DAY NINE ON THE ROAD
I was awake before Joey, but I quietly laid there until he woke up. It was actually kind of nice to lie there alone with my thoughts. Back in California when I wanted to be alone I would head to the beach, grab a board, paddle out until no one was around and just sit. Let me tell you, you’ve never experienced truly being alone until you are sitting on top of a surf board where you are surrounded by nothing, but water, water, water. Sometimes it was so quiet that I could even hear my own heartbeat.
There was this one time when I had paddled out with Gary fairly late in the day. We had been out for a little while waiting on the tide to bring in some choice waves. When the waves finally started to pick up Gary picked one he liked, but I chose to duck dive under it and wait for a bigger wave. While I watched Gary disappear on the other side of the wave I felt something bump my left foot. Out there it isn’t uncommon for something like that to happen and it was usually just some fish, but on that particular day it wasn’t just some fish, it was a three foot long dolphin. I guess it was in a playful mood because a second later I saw it launch itself out of the backside of a wave. It was one of the coolest things I had ever seen, but then he disappeared, leaving me alone again. The waves seemed to be dying down somewhat and after about ten minutes I was starting to think about heading in when that dolphin returned with four of his buddies. I watched them play and swim all around and under me so long that Gary had got worried and paddled back out. I don’t know why, but I never told Gary about the dolphins. When I saw him coming toward me I began paddling toward him, leaving my new aquatic friends to play alone.
That day was one of the most peaceful days ever. However at Joey’s house it wasn’t that quiet; I could hear the raindrops dancing on the metal roof and something outside was flapping in the wind. It sounded wooden and kind of melodious in a way.
As I laid there thinking my mind drifted back in time once more to before John had lost his job and before Mom started working all the time. Given the events of the last couple days I don’t know why I hadn’t remembered before now, but now I’m able to recall every detail from the night that Mom agreed to watch the children of a neighbor whose wife was going into the hospital to have their fourth child.
It was late, I’m not sure exactly what time it was, but it had already been dark for a while, but I hadn’t yet gone to bed, when our neighbor came pounding on our front door to say that he had to take his wife to the hospital to have the baby and wanted my mom to watch his kids. So we took in their other three children; Sebastian who was 14, Sarah who was 12 and Walter who was 8.
Mom ended up giving my room to Sarah because she said that girls need more privacy then boys. That meant that Sebastian, Walter, and I had to crash on the living room floor which wasn’t all that bad; it was a lot like camping out, but without the bugs.
What made that night really weird was when Sarah had taken her older brother Sebastian to the bathroom with her. I can remember how at the time I had thought how odd it seemed for them to go into the bathroom at the same time, but I suppose I was too young back then to really understand. Shoot, back then I still believed that girls had contagious germs that I could catch if they touched me or anything of mine. When they came back out of the bathroom Sebastian sprinted for his sleeping bag and dove in feet first.
When I think back, I realize that at the time I had completely missed out on the fact that the pajamas he was wearing seemed unusually bulky. Now I can’t help, but to wonder if he, like Joey and I, was put into diapers because of a wetting problem. Then the thought struck me that his sister, his younger sister I might add, must have been the one that diapered him. Oh that thought didn’t sound pleasant to me in the least!
Something that is weird? Back then I was wetting the sheet every night and yet I don’t remember having wet that particular night. At least I don’t remember having woke up in a wet sleeping bag. Maybe I didn’t wet at all because I had been too scared of what Sebastian or Walter might say. Funny how I can remember everything else with such vivid details, but I can’t remember that bit.