As I had mentioned in my earlier post
we moved to Illinois to live with my uncle and aunt. This was before Christmas
of my fifth grade year. I have a few stories about going to school in Illinois,
in a town named Wilmington near Joliet. Three of my stories include my fifth
grade teacher Mr. Mattoon. Mr. Mattoon told us that he had retired from farming
near Peoria and decided to teach. Mr. Mattoon was a very tall and well built
man, probably near 60. He was built like a farmer and very strong. Those
factors come into play in my stories.
My first story was not long after we
moved to Illinois. I had grown up in an environment that was totally safe and
secure. I don't ever remember being afraid of anything other than tornadoes and
tornado warnings. People tended to be very cautious about tornadoes. So when we
moved to Illinois I was surprised to hear that there was a sixth grader named
Donnie Beasley, that beat up any "new kids" to show them who was
boss. I worried about this terribly but never crossed paths with him until one
day at lunch I ended up being the last one in line and guess who was the first
in line from the six grade. Of course it was Donnie Beasley. I couldn't see how
he was threatened by a little pipsqueak like me so I just kept my back to him.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around and Donnie Beasley is in my
face saying you're the new kid aren't you? I stammered out yes and tried to be
friendly and nonthreatening. He told me that he beats up all the new kids and
it was my turn now. At that point Mr. Mattoon joined our lunch line between
Donnie Beasley and to me. Donnie Beasley took offense at this and started
insulting Mr. Mattoon. Not a smart move on his part. Pretty soon it'd escalated
and Donnie Beasley took a swing at Mr. Mattoon. Mr. Mattoon grabbed him by the
shirt and slid him across the hallway floor like a bowling ball. Donnie Beasley
jumped up and told Mr. Mattoon he was coming back with his dad and they would
deal with him then. When they came back Donnie Beasley found out he was
expelled from school and I never saw him again. So my score was one for Mr.
Mattoon. I found out later he was an equal opportunity son of a gun.
I found out later Mr. Mattoon had no
favorites, me included. He was just doing his job when he came to Donnie
Beasley. One day we were told that a kid named Sorenson at thrown up just
outside the bathroom and wouldn't be back that day. Mr. Mattoon told us all not
to worry about it or think about it but just get to work on our assignment. I
was so curious and wondered if it was covered up already because if I smell
that I would start gagging. So I went up to pretend to sharpen my pencil and on
the way back I stopped at the door. There was a window that was higher than me
so I started jumping up to see out of it and see if I could see what was going
on. Court part of it was curiosity. Next thing I know Mr. Mattoon has me by the
throat and is sliming me up against the chalkboard with the razor trade taking
into my back. His face was really red and he said get back to your desk Gorman.
He never really choked me because his hand was so bad he could lift me up
without holding on to my neck. I went back to my desk chastened and never
wanted to deal with Mr. Mattoon like that again.
We must've really lived a
sheltered life in Omaha because until we went to Illinois and rode the bus I
had never heard a dirty joke. There was always someone telling a dirty joke on
the bus and to be honest I never really understood the jokes. One day I asked
one of the kids what is certain bad word bad. His description was so bizarre I
had trouble believing it. Later on I found out there was a girl in our class
who told dirty jokes. I can I can't say understood them and just pretended that
I knew what they meant but I really didn't. These people were about 3 to 4
years ahead of me in knowing about sexual things. Looking back I feel like I
was pretty naïve but I really didn't miss anything.
I have another Mr.'s Mattoon story. It
didn't really include me but it did include one of my friends. In this class
there were two guys who were always in trouble. They both had very unique
names. One was Danny Curl and the other was Keith Korn. Keith was a friend of
mine but Danny was someone you stayed away from because he could be a bully but
usually was not. Mr. Mattoon practiced physical punishment for people who acted
up in class. He had a 2 foot long 2x4 that he would wrap a towel around and use
as an eraser. When it came time for punishment he would take the 2 x 4 out and
paddle the offending party with it. I never felt that but had to hurt, bad. It
was usually Keith or Danny who were on the receiving end. Keith was the class
clown and Danny was just a son of a gun. One day Mr. Mattoon got called down to
the office. While he was gone Danny went over and grabbed the board and threw
it out our second story window. It was an old school and had no screens so when
the windows were open there was nothing there. Danny sat back down and Mr.
Mattoon returned we were all chuckling to ourselves because he didn't notice it
was gone. About 10 minutes later there is a knock at the door. Mr. Mattoon
opened the door and there is a kid, about a fourth grader, with the board and
the huge goose egg on his head. Unbelievable, the board actually had a kid we
gotten out early for a doctor appointment and was walking by. Mr. Mattoon turns
it back and he's furious. He calls Keith rather than Danny because he was just
guessing and guessed wrong. Keith took off running down the hallway and never
stopped. It he didn't come back to school until he brought his parents. Mr.
Mattoon was some how put in line and never administered the punishment.. The
school never renewed Mr. Mattoon to contract. I think he was it a little to
physical even in the 60s.
I
will try to post more of my stories in future blog posts.
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