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She Taught Science
But almost no one listened
“Here’s your lesson for today. Pay no attention to what your teachers say. Just notice what they wear, and that will tell you everything you need to know.” — “Clifford” to his niece in Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Mrs. Henry wore smart black dresses almost every day. Usually, with black stockings through which, if you were looking carefully, you’d notice the black hairs sticking to the nylon-like spider webs attached to old screens.
And her shoes.
They were always heeled, with pointed toes.
They were always too small for her feet, too, as anyone with eyes could see.
It was hard to pay attention in Mrs. Henry’s science class because, first, I didn’t like science, hadn’t since I’d seen a 3-D picture of the cardiovascular system in sixth grade, which made me so queasy I thought my spaghetti lunch was about to wed itself to the glossy, sheer text page.
Also, who could pay so much attention to life cycles of tree frogs when the woman discussing such natural phenomena was surely in pain? I know her feet had to hurt, which might also have been why she was often so stern, so demanding, and at times, so angry.
Of course, she might have been angry because of us, her “pupils,” one of which, Saul Reid, was…