Seventh Grade
In seventh grade I had a friend
one year older her mother a grammar school teacher Somewhere Else
father a difficult man he worked in their basement
what did he do no one could say although I was one of those children
who asked and asked even when there were no answers my friend
looked a little like Annette Funnicello she had ambition I wasn't even
sure what the word ambition meant she did not want to be a teacher
or a nurse one day I walked her home and her father came to the door
and said what's funny is what you remember he said No Jews Will Come
Inside This House Except the Doctor who happened to be my uncle and I said
why not he slammed the door really slammed it my friend didn't know
what to say or what to do so she went inside the house and we were never
such good friends after that although we both tried she didn't know what
to say neither did I and a million years later we saw one another again
I asked about her ambition she summarized her life I did too before she
left I asked if she would tell me about her father
anything she wanted to say
and she said No.