Chemistry
#4 of Signals
"Class, I want you to pour just a little bit of the phosphor into the water to dilute it- for safety reasons, then I want you to pour the phosphorized water into the Erlemeyer flask marked number two.and tell me what happens. And I want you all to wear those fireproof smocks as this chemical is highly dangerous and very flammable", the wolf teacher said. This was one of the most belligerent classes he had ever had the misfortune of teaching and he was always investigating what some of the more shall we say, rogue elements of the class were doing. Already some test tubes had been broken and guess who paid the bill for those- not the students whose parents were too poor to afford to buy test tubes.
It shouldn't have happened this way- John Franklin, this wolf who had spent so much time on post-doctoral works on the behavior of ions was instead of teaching at some prestigious Ivy League school or finding the cures for diseases through chemistry, was now teaching to the impoverished children of south Philadelphia at a senior high, a decision which he hated so much. And yet, in spite of all the misbehaved children who were just years away from continuing their families' cycle of delinquency or reaching for welfare handouts, there was still some reward in the work. Perhaps maybe one of these children would have a future outside the mean streets of south Philly, rising above the circumstances of their impoverished childhood to become a truly brilliant mind. And when they poured the highly-flammable solution into the test tube, they saw something truly dazzling. Out of the test tubes, safely held inside their holsters, they saw dazzlign white lights shooting forth from their tubes.
"It is the light of science", one particularly-dazzled lion would say, enjoying the displays of white light which now ringed the work stations around the chemistry class.
"Poetically, I guess what Jamal said is true but it is the reaction of phosphorus with the mixture we created two days ago. This phosphorus, it burns everything it touches, which is why I had to use chemically-treated flasks to resist burning and then I had you dilute the phosphor for safety reasons. But in spite of the danger associated with this experiment, especially with you guys...", the wolf said, an accusing eye pointed towards the class which had given him so many headaches over the past few months. "I wanted to show you how cool science can be, if you give it the chance."
He knew full well that many of these students would not see science again in their lives- many of them would experiment with drugs and alcohol and the only chemistry they would take part in involvede freebasing. Still, if only for a second of their lives, this wolf had been a positive influence in their lives, a bright star in an otherwise dark night. He made them wonder how the molecules of the chemicals they were mixing made contact with each other.
But being a beacon of hope was simply too much for this wolf and he was burnt out at the end of the school year, because he knew it was simply too much to ask to keep going like this. Already, for the past six years, he had sent out his resume to colleges in the Northeast but couldn't find a job anywhere- until now. Fordham Chemical and Petroleum Corp., based out of Philadelphia was calling for a qualified chemist to increase the quality of petroleum which was being shipped into the city of Brotherly Love and finding leak-proof cases for the oil.
"Seems to me that's chemistry", he would say aloud reading the literature sent to him by Fordham.
The pay would be $50,000 the first year with a 7% increase each subsequent year- the wolf knew exponents well enough to know that within a decade of taking that job, that $50,000 would double into $100,000. He would have enough money at the end of 25 years to retire in a mansion, assuming that the growth remained at that exponential rate. But he still had three months worth of obligation to keep to William Penn High School and the students there. So with that, he popped a cigarette into his muzzle and started walking down the path to the nightclub, with the Carribbean band he liked playing for one night only.
Within moments, his own body was filled with chemicals from the alcohol he had been drinking- he did n't get drunk but he certainly got buzzed enough for the inhibitions to drop and soon he found a beautiful wolf girl in a dress to flirt with. As the music began playing, the deep bass drums and the steel-string guitar all in a familiar 3-2 rhythm of the claves the wolf began feeling chemical reactions within him as he talked enrvously to the she-wolf, dancing feverishly to the band.
"So who are you? I'm a chemistry teacher from south Philly named John Franklin."
"I come from the same city, if you would consider Camden a part of the city. I am a cheerleader for the Eagles" she said, pulling out a picture showing her in the green and black hotpants and halter top for the beloved football team, who Philadelphians worshipped as a religion each fall.
"You are a smart boy. How'd you like to be my boyfriend? Sure I may look like I have a weakness for jocks but a nerd like you, with your science would be a good idea."
Even in his buzzed state, the idea required serious thought. John had neevr had a girlfriend before in all his years, preferring to work alone on lonely nights in his laboratory preparing work for his degrees. The wolf was simply too busy to have a social life.
"I have a postgraduate degree. If I can find a job, rest assured you will soon be showered in far more money than you could make as a cheerleader. I know you can't marry one of the players so why not we date and see how this works."
She agreed to that and over the next few weeks and months, the she-wolf who was named Diane Calloway proved to be more attractive, more lovely, and more sexy than any woman John had ever known, even though she was definitely the intellectual lightweight of the relationship, always wondering how these chemical processes worked. She wasn't dumb, she was dating a scientist with many degrees.
Inevitably, the two were engaged and the end of the year for William Penn mercifully came for John Franklin and he was ready and willing to get married. This quick yet sultry relationship would be wonderful for both parties involved. He had sent his letter to Fordham indicating his willingness to wrk there next fall but not until he could get married to Diane. They still expected him on November 1st, ample time for a summer wedding and honeymoon. And as he kissed his bride in the wedding ceremony at Saint Paul's Catholic, he remembered eaching his students all that he could about chemical reactions and the laws of attraction in magnetism. And he could only wonder why the and Diane got together so well. It was in the limousine carrying the newlyweds to Philadelphia's finest steakhouse that he finally realized what had brought them to this moment.
"Seems to me that's chemistry."