Sex Ed: Circa 1944-1

“You know,”

 the boy’s mother said, 

“you must talk to your son!”

“He’s got to know something,”

the boy’s father said,

“he’s got to have some idea!”

“You’ve never had a ‘talk’,

why would he?”

Hesitantly, “Well, okay.”

Then said with a leer,

“How’s ‘bout a little practice?”

“To refresh your memory?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“No,” she said.

Quiet a moment,

“How?”  The father asked.

“What do I tell him?”

“Use the book.”

“The book?”

“ Yes, the book:

‘The Joy of Sex’.”

           ****

Supper through, 

“Can you come in here,”

the father called,

“I want to talk to you.”

“Aw, Dad,”

the boy answered,

“ The Shadow’s on.”

At the kitchen table

a cigarette in his mouth

before him a book,

a pad of paper,

a pencil and an ashtray.

Wanting it over,

“This is important,”

the father said,

“come here!”

Lying in front of the radio,

rising from the floor,

wondering…

What’d I do?

“I do something wrong?”

The boy asked.

 Dragging on the cigarette,

“No.  Your mother, uh,”

exhaling smoke.

“Your mother, uh, and me

think it’s time we have a talk

about… things.”

Things?

“What things?”

The boy asked.

“Sit down.”

 Another draw on the cigarette.

“Sex,” his father said, exhaling,

then drawing deeply once again.

“I want to talk about, uh,

 what’s called, uh,  sex.”

Exhaling.

“You know what I’m talking about?”

Shaking his head,

a blank look came to the boy’s face.

“Sex, uh, sexual intercourse is what

a man and woman do when…”

stubbing the cigarette out.

“uh, among other things,

and most importantly, I guess,”

Lightening another cigarette, inhaling,

“sexual intercourse is what a man

and woman do when they want to have a baby.

Confused, “A baby?”

Seeing the look on his son’s face,

 inhaling….

 “In order for us to talk intelligently…”

exhaling…

Wondering if he and his son could talk intelligently.

“Do you know the difference between men and women?”

“Would the difference,”

the boy asked,

“be the same for girls and boys?”

Thinking, Oh, God!

 Bowing his head,

covering his eyes,

Was I ever this stupid?

Drawing on the cigarette,

“Yes,” the father said,

“the difference is the same…”

Sensing himself being drawn deeper

than he’d wanted, “Well almost.

His son staring blankly,

“Almost?”

“Girls change when they get older.”

“Change?”

Oh, God!

Inhaling…

“Tell you what,”

…exhaling.

“To make it easier,

let’s not call them

men or women,

girls or boys.”

Inhaling,

“boys are male

and girls female.”

Exhaling,

“Okay! Understand?”

“Yeah,” the boy said.

The father doubted it.