Chapter 6 Attending a new school. They should have warning signs posted!---Here is the beginning of Chapter 6 as promised. I am working on more as we speak. As usual you can look at the older posts to read the book from the beginning. On my original draft I am re-working the grammar on it. This version posted is before the grammar is corrected so you are seeing the first draft.

Chapter 6        Attending a new school. They should have warning signs posted!

It was getting close to the end of Summer and Uncle George had already gone back to work after taking an extended vacation… Aunt Ida said it was time for us to go get registered for school. She taught at nearby Roosevelt elementary where she taught 3^rd grade. We headed out the door and down the street to the school. I was real nervous… I didn’t know anyone there? “I don’t know anyone there Aunt Ida.” I said nervously… “Don’t worry John, you will be fine.” She said. “Besides, it is the same school Emily goes to and a number of other children in the neighborhood go there too…” That didn’t reassure me much. There could be a whole lot of crazy going on in that school for all I knew… But it did make me feel better knowing that Emily went to that school and she didn’t seem too bad… For a girl anyway… “Aunt Ida.” I said; “Will Emily be in my class?” She said, “Unfortunately John she is in 4^th grade since she is a year older than you, or almost a year older I should say she will be in a different class.” Great I thought… I could be stuck in some class with some real weirdos… I am going to stick out like a sore thumb! I was not a kid who liked all the normal stuff kids like. I preferred to read, and I loved to do school work, and I didn’t like sports like football or baseball or things like that. After we talked for a while before I knew it we were approaching the school. The school looked like my school I remembered in Seattle, but a little more old looking. It was all brick with a small entry way in the front. My school was newer and more modern.  We made our way inside. the front. It was pretty small compared to the school I went to and it was really old looking inside. Kind of like the house that my aunt and uncle lived in. In a way I kind of liked that. I could almost feel all the students walking the halls and imagined it filled with students when school started. For now it was pretty empty except for a small line of people wating to register their kids for school. Since my aunt was a teacher there I was able to get in before the crowds started showing up just before school started. We went to the office and got the registration forms. As my aunt was filling them out I wandered through the school. There was wood everywhere. The floors, the stairs, wood trim around the doors and the doors were a solid wood and were really heavy… I started peering inside one of the classrooms down the hall… “Well hello there?” “Who may I ask are you?”said this young woman in a nice pretty floral dress. “I’m John, I am going to school here in September.” I said. “Well nice to meet your John, I’m Mrs. Willard. I teach 4^th grade here.” “Oh, well it is nice to meet you too.” “I wish you were my teacher.” I said. “Oh well John I’m sure I will be seeing you around.” She said. And with that I left and went exploring the halls some more. The halls were filled with pictures here and there on the walls of art projects and various picture of students and teachers. As I walked down the hall I could feel the old floor creak and moan with each step and the sound echoed in the long hallways. The walls were tall and I felt dwarfed in size in comparison. I felt a little bit like an alien visiting another world like watching episodes of the Old Outer Limits television show… The beginning of each episode always scared me, but I still watched it because I found it exciting. There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission and so on… I think that is why I preferred westerns. But I still did like a good scare off and on…  Aunt Ida came down the hall and found me looking in another classroom… She happened to come up behind me and startled me a little. “Hi John.” She said. I jumped a little and turned quickly around like I thought I might be in trouble. “Well.” She said. “Did you happen to look at the name on the top of the door to this room? “No.” I said. Then I looked up and it said. Mrs. Ida Johnson, Third Grade. “Oh, this is your room?” I said. “Yes it is John.” “Maybe you will end up in my class?”  I was hoping I would. I liked my aunt a lot! She was pretty cool as far as aunts went. We headed back to the house.

The first day of school was unnerving for me. My aunt and uncle had shopped for school clothes ahead of time and got me all ready. I had my school box and book bag all ready. Uncle George let me use one of his cigar boxes for my school pencils, etc. for my desk.My aunt and uncle escorted me in to my first day. I hated how the other students stared at me. The other kids had their parents bring them to school and their parents were much younger than my aunt and uncle were. I was feeling really self consious when Emily spotted me down the hall… She came skipping up to see me… “Hi John.” “Your first day at Rooselevelt huh?” she said. “Well you will get used to it.” “The teachers here are really nice!” Emily said. “Thanks Emily.” I said. And she skipped on down the hall her pigtails bouncing along with each skip. My aunt and uncle escorted me to my classroom and it was my aunt’s classroom. What a relief, I thought. I settled down into my seat that had my name on the desk and got ready for my first lesson.

The first few couple weeks of school went pretty uneventful. Except that my aunt was surprised to find out that I really understood most or all of the concepts taught in third grade. In fact! She was so impressed with my skills that she recommended to the school principal that I be moved to 4^th grade. I was not too surprised. School had always been pretty easy for me. I often got bored in school so my mom would get me books out of the library to read and would give me extra school lessons at home. My mom went to college herself and graduated with honors. Unfortunately she met my father and she fell in love, or so she used to tell me, and then she quit her career goals to be a mom. So I guess she tried to focus much of that onto me.

So I was moved to 4^th grade. I was the youngest 4^th grader in the class. I was a little bit scared of what the other students would think, but as I entered the classroom I saw sitting in the front row was Emily and she was smiling at me. And at the head of the class was Mrs. Willard. She said; “Well John, it looks like you will be in my class afterall.” She smiled at me and showed me where my seat was and it was right next to Emily’s seat. Well what do you know… Maybe there is hope for this group of weirdos. Or maybe they weren’t so weird afterall? Maybe I might be okay…One could only hope?

Working on Chapter 6.... After the tragic loss of his parents...John tries to adjust to his new life. He starts attending his new school and begins to make new friends, but life can throw a curve ball at you and can pull you into some interesting directions...

Will post the next chapter soon... On the home front...it is the beginning of school here and we are getting our son ready for school... School... Who can forget that first day in Middle school... Finding the right clothes to wear.... Don't want to dress like a nerd or dress like a jock... Somewhere in-between... Do I have all my school supplies... Where the heck are all my classes? Who am I sharing a locker with? A girl, god no! Geez! Is that a pimple? And on my first day! Hell no!

Yes, I am a working mom... The worst and best job in the world! Champion van driver... Scheduler... Able to leap small buildings in a single bound! Yup, that's Super Mom! You know you are out there! So here is to all of you... Those working mom's who toll away everyday... Give all of themselves to do what they can to take care of the kids, hubby, and whomever else may need help! All on an average of 3-4 hours of sleep a night... Never getting to eat a warm dinner as you almost always eat last.So here is to the start of another year of school with the kids! Good luck out there!

And of course we cannot forget our Super Dads either!  Here's to you too! You will make it!

Chapter 5 Enter Emily This is the beginning of chapter 5. If you want to read the beginning of the story just go to the older posts to Chapter 1 so you can follow along... I have let my friends and family know of what I am writing and shown them some drafts so that the content will be protected. But you may read it and share if you like. As long as you use my name as the author. And only my name. Thanks greatly!

Chapter 5  Enter Emily

            I was watching as my Aunt was in the garden and the blonde girl with pig tails and glasses walked up to my aunt and said; “Hi Mrs. Johnson.” “Well hello right back to you Emily.” She said;. “So do you want me to help you in the garden today?” “Well sure you can!” Aunt Ida said;. “Just let me get an extra pair of gloves and a shovel so you can help me weed. You know how much I enjoy your help.” Aunt Ida said with a smile. Aunt Ida wandered into the storage shed to fetch some gloves and left Emily standing at the fence. She was leaning onto the small picket fence, she had a piece of grass sticking out of her mouth  and she was wearing a funny straw hat. Kind of like what Huck Finn liked to wear. She was wearing shorts and a tank top and was wearing flip flop sandals. I was sitting nearby on the porch when she turned and noticed me… “Who are you?” “I have never seen you before have I?” I looked at her and shook my head no. “So do you live here now? “What is your name?” She started firing off several questions, but the only answer I seemed to come up with was “My name is John, John McMurphy.” “Oh, she said, McMurphy is an odd name, I never heard that name before?” Aunt Ida returned with the gloves and saw that Emily and I were talking a little. “Well John, come over and meet Emily proper.” “She was in my class last year.” I walked over with my hands in my pockets and stood next to the fence. That surrounded her garden. Emily by this time had went inside the gate and was given the gloves and shovel and was proceeding to weed in the flower bed. “So what have you too been talking about?” “Not much.” Said Emily. “He doesn’t talk much.” She was sitting on the ground with her legs straight out in front of her while she pulled some weeds that Aunt Ida had pointed out to her. “Do you want to help me pull weeds John?” Emily said; “It’s kind of fun especially when you can smell the flowers when you are up real close.” “Sure go ahead John, I could use all the help I can get. It seems I have gotten behind in my weeding.” “Here John, I happen to have an extra pair of gloves in my apron, You take them.” I took the gloves.  And came through the gate and knelt down in the grass. Being up so close to the roses you could really smell their heavy scent. It was like strong perfume. Like the kind my mother used to wear. “Here, I will show you what to do.” Said Emily. She took my hands and placed them in the dirt along with the shovel. “Here.” She said: “Place the shovel in the dirt under the weed and dig really hard then pull them out with your hands.” I tried it and it was very strange. I had never dug in the dirt before. It felt good! I liked sticking my hands in the cool dirt, getting my hands and knees all dirty. It was like I was getting all dirty and not getting in trouble for it. I found I was really comfortable around Emily. There was something about her I liked. Something pure, kind, and sweet. So there we were all three of us digging, and weeding. After a while aunt Ida asked if we would like some ice cold lemonade and cookies for all the hard work we were doing. “That sounds great! Mrs. Johnson.” Emily exclaimed. “Sounds good.” I said. Well both of you can take your gloves off and come with me to the house to wash your hands. We left our weeding tools behind and went into the house where Ida had already had some lemonade made and some fresh baked cookies. We went outside to the back patio in the cool shade of one of the old oak trees. I slumped down into one of the patio chairs and I drank the lemonade in big gulps, It was hot outside and the cold drink hit the spot. “It sure is nice when you come over to visit Emily.” “George and I haven’t seen much of you lately?” “Yes, I know.” She said. “I was gone on vacation with my parents and we just got back a couple days ago.” “Did you go on vacation with your parents John?” asked Emily. I looked down at the ground at my feet as I was eating one of the cookies and did not reply. Aunt Ida spoke up. “Emily, John has lost his parents in a terrible accident a month ago and it is a tough subject right now.” “We all are having a hard time with it still.” “Oh, I’m sorry Mrs. Johnson.” Emily said. “I didn’t mean to pry.” “That’s okay Emily, you didn’t know.” So we all three sat there in silence for a few minutes. “Emily spoke up first. “John, would you like to come to my house sometime?” “You could try my swing set or we could ride bikes?” John said; “I don’t know how to ride a bike.” “That’s okay I can teach you. I know how to ride really good!” “Well John.” Aunt Ida said; “It looks like that would be a nice idea.” “She probably knows much more about riding a bike than George and I do.” “We haven’t ridden a bike in years…” “So John, do you have a bike?” asked Emily. “I do, I stammered.” “Well great!” Emily said.

            I didn’t know what to do next. This girl was sure bossy. But in a nice way. I didn’t want to say no, because I really did want to learn how to ride and since she was a little older than me she had been riding her bike for a while already. I wanted to ride a bike really bad! Emily asked my aunt if she could run home real quick and ask her mom and dad if she could get her bike and show me how to ride. My aunt and uncle said of course she could. And as quick as a wink she ran down the block her pig tails flopping as she was holding on to her hat you could hear the sound of her flip flops smacking the pavement as she ran. Smack!, Smack!, Smack!… Uncle George got the bike out of the garage and wiped it off until it was real shiny. It was a stingray with high handlebars and a long banana seat with a sissy bar in the back. Down the block appeared Emily fast approaching on her bike. I thought she was going to hit me when she hit the peddle break and screeched to a stop. “So, you ready John?” Emily smiled and gave a bit of a smirk. I said; “Okay, I guess so.” I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into. But it sure sounded like fun to me! Anything to help keep my mind on something else.

            Emily directed me to the sidewalk in front of the house where she sat on her bike and demonstrated to me how to sit on the bike and how to work the brake pedal and how to steer. “Sit up straight like this, and push off on the pedals real hard and keep pedaling. Don’t quit pedaling or the bike will stop and you will fall right over.” She said; Aunt Ida and Uncle George were watching the scene from the porch smiling from ear to ear. “Like this.” I said. As I sat on the bike I tried to push off from the ground and tried to pedal. I fell over the first time and got a  little discouraged, but Emily kept encouraging me. “Don’t worry.” Emily said. “That happened to me lots of times before I got it right.” Time after time I kept trying. And again and again I kept falling. But each time I tried I got a little braver and stayed on a little longer. All the while Emily was riding beside me encouraging me. Finally on the tenth try I started to peddle my best and tried to steer straight when all of a sudden I was moving! I was riding! Emily said “That’s it John!” “You are doing it!” “I looked at the passing ground and kept peddling. I was a little wobbly, but I was moving. Then after a number of feet I stopped and fell to the side exhausted. Aunt Ida and Uncle George both were cheering on the sidelines and said “Bravo!” “Good job John!” I sat on the ground as Emily came up to me on her bike and said; “See.” “I said you could do it!” “After you fall a few times it gets easier.” “I fell a whole bunch before I could ride.” So we decided we had had enough excitement for the day and I needed to nurse a few bruises, but I didn’t let Emily know that because I was a boy and she was a girl. Well, you know what I mean… We walked the bikes up to the house and set them down and went inside.

            I could tell Emily had been in the house before because she headed straight for the library. It seemed she was quite a book worm. Aunt Ida said she was the brightest student in her class. I totally forgot about school? School was starting in a month and I wasn’t even sure of what school I was going to? “John.” Aunt Ida Said; “We are going to have to sign you up for school for the Fall.” “Would you like to go to school at the same school that Emily goes to?” “Sure, I guess?” “Well, it is the same school I teach at, so I will get you enrolled in a couple weeks. They will have an open house later this month.” Aunt Ida said. I wasn’t sure what to think. I knew I could not go back home to Seattle to go to school. But the few friends I had were over there. But Emily seemed pretty nice, for a girly anyway. So how bad could it be?

 

Chapter 4 continued...

I awoke the next morning to some noise outside my window. Out my window I could see down a few houses the kids from yesterday. The blond girl was talking to them. One of the boys, the tallest of the group, was especially interested in what she was saying. They seemed to be laughing and kidding around. They were on their bikes. I wish I had a bike. I guess they were wondering what they were going to do or where they were going to ride? It had to be more exciting than here. I was thinking since I was stuck here for the next couple months that I had better start making some friends or the whole Summer would be wasted. I looked down at myself and found that I was still wearing my clothes from last night. I don’t even remember how I got up here to my room? I know one thing for sure, I had to pee really bad! So I ran through the door and went down the hallway for the bathroom. From downstairs I heard Aunt Ida calling me. “I can tell you are up John.” “I was beginning to worry that you would sleep the day away.” Said Aunt Ida;  She then said; “John, change your clothes and wash up for breakfast.”I will whip you up some bacon and eggs.” “Okay!” I shouted through the door. One thing I dearly loved was breakfast. I loved the smell of bacon in the morning and the sound of the snap and crackle of the oil and fat as the bacon cooked in the pan. I washed up and went downstairs.

Uncle George was reading his paper and smoking his pipe at the breakfast table. Aunt Ida eyed him with disdain as she did not like him to smoke his pipe at the table. Uncle George happened to glance over at his wife’s steely glance and made a smirk on his face and whispered to me in a low tone. “Busted.” He doused the flame and set his pipe aside. After breakfast. I was helping do the dishes in the kitchen. Aunt Ida let me help dry the smaller dishes. She let me stand on an old milk crate so I could reach. As we did the dishes we talked… “Aunt Ida.” I said; “ “Do you think my mom and dad don’t want me anymore?” I said. Aunt Ida stopped doing the dishes and looked at me. “John William, don’t you ever think that they don’t want you ever!” “You must remember that they are doing this because they love you. Especially your mother.” “Why she always wants what is best for you.” She exclaimed. I looked down at my hands and the dish that I held in my hand. I put it in the drain rack and asked. “If I have to stay here this Summer.” “Do you think I could get a bike and learn how to ride it?” Aunt Ida said; “Well of course you can.” “You are a big strapping boy and what boy doesn’t want to learn how to ride a bike!” “How about we go shopping for one this week?” “Great!” I said. We continued to chatter about a new bike and about all kinds of things and before we knew it the dishes were done.

Just as we were laughing at talking up a storm the phone rang. Uncle George answered it. He was talking a few minutes and his tone of voice got real serious. He looked up at Aunt Ida and at me. Aunt Ida froze in place like she knew it was bad news.

Uncle George handed the phone to Aunt Ida and she took the receiver in her hand. You could see that her hand was shaking. It was my babysitter Julie at the apartment building where I lived. She was crying. I could barely hear her voice through the receiver. She said there was a fire in the apartment building where I had been living. She said she barely got out before the smoke overcame her. She said she didn’t see everyone make it out or not. Aunt Ida was questioning here rapid fire. Did she see if everyone got out. How about her sister Susan? Did Robert get out. I was looking up panicked and grabbing at Aunt Ida’s skirt. Screaming “What is going on!” Where is my mom and my dad!” I screamed. Uncle George grabbed be and held me tight and said it would be okay. Aunt Ida was crying.

We found out later that the fire department had put out the fire, but that most of the building was destroyed. The found that two people were trapped inside in one of the apartments. The bodies were burned beyond recognition. The babysitter confirmed they were in the apartment where John had been living with his parents. There was no way to identify them except that one of the bodies was male and the other female. No one was able to contact either one of John’s parents so the conclusion was that both had died in the fire. The fire was thought to be caused by a cigarette and the empty liquor bottles that were found told the tale that they fell asleep while intoxicated and the cigarette started the fire. Aunt Ida and Uncle George and I traveled to Seattle for the quick makeshift funeral. My aunt and uncle made it nice and bought flowers and had a preacher say a nice prayer at the service.Aunt Ida bought a nice suit for me to wear and uncle George was dressed in his finest dark suit. Aunt Ida wore black and she stood by the graveside quietly crying. I stood with her holding her hand tightly and cried. It was the first time I really cried. It was like it had been bottled up like a dam and suddenly burst! There were only a few people in attendance. They didn’t really have many friends. My babysitter was there. She came over and gave me a hug and told me how sorry she was. I was numb and wasn’t sure what to feel except great sadness. Mom had said she would come to get me later this Summer. In the pit of my stomach as soon as she dropped me off at my Aunt and Uncle’s house I knew somehow that she was not coming back.

After the funeral, Aunt Ida made arrangements for any things that the couple had in storage. Strange thing that my mother had a will just made up a month ago with specific instructions on what to do and she given that along with important papers for me like my birth certificate, shot records, health history already in Aunt Ida’s hands. The rest of the items at the storage facility she arranged for Uncle George to take back in his truck. There wasn’t much. Some old ratty furniture, old clothes, but tucked away hidden in a corner under some clothes was a box marked. John W.. In it was a photo album with pictures of me my mother and my father. But mostly pictures of me. Aunt Ida carefully packed the photo album up and carried it in her arms in the truck on the ride home.

Two weeks passed and I was starting to come to grips with the situation. I had not left the house since my parent’s death and Aunt Ida and Uncle George had not spoken much to me about what happened. Until today. I was up in my room reading one of the books from the library when Uncle George peered into the door of my room. “Johnny.” Said Uncle George. “Do you want to talk about your parents?” “You know you can talk to us if you are feeling up to it?” “No, not right now.” I said. “Alright Johnny, you just talk to us when you are ready.” “In the meantime, your Aunt has something for you so come on downstairs.” I set the book down and came down the stairs… As I got to the bottom of the stairs and found Aunt Ida and Uncle George waiting for me and standing between them was a bright red shiny new bike! I stopped at the last step of the staircase and stared first at them and then at the bike. I was dumbfounded and was not sure what to say? Aunt Ida spoke first. “John, now I know you are still upset about what happened and I don’t know if you are ready for a bike or not, so just so you know you don’t have to accept it but we can set it aside and if you feel you are ready to use it, you can try it out. No hurry at all.” I fumbled with my hand on the railing and bit my lower lip. On one hand I was angy that they could think a bike could replace my parents, but then on the other hand I had never been given such a nice present. I had very mixed emotions. My eyes began to well up a bit and I looked down at my feet. Uncle George could tell I was not quite ready so he put his hand on my shoulder and knelt before me. “Johnny.” He said: It’s okay. You just don’t worry about it. We will put it over in the garage for safe keeping and when you are ready you can take it out and give it a go.” “Okay?” I nodded my head slowly. “Well okay then.” Uncle George said. He wheeled the bike out of the foyer and out into the garage where he tucked it far in the back behind his old Chevy. Aunt Ida came over to me and kneeled down and gave me a big bear hug. “It will be okay John, we will get through this together.” She said. And I started to feel a little bit better.

Another week had passed and I started to move through the grieving process into the acceptance of the situation and I started to try to focus on other things. I asked my aunt if I could go outside a for a little bit and she said it was okay as long as I stayed within shouting distance. I am not sure exactly what that meant as she could shout pretty loud and I think everyone in the neighborhood could hear her. I found out that some of the neighborhood kids knew her from school and from my bedroom window I would watch them stop from time to time and say hi to her when they walked by. “Hi Mrs. Johnson (My aunt’s last name was Johnson) and she would wave  to them as she worked in her garden and say “How nice to see you Eric or Tom or Jane, or whoever.” All the kids seemed to know her.

While I was outside sitting on the porch Aunt Ida was out in her garden weeding and pruning her roses when the blond girl with the pig tails and glasses walked by…

Chapter 4 Changes Here we are back to when John was a boy. He has some big changes to deal with. I am already working on chapter 5... You are welcome to share the book, but please don't steal...please use my name as the writer. I promise some suprises as we follow John through his life... I won't reveal all of the book, but I will also post excerpts on my Facebook page. It is rough draft form and I am putting the words down as they come into my head. I will do an edit and re-write later to polish it...

Chapter 4 Changes

      We drove back to Aunt Ida and Uncle George’s house after we went to the park. The mood in the car was quiet and subdued… I was the only one that was talking. “Uncle George” I said; “Do you think we can go back later with some bread and feed the ducks?”. Uncle George said; “Not today John.” “We can go later this week.” I was a bit disappointed. It was the most fun I had in quite a while, but I was content for now to just relax and look out the window at the different homes that we passed. I loved all the old trees that lines the streets and how their branches reached out over the road and how the branches moved with the slight breeze and created different patterns in the shade. Like the shadows were dancing and I imagined myself dancing in the shadows… Spinning and twirling round and round…

We approached the house which was situated in an old section of Browne’s Addition a very old part of Spokane. My Grandpa’s house was one of the old Mansion’s situated there. A large stately  old white house with big columns in the front. It sat on a hill surrounded by the garden and wonderful trees. There was this really big tree in the front with large branches sticking out from its sides that I had been admiring since I had gotten there. “Boy would I love to climb that tree.” I said to myself. We went inside and Ida went to the kitchen to fix us a snack and Uncle George went to go relax in his favorite chair with his book.  I was not sure what to do with myself. I didn’t have any friends around this neighborhood and my aunt and uncle did not have any children. They always wanted children they said, but they could not get pregnant. I guess that is why Aunt Ida decided to be a school teacher so she could have children in her life. The rest of the afternoon was pretty quiet, but I tried to keep myself occupied by going to the library. They didn’t have a television so it was my only recourse. Aunt Ida had collected quite a few childrens books and classics over the years so I thought I would find something interesting. Mom had always encouraged me to ready and we went to the library off and on. I was always dragging books home from school and mom was having to remind me to turn them back in when they were late.

The rest of the next couple of days were pretty uneventful. I was getting pretty bored. So one day after lunch I sneaked out the back door and ran down the street. I started wandering around a little in the neighborhood. Down the next couple of blocks I found some homes that were not quite as fancy and seemed to have families living in them. I saw some kids around my age or maybe a little older. I was too shy to go up and talk to them so I just stood across the street and watched them playing outside. They were playing kick ball. It seemed there was two teams of kids battling it out and the goalies were trying their best to keep the ball from crossing the goal line. Back and forth, back and forth. I wanted to join them, but was afraid to speak. They were all boys except for one girl. I thought it was odd that this one girl could be playing against these boys that were clearly bigger than her. But she was full of spitfire and she was determined to get control of the ball and score a goal. I could see her pig tails bouncing along as she ran. She wore glasses and had blond hair. I kept watching for a little bit then I continued on. There were people outside mowing the lawn, pruning bushes, or working on their cars. All in all I thought it was wonderful! So this is how people live in a smaller town. I was used to the hustle and bustle of a larger city like Seattle.  I had been walking around for a little while and sort of lost my bearings… After a few turns around the block I noticed Aunt Ida was walking up towards me. “Where in the world did you go John W. McMurphy.” She said a bit sternly, but with a smile on her face. “I was in the kitchen and turned my back and you were gone.” “I figured eventually you would want to go exploring.” “But next time you do, would you let us know?” “Okay.” I said; “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you.” “That is okay honey, I know you are just curious.” “There are a lot of children in the neighborhood.” ”Maybe you can make some friends?” “I don’t know anyone Aunt Ida.” “Well you just have to get up the courage and talk to someone.” Ida said.  We slowly walked back to the house enjoying the sun shining through the trees as we walked in the cool shade of the trees and the pretty manicured lawns. Many of the yards had flower beds and I looked at the colors of the flowers. They didn’t have much for lawns in the city I came from. You had to go outside of the city and live in a house for that.  Our landlord didn’t believe in flowers let alone trees. As we went into the house Aunt Ida started to talk to me in a real serious tone. “John.” Could you come into the living room with us we need to speak to you.  I looked up at her and was a bit scared. I didn’t say I was scared, but I was, I felt queasy in my stomach like I was going to throw up.  Like I had eaten too much candy in one sitting and my body was turning against me in protest.

My uncle and aunt talked to me for quite a while. Aunt Ida explained that she spoke with my mother a couple days ago before we left for the park and she had been trying to figure out how to tell me since then. "I have some bad news to tell you." “John.” She said; “You mother asked me to keep you indefinitely as things are not working out well with her and your father, if anything, they have gotten worse so she asked that you stay with us this Summer and maybe she can get you back by the time school starts in September.” “No!” I said; “I don’t need to stay here, I need to go home!” I argued. My face was stern and determined. I had my arms crossed and my lower lip stuck out just a bit. This was my stance that I used when I was trying to make a point. Aunt Ida replied. “I can see you have your mother’s stubborn streak and independence that is for sure.” “I am so sorry John, but your mother said it was not safe for you to go home right now.” “She is going to call us later this week and let us know how things are going.” Aunt Ida said.  I was so mad I could spit! How could they do this to me? My mother and father dumping me off without hardly a word? How bad could it be? My mind was racing? Was it that they thought I was too much trouble? Were they tired of me? I stared at my aunt in anger then I turned and ran upstairs to my room.

I stayed up there for a couple hours. I laid on the bed staring at the ceiling thinking. I was trying to reason things out in my 7 ½ year old brain. Was my mom trying to protect me? Was she afraid of my father? He did have a tendency to get violent at times. He had never hit me, but he did threaten to hit my mother? My mind continued to try and figure things out when I heard a soft knock on the door and my Uncle George was at the door. “Johnny?” “Johnny?” “Are you okay?” “Your Aunt feels real bad about this whole thing.” “Would you come out please?” I laid there and thought about it. “Alright Uncle George.” I said. 

Uncle George sat me down with Aunt Ida. Uncle George explained. “Johnny(he liked to call me Johnny)” “Sometimes life is not fair.” “You wish things could be different, but things are not always in our control.” “But Johnny, I want to tell you a secret.” “What you can control is how you behave in this world.” “You can chose to fight against the world with all your might and try to change all aspects of your life or you can decide which things are out of your control and make your own destiny.” “Johnny” “The bad thing is this is something that is out of your control.” “But we want you to know that we both love you dearly and we will do our best to help you through this difficult situation.” “We cannot take the hurt away, but we can try to be a listening ear.” ”We will have to take this one step at a time.”  “So, that being said, why don’t we go out to the kitchen and see if we can fix ourselves a snack.” “Sound good?” I nodded slowly. Aunt Ida put her hand on my shoulder and guided me towards the kitchen.

After we grabbed something to eat Uncle George took a book out of the library and asked If I wanted him to read to me. I said “I guess that would be nice.” The book was “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain. I curled up on the sofa next to Uncle George while he read to me. I quietly listened as he read. I liked it when someone read to me. My mother used to read to me all the time. I closed my eyes and drifted off. It was much later than I thought as I fell fast asleep.  My uncle noticed I fell asleep and carefully picked me up and carried me up to my room and put me to bed.