“What’s the matter, Aggie?”
“It’s Denny!”
“Did you tell him about the mountains?”
“He already knew!”
“That’s nice,” Dad sighed. “…He already knew?”
“Al, he must have me gift!”
“That’s great! Imagine the money we’ll save on airfare…”
“Yea’d be a-likin’ it here, lad. A veritable feast for the eyes.”
“Yup.”
“One day, yea must see San Francisco.”
“I already have!”
“Tell me true, could yea see it plain as day, lad?”
“Sure, but…”
“Like bein’ right here beside us?”
“Sure, we were all there – me and you and Dad and…”
“Who, Denny? Tell me…who?”
“Oh, you know…” Danny whispered. “Patti was there, too!”
CHAPTER VII
Sisterhood
“Ah-ha! I caught you this time!” Dad stormed into the galley kitchen. “Don’t deny it.”
“Caught me?” Mother laughed, unconcerned. “It’s no crime to peel potatoes.”
“Did you really think you could sneak out tonight?”
“Is that what’s eating you?”
“…Like, I wouldn’t notice?”
“I’m your prisoner, is that it?” Potato wedges flew into a pot; splashes of oil sizzled on the stove. “…Guess I forgot to check with the warden.”
“I heard you on the teleph—”
“You spying on me, now?” Mother said. “That was a private conversation!”
“…Wanna call a cop?” Dad asked, tossing his wife a dime.
“I hate you!” Mother stole into the breakfast nook, slamming plates down on the table.
“Damn it, Miranda—”
“Damn it, Freddy!” Patti slapped the dinner table. “I hate you!” The two eyed their daughter, shocked. “Damn it!” she parroted with a giggle. “Damn it! Damn it!”
“Nice father-daughter bonding there, dear. …Your idea of quality time?”
Mother and Dad turned their backs on each other and retreated to opposite corners.
“All right, lay it on me,” Lynn sighed, bouncing into the room. The teen was all dolled up with silver glitter lining her head like a tiara. Blanched braids of beaded locks jangled like wind chimes. “What kind of trouble is the Pest in now, Mother? You were shout—”
“I-I-I forbid you to contact him!” Dad quavered. “I-I-I forbid you to see him.”
“Don’t you tell me what to do!”
“I’m trying to save our marriage!”
“Some marriage...”
“So help me, missy, I’ll, I’ll—”
Mother got right into his face. “You’ll what?”
“Is something wrong?” Lynn asked. “‘Cause, I’m sensing a lot of negative energy…”
“Stuff it, Lynn! Take a load off and stay awhile.”
“But, Mother, that’s so unfair!” the budding teen whined. “My friends will be here any minute to pick me up!”
“Yeah, well…life is cruel.”
“You can’t do this to me. If it were Patti, you’d let her go! Besides, you promised!”
“See that?” Dad mumbled. “I guess we all know what her promises are worth,”
“Clam up, Fred!” Mother snapped. “This is between me and my daughter.”
“No, no, no! No more!” The forgotten child burst into tears, and the forgotten pot burst into flames. Her parents scrambled, blocking each other’s paths.
“Christ, Miranda, get out the way!” Dad pushed the woman to the ground, wet a dish towel, and smothered the flames. “You left the burner on high again! How many times…”
“Back off!” Mother sunk into the chair between her daughters. Her hand propped up her head.
“So…can I go, Mother?” Lynn begged.
“Call your little friends and tell them it’s off.”
“Mother, you can’t do this to me! What will I tell them?”
“Life’s kickin’ my big fat butt every which way like a hedgehog in a cattle stampede. I don’t give a damn what you tell them.”
“That’s nice, Mother,” her older daughter groaned. “Can I quote you?”
“Damn it, Lynn! Can’t you see I got a shitload on my mind?”
Dad cleared his throat. “You mean that shithead …Tim?”
“What the hell do you know?”
“Believe me…” Dad leaned across the table. Scowling faces pressed nose-to-nose. “I know.”
“You bastard!” Mother flung juice in her husband’s face and fired the glass at the wall. It shattered with a pop.
“Stoooooooooop it!” Patti wailed like a siren, covering her ears. “Stop it, damn it!”
“Look what you’ve done!” Mother embraced her daughter. “You’ve upset my precious Patti-cakes!”
“She’s mine, too, ya know.”
“I know...” Mother frowned, circling back to the galley with her husband in hot pursuit. “That’s what’s upsetting her.”
“I’m not the one fooling around with Tim!”
“How can you be so insensitive?” Mother retrieved a glass and slammed the cabinet door. “Don’t you care?”
“Of course! I care deeply for Patti!”
“I’m talking about Tim! He’s going through a hard time, and...”
“I don’t believe this!”
“Well, it’s true. He needs me.”
“Can’t you see I love—” The man reached for his wife, but she dodged his embrace.
“Don’t touch me!” Mother drew water from the sink and guzzled a glassful. “You never loved me…” She belched in his face. “Don’t start pretending now.”
“I do love you!” Dad pounded the counter. “There, I said it! Maybe, I haven’t shown it lately, but you’re my wife!”
“Unfortunately…”
“You vowed to be faithful!”
“I had my fingers crossed.”
“How can you joke?”
“Who’s joking?”
“So…our marriage is one big joke, is that it?”
“Tim understands me. He’s sensitive and caring and fun, and...”
“And, I’m not?” Dad gazed out the window, drew a heavy sigh, and collected his thoughts. “What about us, Miranda?” He spun around and looked his wife in the eye. “Whatever happened to us?”
Mother turned away in silence.
“Damn it, answer me! Are you throwing away our marriage?”
“I don’t know!” The distraught woman covered her face and wept. “I don’t know anymore, all right?” …I’m confused! …I’m scared!”
Dad cupped his hands around his mouth. “Welcome to reality, girl!”
“I need my space, Fred! I need time…”
“What are you saying?”
“Things—” Mother choked on her words. “Things change, ok?”
“Honey, nothing’s really changed…”
“Everything’s changed!” she sobbed. “It’s all very complicated. Tim was there. I felt vulnerable… And we…well, we connected. We found each other. It was…”
“Convenient?”
“He needs me.”
“Wake up, woman! He’s using you!”
“Don’t judge him, you ass!”
“That’s it…I’m outta here!”
“Fine! I can take care of myself, ya know.”
“I’m sure you can. Just don’t burn the place down.”
“No, Daddy, no!” Patti rushed to her father’s side. “Don’t leave me! I’ll be a good girl!” Her father grabbed his coat with the girl clinging to his leg. “I’ll be good, Daddy!” she wailed. The man detached the protesting child. “I promise, Daddy! I’ll be—” The door slammed in Patti’s face. The girl burst into tears and threw a tantrum on the floor.
Patti arose, wiping her tears. She sighed and caught her breath. “Why was Daddy yelling?” The to
t gazed up at her big sister in admiration. “Why did Daddy go away?”
“This is all your fault,” Lynn snapped. “He really wanted a boy, ya know.”
“You made that up!”
“Would I lie to you? I overheard him confessing to Mother.”
She stared at Lynn through watery eyes. “…Really?”
“Trust me, snitch.” Her sibling sprouted a devilish grin. “After all, what are sisters for?”
“Ooh, I hate boys!” Patti stomped her foot. “I hate ‘em! I hate ‘em! I hate ‘em!”
That night, Patti lay awake in bed. Lynn’s words echoed in her head. He really wanted a boy…trust me, snitch…he really wanted a boy. She hugged Freddy. Tears raced down her cheeks. “I hate boys!” she growled; eyes ablaze. What are sisters for?…he really wanted a boy …trust me, snitch… this is all your fault … would I lie to you? Patti wrapped her icy hands around the bear’s neck and proceeded to squeeze. “I hate boys, and I hate you!”
* * *
“No air!” The guest of the Strong household shot up in bed, clenching his throat. His voice was raspy; his breathing shallow. “No air!”
“Wake up, Danny!” Mr. Strong snapped his fingers before the boy’s glazed eyes. Danny did not blink. “You’re dreaming.”
“What is it, Mommy?” Debbie yawned, strolling into the spare bedroom. She rubbed her sleepy eyes. “What’s wrong with Danny?”
“Go back to bed – both of you!”
Mrs. Strong ignored her husband and held her daughter near.
“Can’t…breathe!”
“Shhhh…” Mr. Strong rubbed his back. “Don’t talk.”
“Stop…it!” Danny thrashed about. “She’s…hurting—”
“No one’s hurting you, son” Mr. Strong assured.
“What in the world?” Mrs. Strong asked.
“Mum…pull…harder!”
* * *
“Damn it…” Patti squeezed the bear’s neck until her fingernails penetrated the fur. Tears streamed down her face. “I hate you!” Patti sat up in bed, laughing hysterically – long and hideously evil.
* * *
“She’s… she’s…” The possessed boy inhaled as if to catch his final breath. “She’s got her hooks in me!”
“Danny, stop it!” Debbie cried. “You’re scaring me now!”
“Quit choking me, Patti!”
“Who’s this Patti person?” Mrs. Strong asked, mid-yawn.
“Get off me!” Danny bossed. “Let go of my neck!”
“Some girl he saw at the pool today.”
“Oh? A new friend?
“Quit it!!!”
“We must invite her over…”
“Mom, pleazzzzzze!” Debbie rolled her eyes.
“Damn it, Patti, stop laughing at me!”
“What did he say?”
“Nothing I care to repeat,” Mr. Strong snapped. “Debbie, get to bed!”
* * *
“I hate you!” Patti thrashed Freddy against the headboard until the smiling bear disintegrated into shreds. “I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!”
“What’s wrong, darling?” Mother called from the hall. There came no reply. Mother approached Patti’s bed, wading through a blizzard of fluff.
* * *
Danny’s limp body collapsed on the bed. His head sank into the pillow. Mrs. Strong placed her ear up to his mouth. “He’s breathing fine now,” she reported.
“It must have been one of those dreams,” Mr. Strong whispered, “as his parents had cautioned.”
“Let him rest,” Mrs. Strong agreed.
“Geez, he looks like a rag doll,” Debbie gasped, “with all his stuffing gone!”
* * *
“Did you do this?” Mother asked, handing her daughter the teddy bear’s severed head.
“Someone sure knocked the stuffing out of him, huh?” Patti laughed.
“Looks that way.”
“I didn’t do it!”
“Well, then…who did?”
“Maybe somebody else.”
“Someone else did this?”
“I said maybe!”
“That’s my little lady.” Mother stumbled to the door and stepped into the hall. “Good night.”
“Mother?”
“Go to sleep, precious…”
“What will we do about them?”
“Them?” Mother turned back into the bedroom.
“Boys. I hate them all!”
“Get some sleep, pumpkin…”
“Daddy really didn’t want me?” Patti wept. “How could Daddy be so mean?”
Mother knelt beside Patti’s bed. “Your father’s a horrible man.”
“So, he left?”
“Trust me, it’s all for the best.”
“What’ll we do?”
“Just leave everything to me…”
“…Without Daddy?”
“Trust me. You do trust me…don’t you, darling?”
“Yes, Mother.” Patti snuggled under the covers.
“Soon, you’ll have a new family. How’s that sound? Just you and me.”
“And, a new daddy, too!!!”
“Hmm? …A new daddy?”
“A new daddy! A new daddy! …What’s his name?”
“Right, dear. What’s his name.”
The girl yawned, half-asleep. “Will he like me, Mother?”
“Trust me…” the woman assured. “After all, doesn’t Mother know best?”
CHAPTER VIII
First Comes Love
“Rrrr-uff!” Misty snarled at the front door. “Ah-woo-woo-woo! Ruff, ruff, ruff!”
“Debbie! Danny!” Mr. Strong called. “There’s a surprise here for you.” The excited tots dressed in a hurry and ran to the living room where two reporters waited to greet them.
“These must be our conquering heroes,” a charming lady said. The shell-shocked children instantly recognized the woman from the local TV news. She was tall and slim with curly hair. She wore a maroon sport coat with a small microphone clipped to her blouse. A large, golden “6” in a circle clasped her kerchief.
“I’m your roving reporter, Tonya Roxford. And, this is my cameraman, Lou Blake.” The group shook hands, exchanging pleasantries. “I understand two ambitious pioneers live here.”
“That’s correct, Tonya.” The familiar voice was that of their neighbor, Robby Bryson. Hand behind his head, he lounged in a recliner and waited to reap the joy from the seeds he sowed.
Debbie and Danny were speechless unable to comprehend what was happening. The reporter knelt to address her diminutive subjects. “Robby here informed Channel 6 how you’re out to change the world.”
“Gee, I wouldn’t go that far…” Danny blushed.
“That’s why we want to hear it in your own words,” Tonya explained. “Why don’t you both take seats on the sofa? And Lou, set the camera up about here…”
“Are we going to be on TV?”
“You sure are… Tonight’s evening news.”
“Tonya, I’ll need them to move closer together,” the camera man gestured.
“…Honest?” Debbie squirmed beside her partner.
“Now, don’t be nervous,” Tonya smiled. “I’m just going to ask you a few questions.”
“Are you two brother and sister?” the cameraman asked.
Debbie reached for Danny’s hand. “No, silly!” The two laughed at the mere thought of this. “He’s my boyfriend!”
“Puppy love, huh? Better watch these two, Mr. Strong.”
“Don’t I know it!”
Lou flicked on a lamp atop the camera. The children squinted in the blinding light. “And, we’re rolling...”
“I’m Tonya Roxford, your roving reporter. Tonight, meet two remarkable children out to change the world: Deborah Str—”
“Debbie!” she insisted. “Call me Debbie.”
“Ok, Debbie…and Daniel?”
“Ormont. Danny Ormont.”
?
??They have been chosen to receive this month’s Good Neighbor award,” Tonya continued.
Debbie and Danny stared at each other; their faces frozen in surprise. “And, what a good neighbor to have – none other than Mister Elixir himself, Robby Bryson,” the reporter continued. “Robby, tell us…why you have chosen to nominate these two kids?”
“I discovered these young volunteers cleaning up the neighborhood,” Mr. Bryson explained.
“And, they’ve been working hard at it all week!”
“What made you think to do it, Danny?” Tonya inquired.
“Actually, it was all Debbie’s idea.”
“Debbie, perhaps you can enlighten us…”
“It was the Weeping Warrior!” the girl piped up. “He told us to do it.”
“Seriously?” Tonya said, impressed. “He told you this, did he?”
“Not me, silly goose… He’s telling everyone! We must all pitch in to do our part.”
“Debbie and me just figured it’s something us kids can do.”
“And, how big of an area did you cover?”
“We’re working our way around the block,” Danny said. “We’re not allowed to go very far.”
“Do you think other kids will follow your example?”
“We hope so,” Debbie said. “Especially the Grumps. They should be cleanin’ up their own mess, too.”
“Grumps?”
“The grown-ups…” the girl continued. “They’re always telling kids to clean up, right?”
“Oh, I see. So, you’re asking for their help in return?”
“If only the Grumps cared, we’d all share the bestest reward of all.”
“Well spoken, young man,” the reporter commended. You’re certainly an inspiration to us all.”
“Even doing a little bit can make a big difference,” Debbie added.
“You two certainly have proven that you don’t have to be a philanthropist to do good.”
“Thanks…I think,” Debbie said. “What’s a philanderer?”
Tonya belly-laughed. “I think you mean philanthropist.”
“Yeah, that,” Debbie replied. “Whatever that means…”
“Philanthropist? Why, uh…” the reporter floundered. “It’s a kind, wealthy person.”
“Oh, sure,” Debbie said. “Even philanderers should try to make a difference.”
“Cut!” The woman burst into fits of laughter. “Robby, why don’t you stand next to the kids while I present the award?” Tonya said at last, catching her breath.
Lou framed the scene with his hands. “Even better, he should sit between them on the couch.” Robby followed the cameraman’s direction and sat on the couch. “…Action!”
“Now, on behalf of the Channel 6 Good Neighbor program,” Tonya said. “I am pleased to present each of you with this community medal, and...”
“Wow!”
“Here’s a $100 savings bond for each of you.” Tonya concluded.