N Smith stuck out like a sore thumb in our detention centre in 1960, where a few hundred boys were being punished with a ‘short, sharp shock’. N Smith walked differently from us. When he marched it was as if he was a toy soldier. When he spoke, he spoke with rounded vowels and careful diction.
We were surprised. We who ran words into each other, who cut the corners of a word by dropping the ‘h’. Did not march like toy soldiers. Did not exude culture and careful rearing,
