Waterman Street School and Childhood Romances

Throwback Thursday.  Back to Waterman Street School:  There was a time in the 6th or 7th grade that I saw no need to hurry home after school.  It was a time to play and a time of romance or my feeble attempt at it.

On Atlanta Street my buddy Van Callaway lived in the Latimer Apartments.  Our classmate Donna LeVann lived in the apartments across the street from Van.  I had a crush on Donna.  After school Van and I would go over to the yard her of apartment  house and  played and did daring things (showing off).  I thought she was probably at the window looking out admiring and wondering what I would do next.  I remember swinging on a limb and gracefully swinging from one limb to another, and jumping off the big multi-car garage in the back near the railroad tracks.  My showing off amounted to about what an untamed monkey would do.  Now, older, mature,  and wiser to impress someone I simply beat on my chest.

Anyway, Miss. Whitehead, our principal lived about two houses down in a boarding house.  I could tell  by her body language we irritated the hell out of her showing off and doing nutty things just two doors down... Hrrmmfff!!

One day while playing in Donna's apartment house yard Miss Whitehead came out on the sidewalk and motioned us to dart across busy Atlanta Street to talk to her.

We ran over to see what she wanted ("Darn!  they didn't get  hit!").

She told us she got a call from someone that lives on Watrman Street across from the school.  She said somebody had opened the door to the paper drive house and left it opened.  She handed us the key to the little house and asked to check it out, which we did.

The paper drive house is in the picture,  on the left.

At the time we beamed with pride.  We had been selected to do an important job.  We went to the paper drive house, looked around, and locked the door.  It looked OK to us.

After thinking about it, we just saved her from walking the three blocks to the school and in case some  evil drunk broke in,  danger would be facing us, not her.

Another time, Miss Whitehead got me out of class.  She asked me about a family of Polish refugees who had 3 or 4 children to at Waterman Street School that had not been to school for several days - did I know them?  I said I knew the girl in our class and one of her brothers.  She told me where they lived on Atlanta Street.  It was the last house on the right, going south on Atlanta Street, about in front of Pittard house.  It has long since torn down.  My mission was to go knock on the door of that house and find out what was going on.

I did exactly that.  I walked there in the pouring rain and knocked on the door and rung the door bell.  Nobody came to the door.  I walked back to school in the pouring rain and told Miss Whitehead no one came to the door.

I felt pretty important being assigned an important mission until I realized that I was wringing wet and Miss Whitehead wasn't.

Afterwards:  Several years ago in a grocery store I overheard a little blond  woman talk about Atlanta Street, Waterman Street School, and downtown.  She had seen the same things as I, about the same time.

After she finished her conversation  she went on doing what she was doing I walked up to her and confessed I was intrigued by her knowledge of Marietta.  She told me as a kid she lived in the apartment street  on Atlanta Street just south of Waverly Way.  I asked her if she was a LeVann.  She said she was.  She said Donna is her sister.  I asked her how Donna was doing and she said she is doing very nicely.  Something she said I got the idea that Donna is wealthy.

I said more or less, "Too bad, I could have taught her  the joys and the adventures  of coupon collecting for buy one and get one free deals, and 5% off for seniors on Wednesdays.  We had a good laugh.

My friend Mike said that was probably Karen LeVann.