did was to pull a small piece of plastic out of an infant's throat and to breathe into his lungs till the doctors could take over."

"You are much too modest. You handled your other opposition well, and this should not be a problem."

"I am not shy now, sir. I seriously think there is too much fuss made about this. The boy's family would be happy that I did this small task, but it is of no concern to anybody else."

"No matter what you think, this incident will not just blow over. I think the best way to face it is head on. You should tell the school what happened, or each and everyone will be asking you the same questions and you will have to say the same thing 300 times."

"Perhaps you are right, sir. If I do talk at an assembly I would like a favour from you."

"What is it, Alex?"

"I want Helen, my foster sister in the front row. Someone also has to drive her to my foster brother's school and bring him here. He will be nervous with all the strangers, and I would like Mademoiselle Bouchard and Miss Vachon to be with him. He has met them before, and this will give him some comfort. Rita Leone is my girlfriend, and I would like her with my sister and brother."

"All that is easy. Mrs. Cranston can take Helen to get your brother."

Mrs. Cranston was called in. She was to find out what class Helen was in, and then ask her teacher to send her to the office.

A few minutes later Helen came running into the office. She saw me and started to run again but stopped in time. "I thought you were hurt or in trouble."

"In trouble this time, but good trouble."

"Good trouble?"

"Yes. Friday after school I helped a young boy with breathing problems. Somehow or other, it made it into the newspapers and it got blown out of proportion. Mr. Corfu suggested that we have an assembly to tell everybody at once and not 300 times. I want you up front. I also want Rita and Aron. Aron is too shy, and I wanted him to be with Mademoiselle Bouchard and our school nurse. He has met them and will not be as intimidated. Mrs. Cranston was going to drive you to Aron's school to pick him up."

Helen got out an, "Oh," and remained quiet. Mr. Corfu did not see the wink I gave Helen.

The Principal said, "It looks like this is going to disrupt most of the day. If you keep quiet about this, I will phone your teacher and get him to talk to his class. Perhaps period three or four could be for the assembly. Alex, will you be quiet too?"

"Me quiet? If it was up to me, none of you would have heard of it."

I went back to class, and Mr. Ross was still on the phone when I got in. After a few "Yes, sirs," he turned to the class and told them to keep quiet. So far, only we knew that there was going to be a surprise assembly, and if word leaked out too soon, somebody would have hundreds of hours of work to do, or fail math. I don't think he meant it, but somebody would sure be in for a time of grief.

The next class was with Mr. Armstrong and his rote teaching of geography. Four times during class he had to get people to pay attention to him, instead of looking in my direction. He couldn't see that I was disrupting the class and wondered what was up.

I expected the announcement of the assembly at any moment, but instead I found myself in electricity with Mr. Smith. Here, at least, was a good chance to have the boys from the other classes learn from ours.

This was a double and at the end of the first period the call had not yet come. It was half way through the third period and close to lunch when the speakers came alive and asked everybody to go to the auditorium for a surprise announcement.

Mr. Smith dismissed us and we all trooped off. I hurried myself and made it into the front seats on the left side facing the stage. Laura and Natalie came up at a quick pace, with a questioning look on their faces.

Natalie asked, "What's up, Alex? We were told to go to the front with you."

"Before all else I say, I tell you that I lied to the Principal. I said that my foster brother knows both of you. He would only be comfortable in a group of strangers if you were both here with him. My sister and brother will be arriving soon. Rita is coming, too; to keep up the charade, but she actually deserves to be here."

Laura asked, "But why are we here?"

I looked around and nobody was real close. "Because I want you two with me through both good times and bad." I left out till death do us part. "This just happens to be one of the good times."

Helen didn't worry about running and did just that. Aron just ran behind her so he wouldn't get lost. Aron ran to me and hugged me as high as he could get. I bent down and said in a whisper. "I got two girlfriends for you to have for today. Remember, they are mine. Pretend that you've known the new one all your life. Will you do that for your big brother?"

"Yea, I need a girlfriend, and you are giving me two. Where are they?"

I introduced him to Natalie and reintroduced him to Laura. "Now, hold their hands; they need someone to hold on to."

"I can do that, Alex."

Cooking class was at the other end of the school, and Rita was late. She ran up and asked, "I was told to go to see you, Alex. What's wrong?"

"I want family and friends together at a time like this. A girl who tried to domesticate the boys with me deserves to be at my side. Besides, we slept together."

Rita turned red and the girls around us listened very attentively. "We did not. We were in different rooms!"

"So?"

"Alex, I am going to get you for that. Everybody here will think that we did things."

"We did." I paused for a moment then said, "We ate at your family's table and talked of decorating your family restaurant."

The people were all getting seated and things got silent all of a sudden. Laura and Natalie sat with Aron attached to their hands. Helen and Rita sat on each side of me and I noticed that the entire front row of seats were vacant. From the main aisle, three of the reporters whom I'd met on Friday were present, along with Mr. Caversham. I had not read his article yet to know how he treated me. Now could be a good time to pay back his good will or his attack.

I turned to Rita. "Did you read in the local paper where it used my name?"

"Ah, yes I did."

"Was it honestly written, or did the reporter seem to have a grudge against me?"

"It wasn't nice, but it was that man's opinion."

"That man in the back is the man that wrote it."

"Oh, I hate him already."

Mike came running up to me and said, "Mr. Corfu wanted me to sit up here with you guys."

"Well, grab a seat. The one beside Miss Vachon is a very good choice, if I were you."

His eyes bugged out a bit and he was very circumspect about sitting beside the most beautiful woman in the school. Laura looked at me and patted the seat beside her to get Mike to sit. He was just in time, for the reporters started taking seats right next to him.

The bell rang for lunch but nobody left or went to other classes. Mr. Corfu came on stage and picked up a microphone that provided a surge of sound as feedback went through the system.

"Hello students, faculty and guests." He went on to talk about the newspaper articles and the radio news reports then he dropped his bomb. "Michael Stoner was hurt at the same time as his little brother. He did not know of the quest for the name of the unknown boy that saved his young brother. Early this morning he read the articles brought it into class for him to see. He knew the person very well, and told the rest of us. This heroic person is none other than our own Alex Kramer."

Rita started to clap first and then the rest of the audience did to. After a few seconds I had to get up and made a small bow of thanks. Rita's eyes were glowing, as if I were her husband who had done some miraculous feat just for her pleasure.

Mr. Corfu went on for another minute, and then called me up to the stage. I squeezed Helen and Rita's hands and got up. I gave a small smile to all my girls, Aron, and even Mike.

Speeches were an easy thing for me after doing many each year, in front of notables in most cases. "Thank you for the applause. It is nice to see that I have so many friends who wish me well. I cannot just accept these good wishes without talking about a few others. First is Mike Stoner. He helped by running for assistance. He had the misfortune to stumble in his quest, and he was knocked unconscious. He later stepped in to assist the child's mother and me."

"The second is the mechanic who provided the tools to remove the blockage from the infant's small throat. He also assisted me in holding the child in a position so I could extract the small piece of plastic, and then he risked his life to protect me from a distraught and frantic mother who did not understand what we were doing. He suffered many abrasions, lacerations and other types of trauma to keep me safe. He suffered this pain while trying not to hurt the frantic woman while she fought him."

"The child was suffering from respiratory paralysis. Two members of our police force assisted in this situation. They appraised the situation very quickly and then professionally facilitated getting the child and me to the hospital in time. I only did my part, and the four others are the ones who should get the real applause.

Rita started again and I did as well to show how I felt about the people who helped. I would gladly have stepped down now, but a reporter stood up and said, "Where did you learn to be a doctor?"

I looked at him till he flinched, even if I had to make a scene. "I learned first aid. Do you write your articles with the same inaccuracy you ask your questions?"

"Sorry."

"First aid is not something that is mandatory in schools. Perhaps that is due to the fact that we have as good a nursing staff as we do here with Miss Vachon." I paused a while to get the plug in. "Work sites and other places of business, such as a farm, can be very dangerous. I happen to live on a working farm with my foster family. Helen Lowca, her brother Aron, and their family took me in when my parents died. To keep my new family safe I learned many things from medical books, including what to do in an emergency."

Another reporter stood up and asked, "What happened to you after going to the hospital?"

"I am not large and imposing. Adults pushed me around till I found a corner to hide in and not get crushed. After I heard that the child had started to breathe on his own, I simply called a cab and left."

Another reporter got up and asked, "Are you going to become a doctor now?"

"Probably, but I want to be an engineer, inventor and even a politician before I will try my hand at medicine. We don't have a good heart lung machine yet. Our defibrillators are large and can't be taken to a patient to get their heart going again. There are many diseases that have no cures, yet."

"So you are going to cure the world?" he said sarcastically.

"The same way you are going to get a Pulitzer for your innuendo, or have you given up hope of ever attaining that goal, sir. I am young, and I have not lost my zeal as some adults have done."

The Le Devoir correspondent from the French language newspaper in Montréal asked, "What can you suggest that your fellow students might do to get ahead, as you have done?"

I replied in Québécois, "Students all over have to have their rights spelled out to them. Then they will know how to act. It is not quite what you asked, but it is what I would recommend all students do." I repeated the same thing in English and saw the reporters writing now. Perhaps I had given them a small thing so they could blow it up to unimaginable proportions and use it to show that I wanted to fight the school system.

"I notice that you reporters snapped up that last statement. You had best not misquote me. I did not infer that there are major problems with our school system, or our school board. There are only some small changes that will bring the board and the students into a safer environment."

Another asked, "What about your court case?"

"I am speaking on school property. Mr. Corfu our Principal introduced me. Our taxes go to pay for all the teachers and students here. This is no time to talk about other matters, even if I did wander into those murky waters with my last reply."

The Le Devoir correspondent asked, "What do your fellow students think of you?"

"I could ask your friends what they think of you, and then ask you the same question. The answers would not be the same, I am afraid. Ask them yourself. I warn you: if you talk to Rita Leone you may get an earful of what you didn't want to hear."

"Who is she? Your girlfriend?"

"I guess she is, but she is also my wild animal trainer. Talk to her about that subject. Count your fingers after, though." Rita turned red and hung her head and must have turned redder after the second comment.

The questions came now with little substance till I said, "Gentlemen, my newfound friendship with the other students will have disappeared unless they are allowed to eat. I, too, am getting hungry, and I invite each of you gentlemen of the press and radio to partake in the delicious cuisine served at our world famous cafeteria."

Mr. Corfu looked at his watch and said his thanks for the reporters coming and again to me for what I had done for the community and one family in particular. "The remainder of this period, and the next, are the official lunch periods for all students."

He got a rousing cheer, and the students started to file out. Those in our group stayed, and the reporters came in like barracuda. "What are your plans after you finish school?"

"Let's talk as we eat. If I have to put up with your questions, you will have to put up with our food. No eat; no talk. By the way, this young lady is Rita. Her parents own Mario's, the best restaurant around." I went through the other ones present and made sure the reporter from Le Devoir got a chance to talk to Natalie. Aron was like a stallion defending his mares and tried to get in between the reporters and the two beautiful women. Polish boys are sometimes very much like Polish men.

The line up for food was very long and then we had to go outside to eat. We watched the buildings being put up. I introduced my guests to Izzy and just let him take care of them for a moment as I gulped some of my food.

Natalie and Laura sat on a plank supported by a stack of prefab wall units. Aron wiggled in between them and ate his meal. Helen sat beside Laura and Rita on the other side of me. Mike felt left out, but stayed on the other side of Rita.

I explained to all of them exactly what happened on Friday night. I encouraged Mike to fill in most of the information I didn't know about. Rita again acted like her mother and encouraged Mike to continue.

We got our pictures taken, and I insisted that everyone should be in all the pictures if I was in it. Helen and Aron had a few pictures taken, and Laura with Natalie had a lot. They insisted that their boyfriend join them, and Aron was there like a shot. The reporters wanted pictures of Mike's brother and mother taken with me. I suggested that we meet at Mario's for a meal and some photos later tonight.

Laura looked at her watch then told Natalie. Natalie excused both of them and they left for their duties. They flirted a bit with poor Aron before they left, and he looked like his ego would explode.

The reporters left well before lunch ended. We had to carry their plates and trays back into the cafeteria. Perhaps they thought that their mothers would soon be here to pick up after them.