Chap 2: Rescue the Perishing

The thing about Miss Ericsson was that she was a new teacher at Inverness Grade School.This meant that if you happened to be put in her class, you were at a big disadvantage.You had to spend the first month figuring out whether she had a sharp set of teeth, like Miss McGovern, the principal, who was also in charge of the eighth grade, or whether she’d buy your story about having to go to the bathroom really, really bad so you could sneak out of school, like old lady Muffett who was blind in one eye and couldn’t see out of the other and could never figure out who was missing. Three weeks into the school year, the only things my pals and I knew about Miss Ericsson were that her teeth were practically as sharp as ol’ Ruthless McGovern’s except she kept them disguised by her chocolate-covered voice and her eyesight was as sharp as an owl in moon- light.We found out all we needed to know about her the afternoon Bobby Joe Runningwater and Gary Albrecht and Jock Buffone and I took turns heading for the boys’ can right before recess and when we were sneaking out the back door, there she was with her ruler and an invitation to go see the grade school principal Miss McGovern, who invited us to take turns leaning down in front of the whole eighth grade to take our punishment like men.