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.I recognized Ryan and Sara and a few other people who were laying out posters and stencils of block letters in the garage.We were ready to form an assembly line until everyone realized we had forgotten the most important thing—a slogan that would express Paterson’s outrage.“What exactly are we trying to convey?” Ryan asked.His hair was spiked unusually high.Paterson took a marker out of her mouth.“I guess it should have something to do with censorship….”“And the idea of having to cover up the beauty of a naked body,” Sara added.Everyone was quiet for a minute or two, thinking.Then Joey broke in with, “Hey, how about ‘No Nudes is Bad Nudes’?”Paterson groaned.“Please, can we keep the bad puns to a minimum?”Gray picked up a red Magic Marker and rolled it between his palms.“What about the idea of patriarchy’s need to conceal the penis?”Joey looked up from his poster.“Gray,” he said, “you’re a fine man, but I think I speak for most of us here when I say, ‘What the hell are you talking about?’”Everyone laughed.But I liked the fact that Gray was an intellectual type, that he wasn’t afraid to say words like patriarchy and risk being labeled as weird.Paterson was the only one I’d ever heard mention patriarchy.And that was after she had taken a women’s studies course in New York.“Wait a minute,” Paterson said.“Gray’s right.You rarely see a penis exposed in art.Women’s bodies are all over the place.Especially breasts.The only time you find penises are in work by homosexuals, like Mapplethorpe.”“So, what’s wrong with that?” Joey said.Paterson waved her paintbrush like a sword.“Nothing, but you don’t see Brad Pitt or George Clooney letting it all hang out on the silver screen—”Gray interrupted her.“But nudity for actresses is considered practically mandatory.”“That’s right,” Paterson said.“Even Oscar winners like Gwyneth Paltrow have to flash a little boob to get noticed.”Joey seemed to be in his own world.“I’ve got it,” he said, raising a ruler.“‘Free Willy.’”“Willy?” I said.Joey puffed up his chest.“Not everyone has a Saint Rocco, you know.Some guys just have a willy.”While everyone else burst into fits of laughter, Ryan seemed particularly uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going.He squirmed on the floor next to his poster.Another drama guy sitting on an old crate tried to cross his legs and almost fell.It was fun to see the conversation focused on men’s anatomy for a change—instead of mine.And it was really interesting to see how self-conscious the guys became.“Hey, I’ve got another one,” Joey yelled.“How about ‘Stop Hiding the Salami’?”“That could have a whole other meaning,” someone said.“We need to somehow refer to freedom of speech,” Paterson said.She thought for a minute.“How about ‘Bare,’—as in b-a-r-e—‘Witness to the First Amendment.’”“I don’t know,” I said.“I don’t think anyone in administration or on the school board would get it.They’d probably use it as an excuse to show how high-school kids can’t spell these days.”Gray, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly began poking out letters from the large black stencil pages.We all watched curiously.When he was through punching, he laid the words out on a poster: “The Penis Mightier Than Censorship.”After a few seconds of thoughtful silence, Paterson shouted, “It’s perfect.It’s got it all—the body, the power of art, and the First Amendment.What else could we want?”We all agreed with her—except Joey.“Wait a minute, I’ve got one more you’ll love.How about, ‘What’s Wrong with Schlong?’”Paterson laughed and threw her paintbrush at him.“Enough,” she said.“Let’s get to work.”After a short discussion of logistics, we decided it would be best to outline the phrase on one of the posters and cut out the letters to make a giant stencil.Then we’d use markers and paints to fill in the letters.As we took turns using the stencil, some of the drama kids sang songs from the musical.It was the first time I’d worked with other people for a common cause like this, and it felt really good.Gray’s mom ordered pizza and we ate in the garage, surrounded by posters, swapping stories about teachers.Just as I was beginning to relax and forget about all the troubles of the past few weeks, Sara brought up the red shoes.“I heard someone’s stalking some of the dancers,” she said to Joey and me.Gray glanced at me, then stood and asked if anyone wanted another drink.“It’s nothing.We don’t really know what it’s all about.” I wasn’t in the mood to give the whole history of the dance department, particularly my relationship with Melissa.I still thought she had something to do with it.I just hadn’t figured out what.“I’ll go help with the sodas,” I said.In the kitchen Gray popped open a can of Sprite and handed it to me.White foam bubbled at the teardrop opening and then turned transparent, spreading across the metal lid.As I took a sip, invisible bubbles tickled my nose.“So, what do you think?” Gray said.“About what?”“The whole protest thing.”I nodded a few times.“Interesting.”Gray laughed.“You’re not really into it, huh?”That wasn’t exactly true.It was just that I’d never been the protesting type.When you’re a ballet dancer, you kind of do what everyone tells you to do.Point your foot this way.Move your arm that way.You just don’t ever think of rebelling.If someone told you that you needed to lose a few pounds, you went on a diet.If someone told you to get breast reduction surgery, you considered it [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]