I remember Tony in my seventh grade class. Most of us were twelve, maybe thirteen years old with girls being considered a bit more mature then boys. Only a few boys began to grow taller and more muscled at thirteen. Such a boy was Tony. He was good at sports, had smooth tanned skin and short dark hair with just a bit of curl to it, green eyes, and could really turn on the charm if he wanted something.
He never turned that charm on me. Not that I minded, really. (While I admired him in a way, he was not a guy I would have picked for a boyfriend, even if I was looking for one.) It's just that my friends thought I minded. It seemed to me that all my class had the "herd" instinct. Except me. Well, maybe my best friend Jackie was also a real person. But life in the seventh grade was not easy. You had to be concerned about what people thought of you.
For instance you did not want the herd to think you liked a certain boy. If any one thought that, within an hour the whole herd would be razzing you to no end. Ooohh-weeee! No, there was no mercy from the herd. So for the most part in seventh grade I had absolutely nothing to do with Tony. He pretty much ignored me, too.
But as usually happens with teens, there came a day when our paths collided. In our science class, everyone (except me) was excited about Space. That was around the time the Russians launched the satellite "Sputnik," so Americans entered the Great Space Race and most every state in the union was sponsoring a Science Fair. Certainly California was having a Science Fair, and seven lucky people in my seventh grade class would be headed for that Fair. All they had to do was make the seven highest scores on our Science Test.
Mr. Lewis, our teacher, spent a long time the day before the Test talking about all the exhibits that would be at the Fair and how each student who attended would be expected to choose the most interesting one and make a report on it, so that the whole class could have, if only second-hand, a tour of the Science Fair. It would be a very big honor, and everyone felt the pressure to do well on the test.
Science was not my best subject. Neither was Math. I think Science ranked lower than Math for me. I was a Straight-A Student in most everything, though, except P.E. So I was
not surprised when I made an "A" in the test that was to determine who went to the Science Fair.
Mr. Lewis read out loud the whole list of people who made an "A" on the test. There were eight people. Only seven of the eight could attend the Science Fair. He allowed the class to decide how to eliminate one person. Their strategy was to put all the eight names in a hat and let the President of the class (Tony) draw out one.
I secretly prayed, "Oh, Lord, if You don't want me to go to that Fair, let Tony draw my name. Really, I don't think I even want to go to it, anyway, Lord..."
After all the names were written on identical slips of paper and folded identically and put in the hat and shuffled ceremoniously, Mr. Lewis approached Tony. Someone in the class said loudly, "Hey, Tony, don't draw your own name." All eyes were on Tony. Hesitantly, he reached into the hat and shuffled the papers. The look on his face was anxious, excited. Finally, he came up with one slip of paper.
When he looked at the name on the paper everyone in the class could tell he had drawn his own name. Even Mr. Lewis said kindly, "You drew your own name, didn't you, Tony?" And Tony nodded, frowning back tears. Seventh grade boys were not supposed to cry, so he didn't. I think, though, he came awfully close to cussing.
Mr. Lewis returned to his desk and began to talk about how all the seven who were going to the Fair would absorb as much of it as possible and had the heavy responsibility of bringing home all that information and excitement to share with the class and especially with the class president, Tony, who would be available to go to the Fair in case any of the seven students had an emergency or were ill the day of the Science Fair.
Suddenly a light bulb came on in my head. I could be sick the day of the Fair and have Mama call in so Tony could go in my place... (Little Voice in my head: "But that would be lying..."
But, Lord, I really don't want to go. And Tony is so disappointed. He should go. He likes science a lot more than I do... (Little Voice: "Just say the truth. Tell Mr. Lewis what you are thinking..."
Mr. Lewis had finished his pep talk and was about to return to sit at his desk. I raised my hand.
"Yes, Norma?"
"I can see that Tony really wants to go to the Fair, and I don't really care that much about it. He is a lot more interested in Science than I am and ... well... I would like for him to go in my place... that is, if ... if it's all right with you... and ... and the class...?"
SILENCE! You could have heard a feather floating. I could feel the color rising in my face. I could hear through the silence the thundering of the herd. OOOooooooo Weeeeee! Norma likes Tony!!!!! I took a deep breath.
After a few questions from Mr. Lewis and a few cat-calls from some of the boys (directed at Tony), it was settled. Tony would go and I would stay. I didn't look at Tony, but I heard Mr. Lewis gently remind him that a thank you was in order on his part. The herd was rumbling.
"Please, Lord, don't let him thank me publicly and embarrass me..."
(Little Voice: "Just see what you can do to lessen Tony's embarrassment...")
The bell rang, and thankfully, I hurried out and home. The next morning before class Tony approached me privately and thanked me. I told him to have fun at the Fair, and I was glad he was going and I didn't have to.
After that, the herd quieted down. After the Science Fair, Tony and I remained distant friends through the rest of the time I lived in Delano.
A few years ago when I was in my fifties and began to use the internet and discovered a classmate of those days who still lives and works in Delano, I asked her about several people in our class. She knew the whereabouts of quite a few of them. Two of them had died. One was my best friend Jackie. The other was Tony, who had become a drunk and died in his thirties...
To this day I wonder if I had really befriended Tony and not feared the herd, would I have been able to influence him to love God?
On the other hand, might he have influenced me to abandon the Straight and Narrow Path?
Only God knows...
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