Ricky

January, 1959

Mr.Thomas handed out sheets of paper to everyone, then went to the board and began writing something with a chalk.

"Today, we will learn about the letter R. R is written like this." Mr.Thomas began drawing a long, straight line, then went to the top of the line and drew a curve that ended in the middle of the line. Next, starting from the end of the curve, he drew a diagonal straight line.

"This is the letter R. Write it down on your paper." Everyone soon began to write R on their paper. Some wrote R so big it took up the entire space of the paper. Ricky was one of them. As he wrote, Mr.Thomas walked by his desk.

"What letter does your name start with?" he asked. Ricky didn't answer. He didn't know how to. He didn't know what letter his name started with. Ricky turned red and looked down.

"Your name starts with the letter R."

Ricky looked at his page. This was the letter of the alphabet his name started with. R. He wanted to ask Mr.Thomas what letter his last name started with, but he was worried Mr.Thomas would think he was stupid. So he turned his attention to something else.

What was the second letter of his name?