________________________________________________________________________________________________
September, 1961
The summer is over therefore
the Oliverios return
to our winter home
the Oliverios return
to our winter home
All those wonderful
summer days and nights
will have to wait
another year
to happen again.
The school year began
the next day.
The school year began
the next day.
Sandy Rosenblatt and Michael Catera,
my two best friends in Whitestone,
greet us upon arrival.
I did not have to help
the family unload the car
because my friends
were anxious to take me
greet us upon arrival.
I did not have to help
the family unload the car
because my friends
were anxious to take me
Where we navigated our way
behind many bushes.
Thirteen, twelve and eleven
are the ages of the three boys.
Sandy is the youngest.
Sandy is the youngest.
Michael stole a pack
of cigarets from his Father
(or maybe it was from his Mother).
Sandy had a silver lighter
monogrammed with
his Father's initials.
The two of them
had been smoking
all summer long.
I was a twelve year-old
tobacco virgin.
tobacco virgin.
The two of them
were much much smarter
than I would ever be
because I said No
to breath mints
after losing my virginity.
I was too busy coughing.
because I said No
to breath mints
after losing my virginity.
I was too busy coughing.
When I get home,
the smoke was on my breath
and I could not deny what happened.
It was a Sunday.
***
The next day my punishment
was meted out by my parents.
From Solomon's Candy Store,
school supplies for me
and my sister, Linda,
were purchased.
Mother and Father Oliverio
demanded, as a punitive measure,
that I had to carry
Linda's school supplies
home from two blocks away.
I had to carry ten pencils
instead of five and
four notebooks
instead of two
...
I had to carry ten pencils
instead of five and
four notebooks
instead of two
...
Michael and Sandy spent
the week mocking me
for two reasons:
my "punishment" for getting caught
and my inability to inhale a cigaret.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Footnote
Every word of the above is pure fact,
including the names of my two friends
whose parents were never informed
about their son's tobacco transgressions.
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