Alice didn’t know how to stop it but she had to do something. Her student in the after school program in Beijing called herself Pocahontas. Her mother told Alice that she had watched the Disney film fifteen times and that was why she picked the name. On the first day of class Pocahontas had worn a feather in a leather headband and moccasins. She was five years old but she could pass for a three year old back in Iowa, the land of hefty farm folks. Pocahontas was the director’s child and she did not want to be in a private class on Tuesday from 5:30-7:30.
Alice worked extra hard trying to teach her some English but it was difficult. One day they were learning the song “Old McDonald Had a Farm.” Alice pointed to a cow, pig, sheep, chicken and cat in the book. Alice was seated at the end of a low table and Pocahontas was to her right. When she was singing, “With an oink oink here and an oink oink there,” Pocahontas reached out and touched Alice’s breast. Alice was a 36 C but most Chinese women were 28 A.
Alice kept singing and pretended this girl wasn’t touching her breast. She gently took Pocohontas’s hand and pointed to the pig in the book. But Pocahontas wasn’t interested in the pig. Her hand went back to Alice’s breast and she squeezed. At that Alice stood up. She went to the white board and took a marker and wrote the word P-I-G.
Pocahontas repeated the word pig and then made the oink, oink sound.
For another ten minutes Alice kept on with the lesson. She saw Pocahontas’s mother open the door and enter. Lilly nodded and waited. Alice said, “Good class. Pocahontas learned some new words.”
Alice studied Lilly who didn’t have any breasts to speak of. She had a black wool jacket and skirt with heeled boots. She had a cream colored shell and a string of pearls.
Alice wondered if Pocahontas had been breast fed when a baby. Before leaving for China in June she had watched the movie of The Last Emperor and Pu Yi had a wet nurse who let him suckle her until he was eight or nine.
The next week Alice wore a quilted vest over her sweater. She decided to stand most of the time at the white board and then Pocahontas couldn’t get near her. When she excused her for a bathroom break, Alice sat down at the table. When she returned, Pocahontas walked right over to her and reached out and touched the quilted vest and pressed where her left breast was. Then Pocahontas sat down and Alice stood up. All without a word.
For the next class Alice wore a navy blue blazer over a white knit top with a v neck and wrapped a navy and gold scarf around her neck. When she got hot, she took off her blazer and loosened her scarf. The tops of her breasts spilled out her top. Pocahontas looked at her cleavage and Alice stood up quickly.
“Big,” Pocahontas said. “Why?”
Alice didn’t know what to say. “Because I’m big.”
Pocahontas got up and walked over to Alice at the white board. When her hands came up to touch her breasts, Alice crossed her arms and said, “Do not touch. Do not touch teacher.”
Then Pocahontas began to cry and Alice felt panicky. Pocahontas was the director’s daughter and Alice was supposed to feel honored that the director trusted her to teach her only child. But they were all only children. Every student had doting parents and grandparents who thought their child and grandchild was a genius. Alice was from a family of five siblings and had oodles of cousins since her mom had eleven brothers and sisters.
Alice knew she had to do something. The class would be over in 10 minutes and Lilly came early to sit in on the class. She grabbed Pocahontas’s hands and said, “Let’s play ring around the rosy, pocket full of posey.”
She tried to get Pocahontas to move in a circle but she wouldn’t move. She knelt down next to her and said, “Come on. Quit crying.”
But Pocahontas kept crying and it was getting louder. She wished now she had taken those education classes but she had gone into psychology and social work and those classes told her this kid knew how to manipulate.
Alice looked out the window. It was dark outside and she didn’t see anyone there. She grabbed Pocahontas’ hand and plunked it on her right breast.
“There,” she said.
Pocahontas stopped crying, squeezed and smiled.
Alice pulled away, slipped on her blazer and went to the board.
“Draw a cow,” said Alice and she put the marker in Pocahontas’s hand.
Pocahontas said, “Cow.” She began drawing a cow and Alice watched as she drew huge udders that touched the ground.
Tricia Currans-Sheehan has published The Egg Lady and Other Neighbors, winner of the Headwaters Literary Competition, and The River Road: A Novel in Linked Stories. She teaches at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, IA.
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