Five Brothers and a War

Dalton HBS

not go to the principal’s office, I will!” So he left. Knowing he would take the long official way to get there, Kees jumped up and took the unofficial shortcut, breaking speed records. Arriving at the principal’s office door first, Kees got in and began explaining that the teacher had sent him. Surprised to find Kees already there, the teacher had to reformulate his intended reason for stopping by. Who got there first really made no difference in the end though. The principal chose the side of the teacher, as principals always do. In this case, it might have been a simpler decision on account of Kees’ suspect reputation. The principal expelled Kees with the threat not to show his face again until he was ready to obey his teachers. Dismayed, and having no choice, Kees headed for home. Leendert, at first, found Kees’ version of the events to be factually-challenged. “Come, come now, my dear boy, do you really want me to believe that?” After dragging out the family Bible, Kees asserted he was ready to swear to his version. It worked. “OK,” Leendert assured, ”Tomorrow, I’ll stop by the school and find out what is going on there.” Kees, who held his father in the highest esteem, was comforted knowing that the best person to defend his cause was going to do battle on his behalf. Leendert made an appointment to see the principal. Precisely what was said will never be known, but the results of the meeting bore immediate fruit. Kees van Pelt could resume his schooling the following day. Not being one to leave well enough alone, Kees took the first moments of the next French class to ask the teacher for his reasoning in throwing him out before he did anything. The answer was not comforting. “It was just a matter of time before you would get the boot anyway. The expression on your face showed it.” The next story of Kees in De Populier was not related to one of the language classes, and in any event, each of the languages was already covered. This one dealt with one of his favorite subjects, drafting. Kees constantly had high marks in the subject. The teacher was a really nice little fellow with a wooden leg and a carefully trimmed, pointy little beard. His trademark was drawing bushes, and he was fastidious in following bush-drawing rules. He would say, “Ten are too many and three are not enough.” His sense of humor was definitely underdeveloped, probably having something to do with that wooden leg. When he was heading toward a student, with the intention to set him straight, he would position himself right in front of their drafting table, excitedly verbalizing his concerns. Unfortunately, the teaching moment would dissipate when the student focused on the little beard as it began to vibrate wildly. Students found it impossible not to notice and they could not contain their amusement. The teacher would get even angrier as the student would smirk, and would then ask what was so funny. Kees at least had enough common sense not to mention that it appeared his beard had a vibrator in it.

van Pelt

Five Brothers and a War

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