She handed his dollar back to him, and he stuffed it into his front pocket. Then she grabbed a brown lunch bag from behind the counter and slipped his soda inside. Next, she tossed a couple candy bars in.
Mr. Cleary, still peeking over the newspaper, got annoyed at the free candy bars. “Why don’t you bring your dad over, Danny, and take everything in the store!”
“Oh hush!” Faye said. “Now go home Danny. Next time we get Banana Man, I promise I’ll hold a copy for you.”
“Will not!” snapped Mr. Cleary.
She shot a glance at her husband, and he quickly hid behind the newspaper again.
“Thanks,” Danny said. It wasn’t much consolation for losing Banana Man, but every kid loved soda and candy bars, even more so when they were free.
“You’re welcome honey. Now go home to your father,” she said.
Danny walked out the door, and Faye followed him outside.
She stood on the wooden porch under the eave and leaned against a support post with badly chipping paint. She watched Danny while he walked away, his little hand clutching the brown bag.
Before he rounded the first block, he glanced back to see if she was still standing on the porch of the old store. She was, and she was still watching him. She smiled and waved. Although he didn’t understand why, he liked that she kept watching him. It made him feel good. He waved back, and then he turned the corner and couldn’t see her any more.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
$10,000
Danny walked the rest of the way home in the failing sunlight. His muddy clothes stuck to his skin, and the cold air made him think about the warm fire at home. The oak logs would be burning strong by now. The living room would be warm. He wanted to sit in his dad’s lap and fall asleep in his arms.
He didn’t drink his soda or eat one of the candy bars. He wasn’t in the mood. But he was glad to have them despite the fact his one and only chance to get the second edition of Banana Man was lost. He’d take the candy bars to school tomorrow, or maybe his dad would take them to work.
He entered the house, slipped the soda inside the fridge and set the candy on the kitchen table, and then went into the living room. Warm air greeted him. The oak logs burned bright and hot, and his dad relaxed on the recliner, enjoying the heat. When his father saw Danny, he laughed and said, “What in the world happened to you? Why are you covered in mud?”
“Charlie the dog tried to kill me when I cut through Tucker Street Alley, and I fell. Then officer Tibbs tried to give me a ticket. He’s mean. And later – ” Danny said, before his dad cut him off.
His dad pointed toward the back door of the house. “Outside. Knock the mud off your clothes. Take a shower and get cleaned up. You can tell me about your day when you’re done.”
Danny did as instructed and thirty minutes later came back into the room, showered and clean, and wearing pajamas.
His dad said, “Much better. Now, tell me what happened. Did you get your comic book? Did you get Banana Man?” The big man leaned back in the recliner, his hands clasped behind his head.
Danny sat down in front of the fire. “No! Mr. Cleary sold it even though he promised to keep it for me. He even hid it behind the counter. But when Chris got there he let him have it. ‘A bucks a buck!’ he said, ‘get here earlier next time!’ He’s a mean old man. I was late because Officer Tibbs almost gave me a ticket for crossing train tracks, and he sprayed a dog in the face with poison and punched Peter’s dad.” Danny paused in telling the story; his hard working father that left early in the morning and got home late in the afternoon, had fallen asleep. He quietly snored on the recliner. Danny sat beside the fire and watched him sleep for several minutes.
His dad snored once real loud and woke himself up, and then sat up. He rubbed his face with both hands and yawned. It took him a few seconds to focus in on Danny sitting by the fire. “Sounds like you had a fun day.” Next to the recliner was Danny’s backpack. His dad grabbed it. “Go through the mail. Don’t give me any bills or junk mail.” He tossed it to his son.
Danny unzipped the backpack and started taking the mail out. Without the rubber band holding it all together, the bundle of letters had become a messy bundle of letters. He took his time taking each piece out and stacking them into a neat pile in front of the fireplace; the larger envelopes on the very bottom and the smaller ones on top. Then he slowly and carefully examined each piece, holding it up to the firelight to see who sent the letter.
“Well?” his dad said.
“What?” Danny said with a shrug. “It’s all bills. You said not to give you bills.” The next piece of mail was a thick package, heavy and dense. Curious about what was inside, he held it up to the firelight to read the return address.
His dad immediately held out his hand. “Let me see that.” Danny handed it to him.
His dad opened the envelope and pulled out a stack of photographs that were taken on Danny’s birthday. Danny took a seat on the recliner’s arm for a better view, and father and son looked through the photos together.
There were many pictures of Danny and his friend Chris, and the twins Billy and Tom. Some showed them eating cake and ice cream, and others showed Danny opening his presents. Near the end of the stack his dad stopped at a particular photo. In the picture Danny held up the first issue of Banana Man for the photograph while his mom held him in her arms. Both of them were smiling; Danny at the comic book and his mom at her son.
“You really like that comic, don’t you?”
“It’s the best,” Danny said.
“I remember taking this photo. Your mother mailed in the roll to get developed. It’s cheaper when you mail it in. I thought the photos would get here sooner.” He handed it to Danny. “It goes in the frame on the mantel.”
Danny took the photograph. He opened up the empty photo frame and reassembled it with the photo inside, and then put it back.
“That looks good,” his dad said. He pointed at the pile of mail on the floor. “Now keep going until you’re done.”
Danny held up an envelope from Davis Insurance out of Brentwood, Oregon. He handed it to his father. His dad lifted it to the firelight so he could read it. “So this is what required a signature.” Whatever it was, it was either a surprise or his dad wasn’t expecting it so soon. Danny couldn’t be sure.
Much to Danny’s delight, the last piece of mail was a giant yellow envelope addressed to him.
While Danny examined the big envelope from top to bottom, his dad opened the letter from the insurance company. He held a check up to the firelight. “$10,000 for a life, how about that,” his dad said, and then continued talking, but Danny didn’t hear anything he said. The boy was mesmerized by the big envelope.
Danny examined every inch of it. It wasn’t bent; not a single wrinkle on the outside. Not even a crease. The contents were stiff like a sheet of cardboard. He flipped it over and read the name of the sender: Tomahawk Publishing. They were located in Eugene, Oregon. Danny recognized the name of the company and wondered why they would be sending him a package.
He carefully opened the envelope and pulled out a pristine copy of the latest issue of Banana Man. It was inside a protective sleeve that was sandwiched between two pieces of cardboard. He glanced at his father, figuring maybe his dad had bought it for him, but his dad was still talking about something Danny wasn’t listening to. The comic didn’t come from his dad.
There was a cover letter inside. Danny read it:
Dear Danny Zuco,
Please find enclosed your first of twelve issues of Banana Man. Your subscription is courtesy of:
Happy Birthday Danny!
You loved the first one so much I bought you the next 12!
Love,
Mom
When Danny finished reading the letter, he noticed his dad had stopped talking and drifted to sleep again. His dad was always tired.
Danny ran to his bedroom and pulled out a wood framed box from under his bed that matched the one on the wall containing th
e first issue of Banana Man. He had been saving the frame for the second issue.
For the next thirty minutes Danny carefully worked on framing the comic. At some point during that time his dad woke up and joined him, and father and son finished the project together. His dad drilled a couple holes in the wall. Danny inserted the wall anchors, and next thing you know, both issues of Banana Man were hanging on the wall beside each other. And for the first time that day Danny felt at ease.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Bedtime
While Danny lay in bed waiting for his dad to come in and say goodnight, he admired both issues of Banana Man from across the dimly lit room. He could barely make out Buster the Bull on the cover of the second issue, but Banana Man stood out bright and strong on both covers even in the dim light. He was a real super hero.
Danny had accomplished what he set out to do that day. He was now the proud owner of the first two issues of Banana Man, and both were perfectly framed and hanging on the wall opposite his bed. Thanks to his mother, of course. And also thanks to her, he didn’t have to worry about buying the next eleven issues from Cleary’s Market. Each issue would be delivered in pristine condition, straight to the mailbox from the publisher. Eleven issues – that was twenty-two months of not worrying about buying the comic.
He still felt a little scared when he thought about Charlie biting his bike, and Mr. Duncan punching the dog, and everything else that happened afterward with Officer Tibbs. Thinking back on the events that happened that afternoon, Danny felt a little overwhelmed, and he felt like crying. But like earlier in the day, he kept his emotions in check. Not too long ago, his dad asked him to be strong.
When his dad finally entered the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, he heard Danny sniffle a couple times, and he knew his son was on the verge of tears. His dad placed a reassuring hand on Danny’s chest. “I’m not working tomorrow, and you’re not going to school. We’re getting up early and going fishing. We’ll stop and get you a donut and chocolate milk, and then head out to the creek. We’ll catch more fish like last time.”
Danny held his father’s hand.
“But after we get back we need to straighten up this house. All the overtime I’ve been taking hasn’t left much time for me at home.” He glanced at the pile of muddy clothes in the corner of the room. “We need to wash those clothes. Sorry I haven’t bought you a new raincoat. Your old one was in your mom’s car.” His dad paused for a moment, and then said, “It’s just you and me now.”
Danny stared across the room at the first issue of Banana Man and thought about his mother. He remembered his birthday party and how she gave it to him. He remembered the moment he unwrapped the comic book, and he remembered how good it felt when she hugged him. Although he hadn’t read either issue, he was glad to have them. He would collect them all, and frame them all. They reminded him of his mother.
“I haven’t cried, dad. You told me to be strong.”
His dad patted his son’s hand. “Sometimes it’s okay to cry. Sometimes it’s all we have.”
Danny felt himself letting go, and the tears almost started again, but his dad began talking about something else. “I want to talk to you about Officer Tibbs,” his dad said.
Danny frowned, and his tears shut off. He didn’t want to talk about that man. “I can see why everyone hates him. He sprayed a dog in the face and punched Peter’s dad. Because of him I was late getting to Cleary’s.”
His dad shook his head. “You’re wrong about him. Officer Tibbs is a good man. He tried to save your mother, Danny, but he got there too late.” He paused momentarily, and turned his head slightly away. “He tried to save her. He tried to pull her from the burning car.”
Danny and his father were silent for a while, and in those few minutes Danny remembered his mother’s funeral on that cold afternoon.
He remembered getting fitted for a black suit. He remembered everyone standing in the mist on that grassy hillside, huddled together under black umbrellas, listening to the pastor. He remembered Ms. Jacobson being there. She was real nice. She hugged him several times and kept dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. She stood behind him and kept her hands on his shoulders while the pastor talked. Mr. and Mrs. Cleary were there too. Mrs. Cleary hugged his dad for a long time and wouldn’t let go, and Mr. Cleary shook Danny’s hand real firm. He remembered staying late after everyone else went home, and he remembered holding his dad’s hand while they watched the casket being lowered into the ground.
Although Danny didn’t know much about death, he knew he missed his mom. He didn’t like waking up alone in the house before school, especially now that his dad was working overtime. For breakfast he ate cold cereal by himself instead of cheese eggs with his mom. And he didn’t like coming home to an empty house. He always felt sad when he got home from school.
“It’s just the two of us now,” his dad said again. “In a few weeks I’ll get a different job so you won’t be alone so much. Until then, I need you to stay strong.”
“Dad, can you take me grocery shopping after we get back from fishing? Like mom used to?”
“Sure.”
“Will you hold my hand?”
His dad nodded. “Yes.”
“I got the paper. We can clip coupons before we go.”
“Get some sleep, Danny. We’re getting up early.” His dad kissed him on the forehead and said good night, and shut the bedroom door.
Alone in his room, it didn’t take long before the tears started again. This time Danny let them flow, and they soaked into his pillow while he sobbed for a good long while.
It had been almost six weeks to the day since his mother wrecked her car in the rain on that fateful Saturday morning, the same day Danny and his dad went fishing.
It was the first time Danny cried since his mother died. He loved her very much, and he missed her every day. That was partly why he cried himself to sleep that night. Mostly though, it was because he finally realized his mother was never coming home again.
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