The Rest of the Story

Now that you've met the Bohner brothers, I'd like to tell you my full recollection. Yesterday's story was about an uplifting encounter. My other episode was, at best, puzzling.

The Bohners lived somewhere I never visited. It may have been in a place on the "other side of the tracks." They were the kind of kids that your mother told you to avoid. They looked like trouble, and they didn't seem to have any friends. The family was probably financially insecure, and the brothers' behavior reflected poor parenting. As you might imagine, they were not good students.

On more that one occasion, my friend Ted was forced to fight one or the other Bohner. I never knew why, but I suspect that it was because Ted, although being quite athletic, also played the violin. He loved his music, and his pride had probably been challenged.

One Christmas, as usual, our class pulled names from a hat for the gift exchange. Gene Bohner drew my name. I will never forget what he gave me, but I've never been able to decide why. Other class members were pleased with the toys and fun miscellany they received, but I was deeply disappointed when I unwrapped a pair of yellow and black striped shoelaces. Of course, nobody at our school wore such things, and, at my tender age, I was grade-school devastated. To this day, I don't know why Gene chose that gift, but I have always hoped that it was all he and his parents could afford.