Chapter 9

The next day at gym, Mr Renzo didn't mention health class at all. I did get a little shit for not being as fast as I should be. The students looked sharply at me as if I was going to flatten the teacher. Later, though, they had lots of questions. I had even less time to answer them.

Home Ec was better because Mrs Cameron was talking about budgets and then negotiating for a good price. Since I had mentioned this the first day of class, I was asked again. I had fun talking about the machines I just bought and what I did to get twenty percent off.

I had sold appliances for years and told the students what to look for and what would only add cost but little benefit. Before I was cut off I talked about purchasing extra warranty time.

Gloria passed me a note. It said, "What did you do in Health. Sam was embarrassed and smiling all the time?" I just pointed at the clock to mean after class.

Mrs Cameron though asked the same question when she held me back.

"Did you hear this from Mr Renzo or from the boys?"

"Ah, does it matter?"

"I'm not going to talk behind Mr Renzo's back."

"Mr Renzo told me."

"What I was trying to do was to be blunt. This appealed to boys. They like being naughty. Lots of the information came from medical books. There is too much that is not covered in class that should be. I asked to deal with females and reproduction. I think I can do a better job because I have less constraints. I'm worried about unwanted pregnancies and their repercussions as well as forced marriages that usually fail. They actually keep two people in hell for all their lives."

"How much do you know about this subject Jeff?"

"Enough to teach the girls too, I think. Maybe I can give a presentation to you, Mr Renzo and whoever teaches the girls' health. If they have an open mind I can give them the same course. They can use my work or let me do it."

"So you want to be a teacher now?"

"It's fun. Infants fascinate me and will keep me occupied all day. Children up to adults are fun because they know so little but usually willing to learn. Adults are fun because I have to work around their preconceived ideas to show them the truth."

"You better hurry off to your next class, Jeff."

I found that one of my spares coincided with an empty music room once each rotation. I talked Miss Floit into letting me use it. I got the last of 'Blowin' In The Wind' done then started the Beatles song 'Let It Be'.

Miss Floit came back in towards the end of the period and listened to me. When it was just about time to go, I played what I had transcribed which was about half.

"That will be a hit too Jeff. I don't know how you do it. Maybe I should walk around in a thunderstorm with a lightning rod in my hand."

"There would be a good chance that you'd die, and it only changed my outlook on life."

When the bell rang I gathered up the papers and left. I had this feeling to kiss Miss Floit like I did my ladies but I resisted.

When it came time to leave, I went to the old corner and found not only Sam and Gloria but also Janice Higgins.

When I got close I said, "Hello ladies and gent."

Looking at Sam I said, "Two ladies now? Hmmm, you are going to have to give me lessons." All of them got red and I felt bad because they were not secure enough yet.

Gloria asked, "You were going to tell me about that talk."

"Well Sam already told you about it. I just felt that it should be said with enough information to be useful. All boys know they — they get excited. I wanted to talk about girls and then about avoiding unwanted pregnancies."

Gloria said, "You know all that?"

"A fair amount. It's fun to learn and the homework is never forgotten."

Gloria said, "I wish you could talk to us too. Mrs Warren is an old busybody and afraid of saying — bosom."

"It seems someone else had a problem saying breasts."

"Well — I just started to come out of my shell."

"I would like to help. My time is all accounted for and I end up losing sleep to make up for it. If you get me into girls' Health class then it'll be fine but I'm afraid that'll never happen. The school would not like it and most of the parents would be the same way. They don't want their little angels corrupted."

They all looked down as if this had shamed them.

"I have to get going. I got a project to do at home."

Janice said, "Let me walk with you for a while."

After half a block she said, "Gloria's very happy. I wish I could find a guy like she has."

"Are you being rhetorical or do you want some help?"

I had to wait for a minute at least. "I could use some help."

"Tell me the things you like and I will think of who I know."

"Well, I like them smart. Ah, and they should know a lot of things too."

I could see where this was going. "Boys are basically ignorant and that was why I was educating them. They think of themselves and forget that a lady has needs too. I know this but I'm taken already I'm afraid. The boys I can help are the ones that think they cannot find any girl to ever look at them. They have to be desperate to even listen to me. The others have such an ego that they refuse to listen."

"Would you still look?"

"Sure I will. That's what friends are for."

The tools were in the basement and Jane had accepted an old radio. To be different, I made her lay on the table like I had done to the other girls and ate her to two orgasms. I slipped into her and it felt so warm and delightful that I shivered. When it got close I suddenly remembered the possibility of releasing some invaders. Jane was fertile now.

This made me even more excited but I managed to hold my own orgasm off until Jane had hers. When she recovered I had her on her knees to give me mine. When the came it made me shiver more and the experience was more pleasurable.

I picked Jane up and kissed her passionately. "That was a good one. More than a few hairs, sprouting from my groin, is happening to me."

She hugged me tighter and said, "I'm happy that my boy is becoming even more of a man."

Jane helped me do some unpacking in the basement and stand the drill press up. The bench grinder had no real place to go and I didn't want it where I worked on electronic parts. Many other things had no place to go.

I looked around at the basement. We had an octopus furnace with large ducts running all over. I was not tall now but soon I would have to stand only between the joists. The lighting was better than it was but still not good.

My home in London came to mind. It was large and airy. The workshop was large and well suited for my tinkering or research. This house was very poor but I was still lucky that we even had a basement. I knew then that we had to move into the house that I needed to work in.

Jane got a kiss and sent upstairs to make supper. She knew it had to be made but gave me subtle hints so that she had to be told. All I had to do was listen to her. Perhaps that was why there was going to be many more divorces. Besides, the recent feeling of more freedom after the war may just cause a couple to not listen to each other.

I worked on making the chassis for the tape recorder and found that I needed more parts. Brass bushings or nylon had to be bought or made. I needed some hard steel that would resist wear from friction. I made a list of other things I needed and put them on the running list I always kept.

The girls came home so I went upstairs. I found not only Tom and his brother Karl but also three girls. Two looked vaguely familiar from school.

Paige came and kissed me. The way it was done was to show that I was taken and the girls better lay off. Susan introduced Mary, a tall girl of Susan's age with long red hair. Brenda was taller than Maggie but she turned out to be her age. Sylvia was the best looking of the three with long black hair going down her back. She was a little heavy and I found that she was in grade twelve with Susan.

We shook hands and the girls kept looking at me oddly until Paige came over and removed cobwebs from my hair.

Jennifer said, "Miss Floit said that these girls should be tested. They sang with us today and they did very well."

"Well that's great. I have to write some songs tonight but if we have enough instrumentalists we can get an idea of what we have. Some songs work much better with some voices."

We sat down with some tea and discussed the girl's experience. They wanted to know about Debbie Reynolds until they milked me dry on the subject then they wanted to know about Mark. They got my standard story of it being an accident. I did add that he was invited to come over for an audition too.

Jane made extra food and I could see the new girls look when I called Jane by her proper name. The boys had acted similarly when they had first heard it too.

After supper, I went over and invited Jack and Nora to come to our house with Jack's guitar. It was not necessary but it was good to not only butter up neighbours but future in-laws.

Music became more technical for them. I used recently acquired terms and what they meant. My girls were not shy about singing notes or bars and that helped the others. Some harmony was better than others and this reminded me of Diana Ross and the Supremes but I didn't know if I could pull this off with some of the later Afro/American dialect.

The girls did have talent but I was not the one to make an assessment. I wasn't even sure how good my girls were or even the band. There's a lot of difference between very good and professional. Sometimes the difference was just in attitude.

Sylvia's parents both came to pick up the girls and they stayed to chat. They thought Jack was the father and it helped when I called him dad. Sylvia talked the rest into singing and playing the songs that would one day go onto a record and I hoped my cassette.

Tom, Karl and Jack stayed longer as I finished up 'Let it Be' and went on to 'Sweet Caroline' that Neil Diamond sang. They saw for the first time how difficult it was to remember the song well. The guys played the notes that sounded right to me and I talked about what should come next. I sang the words to the song at the same time. This all got written down quicker now that I didn't have to play the guitar.

Before calling it a night, we had most of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' that had been done by Simon & Garfunkel.

I started making wooden boxes in Woodwork the next day. In my previous life I had fabricated hundreds of them. Christmas was not that far away and I needed to find gifts. Mr Sharp listened to my needs for metal and plastic and instead of directing me to a store he said, "Go see Mr Clarke in Machine Shop. I'll talk to him first if you want. He has a lot of odds and ends kicking around."

"Thank you sir. That is a very good idea."

It turned out that there was a lot of scrap in Auto as well that I could get. Some classes rebuilt bodies and their tinkering could rebuild a car fairly well. Sometimes the rebuilding done by kids was not as good as professionals and I had heard horror stories for thirty years.

I finished off 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' during a spare in the library. This had to be guessed at but I had the previous portions of the song to go by.

When I came out at the end of the period I almost ran into Sylvia. "What were you doing in the library Jeff?"

"Finishing off one of the songs I started after you left last night."

"Where do you send them?"

"I have in agent in California."

She put her cool hand on my neck and caressed my face. It felt nice to me but I could see that she was very worried about doing this especially in the school. "Maybe you will write one for me?"

"If you sing good enough I'll supply the material and the chance to record."

She bent close and stopped dead. With a worried look she said, "Thanks," instead of what she wanted to say.

She ran off and she looked just like the young girl she was even if she were older than my current body.

I took many more tests in Chemistry but not the final exams. This took the full period and I was not done when the bell rang. Mr Bain separated the ones done and said, "Not bad, these were grade twelve and thirteen. I don't think you would cheat so you can finish the rest off at another class."

"Thanks for trusting me."

"I have been thinking of our arrangement." I was now worried. "In university the professors have lab assistants. They are usually grad students but not always. Are you interested in helping me and I'll help you more."

I smiled now. "You got an assistant. I do glassware but not windows."

During Gym, Mr Renzo pulled me aside, and said, "What would you tell the other students about female anatomy?"

"That will take an hour to tell you and half an hour to tell the class. I have a spare in period seven. Can we talk then?"

"I have some seniors then. They can get some help from their peers and I can listen to you."

"That sounds good. Will this lead to a lecture on procreation at some future time?"

"I don't know yet. I may get in trouble about that. Contrary to what you may think I do worry about the younger generation. I don't want them hurt."

"It's the girls that usually get hurt more but many boys find their life ruined too."

During sixth period I had Home Ec Mrs Cameron pulled me aside far nicer than Mr Renzo and she whispered, "I was told you are going to do a lecture. It is very difficult for a young man to talk about a female body with a female present. Are you able to overcome this handicap?"

"I'm not shy to the degree you may think. I may get queasy standing in front of the school but not a few people. Adults are more responsible in general, although I have met some that are not. This could be turned into a strategy meeting though where the experience a teacher has can be used to make a great presentation. If you wish to bring more educators you may but I found that if you get far beyond six they tend to make this sort of thing unwieldy."

Now Mrs Cameron stared at me again. "Ok I will see. This will be a chance to test you to see if you have the chance to be a teacher."

"That is much more than my guidance counsellor gave me, and this is good because I too would like to know."

Ten minutes later I was in Mr Renzo's office. I prepared my talk in my mind while I waited another ten minutes.

Mr Renzo came in and said, "We are going to a classroom."

A nearby room was empty and I found Mrs Cameron sitting beside an older woman.

Mr Renzo said, "I heard that you are not bothered by women if you talk about this subject."

"Not really. If this is what I think it is, I need input from the three of you. I know the subject material but I think I can get it across to boys easier. I understand women after a fashion but I cannot get inside their heads."

"Go ahead then."

I walked to the older woman and stuck out my hand. "Hello Ma'am. My name is Jeff Congdon. Whom do I have the honour of addressing?"

"My name is Mrs Warren. Have you heard of me?"

I smiled at her but instead of letting go of her hand I held it in two of mine. "I have. One of your shy students mentioned that you had a problem with mentioning breasts and used the word bosom instead."

She pulled her hand away. I said, "I hope I have not said something offensive. In a way it was a way for me to understand you as you listen to me."

When the woman recovered she didn't react antagonistically. "I try not to use derogatory terms if possible. The ladies I teach can get the wrong idea."

I sat on the desk with my feet in the seat facing both women. "May I voice an observation that I have seen? The words though will be medical and the only two ladies here are the two of you."

"I can handle that."

"Human nature has not changed in hundreds of thousands of years. We have learned a great deal and this along with our various customs have guided us. I say customs because there are a great many varieties. The Chinese and the East Indian are good examples. They suit each group very well but they are not what we have here in this country.

"The ladies you talk about are the same as what were found hundreds of years ago because many of the things that drive our culture have not changed. The situation has changed since the last war and our culture is in much more of a transition than it had been before. World War One brought some changes but not many. The last war brought us a great deal of new ideas and gadgets. These gadgets are changing our culture for both good and ill.

"What I am getting at is that women are very resourceful and not weak at all. They can take a frank discussion like this and voice their own opinion. The word 'sex' is a dirty word to some. They hide from it. It is even reflected in our laws that men wrote. Boys cannot purchase condoms because some shortsighted politician thinks that a boy will not have sex without them. They feel that if condoms are freely available the boys of this world will practice 'safe sex' instead of masturbating."

"The sad fact is that humans are not as rational as the politicians would like us to believe. Sexual relations cannot be legislated out of existence. It will continue either behind closed doors or hidden some other way. The result will always be pregnancies and abortions."

I thought of going into what the birth control pill would bring but avoided it now for many reasons.

"I have heard of people from some very poor areas not being told about how children come about. They actually believed the stork or some other fable brought them. This may sound like a laughing matter but it emphasises how important education really is."

Since there had been no outcry so far I assume that they're in agreement for the most part. "It now has to be determined how far to go with different age groups. At present they get their information from friends, that method is as accurate as gossip. How far do you think I should go with a class of grade nine girls, Mrs Warren?"

"Ah — well you do know how to speak. I don't know why you went into all that though."

"I went into it because I was worried you were too shy to deal with this particular topic. I'm pointing out that I asked a question but you avoided giving your opinion."

"The school board does set some guidelines but they are vague. I cover what I feel I must though."

"Tell me what topics you cover please?"

"Well first there is hygiene then there is what to do when a women has her curse."

"Instead of euphemisms, wouldn't menstruation or even vaginal discharge be more accurate?"

We waited then she said, "My girls are ladies. They don't want to hear that sort of thing."

"Are you positive of that?"

"Yes I am."

"Are you really talking from your own feelings or those of the girls you teach?"

Mr Renzo said, "Leave the lady alone Congdon. Can't you see she is upset."

"Why is she upset, Mr Renzo?"

"I don't have to tell you."

"Ah, but you do. I came here to put on a presentation to adults with the help of you three not to children. Are you going to give me the answer 'because' like an infant. Are you protecting a woman or a fellow teacher? Perhaps you're protecting your own feelings about this subject because they are a bit too delicate."

I turned to the other female teacher. "Mrs Cameron, tell me what Mr Renzo cannot."

I waited as the woman looked for a way out. "Come, come Mrs Cameron. What would you say to a recalcitrant student?"

"Mrs Warren cannot deal with the subject well. It is part of her upbringing and perhaps part of the nature she was born with."

"Thank you, Mrs Cameron. I agree with you fully."

"Mr Renzo, do you agree or have you another opinion?"

"We're not raised the same as what we used to be."

"That's true. The situation will not improve but actually accelerate, as more information is made available. What will come about will be less pregnancies and that will be because we cannot reach everybody."

I tuned back to Mrs Warren who was now near tears. "Ma'am, you are setting an example to your charges on how to be a lady. You're probably brave enough to stand up to bullies and even your superiors for what you believed in. Are you brave enough to find out if the ladies you talk about want real information or some platitudes that they have to guess at."

"I teach my students very well Mr Congdon. I don't know where you get off thinking I don't."

"I like you feisty better Mrs Warren. I challenged you though. Are you brave enough to find out who is right?

"You are no teacher Mr Congdon. You have no licence and you are only twelve years old."

"You are absolutely right but you don't want to find out do you? You're not brave now in your one weak spot. The trouble is that the gym teacher teaches health. If the gym teacher is not brave then he or she cannot pass on the necessary knowledge."

Mr Renzo looked ready to blow up. "Mr Renzo, are you responsible for all the students that you teach so they learn the necessary skills?"

"Yes, but not your way. You — "

"You taught me about self reliance. You taught me about team spirit. One class you mentioned about doing your best no matter what the odds. I'm asking you about team spirit. If you cannot skate very fast there's still a need for a goalie. Doing your best is what a soldier does. Everybody does his part. You cannot be the general and fight in the trenches too. Let me try one small foray into enemy territory. Make up a test. Give it to a control group after you taught them and then the same test after I used my way on another group."