Transient Suburbia
Part One: Pen Pals
Chapter One
Mrs. Henderson’s 4th Grade Class, September 19, 1988
Harper was getting impatient. Today was the day. She had been waiting for this day since the first week of school. Today was the day her class would receive their pen pal assignments. Fourth grade was serious business; they switched classes now for math, French, and art. She was learning fractions and multiplication tables. Lockers replaced cubbies. Harper felt very grown-up. She felt more responsible and mature and wanted everyone to know it. She wanted to connect to the world outside of Dothan, Alabama. She knew there was more to life than peanut festivals and Azalea Trail Maids. Today, when she received her pen pal’s information, it would be a step in proving that theory.
Harper Monroe was nine and had already lived in three states. Her dad worked for the Army, although he wasn’t in the Army, and they moved every two or three years. Her father called every move “an adventure” and Harper loved that idea. Her siblings, Flannery and Walker, were five years older and less interested in adventure. Her sister just wanted to be popular and pretty and Walker went along with whatever Flannery said. Since they were twins, they often treated Harper like a pet rather than a sister. Her mother called her thoughtful; her sister called her a pest.
This was her second school; she had gone to kindergarten in Ohio and now she was in elementary school here. She loved school and books and reading and music. For Harper, books were the most important thing in the world. Once she learned to read, no one could stop her. She took weekly trips to the library with her dad (she would have liked it to be daily but her dad said that was too much). The librarian knew her and always made recommendations and called her “Francie” after the character in the A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, a book Harper was not yet allowed to read. She looked forward to the day that she would be able to read that book and To Kill a Mockingbird since she was named after the author, Harper Lee. She wanted to be a writer someday.
Harper fidgeted at her desk. The morning was dragging on and on. Mrs. Henderson was her favorite teacher but this vocabulary review was killing her. Harper aced the quiz this week and was barely listening to her classmates use the words in sentences as a review. She didn’t hear Mrs. Henderson calling her name.
“Harper! Harper, are you listening?” Mrs. Henderson knew the answer but asked anyway. She liked Harper a lot and knew the girl was very smart. Mrs. Henderson thought Harper was probably bored in class but there wasn’t currently an alternative. The gifted program had been cut so Harper had to stay in this class. Mrs. Henderson encouraged her reading and had recently started encouraging her to write more. She also let these little daydreaming moments slide.
“Sorry Mrs. Henderson.” Harper blushed as some of her classmates laughed. Her friend Sophie made a face at her. Harper hated it when she got caught not paying attention.
“Stay with us, Harper. I asked you to use “captive” in a sentence.” Mrs. Henderson smiled at Harper.
Harper thought for a minute. Captive was both a noun and an adjective. Both forms had been on the quiz. Which one should she choose? She opted for using it as an adjective.
“Mrs. Henderson held the pen pal assignments captive all morning long making it hard to pay attention.” Harper smiled at her clever use of the word captive.
Mrs. Henderson laughed a little under her breath. “That’s an excellent use of the adjective form of captive. Can anyone use it as a noun?” She called on Peter to answer her question. As she turned to him, she looked at Harper and mouthed, “After lunch.”
Harper was disappointed. That was so far away. How would she make it through math (stupid long division), PE (stupid dodgeball), and lunch (adequate sandwich)? Didn’t Mrs. Henderson know that pen pal assignment day was the most important day of all time? Didn’t she understand how much this was torturing Harper? She was a captive (noun) of fourth grade vocab and long division. The afternoon could not come fast enough.
Chapter Two
Somehow, Harper survived the rest of the morning and lunch. She practiced being patient and focused on what was going on in class. She did okay on her math work; math was not her thing. She tried but it never made sense. At lunch, she gossiped with her friends as they started planning Sophie’s birthday party. It was going to be a boy/girl skating party, a first for all of them. The girls were very excited and had been obsessing about what to wear and who would skate with which boy in their class for the couple skates. Harper was in charge of decorations with her friend, Kelly. They were the creative ones in the group according to Sophie.
When they returned to class, they saw that Mrs. Henderson had the room set up differently. At the front there was a large box covered in stamps. Harper couldn’t tell if they were stamps or stickers but she didn’t really care. There was also a large map on the bulletin board and the screen was pulled over the chalkboard. It was finally time.
Harper had always wanted a pen pal. Her mom was the one who first told her about pen pals. She had one when she was younger. She showed Harper some of the letters she saved from her pen pal; all girly script and stickers. They had fallen out of touch at some point as people did, or so her mom said. Her mother got that dreamy look she often got when she talked about her childhood. Harper loved to listen to these stories; her mom’s childhood memories sounded so romantic and charming kind of like an old movie.
Since that conversation, Harper imagined what her pen pal would be like. She would be nine just like Harper. Her pen pal would live in a big city like New York or Los Angeles instead of a small town like Dothan. They would share the same favorite books and tv shows but would also find things to introduce to one another. Harper would be able to tell her pen pal how much she disliked having twins as siblings. They would stay in touch forever and become lifelong friends. Maybe they’d be in each other’s weddings and vacation together (like her parents and their friends did).
In her heart, Harper knew this was probably not how the whole pen pal thing worked. She wasn’t naive (she heard that word on tv and looked it up) enough to think some stranger from another state would like her or that she would like them. But she hoped. A girl could dream.
At the front of the classroom a new map had been hung on the bulletin board. Harper guessed that Mrs. Henderson was planning to turn the pen pals project into some sort of geography lesson. Where would her pen pal live? Was it better than Dothan? As Harper made her way to her desk, she noticed new supplies waiting. Mrs. Henderson had placed two new pens on each person’s desk. Pens! Homework had to be done in pencil so the idea of pens was too exciting. Harper examined the pens as the rest of the class made their way to their seats. They were regular Bic ballpoint pens; one blue, one black. These were the same pens Harper’s mom used for her grocery lists and paying bills. Ballpoint pens signified adulthood and responsibility. Harper was ready for the responsibility of a ballpoint pen.
Mrs. Henderson finally closed the classroom door as the end of lunch bell rang. She took what seemed like centuries to get the class settled. After lunch was always a challenge; there was too much energy and movement. Mrs. Henderson liked to give her class a quick active task to get them to settle down and burn off some of the lunchtime energy.
“Alright let’s get started. As Harper reminded us during our vocabulary review, today is the day we start our pen pal project. We are one of three schools in Alabama participating this year. Each of you has been assigned a pen pal from another state. You’ll get your assignment in a few minutes.”
Harper did all she could to focus her attention on what Mrs. Henderson was saying. What she really wanted to do was jump out of her seat and go through the box and find her pen pal. She showed tremendous restraint. She didn’t want her behavior to impact her match. Harper didn’t really know how that would happen, but she couldn’t take that chance.
“Before I introduce you to your pen pals, let’s talk about our new map. Who can find Alabama on the map?” All hands shot up. “Good. Now, how many of you were born in Dothan?”
Six hands went up. “Each of you come up and grab a blue pin.”
The group went up to the map and grabbed their pins. Tony, the most popular boy in class, found Dothan and they planted their pins. Mrs. Henderson moved onto students born in Alabama (twelve people) then to a Southern state (six people), and then Harper and James. Harper was born in Michigan and James in New York. Their pins were the furthest away from Dothan.
“Once you “meet” your pen pal you’ll use a red pin to plot where they live. We’ll connect them to Dothan and to the other locations on our map so we can learn more about the different places we come from. Like show and tell except about a place instead of a thing.” Mrs. Henderson looked at her students and saw blank stares. She was hoping that this pen pal project would get them all excited about exploring new places. Mrs. Henderson never considered that she might be expecting too much from her class.
“Each of you will receive your starter pen pal kit. Remember when we filled out those biography sheets and wrote about ourselves? Well, those sheets were used to match each of you with a pen pal. Inside your kit, you’ll see a similar sheet about your pen pal.” Mrs. Henderson started passing out the kits.
Harper sat in the fourth row and the fifth seat. She was basically last and the wait was agony. As Mrs. Henderson passed out the kits, she explained that the kits each included stamps, stationery and envelopes, and an assignment book they would use throughout the project. There were a few questions from the group about how pen pals were matched and how many letters they would have to write. Mrs. Henderson answered them all.
“Today we’ll start with some basic letter writing exercises to get y’all started. We’ll practice our writing and using our new vocabulary words. You won’t have to to turn in all of your letters but we will go over letters in class throughout the next few weeks.” Mrs. Henderson was almost to Harper’s row.
“You’ll also have to share things about your pen pal one time per month. This will help us all learn about new places and people.” The last packet made it back to the last student in class.
“Now that everyone has their kit, I’ll give you a few minutes to read about your pen pal. Then we’ll start our first lesson on greeting and salutations.” Mrs. Henderson dramatically pulled up the screen at the front of the room. Different greetings were written all over the board.
Harper didn’t notice. She tuned out her classmates as soon her kit arrived at her desk. The kit was a large envelope. Her name was across the top in bold orange lettering. Harper thought that was a good sign since orange was her favorite color. Postage stamps and passport stamps made up the background. Harper opened her envelope and removed each item, inspecting everything carefully.
The stationery was white and lined. There were geometric patterns along the bottom edge in different colors; blues, greens, and a bold orange Harper loved immediately. The envelopes had the same design. Harper had never had her own stationery before. It was as amazing as the pens. Next was a book of twenty first class stamps. Flags. Not her favorite stamps, her dad let her pick the stamps at the post office, but they’d get her letters there. The assignment book was next. She put that to the side. She knew she’d be spending lots of time on the lessons. The only item left was her pen pal sheet. She would finally know her new friend. Weeks of waiting would finally be over. Harper would have a new friend.
She slowly pulled the sheet from the envelope. She said a final wish for the perfect pen pal. She turned the paper over slowly like a big reveal on a game show. She looked for a name and her jaw dropped.
Her pen pal was a boy.
How could this be? This wasn’t what she had imagined. What would she talk to a boy about? There had to be a mistake. A boy? It made no sense.
Benjamin Riggs, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Harper couldn’t focus her eyes enough to read the rest of the sheet. It all blurred together. She was fighting tears. She would not cry in class. Mrs. Henderson would fix this. Ten minutes flew by and Harper tried to focus on the lesson on greetings and how to begin a letter.
“Your first letter is due this Friday. You’ll need to use what we learned today in your letter. Start short, ask a few questions, and tell your pen pal a little bit about yourself. The next letter will be easier to write. Each letter will get easier to write, I promise.” Mrs. Henderson’s voice was encouraging.
She went on to explain that each student would be responsible for twenty letters. Mrs. Henderson would not read them but would mail the letters so everyone would get credit. They would receive their letters at home. She encouraged them to write more frequently if they wanted to. If they needed help there would be writing time during the week. “Let’s get started with greetings and salutations. Please take out your composition books and put away your kits for now. We’ll have some time at the end of the day to work on letters.” Mrs. Henderson took the class through a lesson on greetings and practice letter writing. The afternoon sped by.
Before Harper knew it, the final bell rang and the class gathered their books and pen pal kits. The mad rush to buses and the pickup line began in earnest. Harper was a walker; she waited for her brother or sister to pick her up and they walked home together. She took her time gathering her books and homework. She wanted her classmates gone before she talked to Mrs. Henderson. She tentatively approached Mrs. Henderson’s desk.
"Do you need something Harper? Your brother is probably waiting for you.”
Harper hesitated. She wasn’t sure how to start so she just blurted it out. “Mrs. Henderson, I need a new pen pal. They gave me a boy. I can’t write to a boy.” Harper was beyond upset and burst into tears.
Mrs. Henderson patted Harper on the hand, “Harper, it’s going to be okay. You talk to boys all the time at school and you do just fine.” She grabbed a Kleenex from the box on her desk, handing it to Harper.
“But what if he doesn’t like anything that I like? What if he’s mean? What if we don’t have anything to say? I don’t want to write to a boy.” Harper continued to protest.
Mrs. Henderson smiled at Harper but didn’t want to let the girl out of this. She knew that this was the kind of challenge Harper needed; it would give her an opportunity to be different from the rest of the class.“You need to think of this as a challenge like the extra books you read and the writing I’ve asked you to do. I know you like a challenge. You can do this.”
The word challenge hit Harper. She understood that word and knew in her heart that Mrs. Henderson was right. She was upset given that she had her heart set on having a pen pal more like her but she could do this. Maybe he would be nice and they’d like some of the same tv shows. Maybe there was nothing wrong with having a boy for a pen pal. Maybe.
Harper wiped her eyes with the Kleenex and sniffled a bit before replying, “Okay Mrs. Henderson. I’ll try my best.”
“Just remember that letter writing is about being yourself. Just be you and you’ll be great.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Henderson. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Harper gathered her book bag and waved goodbye to her teacher. She had to figure out how to be herself and talk to a boy in a letter. Easiest thing in the world.
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