Manzano High School - Scepter Yearbook (Albuquerque, NM)

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Simple Simple People Simple Talk Simple Thoughts Simple Means Simple Ways Simply Confused. ...Randy Mund Looking through curtains wishing they would soon open, for life stands outside. ...Vikijaramillo I heard them speaking But they did not hear themselves. Were they listening? ...Ann Scheibner Che Gilded Cat and Other memories The cat appeared without warning one morning-a scrawny apparition hunching itself silently against the back screen door. jeremy was the first to notice it. His at- tention already wandering from his breakfast, he pointed and exclaimed, Look, Ma! A cat! I turned to look. The cat was pushing its small, triangu- lar face against the screening. Mama, at the sink rinsing the breakfast dishes tshe never could wait for a meal to be over before starting the dishesj, turned too. That's all we need, is a cat, she said, taking up a dish- towel and beginning to wave it at the door. Shoo! No! jeremy shouted. He ran to the door and without opening it, knelt to the cat's level. Hi, he said. Hi, there, pussycat. The cat regarded him with wild unblinking eyes. Hurry and finish your breakfast, Mama said loudly. I want to wash your dish. Look, Margaret-the boy hasn't touched his cereal! jeremy's corn flakes, bloated and soggy now, swam in lazy half circles in the bowl. The familiar queasiness rose in my own throat. Already, at nine in the morning, the air coming in through the screened windows lay thick as a blanket over everything. August. Three weeks of it gone, yet its burdensome weight persisted. Across the street, where the beach wrapped its crescent around the perimeter of the town, I heard the mild lap -lapping of the tide as it too seemed to recede into itself, away from the threatening heat of the day. Leave him alone, jeremy, I said wearily. Finish your milk. I'd like to get an early start for the beach. He did not look up immediately, but when he did, his face was a plea. Please, Mommy, he's thirsty. Can I give him some milk? Mama reached for jeremy's cereal bowl and dashed its half-eaten contents into the sink. You give that cat milk, we'll neverget rid of it! Honestly, I don't know how that boy survives! He eats less than a bird! He's perfectly all right! I said, more sharply than I had intended. I'm not saying he isn't! She held up her hand, her voice rising defensively. I'm just saying a growing boy has to eat! jeremy came to me where I was sitting. He put his head against my abdomen, against the protesting movements of the child within it. Please, Mommy, he begged. The cat's thirsty. His hair under my hand was fine and straight, like my own. Not thick and wavy like Frank's, as I had always as- sumed it would be if our first child was a boy. All right, I said. Pour some milk into a bowl and see if he takes it. Out on the porch, though okay? Thanks, Mom! He hugged me. He was thin, it was true. Seven years old and narrow-boned. You're asking for trouble, Margaret, Mama said. You feed a cat once, you're stuck with it forever. I sighed and stretched my legs out before me. Under the skin little blue discolorations stared up in irregular patterns. Ugly! With jeremy there hadn't been a mark, only a lovely, rounded belly up until the very last. This time it was over all of me-arms, legs, back-a heavy, lumpish pregnancy, with veins and lethargy. I wish it were October, I said now. I wish the whole thing were over with. It'll be here all too soon. What's your hurry? Can't you wait to wash diapers again? I glared at her, ready to scream at her negativism, but the words died in my throat, burned out by the swiftness of their own fury. jeremy opened the door with one cautious hand and set the milk down. The cat backed away at first. Then, in a careful, paw-by-paw progression, it approached the bowl. A long, hard, concentrated lapping ensued, while jeremy sat cross-legged in silent satisfaction, watching. When there was no milk left, the cat sat down, and the light pink tongue began to wash away at the white beard. You liked that, didn't you? jeremy said. He reached out a hand for the first time to pet it. The cat endured this for a matter of seconds before it jumped to its feet and darted down the steps, out of sight.

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THE TRUCK STDP The nrght was crrsp lrke the leaves of an Autumn Octo ber compost The atmosphere was clean ahve and purr fled for thrs was the Nevada plarns desert The sky dust ed wrth srlver studded sequrns bedecked the velvet blue lrke the costume of a Saturday nrght lady of the Evenrng rn Abelrne The drrve over the asphalt smooth strll up set the rnsrdes of the man to an extent of mrld nausea The hero of the nrght would be not a knrght rn shrnrng ar mour but a bottle of pepto brsmol Oh for the pepper mrnt pmk elrxrer a panacea for the medrcal problems of the evenrng The truck rts rnsrdes saturated wrth the smell of Wrnston smoke and gasolrne fumes rts aroma all too drsgustrngly famrlrar The puttrng on of the emer gency brake was lrke a key to the door of freedom from the problems and trrvalrtres of the day The truck stop restaurant bekoned rn neon Dollys Drrty Dog Restaurant and Cafe Good Food and Good Trmes The young lookrng man hrs harr sandy colored and cut to a respectable length Irn the eyes of the upper mrddle class 9 to 5 Prtney Bowes establrshmentl was rather sorled wrth the sand from the Western desert and compounded by the sweat from the brow caused by an all too hot day Hrs shrrt starned wrth the persprratron of slavrng over a hot radrator seemed to fade rnto medrocre oblrvron to be lost forever untrl launder day Hrs pants a rather mud brown were strarght legged remrndrng .rs of the shades of bebop frftres Hrs chapped hands overly harry on the back of them lookrng somethrng lrke a dropout from the groupre set a hrppre rn chrmpanzee s clothrng shown a rrng rn whrte gold wrth the year 1947 on erther srde of rt Hrs hrgh school graduatron rrn He had now brushed off the dust and grrme of a srngle day s exposure to the elements now openrng the glass door rnto the cafe showing a few sparsely placed rather weather beaten tables and charrs showrng farnt resem blance to rts once attractrve walnut grarned frnrsh but that was a long trme ago a long trme He sat hrmself down at one of the red vrnyl booths rather patched and recovered rn places addmg to the depressrng atmosphere of the hell hole he was rn hell hole Blue Plate Style The room was frlled wrth would be derelrcts of the four wheel drrve set massrve golraths slurprng down seemrngly gallons of tomato soup Why dont they ever shave' Whrskered pungent sorled skrd row type bums The juke box echoed out tunes that were popular rn the days of the Andrew Srsters and Bobby Dar rrn rn fact wasn t that Mack the Knrfe they were play rng? A wartress approached the man wearrng a weathered unrform two srzes too small She waddled up to the table all 200 pounds of her as rf she were half human half duck Can I have ya orda please' bellowed out from thrs vulgar uncouth amazon Her vorce sounded as rf some one had attached a clothesprn to her nostrrls for she sounded srckenenly nasal The man just stared on rn con tempt of thrs woman Phaethon 70 I sard canl have ya orda please' Some ofthe words seemed slurred maybe rt was because of the hu mongous srzed wad of lemon lrme bubblegum wallowrng rn her oversrzed mouth She looked lrke a cartoon character the cartoon The Born Loser I sard Yea yea I heard you the frrst trme I ll have the uh ah hell the roast beef sandwrch I guess The young man sounded the words wrth drstaste as rf he were already eatrng the greasy meat sandwrch Wrll that be all srr? Coffee Tea me? The wartress was now battrng her false eyelashes lookrng strangely lrke a decomposed daddy long legs rn the dr rectron of the young man The young man just sat there not movrng just starrng then prcked up hrs glass of rce water stood up and quretly poured the lrqurd down her front whrch held no bra He whrspered Now honey get yourself rnto that krtchen and get my food understand? Honey? The woman her mouth fallen open just drd exactly what he sard wrth no quarrel although she could have made one rf she had chosen to after all her srze was that equal to any respectable sumo wrestler The man let s call hrm john sat down once agarn rubbrng hrs hands over hrs weaned bloodshot eyes lookrng somethrng lrke a crrm son cobweb hrs puprls glancrng at hrs Wrllona Hrgh School graduatron rrng and he remembered mellow memorres He was the Senror Class Presrdent of the class of 47 a crewcutted red blooded all Amerrcan football jock He was voted the clrche Most Lrkely to Succeed Hrs repu tatron? A 20th century Cassanova yearned for by the fe popularly certrfred STUD Man how he got along and how good the trmes were for hrm' All of the Betty Sue s and Mary Ann Murphy s that wanted to be near hrm af ter all why not jump on the bandwagon the wrnnrng trcket? Even when he wore hrs Old Sprce so heavy that rt attracted honey bees he was swarmed by star struck love slaves Oh those mellow memorres And now what was he? Oh yes he went on to Indrana State College majored rn hrstory graduated and even recerved hrs PhD the educated educated The scholar Marrred to the flax en harred head cheerleader rt was all so pre planned all so Happrly Ever After that how could anythrng sporl such a euphorra such a utopra But trmes change places change and people change attrtudes change and op portunrtres change Everythrng after hrgh school and col lege everythrng he had been offered was a let down rn HIS eyes nothrng was good enough for the Brg Man on Campus He was unrelrable unreasonable and rnsensrtrve After all hadnt he been the Captarn on the college football team both hrs lunror and Senror Year and now I mean the glory of a teachrng post just wasn t as glrtterrng was rt? No Iguess rt wasnt oh those drsapporntrng memorres Hrs face read the lrnes of a man full of thought full of worry and full of self prty and as the juke box blared an unrdentrfrable country and western tune and the scent of Schlrtz permeated the arr and smoky haze blurred outlrnes of people from count less crgarettes the young man srmply bent hrs n or rn half lrm Rudolph lj ' I I II , . I ll II ' - n ' II - -- ,. .. ' I ll ' ' I . . . - j , . , I w I . ,I . . . , , . , . . . - . . , ' I I - Il - ' Il ' ' - , . , , . . . . . . . . . . . . . , - . I - I - , ' . . . . . . . , , I I . . - 1 1 . . . . . , , - , . . . ' ' . ' 1 I . , , . . .. . - , . . , ,, . ' 1 ' Il ' Il I I I , . . ' I 1 . ,, . . . , , ' I I I ' . . , , . . . . . . - . , , 1 1 . . . . . ' ' 1 1 ' I I . . . . . . , . , , , . . , , I - , . . . . . X , . I I ' II ' II - - . , , . . . . , , . . . . . , males, admrred b.y the males. In short, an all approved of, . . . . . , . , , I I ' ' I ,, ,, . . . . . . . , . , , . g , - , . , -- I ' - I . . , I I ' . . . - . , .... . , , . . . . . . , , , , , . . . . .X ' ' 1 I r I ' I , . . c I - I I H ' II ' ' . , - , - . . , , , - . . . . . . , ' 1 . . . . , . . . , , ' I - n - ' ll ' . , - , I . .. , . ' - ' - 1 n - Il - 1 ' n 4 ' ' ' 1 1 , . . . . , ' - , . , . . . . . . . . , I ' - n Q a ll I I II ' ' ' I I I ' - I ' ' ' - I n u A I . 1 u - tr .. . .

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jeremy stared after It a long moment before he plcked up the empty bowl and came Inslde Our eyes met I saId not too convIncIngly Maybe he ll be back tomorrow You bet your sweet lIfe Mama muttered The beach was unendurable If you weren t In the water every moment MIles of sandbars and tepld puddles stretched between shore and water jeremy hIs yellow plastIc tube under hIs arm ran ahead to where the water fInally began way off In the dIstance Stay where we can see you' Mama called after hIm Oh Mama leave hIm alone' Hell be all rlght' Then forcIng a smlle Really why do you worry so much? She unfolded her beach chalr and plunked herself down wIth her back to the sun I m a mother that s why and mothers worry I unfolded my chalr next to hers A shallow brown pool lay before us and we drpped our feet Into It I leaned my head back closed my eyes and llstened to the sounds of summer Do you feel all rIght? I opened my eyes to look at her She had smeared sun cream on her nose In a perfect clown whIte trIangle Imflne I saId Why? She leaned back In her chalr I don t know Nothmg She wanted conversatlon Her lonellness was stIll there so ObVIOUS and I was berng no help at all thIs summer I felt a sudden rush of gullt and searched frantIcally for somethlng to say some neutral topIc somethlng she mlght want to talk about What shall we have for dlnner tonlght? FIsh do you thInk? She brIghtened That s a good Idea FIllet and a DICE cool salad Suddenly she looked toward the waters edge Where IS he? Do you see jeremy? I put my hand over my eyes and squlnted Into the brIl llance A bobbmg flash of yellow told me jeremy was floatIng not too far away In what was probably ankle deepwater There he IS I pOInted See? He sflne She nodded satIsfIed That boy' GIVE hIm an anlmal and he s happy She turned to me a smlle playtng about her lnps He s exactly the way you were at hIs age Re member all those stray cats and dogs you d drag Into the house at every opportunlty? I nodded I remember I Sald I remember how none of them ever got to stay Her words made me remember somethlng else too About that Easter when I was eIght when Papa and Mama and I vIsIted Grandma CraIg She was Mama s mother and we always spent Easter week at her house The sternest of women when she smlled you knew she must really mean It She was Immaculate and that was her claIm to fame A place for everythIng and everythmg even a lIttle granddaughter In IIS place The Monday after Easter Sunday was gray and drrzzly but Papa saId Come Margaret let s go to Maln Street I loved Mann Street because at home In New York we had no place IIke It There were no great masses of peo ple bearIng down on you treadlng on your toes The stores llned up one after another were neatly squared off and In theIr place Look Papa Woolworth s' I led hIm to the InvItIng dlsplay wIndows crammed full of delrghts red pens and blue pencll cases and dolls In gauzy pInk dresses Every Phaethon 2 thIng anyone could ever want In a lIfetIme We went Inslde and began our slow rltual walk up and down the arsles untIl we came to the chIckens One en tIre counter was fIlled wIth them tIny baby chlcks dyed plnk and green to match the Easter eggs they had sup posedly hatched from Squeezed together under huge low hangIng IncubatIon lamps they cackled and squawked and bobbed about In a feathery sea Speechless wlth enchantment I let go of Papa s hand and ran to look to touch Don t touch them llttle gIrl' a saleswoman warned Unless you want to buy Papa came up besIde me He was Smlllng Mama would not be Smlllng She would have taken me by the hand and led me away Papa please just one' I ll take good care of hIm I promIse' He hesItated Well I can t see how such a llttle thIng can do much harm Maybe he stopped agaIn smIlIng down at me Maybe we should get two So they won t be lonely I lrfted my arms to hug hIm Thank you Papa' I love you' That one I ordered the saleswoman That pInk one there And that one the green Yes that s rIght GIVE them fresh water each day and keep them warm she saId placlng them In a cardboard box wIth holes punched In the SIdES The pInk one IS Henny Penny I announced as we rounded the corner to Grandma Cralg s house And the green one IS Chlcken LIttle Oops' Papa exclaImed merrIly The sky IS fallIng' ChIckens' Grandma Cralg shouted In my clean house messy dIrty chIckens' It wont do It just wont o Never had I seen Grandma Cralg so angry I thought at any moment she would explode from the Inslde out the way Mama s pressure cooker once dld Then Papa rarsed hIs VOICE Not much but It was a lot for hIm I promlse you they won t dIrty an Inch of your house' They ll stay In the box theyre so small they couldn t posslbly get out Grandma CraIg shoot her head In the cellar then No' I crIed The lady saId they have to be kept warm' Grandma Crarg glared at me I began to cry See? See what you ve started john? Mama shouted at Papa He looked defeated momentarIly Then Theres a portable heater In the cellar Isnt there? Well use that And we ll put some blankets In thelr box Not my blankets Sald Grandma Cralg All rlght Papa Sald Well use rags then That ought to keep them warm enough No one could thInk of anythIng else to say Good Papa declared Then It s settled He llfted the box and I followed hIm down Into the gloom of the cellar I heard Grandma say to Mama A flre thats what wIll happen Hell start a flre wrth that heater and burn down my house that s what wIll come of all thIs' Grandma Cralg s house remalned untouched by catas trophe for the rematnder of that week whlle my chIcks ' - 1 1 1 ' - Il 1 ll - - - - 1 - 1 ' ,, . ,, . . . . . 1 - 1 . , . , . . 1 - 1 ' 1 , . . . . , , 1 - 1 ll ll - . . , . ll - 1 - ll 1, 1 - - ll , , . . , . I . ' ' . ll ll H Il . , . . ll 1 1 Il 1 1 - - ' Il ' 1 ' ' 1 1 ' I . . . , I, 1 - . ' - Il 1 ' ' 1 . , H . . . ll - Il 11 1 ll . . . , . ,, , . . , . ll 1 - Il - ll ll 1, 1 - - . - - Il 1 - ll ll Il Il - . . . , . . . . , . ,, . , , 1 . , . . ' . . H , , . . . ,, . . . . 1 1 1 1 - ' ll ' ' H ' 1 Il - - - - 1 ll - 1 1 - II . . . ,, . ,, , . . . H H . . ,, . . ,, ll 1 ,, . ,, - Il ll - II - - 1 - ' 1 . . . , , . , . . . - d ln ' 1 1 , . Il - ll - II 1 - ll - ' - ' , . . . . , . . ,, . . . , H . , . . , . . , 1 fl - - 1 - 1 ' 1 - 1 1 - ll 1 - , - 11 1 - - Il II . , . ' H ll ll - ll - Il II - 11 . , . . ' ' ll 1 ll . , , , . 1 - Il 1 , . 1 . . . , , . , , . . . . , . . ,, . , . ' ' ll If ' ' . , , . ' ... ' 1' ' ll ' ll ' ll 1 . , . , . ' Il , . - ll 1 ' ll - - 1 1 1 - ' ' ' ll Il ll - 1 ll , . . 1 ' , ' ' . ll 1 - - 1 - . , . , . . 1 1 , f . . I , ' 1 ll 1 ll - - - - - 11 1 1 - - . . . , , . - 1 ' ' 1 . . .