Morris attack

Another boy who 'fancied' me was Morris. It was only the wierd and wacky boys who liked me, and this didn't change as I grew older. It was the waifs and strays of this world who wanted me. Somehow I recognised that their inner neediness was akin to my own. Morris used to phone the house daily and ask to speak to me. He never just popped in as Dennis had, he was terrified of Ma, and so he should've been. She was stern, unfriendly and downright rude to him on the phone, always refusing to let me talk to him. He was a few years older than me and I didn't like him anyway. All girls wanted to be liked by the most popular boy in school, not by the geeks! And I was no different.

Fun in the shower

The Boy Scouts also went camping at the same time of year, but their tents were pitched 'over the hill'. The most popular boys were those who had remembered to pack binoculars. Their parents thought these were for amateur ornithology, but they had other 'birds' in mind. Being out in the bush, we had makeshift showers with scanty plastic curtains round them. These were assembled under the trees, which was perfect for the boys. The girls used to squeal with delight when they looked upwards, but never enough to alert anyone in authority. I used to prefer showering alone, as Iwas very self-conscious of being so fat, but whenever I looked up into my tree, all I saw was leaves, leaves and more leaves. These cartainly didn't make me squeal!

A girl's best friend

Peter Visser was Ian's best friend from school. He was an odd-looking, very round little boy who always appeared at our house to 'play' with Ian (so he must have lived nearby). Ian hated him, and didn't want to see him. The problem was that he actually wanted to be MY 'friend' and wanted to do what I was doing, e.g. knitting, baking or playing with dolls. Yes, he was definitely an ideal girl's friend, and I really didn't mind him. This drove Ian scatty. He used to run off to play with his matchbox or corgi cars, while we got on with our own fun stuff. Wonder where he is now, probably famous in haute couture, or haute cuisine, or maybe just a grubby little hairdresser in the back streets of Joburg Wherever you are, 'Hi Peter'.