Wednesday, February 08, 2006
We were driving in the church van, from Princeton to Evansville, taking the backroads.
I was in the back seat of the van.
There were several rows of seats between myself and the front, where my father and Glynn were seated.
Glynn was driving, my father was sitting in the passenger seat.
The rain was coming down in great cold sheets, pouring across the windshield so that the wipers could hardly keep up.
I was sitting with my arm wrapped up in my shirt, the end of which was clenched in my teeth, so that it made the kind of sling Glynn had intended.
My wrist was broken.
The church van's shocks had given out long ago, made evident with each bump in the road.
At every pothole or defect, the van would shake uncontrollably on it's struts, translating the motion to my wrist, which in turn felt like the bones were rubbing together.
This was the pain that caused the hot tears to stream down my face, as I bore the brunt of my pain with all the manliness I could muster.
I could not hear what my father and Glynn were talking about. I only knew that it was funny. As they talked, the conversation would be interrupted by a loud guffaw or a snicker.
Earlier, we had driven to the hospital in Princeton, but they had turned us away. 'We can't set a break like that' I remembered them saying, as they eyed the 'Z' formation of my wrist. 'You'll have to go to Evansville'.
Evansville was a good forty five minute drive, so shocked and confusedly, I had prepared myself best I could for the ride, which so far had been unpleasant.
As we were getting back into the church van, Glynn leaned into my face. 'You doing okay'? I nodded, not being able to speak for the tee shirt clenched tightly between my teeth. 'Good'! He exclaimed, and clapped my on the back.
A whole new manifestation of motion radiated through my back to my chest, quickly reaching my poor broken wrist.
My father and Glynn laughed as they got into the front of the church van. I was left to get in the back, of which I chose the very back, to be as far away from them as possible.
As we drove toward Evansville, I looked out the window, streaming with rain and fogging up from my heavy breathing, I thought. I could see my reflection in the glass, the trees flying by beyond my visage.
The road was deserted, as it always was. No cars to be seen. Just the rain, the fog in the windows, the backs of my father and Glynn, my reflection, the trees dioramically flying by.
____________________________________________________________________
Earlier, the day had started out with promise. Spring was in the air and I could feel it as soon as I woke up.
It was Saturday and my father and mother were both home. We were going to the country in Princeton to visit with Glynn and his family.
I loved travelling to Princeton. Glynn's family had a large house on a hill. On top of the hill, there was a huge oak with limbs that extended partway over the hill. In the main branch of the tree, there was tied a tree swing. One that you could use to swing out over the hill and back.
This is what I thought of when I first woke up.
That and Lisa, Glynn's daughter, who was two years older than me.
Lisa wa taller than me, and most kids her own age, and had brown hair and green eyes and liked to wear cut off shorts with a tee shirt (Glynn would not let her wear a halter top). She could burp and spit and fart as good as any boy I had ever known.
All the way to Princeton, I thought about how it was just going to be me and Lisa playing on the swing and in the barn all day together. In the barn. On the swing. Out in the field. On go-carts.
On the way, mom and dad sat in front of the family station wagon.
Robin, my older sister sat next to me in the back seat.
Her and I sat in utter silence, each looking out our own window at the beautiful day whizzing by.
There were trees, and fields, and barns and houses as we left the city limits of Evansville.
Up ahead, there was a black buggy with a man holding a whip. The man wore a black hat, a black suit with a white collar peeping above the suit collar, and as we approached I saw he had a white beard. The black buggy had a red 'caution' sign on the back of it. It looked like the man had taken down a street sign and used it for his own purposes.
'Look kids' my mom said. 'Looks like we're in Amish Country' she mused, still pointing.
This broke the monotony for Robin and I.
Robin punched my arm. 'Lisa's going to be there' she said teasingly. 'Kevin's going to be playing with Lisa' she sang-talked.
'Mom, tell her to stop' I whined. 'We are not' I replied, though I hoped with every ounce of my being we were.
'Robin leave your brother alone' mom said, in an unconvincing tone.
'Let's roll the windows down' my father said, and we all reached for our handles to do as he commanded.
The smell of manure and newly mown hay reached my nostrils, as I breathed it all in as deeply as possible.
Quiet.
The talk ceased in the front.
Robin left me alone.
I sat in silence as I looked out at the view.
I decided as I gazed at a large maple approaching that today was the day I would ask Lisa to go with me.
I was wearing an orange crush tee shirt and cut off jeans shorts and black converse basketball shoes. In the pocket of my shorts, I had two necklaces I had bought when the family had been on vacation to Disney World. They both were cheap 'silver' chains with Goofy visages dangling from them for amulets. I would give Lisa one, I would wear the other, and we would be going together wherever we went.
____________________________________________________________________
As we approached the house, I was surprised to see several cars parked in the drive.
'I thought we were the only ones who were going to be here' I said.
'So did I', mom said looking over at dad. 'Did you know others were going to be here'?
'No, but that looks like Ted and Phyllis's Lincoln which means the kids will be here too' dad replied.
'Oh crap' is all I could think.
As we pulled up, I noticed there were picnic tables with red and white checkered table cloths on them set up on the lawn. Pitchers of lemonade and plates dotted the tables.
When we got out of the car, Ted Jr. popped out of the front door and made his way to the station wagon.
Jr was wearing a basketball half tee shirt with muscle man no-sleeves. He had on satin running shorts that didn't touch his thighs, tube socks with red stripes pulled up to his knee caps, and Tiger running shoes. He had the beginnings of a mustache and coal black hair, which was blow-dried back into a perfect feathered cut.
'Hi Mr. Fuller' he said. 'Here I'll help you with that'. Jr. took the picnic basket from mom and hoisted the thing onto his shoulder, turning to make his way to the far picnic table.
'Hey Kev'! he called over his shoulder, 'Did you bring a basketball by any chance'? 'The Kings' ball is flat and they don't have a pump'!
Dad grabbed the ball from the front floor board and tossed it to me as I got out of the car.
'That'll be a fine thing for you boys to do today, play basketball'!
Just what I wanted to do. Get my butt whipped by Jr. on the Kings' court, in front of Lisa.
'I'll play horse' I said, 'But I'm not going to go one on one with anyone' except with Lisa, I thought.
'Oh, don't be a pansy' dad said. 'You can play Ted later. 'Right now, it's just about lunch time'.
Like clockwork, the front door opened and adults came spilling out of the house, most of them carrying a glass of lemonade.
I recognized Bob and Betty and George and Mica and of course Glynn with his wife Brenda.
I walked to the front of the house and made my way toward the door, intending to walk in where the adults were walking out.
'Hey Kevin' Bob said, patting me on the head like I was one of his own. 'Whatcha up to'?
'Not much' I replied.
I liked Bob. I had spent many a summer's day at his house in the suburbs playing with his two sons, Scott and Brett. Scott and Brett were the same age, though they were not twins. Brett had been adopted before Bob and his wife Betty conceived Scott. Scott of course was a complete accident, Bob and Betty thinking they could not get pregnant.
'I think Lisa's upstairs in her room' Bob said, looking down and winking at me. 'Why don't you see if she'll come out and play'?
Suddenly Scott and Brett came bounding down the stairs and to the entryway. They both poked their heads out the door, staying clear of the exiting adults.
Scott was a redhead like me, though his hair was much darker. He and I would spend long afternoons in his basement with all the lights turned out playing a hand held electronic football game made by Coleco. We liked to have the lights off so we could see the red-light football players run across the screen.
'Hey Scott, hey Brett' I replied. 'Whatcha guys doin'? I continued.
'We just got here', said Brett. 'We've been playing Jarts out on the lawn' replied Scott.
'Has Lisa been out yet'? I asked. Both Brett and Scott eyed me knowingly.
'She's been upstairs in her room. With Jr.' Scott said. 'They had the door closed until Glynn came by and saw it. He made them open up'.
My worst fears were confirmed. Ted Jr. had made his move on Lisa. He probably had flexed his biceps, which actually were quite impressive, for her. He was probably wearing musk cologne and antiperspirant. I didn't think it was fair since Ted was older.
Screw it, I thought. I'll play with the boys.
I stopped just as I came in the front door, turned and followed Scott and Brett back outside into the bright sunshine.
'Let's play some Horse' I yelled, and started running for the concreted half-court.
Brett and Scott followed and Ted jumped up from a lawn chair, in which he had been reclining.
'Mind if I join you'? He yelled, running toward us before we could answer.
Ted really was a likeable guy. He liked to play with the guys. Hang out with the guys. Get sweaty with the guys. There was nothing wrong with that. It was just that he and I liked the same girl, and he could trump me because of his olderness, his more brawnieness, and the perfectly feathered and layered hair.
As we headed for the court, the adults were arranging themselves at the picnic tables.
'Come on and eat kids! It's time for lunch! one of the mothers yelled.
The four of us changed the direction of our running toward the court to now the picnic tables. Food sounded good all of a sudden and we were eager to eat.
Us kids sat down at the far picnic table, lower along the slope of grass where all the tables were lined up.
There were cheeseburgers and waffle fries and lemonade and coke and water. There were pickles and onions and tomatoes, ketchup and mustard to dress our burgers with. The food made it's way from the adults' end of the table to the kids' end of the table.
Ted Jr. chomped away on his burger, laughing till I could see the cheese between the teeth.
God, this was the boy Lisa wanted I thought. Because he was older. Because he played on the eighth grade basketball team. Because he had biceps and wore half-shirts.
I sat next to Tom, who finished eating first and suggested for some reason we go play in the church van. Ted Jr. was up for it, and I just followed along.
Ted Jr. commandeered the steering wheel while Tom and I took to the back.
Tom sat in the middle seat, I sat in the back seat.
My foot kicked something on the floor and I reached my hand down to see what it was.
It was a bottle of bug spray that had a safety switch on it so that when you pushed the button, nothing would come out.
I put the safety on the thing and tapped Tom on the shoulder. 'Look, bug spray, I said and pushed the button down as I pointed the nozzle to his face. Tom winced, ducking his head and raising his shoulders.
Ted Jr. was oblivious to this exchange, as he was driving us to parts known only to him.
Tom laughed good naturedly and said 'Let me do it to Ted.'
I quickly, beneath the back of the seat, switched the safety to 'on' and passed it on to Tom.
Tom grabbed the bottle, not looking at the safety and assuming it was 'off', tapped Ted Jr. on the shoulder so that he turned around.
'Look Ted, Bug Spray!'
Tom pressed the button and a good amount of bug spray made it into Ted Jr's. eyes and mouth.
Tom turned around to look at me, an incredulous look on his face.
'Kevin, what did you do?'
I was in stitches.
I literally was doubled over in a fit of uncontrollable laughter, to the point that my back hurt.
Ted Jr. coughed and spat on the floorboard of the front seat.
'I think I'm going to puke' he said, furiously rubbing his eyes and choak-gagging.
Tom now began to laugh along with me.
But Ted Jr. was having none of it.
He reconnoitered and made his way through the two front seats to Tom, who was now standing up in an attempt to get out of the van.
Ted Jr. grabbed Tom by the shirt, bunching it up in his trembling white-knuckled fist and punched him straightway in the belly.
Tom did puke.
He puked on Ted's arm and then onto the van floor.
I decided it was high time to get out of the van and made my way to the back doors, unlocking them and letting myself out.
Ted Jr. was completely ignorant concerning my participation in the bug spray being sprayed in his face, and simply ran past me towards the parents.
'Tom puked in the van! Tom puked in the van!'
The adult men were up and running toward the van to see what was the matter.
Now, that I was most assuredly going to get caught, I felt remorse rather than humor.
Tom came stumbling out of the van, clutching his gut and bawling like a little baby.
'Kevin made me spray bug spray in Ted Jr.s' eyes' he sputtered.
My dad grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to the side.
'Is this true?' he wanted to know.
I looked down at my converse.
'We'll settle this when we get home.'
My dad made his way toward Ted Sr. and Fred, Tom's dad, who were both kneeled down next to Tom, comforting him.
I watched as my dad leaned into Tom, putting an arm around him and consoling him in the polite quiet speech he was only seemingly capable of with others.
Tom rubbed his eyes and looked up at the men, who all got the story out of Tom of exactly what happened.
They looked at me in exasperation.
I again looked at my converse, this time my face red with embarrassment.
Lisa, who had come down from her room, had made her way through the parents and to Tom and Ted Jr.
'What did he do to you two?'
Tom and Ted Jr. told her.
The parents made their way back to the tables, leaving me alone with Lisa, Ted Jr. and Tom.
Lisa put her arm through Ted Jr's. stroking his mop top reassuringly.
With her other hand, she clasped Tom's and then turned to stare at me.
'Boys will be Boys.'
'Come on guys, shake hands and make up' she continued.
Ted Jr. stepped forward, putting his hand forward, palm down.
Tom put his palm on the back of Ted Jr.'s hand.
I followed, putting mine on Tom's.
'No hard feelings' Ted Jr. said.
Tom quickly assented, as did I.
The four of us, Lisa, Ted Jr. Tom and me made our way back to the kid's tables to finish our lunch.
Dad looked at me and said 'Kevin you're cleaning up the mess.'
Boy was I.
___________________________________________________________________
After lunch, and after cleaning up the mess in the van (Lisa, Ted Jr. and Tom helped), the adults had adjourned to the house for coffee.
This left Scott and Brett, who had not participated in the van fiasco, and the rest of us.
We told the two of them all about what happened in the van.
Scott told me as an aside he thought the whole thing was hilarious.
Brett, who was a good friend of Ted Jr's., didn't quite see the humor in the situation.
'That's not cool, Kev' is all he would say.
Just then Robin appeared from the house and joined us.
Being older, she had sat with the adults during lunch and had even joined them inside for coffee.
Now she wanted to play with the kids.
It was about three in the afternoon, and we knew our time together would not last forever.
'Well, what do we want to do?' Robin posed the question.
Lisa spoke up. 'We can play in the barn, ride the go-carts, play Jarts, croquet, or swing on the tree.'
Just as she said this, we all heard a roll of thunder in the distance and looked up to the sky.
It was as clear as ever, not a storm cloud in sight.
'Must be a storm coming' Ted offered.
'Maybe we should play in the barn' Lisa said.
'Or we could swing on the tree' Robin suggested.
That is what we all settled on, to swing on the tree.
_____________________________________________________________________
We were at the tall Oak tree, gathered under it's large, sturdy limbs.
Clouds had moved in, the temperature had dropped, and there was a light drizzle falling, though we were shielded by the great Oak.
Robin wanted to go first.
She climbed the tree, limb by limb until she reached the vine that we used as a swing.
'It's dry up here' she called, and the next thing we all knew she was whooping and hollering as she swung from the tree and out over the steep hill.
We all began climbing the tree to get to her height.
When we arrived at the trunk-ish limb we swung from, I checked my pockets.
I still had the Goofy necklaces intact.
When we were done swinging, I would ask Lisa to stay up top for a moment, when I would present her with my gift and ask her to go with me.
Eventually we all made it to the limb.
Scott, Brett, Lisa, Tom, Ted Jr. and Robin and I all stood on the limb, some of us cantilevering over the hill a bit.
Brett wanted to go next.
Robin handed over the vine to him, which he tucked under his armpit and grabbed hold of tightly with both hands.
He stretched the vine back as far as it would go and then he was off.
Leaving the mass of branches and flying out over the hill, hanging on for dear life.
'That was my first time' he said, his face lacking some blood. 'I didn't realize how high up we were until I went out over the hill.'
I looked back to the house.
Mom and Dad were in the front door glass and looking on at our action.
Mom opened the weather door and yelled at us.
'Don't stay out there too long, it's starting to rain!'
We decided we needed to speed up if we all were going to have a turn.
The sky had gone dark and the rain was coming down harder.
Scott, being Brett's brother went next.
Then Lisa.
Tom didn't want to go. It was too high he said.
Ted decided to take his turn.
'Lisa, watch this. One arm' he said.
Ted tucked the vine under his right arm, leaving his left arm free.
He waved it dramatically in the air with the flourish of a circus performer.
Ted, being the tallest, swung the vine back further than anyone had so far and left the tree mono-handedly.
It truly was a beautiful swing.
Jr. swung all the way out over the hill, one armedly, and made his way back to our limb without incident.
Lisa's face flushed.
'That was awesome!' she exclaimed.
'No one's ever done that!'
I was next.
How was I going to follow Ted Jr.'s swing?
I decided I would take the vine one limb up, which was considerably higher than our current vantage point.
And, I would be able to pull the limb back further still for a bigger, better, swing.
Lisa looked worried.
'Kevin, no one's ever gone from up there. Come on back down.'
But my mind was made up.
As I was pulling back, way back to swing, Mom opened the weather door again and yelled at me.
'Kevin, what are you doing?'
The vine was slick now from the rain.
I held it taught in my trembling hands, pulling the thing as tight as I could.
This was going to be huge.
As everyone screamed at me to stop, Mom and Dad both were outside now, running toward the tree and I could hear Brett and Scott's, Lisa's and Ted's, Robin's and Tom's voices yelling at me to 'Stop!' as I left the tree.
In the split second I left the higher limb, I decided on a change of plans.
When I got to the highest arc, I would let go with my left hand, holding the arm away from me, and swing back one-armedly.
Just when I was getting to the top of the arc of my swing, I let go with my hand, just as I had split-secondly planned.
I slide from the vine like an arm being pulled from a shirt sleeve.
At the top of the arc, I was vine-less.
As I began to fall, I twisted myself around so I could see the oncoming ground.
It was a long way down.
I hit the earth, left hand first, and my elbow jammed into my side.
Both bones in my left wrist broke as silently as a flat stone skipping across the water.
I had the wind knocked out of me and I had eaten a lot of dirt.
My face was bleeding, having been abrased by the grass and soil at the very foot of the hill.
I was able to stand up and look at my wrist.
It was twisted down so it formed a 'Z' with my arm and hand.
I felt nothing.
But the sight of it made me howl and cry.
I ran up the hill to be greeted by Mom and Dad.
'Oh, what did you go and do?'
I had went and did it alright.
____________________________________________________________________
We were in Evansville now and the cold rain had not let up.
The city lights shone across my window pane, red, green and yellow smears like finger painting across the window.
Dad and Glynn were still having a good time.
I was still cradling my arm, clenching my shirt with my teeth.
We arrived at the hospital emergency room and dad went in with me while Glynn parked the church van.
The lady at the desk took one look at me and said a doctor would be with me shortly.
Dad and I had a seat in the waiting room.
After about five minutes, Glynn came and joined us.
Dad and I had not spoken, even though I could.
I had let go of the makeshift sling with my teeth and laid my broken wrist in my lap.
I stll could feel nothing.
Glynn leaned across dad's lap and looked at me for a moment.
'Kevin what were you trying to do?'
Lisa was his daughter and I didn't want to tip my hand.
'I don't know. I thought I could make a big swing.'
Dad let out a snort.
'You were trying to impress Lisa!'
'Yeah, yes I was.'
Just then, the nurse called my name and dad and I made our way to the door.
The emergency room doctor took one look at my wrist and told dad 'We're going to have to put him out.'
Dad got real serious.
'You can't just give him a shot?'
'Not with a break like this.'
'You can come back while we prepare him for surgery.'
'Surgery!' dad echoed.
____________________________________________________________________
I was lying on a cot, being wheeled to a surgery room.
I stared at the ceiling as fluorescent lights zipped by in neat white strips.
The doctor said the surgery would last about an hour and that I would spend the night.
I heard the cot bang the doors of the operating room as I was wheeled in under a great, large light.
'This is doctor Willis' the surgeon said.
'He's going to give you some gas to make you fall asleep.'
Dr. Willis put clear mask over my nose and mouth and told me to breathe normal.
'Count backward from ten to one' he said calmly.
Ten, nine, eight...
____________________________________________________________________
Many years later, Glynn was mowing the grass at the foot of the hill he lived on.
As he made it midway across the lawn, he heard a 'kerchunk' and saw something fly out from the mower.
He turned the machine off and walked over to something twinkling in the light of the sun.
It was two necklaces, intwined around each other.
They were rusted but he could make out the faces of the amulets.
'Goofy?'
I was in the back seat of the van.
There were several rows of seats between myself and the front, where my father and Glynn were seated.
Glynn was driving, my father was sitting in the passenger seat.
The rain was coming down in great cold sheets, pouring across the windshield so that the wipers could hardly keep up.
I was sitting with my arm wrapped up in my shirt, the end of which was clenched in my teeth, so that it made the kind of sling Glynn had intended.
My wrist was broken.
The church van's shocks had given out long ago, made evident with each bump in the road.
At every pothole or defect, the van would shake uncontrollably on it's struts, translating the motion to my wrist, which in turn felt like the bones were rubbing together.
This was the pain that caused the hot tears to stream down my face, as I bore the brunt of my pain with all the manliness I could muster.
I could not hear what my father and Glynn were talking about. I only knew that it was funny. As they talked, the conversation would be interrupted by a loud guffaw or a snicker.
Earlier, we had driven to the hospital in Princeton, but they had turned us away. 'We can't set a break like that' I remembered them saying, as they eyed the 'Z' formation of my wrist. 'You'll have to go to Evansville'.
Evansville was a good forty five minute drive, so shocked and confusedly, I had prepared myself best I could for the ride, which so far had been unpleasant.
As we were getting back into the church van, Glynn leaned into my face. 'You doing okay'? I nodded, not being able to speak for the tee shirt clenched tightly between my teeth. 'Good'! He exclaimed, and clapped my on the back.
A whole new manifestation of motion radiated through my back to my chest, quickly reaching my poor broken wrist.
My father and Glynn laughed as they got into the front of the church van. I was left to get in the back, of which I chose the very back, to be as far away from them as possible.
As we drove toward Evansville, I looked out the window, streaming with rain and fogging up from my heavy breathing, I thought. I could see my reflection in the glass, the trees flying by beyond my visage.
The road was deserted, as it always was. No cars to be seen. Just the rain, the fog in the windows, the backs of my father and Glynn, my reflection, the trees dioramically flying by.
____________________________________________________________________
Earlier, the day had started out with promise. Spring was in the air and I could feel it as soon as I woke up.
It was Saturday and my father and mother were both home. We were going to the country in Princeton to visit with Glynn and his family.
I loved travelling to Princeton. Glynn's family had a large house on a hill. On top of the hill, there was a huge oak with limbs that extended partway over the hill. In the main branch of the tree, there was tied a tree swing. One that you could use to swing out over the hill and back.
This is what I thought of when I first woke up.
That and Lisa, Glynn's daughter, who was two years older than me.
Lisa wa taller than me, and most kids her own age, and had brown hair and green eyes and liked to wear cut off shorts with a tee shirt (Glynn would not let her wear a halter top). She could burp and spit and fart as good as any boy I had ever known.
All the way to Princeton, I thought about how it was just going to be me and Lisa playing on the swing and in the barn all day together. In the barn. On the swing. Out in the field. On go-carts.
On the way, mom and dad sat in front of the family station wagon.
Robin, my older sister sat next to me in the back seat.
Her and I sat in utter silence, each looking out our own window at the beautiful day whizzing by.
There were trees, and fields, and barns and houses as we left the city limits of Evansville.
Up ahead, there was a black buggy with a man holding a whip. The man wore a black hat, a black suit with a white collar peeping above the suit collar, and as we approached I saw he had a white beard. The black buggy had a red 'caution' sign on the back of it. It looked like the man had taken down a street sign and used it for his own purposes.
'Look kids' my mom said. 'Looks like we're in Amish Country' she mused, still pointing.
This broke the monotony for Robin and I.
Robin punched my arm. 'Lisa's going to be there' she said teasingly. 'Kevin's going to be playing with Lisa' she sang-talked.
'Mom, tell her to stop' I whined. 'We are not' I replied, though I hoped with every ounce of my being we were.
'Robin leave your brother alone' mom said, in an unconvincing tone.
'Let's roll the windows down' my father said, and we all reached for our handles to do as he commanded.
The smell of manure and newly mown hay reached my nostrils, as I breathed it all in as deeply as possible.
Quiet.
The talk ceased in the front.
Robin left me alone.
I sat in silence as I looked out at the view.
I decided as I gazed at a large maple approaching that today was the day I would ask Lisa to go with me.
I was wearing an orange crush tee shirt and cut off jeans shorts and black converse basketball shoes. In the pocket of my shorts, I had two necklaces I had bought when the family had been on vacation to Disney World. They both were cheap 'silver' chains with Goofy visages dangling from them for amulets. I would give Lisa one, I would wear the other, and we would be going together wherever we went.
____________________________________________________________________
As we approached the house, I was surprised to see several cars parked in the drive.
'I thought we were the only ones who were going to be here' I said.
'So did I', mom said looking over at dad. 'Did you know others were going to be here'?
'No, but that looks like Ted and Phyllis's Lincoln which means the kids will be here too' dad replied.
'Oh crap' is all I could think.
As we pulled up, I noticed there were picnic tables with red and white checkered table cloths on them set up on the lawn. Pitchers of lemonade and plates dotted the tables.
When we got out of the car, Ted Jr. popped out of the front door and made his way to the station wagon.
Jr was wearing a basketball half tee shirt with muscle man no-sleeves. He had on satin running shorts that didn't touch his thighs, tube socks with red stripes pulled up to his knee caps, and Tiger running shoes. He had the beginnings of a mustache and coal black hair, which was blow-dried back into a perfect feathered cut.
'Hi Mr. Fuller' he said. 'Here I'll help you with that'. Jr. took the picnic basket from mom and hoisted the thing onto his shoulder, turning to make his way to the far picnic table.
'Hey Kev'! he called over his shoulder, 'Did you bring a basketball by any chance'? 'The Kings' ball is flat and they don't have a pump'!
Dad grabbed the ball from the front floor board and tossed it to me as I got out of the car.
'That'll be a fine thing for you boys to do today, play basketball'!
Just what I wanted to do. Get my butt whipped by Jr. on the Kings' court, in front of Lisa.
'I'll play horse' I said, 'But I'm not going to go one on one with anyone' except with Lisa, I thought.
'Oh, don't be a pansy' dad said. 'You can play Ted later. 'Right now, it's just about lunch time'.
Like clockwork, the front door opened and adults came spilling out of the house, most of them carrying a glass of lemonade.
I recognized Bob and Betty and George and Mica and of course Glynn with his wife Brenda.
I walked to the front of the house and made my way toward the door, intending to walk in where the adults were walking out.
'Hey Kevin' Bob said, patting me on the head like I was one of his own. 'Whatcha up to'?
'Not much' I replied.
I liked Bob. I had spent many a summer's day at his house in the suburbs playing with his two sons, Scott and Brett. Scott and Brett were the same age, though they were not twins. Brett had been adopted before Bob and his wife Betty conceived Scott. Scott of course was a complete accident, Bob and Betty thinking they could not get pregnant.
'I think Lisa's upstairs in her room' Bob said, looking down and winking at me. 'Why don't you see if she'll come out and play'?
Suddenly Scott and Brett came bounding down the stairs and to the entryway. They both poked their heads out the door, staying clear of the exiting adults.
Scott was a redhead like me, though his hair was much darker. He and I would spend long afternoons in his basement with all the lights turned out playing a hand held electronic football game made by Coleco. We liked to have the lights off so we could see the red-light football players run across the screen.
'Hey Scott, hey Brett' I replied. 'Whatcha guys doin'? I continued.
'We just got here', said Brett. 'We've been playing Jarts out on the lawn' replied Scott.
'Has Lisa been out yet'? I asked. Both Brett and Scott eyed me knowingly.
'She's been upstairs in her room. With Jr.' Scott said. 'They had the door closed until Glynn came by and saw it. He made them open up'.
My worst fears were confirmed. Ted Jr. had made his move on Lisa. He probably had flexed his biceps, which actually were quite impressive, for her. He was probably wearing musk cologne and antiperspirant. I didn't think it was fair since Ted was older.
Screw it, I thought. I'll play with the boys.
I stopped just as I came in the front door, turned and followed Scott and Brett back outside into the bright sunshine.
'Let's play some Horse' I yelled, and started running for the concreted half-court.
Brett and Scott followed and Ted jumped up from a lawn chair, in which he had been reclining.
'Mind if I join you'? He yelled, running toward us before we could answer.
Ted really was a likeable guy. He liked to play with the guys. Hang out with the guys. Get sweaty with the guys. There was nothing wrong with that. It was just that he and I liked the same girl, and he could trump me because of his olderness, his more brawnieness, and the perfectly feathered and layered hair.
As we headed for the court, the adults were arranging themselves at the picnic tables.
'Come on and eat kids! It's time for lunch! one of the mothers yelled.
The four of us changed the direction of our running toward the court to now the picnic tables. Food sounded good all of a sudden and we were eager to eat.
Us kids sat down at the far picnic table, lower along the slope of grass where all the tables were lined up.
There were cheeseburgers and waffle fries and lemonade and coke and water. There were pickles and onions and tomatoes, ketchup and mustard to dress our burgers with. The food made it's way from the adults' end of the table to the kids' end of the table.
Ted Jr. chomped away on his burger, laughing till I could see the cheese between the teeth.
God, this was the boy Lisa wanted I thought. Because he was older. Because he played on the eighth grade basketball team. Because he had biceps and wore half-shirts.
I sat next to Tom, who finished eating first and suggested for some reason we go play in the church van. Ted Jr. was up for it, and I just followed along.
Ted Jr. commandeered the steering wheel while Tom and I took to the back.
Tom sat in the middle seat, I sat in the back seat.
My foot kicked something on the floor and I reached my hand down to see what it was.
It was a bottle of bug spray that had a safety switch on it so that when you pushed the button, nothing would come out.
I put the safety on the thing and tapped Tom on the shoulder. 'Look, bug spray, I said and pushed the button down as I pointed the nozzle to his face. Tom winced, ducking his head and raising his shoulders.
Ted Jr. was oblivious to this exchange, as he was driving us to parts known only to him.
Tom laughed good naturedly and said 'Let me do it to Ted.'
I quickly, beneath the back of the seat, switched the safety to 'on' and passed it on to Tom.
Tom grabbed the bottle, not looking at the safety and assuming it was 'off', tapped Ted Jr. on the shoulder so that he turned around.
'Look Ted, Bug Spray!'
Tom pressed the button and a good amount of bug spray made it into Ted Jr's. eyes and mouth.
Tom turned around to look at me, an incredulous look on his face.
'Kevin, what did you do?'
I was in stitches.
I literally was doubled over in a fit of uncontrollable laughter, to the point that my back hurt.
Ted Jr. coughed and spat on the floorboard of the front seat.
'I think I'm going to puke' he said, furiously rubbing his eyes and choak-gagging.
Tom now began to laugh along with me.
But Ted Jr. was having none of it.
He reconnoitered and made his way through the two front seats to Tom, who was now standing up in an attempt to get out of the van.
Ted Jr. grabbed Tom by the shirt, bunching it up in his trembling white-knuckled fist and punched him straightway in the belly.
Tom did puke.
He puked on Ted's arm and then onto the van floor.
I decided it was high time to get out of the van and made my way to the back doors, unlocking them and letting myself out.
Ted Jr. was completely ignorant concerning my participation in the bug spray being sprayed in his face, and simply ran past me towards the parents.
'Tom puked in the van! Tom puked in the van!'
The adult men were up and running toward the van to see what was the matter.
Now, that I was most assuredly going to get caught, I felt remorse rather than humor.
Tom came stumbling out of the van, clutching his gut and bawling like a little baby.
'Kevin made me spray bug spray in Ted Jr.s' eyes' he sputtered.
My dad grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to the side.
'Is this true?' he wanted to know.
I looked down at my converse.
'We'll settle this when we get home.'
My dad made his way toward Ted Sr. and Fred, Tom's dad, who were both kneeled down next to Tom, comforting him.
I watched as my dad leaned into Tom, putting an arm around him and consoling him in the polite quiet speech he was only seemingly capable of with others.
Tom rubbed his eyes and looked up at the men, who all got the story out of Tom of exactly what happened.
They looked at me in exasperation.
I again looked at my converse, this time my face red with embarrassment.
Lisa, who had come down from her room, had made her way through the parents and to Tom and Ted Jr.
'What did he do to you two?'
Tom and Ted Jr. told her.
The parents made their way back to the tables, leaving me alone with Lisa, Ted Jr. and Tom.
Lisa put her arm through Ted Jr's. stroking his mop top reassuringly.
With her other hand, she clasped Tom's and then turned to stare at me.
'Boys will be Boys.'
'Come on guys, shake hands and make up' she continued.
Ted Jr. stepped forward, putting his hand forward, palm down.
Tom put his palm on the back of Ted Jr.'s hand.
I followed, putting mine on Tom's.
'No hard feelings' Ted Jr. said.
Tom quickly assented, as did I.
The four of us, Lisa, Ted Jr. Tom and me made our way back to the kid's tables to finish our lunch.
Dad looked at me and said 'Kevin you're cleaning up the mess.'
Boy was I.
___________________________________________________________________
After lunch, and after cleaning up the mess in the van (Lisa, Ted Jr. and Tom helped), the adults had adjourned to the house for coffee.
This left Scott and Brett, who had not participated in the van fiasco, and the rest of us.
We told the two of them all about what happened in the van.
Scott told me as an aside he thought the whole thing was hilarious.
Brett, who was a good friend of Ted Jr's., didn't quite see the humor in the situation.
'That's not cool, Kev' is all he would say.
Just then Robin appeared from the house and joined us.
Being older, she had sat with the adults during lunch and had even joined them inside for coffee.
Now she wanted to play with the kids.
It was about three in the afternoon, and we knew our time together would not last forever.
'Well, what do we want to do?' Robin posed the question.
Lisa spoke up. 'We can play in the barn, ride the go-carts, play Jarts, croquet, or swing on the tree.'
Just as she said this, we all heard a roll of thunder in the distance and looked up to the sky.
It was as clear as ever, not a storm cloud in sight.
'Must be a storm coming' Ted offered.
'Maybe we should play in the barn' Lisa said.
'Or we could swing on the tree' Robin suggested.
That is what we all settled on, to swing on the tree.
_____________________________________________________________________
We were at the tall Oak tree, gathered under it's large, sturdy limbs.
Clouds had moved in, the temperature had dropped, and there was a light drizzle falling, though we were shielded by the great Oak.
Robin wanted to go first.
She climbed the tree, limb by limb until she reached the vine that we used as a swing.
'It's dry up here' she called, and the next thing we all knew she was whooping and hollering as she swung from the tree and out over the steep hill.
We all began climbing the tree to get to her height.
When we arrived at the trunk-ish limb we swung from, I checked my pockets.
I still had the Goofy necklaces intact.
When we were done swinging, I would ask Lisa to stay up top for a moment, when I would present her with my gift and ask her to go with me.
Eventually we all made it to the limb.
Scott, Brett, Lisa, Tom, Ted Jr. and Robin and I all stood on the limb, some of us cantilevering over the hill a bit.
Brett wanted to go next.
Robin handed over the vine to him, which he tucked under his armpit and grabbed hold of tightly with both hands.
He stretched the vine back as far as it would go and then he was off.
Leaving the mass of branches and flying out over the hill, hanging on for dear life.
'That was my first time' he said, his face lacking some blood. 'I didn't realize how high up we were until I went out over the hill.'
I looked back to the house.
Mom and Dad were in the front door glass and looking on at our action.
Mom opened the weather door and yelled at us.
'Don't stay out there too long, it's starting to rain!'
We decided we needed to speed up if we all were going to have a turn.
The sky had gone dark and the rain was coming down harder.
Scott, being Brett's brother went next.
Then Lisa.
Tom didn't want to go. It was too high he said.
Ted decided to take his turn.
'Lisa, watch this. One arm' he said.
Ted tucked the vine under his right arm, leaving his left arm free.
He waved it dramatically in the air with the flourish of a circus performer.
Ted, being the tallest, swung the vine back further than anyone had so far and left the tree mono-handedly.
It truly was a beautiful swing.
Jr. swung all the way out over the hill, one armedly, and made his way back to our limb without incident.
Lisa's face flushed.
'That was awesome!' she exclaimed.
'No one's ever done that!'
I was next.
How was I going to follow Ted Jr.'s swing?
I decided I would take the vine one limb up, which was considerably higher than our current vantage point.
And, I would be able to pull the limb back further still for a bigger, better, swing.
Lisa looked worried.
'Kevin, no one's ever gone from up there. Come on back down.'
But my mind was made up.
As I was pulling back, way back to swing, Mom opened the weather door again and yelled at me.
'Kevin, what are you doing?'
The vine was slick now from the rain.
I held it taught in my trembling hands, pulling the thing as tight as I could.
This was going to be huge.
As everyone screamed at me to stop, Mom and Dad both were outside now, running toward the tree and I could hear Brett and Scott's, Lisa's and Ted's, Robin's and Tom's voices yelling at me to 'Stop!' as I left the tree.
In the split second I left the higher limb, I decided on a change of plans.
When I got to the highest arc, I would let go with my left hand, holding the arm away from me, and swing back one-armedly.
Just when I was getting to the top of the arc of my swing, I let go with my hand, just as I had split-secondly planned.
I slide from the vine like an arm being pulled from a shirt sleeve.
At the top of the arc, I was vine-less.
As I began to fall, I twisted myself around so I could see the oncoming ground.
It was a long way down.
I hit the earth, left hand first, and my elbow jammed into my side.
Both bones in my left wrist broke as silently as a flat stone skipping across the water.
I had the wind knocked out of me and I had eaten a lot of dirt.
My face was bleeding, having been abrased by the grass and soil at the very foot of the hill.
I was able to stand up and look at my wrist.
It was twisted down so it formed a 'Z' with my arm and hand.
I felt nothing.
But the sight of it made me howl and cry.
I ran up the hill to be greeted by Mom and Dad.
'Oh, what did you go and do?'
I had went and did it alright.
____________________________________________________________________
We were in Evansville now and the cold rain had not let up.
The city lights shone across my window pane, red, green and yellow smears like finger painting across the window.
Dad and Glynn were still having a good time.
I was still cradling my arm, clenching my shirt with my teeth.
We arrived at the hospital emergency room and dad went in with me while Glynn parked the church van.
The lady at the desk took one look at me and said a doctor would be with me shortly.
Dad and I had a seat in the waiting room.
After about five minutes, Glynn came and joined us.
Dad and I had not spoken, even though I could.
I had let go of the makeshift sling with my teeth and laid my broken wrist in my lap.
I stll could feel nothing.
Glynn leaned across dad's lap and looked at me for a moment.
'Kevin what were you trying to do?'
Lisa was his daughter and I didn't want to tip my hand.
'I don't know. I thought I could make a big swing.'
Dad let out a snort.
'You were trying to impress Lisa!'
'Yeah, yes I was.'
Just then, the nurse called my name and dad and I made our way to the door.
The emergency room doctor took one look at my wrist and told dad 'We're going to have to put him out.'
Dad got real serious.
'You can't just give him a shot?'
'Not with a break like this.'
'You can come back while we prepare him for surgery.'
'Surgery!' dad echoed.
____________________________________________________________________
I was lying on a cot, being wheeled to a surgery room.
I stared at the ceiling as fluorescent lights zipped by in neat white strips.
The doctor said the surgery would last about an hour and that I would spend the night.
I heard the cot bang the doors of the operating room as I was wheeled in under a great, large light.
'This is doctor Willis' the surgeon said.
'He's going to give you some gas to make you fall asleep.'
Dr. Willis put clear mask over my nose and mouth and told me to breathe normal.
'Count backward from ten to one' he said calmly.
Ten, nine, eight...
____________________________________________________________________
Many years later, Glynn was mowing the grass at the foot of the hill he lived on.
As he made it midway across the lawn, he heard a 'kerchunk' and saw something fly out from the mower.
He turned the machine off and walked over to something twinkling in the light of the sun.
It was two necklaces, intwined around each other.
They were rusted but he could make out the faces of the amulets.
'Goofy?'
