Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 17:56:53 -0700
From: Danny <m12@thedoghousemail.com>
Subject: Simon's Journal: Thirteen Days, Chapter 3 of 13
Simon's Journal
Volume I
Thirteen Days - The First Crusade
A novel by Danny
Chapter 3
February 18, 2004 Wednesday
I don't remember falling asleep but I must have
drifted off soon after dad turned off the light. I woke
up about twenty minutes after midnight and it took me
several more minutes just to realize that the reason it
was so dark outside was because it was still night. I was
feeling fine again and my belly wasn't making any noises
anymore.
I lay there for about ten minutes before I decided I
wanted to get up and write down all the events from that
day. However, getting up was not as easy as it normally
would be on any other morning. I had trouble getting
myself free of my covers because dad had done such an
excellent job of tucking me in that I don't believe I
moved at all while I was asleep.
I ultimately managed to get the covers kicked off of
me and when I pulled them away I saw that I had wet so
much while I was asleep that I had soaked the GoodNite to
the point of nearly bursting. I examined the sheet under
me with my hand and was amazed that it was still dry. Had
I not woken up when I did I surely would have needed a
life jacket before morning.
I swung my feet to the edge of the bed and let them
drop to the icy cold floor as I rolled over on my right
elbow and stood up trying not to put any undue pressure
on it. I knew it would not hold another drop of pee
because as I stood up I had to grab the waistband to keep
it from falling right off of me. I carefully let it slide
down my legs.
Once the air hit my damp skin I became instantly
conscious that it was colder tonight then it had been
recently.
A few trickles of pee escaped from within the
GoodNites confines and dripped down my legs as I slid
them fall to the floor. It also managed to drip several
more drops on the floor as I carried it over and plopped
it into the green pail next to my door with a satisfying
squish.
I searched out another GoodNite from my drawer in
the near darkness and noticed that I only had one more
left in the drawer now. I made a mental note to let mom
know in the morning that I was going to need another
package of them.
I slithered into it and it felt so nice as the cold
was not a very pleasant feeling against my bare bottom
and boyhood tonight. In the summer months that is a
feeling a do enjoy but not in February.
Instead of retiring to my closet, I resolved to
climb back into my bed with my spiral notebook and cover
back up. Just before scrambling into bed I noticed,
setting next to my backpack was my gym bag, but that was
not where I had left it. I went over to check it out and
sure enough when I unzipped it I saw that everything in
it had been washed, folded and put back in neatly for me.
Heck, even my gym shoes looked like they had been
cleaned.
"Wow! I owe mom a big hug in the morning!" I
whispered.
I reached in and plucked out the large yellow shirt
and pulled it over my head. I felt like I was two-years-
old again wearing such a large shirt and what was really
just a glorified diaper.
I leaped into my bed and wrapped the extra blanket
around me to keep cozy warm. After getting settled and
opening my notebook, I pulled the blanket up over my head
so that I looked like a little monk or something setting
there with just my face and hands exposed to the night
air. I reached over to my nightstand and flicked on the
little nightlight so that I could see better to write.
The dim glow from the streetlight outside was enough for
me to be able to move around my room in the night but it
was not really enough to see to write.
My eyes winced and slammed shut as the little light
flickered on. It took a few seconds for me to coax them
back open again and adjust to the light, which wasn't
really that bright but after being in mostly darkness a
single candle watt can sure blind a person.
I spent the next couple hours writing all about the
previous days exciting activities and events. When I got
to writing about the red haired boy I had seen in the
nurses' office I found my penis was getting very hard and
strained against the front of my GoodNite. That had never
happened before, I mean not when I was thinking about
guys! Yea, I've gotten hard thinking about girls and
about diapers before but I'd never, not even once got
turned-on seeing or thinking about another guy naked.
I wrote until my hand started to get tired and my
eyelids were getting heavy. I was satisfied that I had
recalled and recording the previous days events as best I
could. I closed my notebook and set it on my nightstand.
The room went dark again with a flick of the little light
switch. I rolled over on my left side, curled up in a
ball and went back to sleep.
Walking my bike up the hill to Mike's house, I kept
feeling like someone was following me but every time I
turned to look all I saw was this little red rabbit
standing totally still with a single blade of grass
hanging out of its mouth like Tom Sawyer.
I walked faster and faster but the feeling that
someone was following me kept growing so I spun around
and took off chasing the little rabbit, shouting and
waving my airs as we ran through the bushes, under
fences, past a purple house and finally managed to corner
it in some dark dirt covered room. I tried to show that I
didn't want to hurt it and that I just wanted to pet it
but it started screaming this horrible ear-shattering
noise.
I woke up with a violent start, jumped out of bed
and turned off my alarm clock before it woke up the whole
neighborhood.
I stood by my clock for a moment to allow my brain
to catch up with my body. I rubbed at my eyes, stretched
and yawned.
"OKAY, that was a really weird dream!" I said as I
stretched my arms toward the ceiling and groaned, "Oh man
it's cold!" I scrunched my toes to try to keep them warm.
Without really thinking about it I reached down with
my left hand to feel how wet I was.
"Dry?" I looked down pulling up my shirt to see,
"Huh? What do you know about that?" I said aloud.
I pulled off my new gym shirt, stuffed it back in
the bag and I hopped back into bed where I pulled my
covers up to my chin and lay there for a few minutes
until that familiar feeling started to stir. I closed my
eyes and relaxed my whole body. The urge slowly
intensified and before long hot urine poor into my
thirsty GoodNite. It was coming out faster then the
GoodNite could drink it up and the warmth washed over my
boyhood parts and I could feel it spilling down between
my legs tickling ever so lightly and spreading under my
bottom. It felt like it would never end and a part of me
didn't want it to end but after a minute or two I was
drained dry and the GoodNite was well quenched.
I continued to lie there, the GoodNite was so warm
now and I could still feel the pee spreading across my
bottom. I slid my right hand across the front of it. Oh,
it was so warm and felt extremely soggy, too. I pressed
down gently to feel the warmth more deeply as I moved my
hand in small circles.
It felt so good and I let go a small sigh.
Another stirring began to grow again down below and
thought I might need to pee again but then my penis
started to get stiff. I rubbed a little more assertively,
allowing my penis to work its way so that it was pointing
up toward my belly under the urine-drenched GoodNite.
The GoodNite was gliding around tickling the skin of
my boyhood parts. I reached down between my legs as far
as my arms would stretch and pressed firmly as I slid my
hands back up toward my belly button.
I didn't notice right away but I had started to
breath harder and shallower as I continued to rub myself
through the saturated GoodNite.
I have never known it to feel so good and I didn't
want to stop. I pressed harder, forcing the warm drenched
GoodNite tighter to me, rubbing and stoking. The
awakening down below grew stronger as if I was about to
pee like I had never done before.
With my eyes shut tight, I kept seeing colors
dancing around in my eyes and I began to move my hips
around to feel the wetness beneath me and then without
any warning it felt like someone had set off a whole pack
of firecrackers in my privates and I screamed.
Seconds later my bedroom door burst open. Dad was
standing there wearing only his boxer shorts and his face
half covered in shaving cream.
"What's the matter?" He said in a panicked tone and
mom appeared in the door just behind him.
I had no idea what the matter was! I couldn't talk,
I couldn't think! Heck, I couldn't breathe!
Mom came over to my bedside, "Oh my goodness, you're
burning up!" she said to me.
"He's burning up!" she said to dad.
With my head still in my pillow and her hand on my
head, still reeling from what just happened, I looked up
at dad. I didn't know if he knew or if somehow my eyes
somehow told of the whole event but something in the way
that he looked down at me told me that maybe, just maybe
he knew.
"I am going to call the doctor!" Mom said excitedly
as she stood up and headed for the door.
Dad was still looking down at me, lying there with
only my head sticking out from under the covers and the
bangs of my hair pasted to my forehead with little beads
of sweat. There was no expression, no words, just
looking, watching, examining. He turned and walked out,
too; leaving me lying there with my heart beating so hard
I thought it might explode through my chest.
I had no idea what had just happened. I was honestly
and truly scared that I had done something very bad and
that I might have seriously hurt myself. I didn't want to
move, just in case!
"Mom is calling the doctor!" I thought to myself, "I
am dieing!"
I felt my eyes fill with tears "Oh god I don't want
to die!" I cried inside and swallowed hard.
After what seemed like an eternity but was probably
only two or three minutes, dad came walking back into my
room alone. I looked back up at him, still lost for
words. He stopped and closed my bedroom door before going
over to my desk where he picked up my chair and carrying
it over next to my bed. He set it down on the floor and
situated himself on it so that he was looking me right in
the eyes.
What happened next scared me almost as much as what
had happened moments before and when it was over, instead
of feeling relieved that I was not going to die, I felt
nothing at all. I was left lying there in my bed alone
staring past the ceiling, past the ski, past the most
distant moon of Pluto. Every word, every image that had
formed from his words bored deep, took root and began to
grow, evolve, become.
The sound of the garbage truck outside my bedroom
window brought me back to earth, back to the confines of
my own mind again. I pulled back my covers; the cool
morning air hit my sweat-covered chest and caused me to
quake as goose bumps sprung up across my arms.
The school day went along fairly normally, except
for the fact that I now seemed to have a new buddy, Peter
Alderman. Maybe I am being paranoid but all day it seemed
that between every class we were passing each other in
the halls and he was thumping me in the arm in what I am
sure he thought was a playful gesture.
At lunchtime he came over and gave me another punch
in my arm and said, "Howzit go'n?"
I rubbed my arm as he and his henchmen went to go
sit with by the milk and juice cart. I can remember
thinking to myself that someone has got to teach that big
ape how to say hello without using it fists!
I tried to keep alert all day for the red hair kid
but I never saw him. I checked all the bathrooms, the
library three times, and at lunch I sat where I could see
every single person coming out of the lunch line but he
still managed to allude me.
Gym was great today. Mr. Shaffer had us all shooting
free throws and doing jump shots. Now that is something I
like doing and you don't get all hot and sweaty. A couple
guys made fun of my shirt in gym as well as in the locker
room before and after class but I didn't pay them much
attention and they seemed to loose interests after a
while. I really like my shirt and I think they are just
jealous because they all have to wear the plane white and
blue gym shirts. I know it is big on me, but when I tuck
it into my shorts it doesn't look as bad. Yea it makes my
shorts all puffy but I don't much care about that either.
About the only other thing that happened at school
today was something that was happening inside my own
head. After the talk my dad had with me this morning,
every single girl I looked at made my insides feel like I
had been eating night crawlers.
Have you ever noticed how many bucktoothed, bug-
eyed, straw-haired, big butt or just plain ugly girls
there are in the world? Oh man! By the end of the day I
wanted to pluck my own eyes out with my pencil.
At the end of the day I stopped off at the office on
my way out to the car to get Mike's homework. I ended up
having to wait about ten minutes while the secretary was
busy on the phone. I didn't mind too much.
Finally, she hung up the phone and handed me a big
stack of books and several photocopies, which she put in
a big envelope for me so they wouldn't blow away. The
books were very heavy and with my backpack hanging from
my shoulders, already overloaded with my own books, I
ended up having to carry his things in my arms all the
way to the car.
As it turned out, dad had forgot about me stopping
to get Mike's homework and he had started to think that I
might have walked home or something. He said if I had
been one more minute he would have left. He wasn't mad;
well I think he might have been building up to mad until
he saw me struggling to get all the way to the car with
all them books.
He snickered at me from behind the wheel of the car
as I finally reached it and couldn't open the door.
"Dad, stop laughing!" my arms felt like they were
being pulled from my body.
He finally got out and came around the car. He
thought he was being funny when he came around like he
was going to help and then just took one book from the
top of the stack and start to turn away.
"Dad? Come on!" I whined.
He was really getting a kick out of tormenting me
and eventually he did open the car door. I just let the
books fall into the backseat and crawled in after them
where I made my way across the seat to the other side and
buckled myself in.
He asked me where Mike lived as he pulled away from
the curb. When I told him he offered to drive me there
before going home and I was more than willing to let him
do just that. After lugging the books from the school
office to the car I was not looking forward to having to
carry them from our house to Mike's house. Yea sure I
could have just dumped my books out of my backpack at
home and then put his into it but since dad was offering,
why pass it up?
When we pulled into their driveway I got out of the
driver's side and walked around to the other side to get
the books. Some guy that I later learned was Mike's older
brother came out and helped me carry in the books. He
looked like he was a football player or maybe on the high
school wrestling team. He was absolutely huge but his
face look like the face of a younger boy still. I found
out later when I went back over to there house that
everyone calls him 'Tater' because his name is Tate. I
don't know why they add the 'r' at the end, maybe to make
it sound cute or something.
Mike was setting on their sofa playing with his
Gameboy and looking pretty good except for his big fat
lip and really that didn't look all that bad. He also had
a big white bandage taped over his knee, which was
propped up with a pillow. I told him he didn't look bad
at all and I think it made him feel a little better. I
sensed that his brother might have been teasing him about
it or something. I'm glad I don't have an older brother
but if I did, I would want him to be as huge as Tater so
that he could protect me from all the Peter Alderman's of
the world.
Mike wanted to show me his collection of model
airplanes in his room but since dad was outside still
waiting in the car, I told him I would come over some
other time to see his models. I think he must have been
bored or lonely or something so to make him happy I
promised to come back over later when I was done with my
own homework and dinner, if I was allowed.
Mike's mom appeared from somewhere in the back of
there house and gave me a big hug when I was trying to
get out the door. She is what I call a Gusher. When she
has an emotion, she gushes it all over the place and if
you are not careful it could gush all over you too. In
the right place and at the right time gushing can be okay
and even feel really nice, but in public like at school,
getting gushed on by your mom could get you beat up and
picked on to no end!
I remember once back in fifth-grade, early in the
school year, this boy's mom came into our classroom to
bring him his lunch that he had forgotten and gave him a
kiss on his cheek before she left. That's it, just a
quick peck on the cheek and that poor boy got teased,
picked on and beat up on a regular basis for the rest of
the school year over that. I wonder whatever happened to
that kid? He probably moved far away and is living alone
in a cave somewhere!
Anyway, when dad and I got home there was a note on
the table from mom. It read:
Gone shopping!
Love Mom
Now, I don't know about dad but I was immensely
relieved that she left before I got there or she probably
would have dragged me along and I have absolutely no
plans whatsoever of ever going back to Wal-Mart. Well
maybe I shouldn't say 'never'; maybe I will go back when
I am old and gray, when no one will recognize me.
I told dad I was going to go change and do my
homework right away. He made some comment about me being
a good little something but I didn't hear what as I raced
down the hallway to my room.
When I reached my room I threw my backpack on the
floor by my desk and started to strip my school clothes
off and put them all in the dirty clothes this time. I
slipped on my army green cargo pants and a nice warm
pullover shirt before settling down to my homework.
While I was changing my clothes I was thinking about
the talk dad had with me this morning and I was really
glad he had not brought it all up again on the drive
home. I honestly wanted it all to go away, like it never
happened and I was doing my best to pretend that it
hadn't happened.
For some reason this evening I flew through all of
my homework in near record time. I only got stuck on one
Math problem and that was only briefly as I realized I
had not carried the two. In less then an hour I had all
of my Science, Math and Social Studies done and all that
was left was to read another chapter of Rumble Fish. I
decided that today was going to be another day where I
only skimmed over the chapter and hope that I didn't get
called on too much tomorrow.
Just about the same time I finished or at least said
that I was finished reading the chapter, mom came home. I
knew this because I heard dad calling me in his worst
redneck impersonation. Dad's a really big fan of that
comedian Jeff Foxworthy.
"Siiiiimmmmoooooonnnnn! Come fetch them their
vittles fur yor ma afore she goes and a strains her
milk!"
Oh man! I hate when dad tried to be funny. It is
worse then when he tries to dance and let me tell you,
that is something small children and pregnant women
should never watch. I can only describe dad's dancing
like a cat that is trying to cough-up a nasty fur ball
and taking a very long time to do it!
To save my ears from anymore of his Hillbilly humor
I ran out of my room without stopping for my shoes. I
flew around the corner into the kitchen and heard dad
say, "Stop run . . ." just before my head collided with
his elbow.
Had there been a camcorder running at that moment I
am sure we would have gotten rich when we won Americas
Funniest Home Videos and I would have been the laughing
stock of not just my family but also my school, our town
and the entire nation. Fortunately, I got no money for it
and I'm pretty sure dad didn't even see it happen but I
didn't come out totally without gain. I did get this
great welt on my forehead and a very bruised ego. Not to
mention a sort tailbone as my butt made contact with the
floor. And heck! Isn't that better then money or fame?
While I was laying on the floor writhing in pain and
noticing how pretty the stars were that were spinning
around my head, dad was leaning against the refrigerator
holding his elbow, laughing himself into hysterics and
trying to ask me if I was okay but he couldn't get the
words out.
Of course I wasn't okay, but I was laughing through
my own pain too. I don't know why I found it so very
funny 'cause man - that really hurt a lot!
Evidentially dad had been carrying in the bag of
pork chops when I collided with him, as there were pork
chops all over the kitchen floor.
Mom came in with her arms loaded and saw me on the
floor laughing and holding my head and saw dad doubled
over laughing too. And then she saw the chops sprawled
all over the floor, "What is going on in here?"
"Your evil son tried to break my elbow with his hard
head!" he managed to get all that out while still
snorting and laughing.
Mom, on the other hand, wasn't laughing. She set the
bags down on the table and came to my aid.
Dad objected, "Hey! He only hit his head, he
couldn't hurt that but my elbow might be broken!"
"Are you okay, baby?" she said as she knelt down
beside me.
I couldn't stop laughing as tears pored from my
eyes. "NO! THINK DAD KILLED MY FRICKEN HEAD!"
Except I didn't say Fricken and I didn't even
realize that I had said the F word.
I heard mom gasp and heard Dad opened the freezer
door. I looked over at him to see him pull out a frozen
bag of peas and toss them at me. They landed right on my
stomach.
"HEY!" I shouted letting go of my head to grab the
bag of peas.
"Oh my heavens!" mom gasped again, "You've got an
enormous goose egg over your left eye!"
I started laughing even harder as did dad.
"Now stop it, both of you!" she stood up, put her
hands on her hips and stomped her foot which caused dad
to double over and nearly fall to the floor laughing.
I put the frozen peas to my head as dad managed to
straighten himself back up and pull out a bag of corn
from the freezer for his elbow.
It took a while for us both to stop laughing and
when mom saw that neither of us were seriously injured
she started picking up the pork chops from the floor
while going on about living with two wild animals as she
rinsed the chops off in the sink!
Dad eventually made his way over to me and offered
me his hand from his good arm to help me up. When I
finally was standing, holding the peas to my head it hurt
and I groaned though my hysteria.
"You okay?" dad asked still laughing.
"NO I'M NOT OKAY? YOU BROKE MY POOR LITTLE HEAD!" I
shouted which sent us both back into hysterics.
Dad gave me a one armed hug and said, "Good, 'cause
I ever hear you use that word again and I'm going to
break more then your head!"
At the time, I didn't know what I had said but he
later told me what had come out of my mouth and I
apologized profusely.
It took us quite a while to get calmed down enough
to get the groceries brought in and put away because
every time one of us would look at the other we would
start laughing all over again and mom was not helping by
calling us names and making faces.
Eventually we got all the food brought in and put
away. Mom being the great mom that she was had got me two
packages of GoodNites and I had not even told her that I
was nearly out of them.
Dad and I laughed all through dinner because mom
made corn and peas along with - yea you guessed it - pork
chops.
After dinner I asked if it would be okay if I went
over to Mike's for a while. Mom didn't want me to go but
to just stay in and take it easy but dad told me, and I
quote:
"Get out of my house and never come back, you vile
beast!"
So I did but as I was leaving he said, "Be back
before dark!"
To which I just had to reply, "Don't come back! Do
come back! Which is it?"
I somehow just managed to grab my shoes and coat and
make my escape out the front door as one of the couch
pillows came flying my way.
I sat on the front porch swing and put on my coat
and shoes before I jumped off the porch and raced around
the side of the house. I ducked into the garage and
managed to get my bike out despite the two vehicles
blocking most of the garage.
There is something about being on a bike and rolling
at top speeds that really appeals to me. I love the
feeling that at any second I could wipe out. I imagine it
feels the same for Nascar drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr.
or Jeff Gordon as they whip around each turn going well
in excess of 200 mph. I can't wait until I am old enough
to drive!
As I reached the bottom of our street I slammed on
the brakes and locked up my back tire just to see how
long of a skid mark I could leave behind me. It ended up
only being about ten feet this time but I've left much
longer ones before.
I stopped and waited for a car that was backing out
of a driveway before I started for Mike's street. Since I
had skidded to a stop I was forced to walk my bike the
entire way up their hill.
Mike was standing looking out their front door when
I rolled my bike up onto their porch.
"I saw you coming!" he said as he opened the door to
me.
"Whoa! What happened to you?" he said noticing the
lump on my head.
"Oh, nothing, I just ran into my dad's elbow." I
said reaching up and covering it with my hand.
"Hey! I didn't notice earlier but you are sounding
almost normal now. I mean you are talking normal now." I
said.
"Yea," he said trying to smile.
"You want to come out?" I asked.
"Na, but you can come in!" He said excitedly.
"Yea, cool." I said following him into the house.
On the floor no more then two feet from the
television was a little girl maybe four or five years old
watching the Power Puff Girls cartoon. Mike didn't bother
to introduce her as we both walked right past her. She
didn't even pay us any mind at all and I didn't bother to
mention that I like that cartoon, too.
"Mom?" Mike shouted through the house.
"Simon's here! I am going to show him my room!"
From somewhere in the back of the house came, "Hi
Simon!"
I recognized the voice as his mom, "Hi Mrs.
Winston!" I shouted back.
We started up the stairs, "Hey, you coming back to
school tomorrow?" I asked.
I want to but mom wants me to wait until Monday to
go back.
"Oh well, if you want I can bring you your homework
tomorrow and Friday too." I said as we reached the top of
the stairs.
"Oh I've already got it and thanks for bringing it
over, too," he said leading me down the hallway.
"You do? Okay then, no problem!" I said as we passed
one room that was covered in pink everywhere and at least
a hundred little dolls and stuffed animals.
"Your little sister's room?" I asked.
"Yea, that was Lacy watching TV downstairs."
The next room was on the right and was so messy that
I couldn't even tell with a quick glance were the bed
was. The walls were covered with pictures of famous guys
like rapper Eminem, Actors Elijah Wood and Sean Astin
from Lord of the Rings and tons of other guys.
"This is my older sister's room, she is away at
French Camp and won't be back for two more weeks." he
said.
"What's French Camp?" I asked as we reached two-
closed door opposite of each other.
"She says its like school but different and everyone
there has to talk French all the time. If you get caught
talking any other language but French three times then
they send you home." he explained.
"Okay, that is just weird," I said.
"Yea, you are telling me!" He said and then pointed
to one of the two closed doors. "This here is Taters
room, don't ever go in there unless you want Tater to
pound on you!" he pointed to the room on the left.
Hanging way up high on the outside of the closed
door was a hand written sign with a bold red line and
under the line it said:
. .
YOU MUST BE THIS TALL TO ENTER!
NO EXCEPTIONS!
"This here is my room," he said opening the door
across from Taters and stepped in. I followed him in.
"Whoa!" I exclaimed.
Hanging from the ceiling by fishing line were at
least twenty model airplanes and another fifteen or more
were displayed in various places around his room. On one
wall over his bed was a picture of fighter jets flying in
formation across the ski. Across from his bed was what
looked to be a huge Aircraft carrier model half-built.
"Mike, these are awesome!" I said as I slowly spun
around, looking up at all the planes.
"Did you build all of these?" I asked.
I looked over and Mike had sat on the side of his
bed looking proud.
"Yea, well dad helped me with a few of them a long
time ago but I build and paint them all myself now," he
said, trying to smile again.
"You are really good! I mean REALL, REALLY GOOD!"
Mike was beaming.
"My dad and I tried to build an old model sailing
ship once but after a few days I think my dad lost
interest in it and it was too hard for me to do by
myself. I think it is still in the garage in an old box
somewhere." I was going from plane to plane examining
each one.
"What's this?" I asked, spotting what looked to be a
sort of rocket-plane from the future or something and it
looked so odd that I doubted it could ever fly in real
life.
Mike laughed, "Oh that is just something I did for
fun. I used all kinds of leftover parts from different
models to make it. I was just messing around one day."
"You made it in one day? Even the paint job?" I
asked.
"Yea sure!" Most of these I've built in a day and a
few of the bigger ones took me two days," he said
sounding very satisfied with himself.
"That one there" he pointed to his desk and the half
constructed model, "I started last night but I didn't get
to far on it," he said.
"You are a true artist." I complemented.
"Yea thanks! I am going to be a pilot when I get
older," he said.
Setting next to one particularly awesome plane was a
picture frame with a picture of a pilot in full flight
gear and it was sighed:
To my wonderful son
Don't ever stop dreaming!
"Is this your dad?" I asked with astonishment.
"Yea." Mike said sounding a bit glum.
I looked over at him.
"He's over in the middle east right now." he said
looking down at the floor.
"Your dad is a fighter pilot?" I said with more
excitement.
"Dude, that is so absolutely freaking awesome!" I
shouted.
Mike looked up from the floor with his eyes a little
teary but still managed to eek out a smile.
He went on to tell me all about his dad, about him
flying in the war and what he is doing in the Middle East
now. I asked at least a hundred questions and I think my
excitement over his planes and his dad really lifted his
spirits. We talked for the longest time, he explained to
me what each plane was and what was special about them.
It was really interesting and I wish I could have
remembered everything he told me but he talked so fast I
was lucky to get in my questions.
After a while Mike stopped talking about his planes
and asked, "Hey you want to see something else?"
"Sure." I said.
"Okay!" He went to the window and closed the blinds
and then pulled the curtain closed. The room dimmed but
the light from the middle of the ceiling was still
illuminating the room.
"Okay, lay down with your head at the bottom of my
bed," he said, walking over to the light switch on the
wall by the door.
I did as he asked just after instinctively kicking
off my shoes however a part of me was a little hesitant.
"Okay, now close your eyes really tight and don't
open them until I say so, okay?" he added.
"What are you going to do?" I asked trying not to
sound nervous.
"Trust me, you will like this!" he said with a
laugh.
"Yea I bet that is what the spider said to the fly
right before having him for dinner!" I laughed back and
closed my eyes.
"You got them closed?" he asked.
"Yes!" I said.
I heard the switch flicked off and I don't know how
I resisted the urge to open my eyes but I did. After only
a moment I felt Mike lay down beside me on the bed.
"You ready?" he asked excitedly.
"YES!" I squealed not sure what was going to happen.
He paused for effect before whispering, "OKAY, open
your eyes and look strait up."
It was breathtaking. The ceiling of his room was lit
up like the night sky. The entire room was engulfed in
complete darkness except for the gentle glow of little
greenish-white dots all over the ceiling. I could not see
any of the planes but I could see the black silhouette
where each was hanging.
"Wow! How did you do that?" I exclaimed.
"Special glow-in-the-dark paint. It took a whole
weekend to do it but I've got it exactly perfect." He
whispered again.
"Here, give me your hand." I felt him grabbing for
my hand and I offered it to him.
I could only tell our hands were up in the air
because they blocked out some of the stars.
"Point your finger," he said.
I did and I felt him put his finger over mine.
"That is the Big Dipper, and if you go over here."
He pointed my finger from star to star as if connecting
the dots.
"Hey! The Little Dipper!" I said.
"Yep, I've got them all up there!"
He continued to show me each constellation by
drawing them with my finger. I was totally blown away
that he did all of that on his own in only one weekend.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever dreamt that
Mike would be so cool!
After a while we heard a rapping on the door, "Boys,
it's starting to get dark!" It was Mike's mom.
"Okay!" we both called out at the same time.
"Jinks!" we said it at the same time that meant our
Jinks were countered by each other.
We laughed and I said, "I better be getting home, I
am supposed be home before it gets dark."
"Yea, okay!" Mike said getting up from the bed. A
second later the light came back on and we both groaned
and allowed our eyes to readjust from the darkness.
"Dude! You got to come up with a less painful way to
do that!" I was still covering my eyes with both hands.
"Yea, man, that hurts!" he laughed, still rubbing at
his own eyes.
My eyes slowly became accustomed to the light again
and I got up off his bed and started to slip my shoes
back on.
"Your room is really cool!" I said again.
"Thanks! Hey, you want to see if you can spend the
night Friday night?" he said excitedly.
I think my heart stopped dead and fell right into my
stomach. I went into instant defense. "I-I don't think my
mom and dad will let me."
"Oh come on! Just ask them, I can have my mom call
them and ask! She is good at talking people into stuff!
She can get them to say yes!" He was bouncing on his
toes.
"I-I-I don't know." I stammered.
"Don't you want to stay?" he asked, sounding
disappointed.
"No, I mean yes, I mean . . . I want to, but..." I
didn't get to finish my excuse.
"Okay! Then I will have mom call them right now."
And before I could protest he had opened the door and
took off running.
I hesitated for a half a second, panic stricken. My
heart had leaped from my stomach to my throat. I couldn't
breath, I felt all flushed and cold.
I took off running after him, "MIKE, WAIT!" I caught
him at the bottom of the steps.
"Listen, I-I never slept over at anyone's before," I
said, panting slightly.
Actually, that wasn't entirely true. I have slept
over at my Aunt's lots of times but that didn't really
count since she knew about my night problem and didn't
have any kids.
"Never?" the look on his face was clear that he had
never thought of that.
"I-I . . ." I couldn't get it out.
He gave me a quizzical gaze, "You mean you never
been to a slumber party or a sleep over or nothing?"
I think the fear that was inside me was escaping out
my eyes because he said, "Well okay . . . I mean, its
cool."
I could tell he was really disappointed.
Up until that moment I had always managed to avoid
being asked to sleep over at someone's house or have
someone sleep over at mine. Even my friend from school,
BJ never asked me to sleep over at his house thought I
have been over there to play lots of times and he has
been over to my house to play too. A part of me really
wanted to stay, but a bigger part of me knew if I did
Mike would find out that I was a bed wetter and that
would mean more then the end of our new friendship. It
would most likely mean that he, or one of his family
members would blab my secret either accidentally or on
purpose and I've seen how secrets can spread faster then
a fire. I just couldn't risk it, no matter how much I
wanted to be his friend.
"Well, at least come over Friday for dinner and a
movie?" he said trying to smile again.
The counter offer caught me off guard, "Uh?"
"Friday night is always movie night and I bet we
could get my mom to make her world famous spaghetti for
dinner. Come on, say yes!" he pleaded with puppy dog
eyes.
"If it is okay with your mom then okay, I will ask
when I get home." I said.
"YES!" he said a little to overly excited and then
put his hand to his lip.
"Ouch!" he managed a laugh.
"It's my turn to pick the movie so we can watch
anything you want!" he said, leading me back to the front
door.
I noticed his little sister was no longer setting in
front of the television though it was still on as we
passed by but I didn't recognize the cartoon this time.
He led me right out the front door and onto their porch.
"Thanks for coming over today and for bringing me my
books and stuff." He stuck out his right hand.
I took his hand and we shook, it was the first time
I had ever had anyone do that. It made me feel all grown
up.
"Thanks for showing me your room, I am just sorry
that it took you getting busted up in gym class for us to
become friends. Heck I didn't even know you lived so
close to me!" I said and then let go of his hand.
Mike's brother came walking around the side of the
house carrying a football with a couple other boys that
all looked as big and tough as he did. One of the guys
had flaming red hair and pail white skin. I think he
might have been an inch taller then Tater and the other
guy that was next to him. He came up on the porch first.
"Hey, little man!" he said to Mike, "Who's the other
little man?"
"I'm Simon." I said.
"He's a friend from school." Mike called me his
friend, whoa!
"Nice to meet you Simon. Nice welt you got there
too!" The read haired guy said pointing to my head, "I'm
J.R. but my friends call me Bull."
"Yea, Bull . . . I see why!" I said coving my
forehead as he stepped up beside me and gave me a thump
on the arm with the back of his hand.
For some reason I still can't shake the feeling that
I've seen Bull someplace before. I mean he looked so
familiar to me, and still does. Ah it will come to me
sooner or later.
"Yea well this here is Reggie" Bull said pointing to
the other mammoth boy, "but everyone calls him Runt."
"Runt?" I asked, cocking my head just a bit and
looking over at Runt who was built just as huge as the
other two.
Tater chimed in, "Yea, tell him why you're called
Runt, Runt!"
He gave Runt a push and what I thought was a very
hard slap to the shoulder but Runt didn't even flinch and
hardly budged but he turned about ten shades of red out
of embarrassment.
"Get off me, Tater!" Runt said, pushing Mike's
brother off him.
"Runt doesn't talk too much but don't let that fool
you. Runt here might look like a tree but he also has a
brain in there somewhere, too." Tater said locking Runt
in a headlock and thumping the top of his head with his
knuckles.
I looked over at Mike, who was looking bored. "Uh,
it was nice to meet you but I have to get home before it
gets any darker."
"Where you live?" asked Bull.
"Just a couple blocks over." I said, motioning with
my thumb over my left shoulder.
Tater was reclining on the seat of my bike. "Uh, I
need my bike."
"Oh sorry, little man!" Tater said moving aside.
Runt helped me roll it down the steps; actually he
mostly carried it down for me while I held onto one of
the handlebars.
Mike came down with me and the three guys went into
the house each in turn.
"Those guys seem pretty nice, even your brother." I
said.
"Bull and Runt are okay most of the time but my
brother is usually a big jerk when they are not around.
He just puts on a show for them." He looked up at the
house as if looking at a plate full of liver and spinach.
I was going to ask him why he looked that way but
instead thought I would hold that question. I climbed on
my bike, "You know they all have weird names. "Bull,
Tater and Runt."
We both snickered.
"What time you want me to come over Friday?" I
asked.
"I'll ask mom and then call you in about twenty
minutes okay? That should give you time to get home and
ask your parents shouldn't it? He asked.
"Oh yea, easy! I was going to ask you next what your
number was but you can give it to me when you call." I
said.
"Okay, talk with you in just a few." Mike said as I
started to peddle away.
"OKAY!" I shouted back over my shoulder.
The hill down from Mike's is just as steep as ours
and I flew down it, whipped around the corner and began
pedaling hard to keep my momentum so that I could get up
our street as far as possible but unfortunately as soon
as I rounded the corner I had to hit the brakes.
I skidded to the side as the back tire tried to come
around but I was able to hang on and ride the skid out. I
missed a bunch of trashcans by only a few inches. I shot
a dirty look at the house that the cans were setting in
front off. People shouldn't put their trashcans on the
sidewalk for crying out loud! After bailing off my bike I
walked it up the hill to our house where dad was standing
on the front porch.
"Hi dad!" I said, huffing from the climb up the
hill.
"Cutting it kind of close, weren't you?" he said as
I wheeled my bike past the porch.
"Yea, sorry," I said and vanished around the side of
the house.
After leaving my bike in the garage and entering
through the back door I found mom again in the dining
room working on her jigsaw puzzle.
"Mom, can I eat over at Mike's Friday for dinner?
Please?" I pleaded.
She looked up from her puzzle, "Uh, no this is your
brother's weekend."
"Ah mom! Please? It's only dinner! Please?" when I
want to I can really produce an excellent whine.
"What are you crying about?"
I jumped and turned to see dad standing right behind
me.
"You scared the pants off me and I'm not crying!" I
snapped.
He smiled a pleased with himself smile.
"He wants to eat dinner over at his friend's Friday
night. I've told him no!" She shot me one of those looks
as she said no that told me that I had better not push
the subject but I guess I didn't catch the full impact of
the look as I continued my pleading.
"Why do I have to be here just because Jamie is
coming over?" I complained to dad.
"Oh please! Oh please! Oh Please!" dad was mocking
my whine to mom!
"Dad, don't! I really want to go over! Mike invited
me to dinner and to watch a movie with his family!"
"Oh now it's dinner and a movie?" mom said.
"Well, yea! Every Friday night is movie night at
their house and Mike said that it is his turn to pick the
movie. He said I could choose for him! Mom, please?"
"Dad, tell her I can go?"
"Oh no you don't! You are not getting me in trouble
again!" he said throwing his hands in the air as if
surrendering and walked out of the room.
"Here's the deal." Mom said dropping the puzzle
piece she had in her hand.
Mom was as notorious for her deals as she was for
giving speeches and more times then not; I ended up on
the bed end of her deals too.
"You go call your bother and tell him you don't want
to have dinner with him and that you are going to leave
him here alone while you go and play with your friends."
She picked up another puzzle piece and went back to her
puzzle as if I wasn't even in the room anymore.
I knew that was the end of it for her and though she
didn't actually say yes, I knew I could go.
Still quite well remembering the collision with my
dad's elbow earlier I did not run from the room but
walked out just about the time the telephone rang.
"Simon, it's for you!" Dad shouted.
I went to the kitchen and picked up the phone,
"Hello?"
"Hey Simon! What did they say?"
"Hi Mike, yea I can come but it was close!" I said.
"Close?" Mike asked.
"Yea my bother is coming over this weekend." I said.
"I didn't know you had a brother!" Mike said.
"Yea well he is my half brother. He only comes over
every other weekend and this is his weekend." I said.
"Oh half brother from another marriage? That's
cool." Mike said.
"No not like that, but never mind that! I'm allowed
to come over Friday. Did your mom say it was okay?" I
asked.
"Oh yea, she said she likes you, too!" he continued,
"Oh, and she said that she will make her famous spaghetti
just for you."
"Sweet!" I said.
"So, what movie do you want to watch?" he asked.
"I have not thought about it, what kind of movies do
you like?" I asked.
"I like action movies with lots of blood and
explosions but with my little sister we can't have all
the killing and blood. Whatever it is, it needs to be
rated PG-13 or lower," he said.
"Gee, I don't know?" I said.
"How about Top Gun?" Mike offered.
"I don't know that one." I said.
"YOU"VE NEVER SEEN TOP GUN!" Mike shouted, nearly
rupturing my eardrum.
"What's it about?" I asked switching the phone to my
other ear and rubbing the one he had just exploded into.
"Jet Fighter Pilots and great dog fights! It's one
of my favorite movies ever!" Mike said excitedly.
"Okay! That sounds good to me then!" I gave in
gratefully.
"YES - OKAY! I'll see you around five then?" Mike
asked.
"OKAY! Good cause I have to stay after school Friday
and that will give me time to get home and get my
homework done or at least most of it before I come over!"
I said.
"I'll see you then!" he said.
"OKAY! Bye!" I said.
"We're going to have so much fun! Bye!" and he hung-
up.
I hang-up our phone and went to the living room
where I plopped down in front of the TV. After a while
both dad and mom joined me and I lost control of the
remote but we still watched a couple good shows before
dad announced that it was time for me to go to bed. I was
going to put up a protest but I didn't want to press my
luck and not be allowed to go Friday.
On my way to my room mom asked, "Did you call your
bother?"
"Uh?" I said.
I didn't think she had been serious about me calling
him.
"He might still be up, you better call him now," she
said.
I looked at dad who gave me that look as if to say,
"Don't look at me!"
So I trotted off to the kitchen to call Jamie.
His mom answered on the third ring.
"Hello," she answered.
"Hi, it's Simon. Is Jamie still up?" I asked.
"Oh hello Simon, yes, just a moment," she said.
She must have put her hand over the phone because I
heard her scream for Jason but it sounded all muffled.
"He'll be right here!" she said and I heard her set
the phone down.
After a couple minutes, "Hello"
"Hi Jamie, it's Simon," I said.
"Oh, what do you want?" he sounded irritated.
"Well, hello to you, too!" I said sounding snotty
back.
"Oh sorry, I thought you might be this girl from
school is all," he said.
"Nope, I am not her," I said jokingly.
"Well Duh!" he said, "So what do you want?"
"You're coming over this weekend right?" I asked.
"Yea," he said.
"Okay, I'm going over to a friend's after school
Friday and won't be back until late," I said.
"Okay," he said it like, "So why are you tell me
this?"
"Mom just said I should tell you is all." I said.
"Okay," he said.
"Okay, see you Friday then." I said.
"Bye." And he hung up before I could say good-bye.
As I was crossing through the living room mom said,
"Well?"
"I called him." I said.
"And?" she wanted more.
"And nothing. He just said okay," I declared.
She didn't seem satisfied but I didn't want to stick
around for anymore. I went to my room and closed myself
in where I undressed and got myself ready for bed.
When I opened the drawer to get out a pair of
GoodNites I found that it was full but it didn't occur to
me until just now that mom must have put them away for
me.
As I was pulling it on I was reminded what had
happened in one of these this mornings as well as the
talk dad had given me about sex and girls. I shuttered as
all those images flashed across the screen of my mind
again.
I managed to push them all back out of my head and
climbed into bed with my notebook and started to write.
Sometime later I heard mom and dad going to bed. I
looked up at the clock for the first time and saw that it
was almost 11 pm. I quickly finished what I was writing
before I closed my notebook, flicked off the light and
curled up under my covers.
Chapter 4