Westfield State University - Tekoa Yearbook (Westfield, MA)

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The first outward symptom of the disease is observed as a pronounced loss in energy. The first medically tangible sign appears as a massive increase in the white blood cell count. The blood ' s condition slowly degenerates . . Christ! Blood! Jesus Christ, I ' ll get you for that one you sonovabitch. Happy, not so little blood thirsty boys involved in their after school pastime of assault, battery and attempted mur- der in the name of School, Mother and the Head Cheerleader. The high school experience of violence under the guise of a soccer game. All right Kwolek, that ' s enough. Get back in there and play that ball. Play hard kid. Yeh, I ' ll play all right. Attaboy. Nothing like the taste of blood in your mouth to make a better player out of you. I played like I never had before. I went right out and got my kneecap smashed. A crippled hero and after only a year under the guidance of the new battle hardened mentor. How do you feel Jack? That was real aggressive play kid. I wept at the sight of my badly misplaced crimsoned knee- cap. The tears were a flaw and I knew it — so I fought them back. I was still on crutches when I took Sue out that first and last time. Jack and Sue, even I was amused at the simple combination. All the sweat, all the needless drills and then all the pain and blood had finally paid off. Even to the eager adolescent the triumph was superficial. (A little heavy pet- ting was a pretty meager reward for all that suffering.) She didn ' t like me. I knew it. She drove me home early. You ' ve been absent quite a lot lately Jack. What ' s the trouble? No trouble Sir, I guess I ' ve just lost interest. Are you still interested in that Biology Scholarship? Oh yes, Sir! I was a lousy liar, but it was a good attempt. The answer got by because it was the expected response. Well, I ' ve decided to recommend you in spite of your re- cent performance. Thank you, Sir. How ' s the leg, Jack? It ' s my knee! How ' s the knee? It ' s coming along. Still a little sore. Are you going to be able to play in college? No. I ' m sorry. Yes. Everyone was sorry to hear about my knee. People I didn ' t even know were sorry. Perhaps they felt responsible. In my eyes they were. I was doing it for them. The show was for them. When they learned I probably wasn ' t going to get rid of the limp, they were sorry again. I loved the limp in high school because of that pity. Everyone knew where the limp came from. It was significant. Only when I left the sanctuary of my premature heaven did the limp become a scar. Only when the scar ' s true significance was realized did I become visibly hostile toward the world that watched me limp. Sitting, thinking, constantly reliving it. Stuck at the first rung of a ladder I will never be able to climb . Hey John? Are you alive John Kwolek? You look like you ' re a thousand miles away. I didn ' t think it was that far. You ' re strange. You ' re not the first to notice. (I wish she would go away. I wish she would go away. Go away like the rest.) What did you think of the lecture? I don ' t listen. I never listen. You can read my notes if you want to. I wish you were real. If you were real we could make love. It was too much. She walked away. John Lavoie 162

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TOP- Senate in Action. BOTTOM LEFT: Rick Walsh, Commuter Council President, I have to sit with my hands folded so they can see what I ' m doing. BOTTOM RIGHT: Chris Asch, Secretary; Dick Howard, Attorney to U. Mass; Terry Craven, President.