Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2017 17:36:29 +0000 From: will Subject: Summer School Librarian (adult-youth, encounters, Mb) After my sophomore year of high school I was still too young to get a job so I went to summer school to take Spanish II after having completed Spanish I the previous school year. Taking a primer (versus a remedial) course meant that I had two sessions a day separated by an hour long break between. During that break time I would go to the library and look at magazines or do the daily crossword puzzle. About two weeks into the summer session, while working on a crossword at a table in the corner of the library, the librarian wandered over to my table and started chatting. "I've noticed you in here the past couple of weeks, but don't recognize you from the school year," he said. "Well, I go to a private school. I'm just here for the summer session to get ahead with my Spanish." "Oh, what school do you attend?" "Braxton." "Braxton! My friend Jerry is the librarian there. Do you know him?" "Umm..yeah, you mean Mr. Garrett, right?" "Yes! Jerry Garrett. How amusing...do you know him well?" This got me to thinking. We all thought Mr. Garrett was a little strange. Not in any any overt way, just a little odd. Like if he was telling us to keep it quiet in the library he would come over to the table and stand real close to one of us, maybe put a hand on someone's shoulder, and tell us to keep still. "No...I just see him when I'm in the library which isn't all that often." At that, he said he better get back to work and headed off. The next day, he stopped over again and introduced himself as Mr. Barton. I told him my name was Ethan. He asked how things were going and I told him I was enjoying the Spanish classes which seemed much more relaxed than our classes at Braxton. He said that Braxton had a great reputation, and suggested that an all boy school is where he would like to get a job. I asked him why and he just kind of shrugged. Each day Mr. Barton stopped by my table and we started chatting about things....the news of the day, school plans, the puzzle I was working on, etc. As time passed I got to like his visits as they made the time pass more quickly between my classes. He was kind of funny and sometimes he brought up things that other adults never talked to me about. One Monday he started telling me about the weekend he had just spent in New York City. He said it was kind of wild and I asked him to tell me more about it. He said it was a party weekend with about 10 guys all staying in one large loft apartment in the Village. Everyone had come down on Friday and departed Sunday afternoon. He said they only left the apartment for food and drink runs and spent the rest of the time partying. This was all fascinating to me. At 15 I couldn't imagine what a bunch of adults would do for two days inside a big apartment. I asked him more and more about it. Who was there? (just some friends and friends of friends), no girls? (no), lots of drinks? (oh, yeah), so what did you all do? (all kinds of things). "Like what?" "Have you ever heard of a daisy chain?" "No. What's that?" "Well, I probably shouldn't be telling you about such things...especially not here in the school library." "Why not? What is it?" "Tell you what. I have to get back to work now, we'll talk more tomorrow." Well, he certainly had my mind reeling. What could a daisy chain possibly be? That night I looked it up in the dictionary..."a string of daisies threaded together by their stems" , "connect (several devices) together in a linear series". What???? They were stringing daisies?? I was confused and curious and couldn't wait for our next chat. On Tuesday Mr. Barton wasn't at school and I was really disappointed. Not knowing what he really meant by a daisy chain, I wasn't about to ask anyone else. In fact, I really didn't want to talk to anyone else about any of my chats with Mr. Barton. I had kind of a funny feeling, sort of the same as with Mr. Garrett, that something was a bit irregular about how he came over to my table and stood kind of close to me. Ostensibly it was because it was the library and he didn't want to disturb anyone else, but even when we were essentially alone in the room he always came pretty close to me when we were chatting. And he often would touch me in exclaiming something. Nothing aggressive, almost playful or teasing little taps. I thought about all this a lot the day he wasn't there and was determined to keep my eyes open on subsequent days. Still and all, I liked his company...he seemed very nice and friendly. On Wednesday, Mr. Barton came over to my table in a very bright mood. Before I said anything he said he'd had a great idea. Why don't I come over to his place tomorrow afternoon so we could have a longer visit and I could swim in his pool and we would be free to talk about anything. He seemed so excited about the idea I felt sorry to let him down but I knew there was no way I would be allowed to do such a thing. My life was very tidy...very organized and my parents always knew where I was and who I was with and that never included an adult man. I told him it sounded like a great idea but that my parents would never let me. He seemed to almost expect such a negative response and didn't make as much of it as I had feared. In fact he just sort of casually said that we might do it some other time. For the next week our chats were kind of nondescript until one day while we were talking about something else he told me that he gave professional massages. We talked about what they were like and I was kind of surprised to learn that when people got these massages they were naked. In my little world getting naked in front of someone was strange except for in the locker rooms at school or the pool. We talked more about it (as I was pretty curious) and finally he asked if I would like to come over to his house and get a massage, to see what it's like. He said they he had given massages to all the guys that weekend in NYC and everyone said they felt great afterwards. When he mentioned NYC I couldn't help but wonder back to what a daisy chain was. "So before I decide on getting a massage, could you tell me more about what a daisy chain is?" "Ethan, here we are at school again. Why don't you plan a day for a massage and when you come over I'll tell you all about daisy chains, and even show you some pictures if you'd like. We can do it right after school, for lunch or something, and I can get you back home soon after, What do you say?" "OK, I'll ask my parents if I can and let you know tomorrow." "Oh, it's probably not the greatest idea to bring it up with your parents.....can't you just say you're going over to a buddy's house? From what you said before they might say no and then we'd miss out on our date!" Date??? Is that what he'd said? At this point I was getting a little spooked. I wasn't sure what I was spooked about but I was feeling uneasy to say the least. I thought I'd better get out of it. "It sounds great Mr. Barton but I don't think I can come over. I don't really want to lie to my parents." It was the best excuse I could come up with for getting out of it without admitting my unease. After that, our chats became less frequent. The summer session ended and I went back to Braxton. Each time I saw Mr. Garrett I thought of Mr. Barton. I wondered if they talked to each other about me. In time, it all faded away. The amazing thing is, 50 years later I remember those chats. Now I know what a daisy chain is. I remember my unease at the time. But most of all, I wonder about how things would have been different if I had gone over for lunch and a massage at Mr Barton's house.