In this semi-autobiographical short story, Malcolm Reed writes about English teachers' responsibilities towards the pupils they teach. This work grew from his insight that the armed forces have traditionally recruited from areas of high unemployment and low literacy. Reed taught for many years in an all-boys, secondary school in one of London's poorest boroughs with a disproportionately high concentration of Black students. This essay is a many-layered, unsettling story that draws real and fictional voices into a conversation that disturbs memories and poses fundamental questions about what teaching English involves. (Contains 9 footnotes.)