Page 18

By Jack Joseph Smith

Yes you do. I only met your father once Michael, and that's not enough time to know anyone. He's rich. He is? All the kids that live around us say they are rich, so we must be. Huh Mrs. Williams? I wouldn't know Michael. Are you rich Mrs. Williams? My husband is a minister. Do you live in Mount Lebanon? Yes. Than you must be rich. Well I don't know about that Michael. I like your little girl Mrs. Williams. I stepped for a moment; it was so nice the way she was looking at me. She's awful quiet. She is a good girl, and she is very happy. Does she like you to be her teacher? I think so. Maybe I'll go back in and ask her. She probably misses you Miss Williams. Good by Michael. We will see you after naptime. Okey Mrs. Williams. I was sitting in a corner with my eyes closed, dreaming and thinking about her coming, when the door opened and one of the little girls said, Mrs. Williams wants you to come in now.

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

Conversation with Miss Williams circles back to whether anyone in Mount Lebanon is rich, then softens around her daughter before the child waits alone, dreaming of her return, until he is called back inside.

Wealth talk keeps surfacing because neighborhood status has already entered the child's imagination as a rule he cannot verify for himself. Against that, Miss Williams and her daughter appear as figures of warmth and wantedness, which makes the waiting corner feel almost devotional.

Claude

The boy runs his unverifiable class syllogism on the teacher: 'All the kids that live around us say they are rich, so we must be', and 'Do you live in Mount Lebanon? ... Than you must be rich', while she parries with 'My husband is a minister' and 'I wouldn't know'. The exchange softens around her daughter - 'I like your little girl ... She's awful quiet' - and his charged claim 'She probably misses you', which reveals his own hunger to be missed. Left in the corner 'with my eyes closed, dreaming and thinking about her coming', he waits until a little girl is sent to fetch him.