by Roxe Anne
The tears start flowing down Mama’s cheeks as she tells Aunt May and Uncle Jimmy what has taken place. Everyone can see the bruises on Mama’s arms. She also has finger prints on her right wrist where Uncle Frank grabbed her and twisted her arm behind her back.
Aunt May straightens up the kitchen, not looking too happy about the whole situation. “Are your bags packed so we can go soon, kids?”
“We packed awhile ago, Aunt May,” Katie says.
Aunt May turns her back to Katie and looks at Mama disgustingly. “Dot, you better freshen up a bit and put some clean clothes on before you go see Frank! You don’t want anyone to see you looking like this do you?” Aunt May takes a puff of her old smelly cigarette. “Jimmy, make sure those kids are packed, and I’ll get Dot moving!” She flicks her cigarette letting the ashes drop onto our clean kitchen table.
Someday Aunt May is going to burn our house down. She either has a cigarette in her hand or a cup of coffee. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is. I guess her smoking on those cigarettes keeps her from eating everything in sight and getting as fat as an old cow. Uncle Jimmy always did say he won’t stand for his woman to be fat and sassy like his Mama was.
Chapter Twelve
Riley takes Mama to the hospital in his car. We have to ride in Aunt May and Uncle Jimmy’s old station wagon. Billie and Katie are asleep before we get a block away from home. I force myself to stay awake to see what future plans might await us.
Aunt May whispers. “Missy, you awake back there?”
“Yes, Aunt May, I’m awake,” I answer yawning. “I can’t help but worry about Mama.”
“You better hope your Mama comes and gets you brats later today or you’ll have to find someplace else to stay. I’ve got enough kids to feed and look after!”
I’m glad it’s dark so Aunt May doesn’t get the satisfaction of seeing tears flowing down my cheeks. Sometimes I think Aunt May just hates kids. When we stay at Aunt May’s house, she makes us go to bed before eight on the weekends.
Aunt May and Uncle Jimmy stay in bed till noon. We aren’t to disturb them. I sleep in Rita’s bed. When we wake, she wants to know all the details of the night before. I exaggerate and tell her Mama killed Uncle Frank. I wasn’t really lying because Uncle Frank might be dead by now. I’m sure we will all find out later when Mama calls.
Billie is lucky. He gets to sleep with Bobby. They have plenty of comic books to read to pass the time away. Some of them are even new.
Katie gets to sleep on the couch in the living room by herself. There is a black and white television set in that room. In the morning she can quietly turn on the television and watch cartoons. I imagine she might even make a telephone call to Charlie while everyone else is asleep. He will want to know all the details about Mama and old Uncle Frank.
• • •
We all have to wait to use the bathroom until Uncle Jimmy is done. He has a stash of books in the bathroom that could fill three shelves in our study. It takes him forever to come out of there. I’m thinking for sure I will wet my pants. I even contemplate going out behind one of the trees in their backyard; but their neighbors are closer than ours.
Aunt May and Uncle Jimmy sit at their red chrome kitchen table and drink two pots of coffee while they puff on their Camel cigarettes. We kids have cornflakes, milk, and toast for breakfast at noon. I’m not too hungry anyway. I am waiting for news from Mama. If the news is bad and old Uncle Frank is dead, I’m sure we will all go to an orphanage. We know kids who are orphans who go to our school. They already told us how much they hate living there.
It is around one in the afternoon when Mama finally calls Aunt May. For us kids it seems like a lifetime. We can only hear one side of the conversation, but we still figure out old Uncle Frank is alive and as well as can be expected with him getting hit over the head with a rolling pin. He is coming home soon. Chief Riley is at the hospital still taking statements from Mama and Uncle Frank.
When the hospital releases Uncle Frank, Uncle Riley takes them home. I sure like Uncle Riley. It is too bad he isn’t still our uncle. Aunt May will take us home later, after Mama has time to settle Uncle Frank in.
Katie, Billie, and I look at each other relieved. We are sure glad we don’t have to spend another night at Aunt May’s. I am glad Uncle Frank isn’t dead so Mama doesn’t have to go to jail and we don’t have to go to an orphanage, but I sure wish he was going home to any house but ours.
Katie is in a hurry to get home. She has a date with Charlie tomorrow. They are going to go to the outdoor movie theater with some of their friends to watch a new Dracula flick. She knows if she can’t go, Charlie will take someone else. Now she will have enough time to set her hair with her big bristly rollers and paint her nails.
• • •
Aunt May makes her special Hungarian Chicken Paprikash, homemade Hungarian noodles and fresh baked bread before she takes us home. It takes her almost three hours to cook her special meal. She says it’s because she makes it with love. She looks so happy cutting every noodle out while she sings country western songs along with the radio. There is a beautiful breeze coming from the kitchen window which makes the aroma of the bread baking heavenly. All the different smells of the food is making my mouth water.
Aunt May’s Hungarian Chicken Paprikash is one recipe Mama hasn’t mastered. Aunt May says the secret to her recipe is using the best sweet Hungarian paprika she can afford. The meal usually is served at Easter or Christmas. I guess Mama not killing old Uncle Frank and Aunt May not having to worry about taking care of us kids is a special occasion.
Uncle Frank is in bed when we get home. He says he feels like a truck has run him over. His head is black and blue and as large as one of the pumpkins on doorsteps at Halloween; all smashed in.
Mama is sure happy to be home. I think she thought she was never going to see our house again.
She is all dressed up in some new clothes Uncle Frank purchased for her the week before. She looks like a million bucks!
“May, you shouldn’t have gone to all the trouble of fixing your special Hungarian Chicken Paprikash. You have done enough just taking care of the kids for a spell. How can I ever thank you?”
“Dot, the only thing I want is for you to sit yourself down at that table and eat with us. I’m just glad you’re home to take care of your kids. Lord, I have enough trouble taking care of my own!” Aunt May says matter of fact.
Mama takes in all the aromas of Aunt May’s special dinner. She helps Aunt May set the table so we can have a feast fit for a queen. Uncle Frank still doesn’t have an appetite. Uncle Jimmy says it is okay with him. He will just eat Uncle Frank’s share of the food. I don’t know how Uncle Jimmy stays so skinny.
We eat until our stomachs are about to explode. Our meal never tasted better. We have a lot to celebrate.
The next day Mama and Uncle Frank are back to sitting in the red velvet, overstuffed chair in the living room kissing and making out like there is no tomorrow. Uncle Frank’s head looks like a rotting pumpkin. I don’t know how anyone can look at him let alone kiss him.
• • •
Katie gets ready to go on her date with Charlie and his friends. She is extra nice to me and Billie since Mama hit old Uncle Frank in the head with the rolling pin. I think she is feeling protective of us.
“Mama, can Missy and Billie go to the movies with Charlie and me? We are going to see Kiss of the Vampire, over in Dixon. We promise we won’t do anything stupid!” Katie pleads.
“Are you sure you’re not going to drop those kids off somewhere, Katie? I don’t want to have to go looking for any kids tonight. I told Frank we are just going to have a nice quiet evening at home.”
“Mama, with all of us kids gone it will be nice and quiet for you,” Katie suggests.
“I suppose. I don’t want any speeding and I don’t have much money to give you for treats at the concession stand. You’ll have to make yourselves some popcorn to take with.”
“Thanks f
or letting them go. I promise we’ll be good and don’t worry about us. You just relax and enjoy yourself!”
Uncle Frank calls us over to the chair he is sitting in. He whispers. “If you kids cause any trouble tonight, your Mama won’t have to buy fish bait the next time she goes fishing, you’ll be the bait. I don’t know why you couldn’t just stay at May and Jimmy’s. Your Mama and I get along just fine when you kids aren’t around. Too bad for you I didn’t die!”
Katie looks at Billie and me. “We won’t cause any trouble, Uncle Frank!”
I am glad I don’t have to sit around and watch Mama and Uncle Frank kiss all night, but I’m not sure about watching a vampire film. I think the movie and old Uncle Frank will give me nightmares. I will have to sleep with the covers over my head for a week.
Chapter Thirteen
Katie and I pop popcorn to take to the outdoor theater. We fill four brown paper bags full and top each one with lots of butter and salt. Mama gives us each some money for a soda pop, but I’m not too sure I want anything to drink.
“Missy, Billie, you better bring a pillow and blanket in case you want to sit outside to watch the film,” Katie suggests.
“That’s a great idea. I sure won’t want to stay in the back seat of the hot old stuffy car and watch you and Charlie kissing all night!”
“Me, neither!” pipes up Billie. “I get enough of watching that mushy stuff from Mama and Uncle Frank.”
“You two just cut it out right now or I’m not taking you with. Do you hear me? Maybe I should just leave you home with old Uncle Frank!” Katie says aggravated.
“Okay, Okay, we won’t bother you. But what if I have to go to the bathroom?” I ask.
“You’ll either go by yourself or you’ll have to wait for intermission.”
Katie and Charlie can have the whole car to themselves. Billie and I will just sit out on the gravel on blankets and not bother them. We are just lucky they are allowing us to go to the movies.
• • •
It is taking longer than usual to get through the gates at the outdoor theater. The car in front of us is being searched by attendants to see if there are any extra kids hiding under blankets or in the trunk. How the theater knows kids are hiding is beyond me. I counted six kids in the car and three more popped out of the trunk. They make them all pay and then they let them go through the gate. They sure must not be scared of the dark to be in the trunk.
We watch previews of upcoming movies in the car with Katie and Charlie. We all agree that when Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds comes to the theater we will go see it together. Being attacked by birds won’t frighten me as much as vampires; my Grandma Irene has pet parakeets.
At dusk, everyone starts honking their horns and flashing their headlights for the movie to begin. I enjoy this part of the theater. It makes my heart pound with anticipation.
“You guys have to take your blankets and popcorn outside now. The movie is about to start.” Katie says smiling.
“Okay, Okay, we’re going. We’ll get a better breeze out there anyway. It’s hot in the back seat!” I say, as I slide out between the seats.
• • •
There are quite a few kids sitting on blankets in front of vehicles, in back of trucks, and on top of cars. This makes me feel a lot safer. There will be a lot of victims for the vampires to choose from. Mama told us kids when she was younger; a vampire attacked a girl around here somewhere and drank all her blood. I’m not going to let that happen to me or Billie.
When the previews start, I inch closer to Billie. With only having two blankets I might need one to cover my head when the movie starts. Billie doesn’t mind. He has already eaten half of his bag of popcorn and wants to know if he can share some of mine later.
The movie is set in Bavaria in 1910. A couple on their honeymoon are driving on an old dirt road in the middle of nowhere, when they discover that they are lost, running out of gas, and nothing is around them but a dark scary wooded area.
They end up at a hotel with one other guest; an alcoholic professor. They get a letter requesting they join Dr. Ravna for dinner at his castle in the mountains. The inn keepers urged them to do so.
For the first half of the movie, I make it without anything to drink or going to the bathroom. I don’t even cover my head too much. Just as the movie begins getting scary, I get thirsty and decide I can’t wait any longer to go pee. I know Katie won’t take me. In fact, I don’t think Charlie and Katie even remember we are along.
“Billie, will you go with me to the restroom? We can get us a soda at the concession stand. Please? I don’t think I can wait for intermission!”
“I guess, but it’s at the good part now.”
“We can watch the screen all the way to the concession stand and you can still see the movie from inside, through the big picture window. If you get both our drinks, it won’t take us as long.”
We walk quietly in the dark to the concession stand, keeping our eyes on the screen all the way there. When we get in front of one of the big light poles close to the women’s restroom, a bat flies over us.
“Billie, run, it’s a vampire!” I scream so loud the girl in the car next to me screams, too. This let out a chain reaction of screams which frightens me even more as I watch a vampire on the screen get attacked.
Horns start blaring all around us and people begin hollering for us to be quiet.
Billie makes it to the front of the women’s restroom before me.
“Missy, are you all right? Did the bat bite you?” he asks, out of breath and frightened. “You’re not going to turn into one of those vampires, are you?”
“No. I think the screams scared him off, and I’m definitely not turning into any blood thirsty vampire!”
“I’ll wait right here for you, Missy. Make it quick. I’m scared the vampire will come back and attack us!”
I don’t know how I made it to the bathroom. When I saw the bat flying over my head, it almost scared me to death. Maybe the bat can find someone else to drink blood from and leave Billie and me alone.
Billie and I go inside the concession stand together to get our soda pop. When the girl behind the counter is making our drinks, someone comes up from behind us and taps me on the shoulder.
I let out a scream that can be heard all over the theater. The girl behind the counter jumps about ten feet and drops our soda pops on the floor.
Katie’s hands are firmly planted on her hips like Mama’s. “Are you two all right? I heard you scream clean from Charlie’s car. What on earth happened? You’re making me miss the movie!”
Billie rattles on as fast as he can get the words out of his mouth. “We saw a bat. It was going to turn into a vampire…and drink our blood…right there on the spot!”
An older lady next to us started roaring with laughter. I thought for sure she was going to drop dead; she is bent over and holding her side.
“Get your drinks. I’ll walk you both back to the car. And don’t leave my sight again. You already embarrassed me enough for one night!” Katie says sternly.
Katie holds her head high. She doesn’t even pay attention to all the people staring at us as we walk out the door. Katie is just mad because we interrupted her and Charlie kissing. I don’t know if she even knows what the movie is really about.
Chapter Fourteen
We are going to go to Grandma Irene’s fifty-eighth birthday party. Step-Grandpa Roy McCaffey will probably get drunk as usual. He is Irish with red hair and a fiery temper to match. I never like going to Grandma Irene’s house much when he is there. It is like watching a storm brewing for hours, and when it finally hits, it is full-force.
They live on a farm in Oregon, Illinois about twenty minutes from our house. They have about 500 acres they farm. Grandma Irene works real hard. I don’t think she ever gets any rest. She is thin and looks like she is a lot older than she really is.
Roy is a few years younger than Grandma Irene. No one ever mentions his exact age to us, so we real
ly don’t know how much younger he is. His hair is starting to turn strawberry-blond. He won’t get gray like Grandma. He is tan and has a lot of freckles on his arms. Sometimes I can’t tell if he has a tan or is just one big freckle. He has a lot of muscles from putting up hay and straw, and working on the farm when he isn’t drinking or beating Grandma. I don’t know why she stays with him. She has more yellow and green bruises on her arms and legs than most of Mama’s apples she cans.
Their farm house has the old asphalt shingles and no bathroom. If we want water, we have to go outside to the well and pump it. There is a wood burning stove in the kitchen. It gives everything Grandma makes a marvelous smoky flavor that makes me drool.
They heat their entire house with wood to save on money. There isn’t any carpet on the floors. All the rugs are made by Grandma Irene. She has the most beautiful rag rugs and braided rugs on her floors I ever did see anywhere. There are more colors in her quilts than in my colored pencil box.
All the quilts on her beds are made by her. She doesn’t waste anything. She will go to garage sales and purchase clothes for hardly anything to make her quilts and rugs. Some of the church women donated items they couldn’t salvage for Grandma to use for her quilts. She even has some material and some old clothes saved from her Mama. She always puts a small square of the material in each of her quilts she makes. This is her signature and reminds her of her childhood.
Grandma’s curtains are made out of old tablecloths and dishtowels. Someone’s trash is always Grandma’s treasure. Roy never gives Grandma much money. Being a farmer, he says he is too poor. He sure can find money for beer and cigarettes though.
• • •
They have two old geese, Herbert and Mary. Every time I go to Grandma’s house those two old geese follow me around and terrorize me. They run after me honking the whole way. One time, Herbert bit my leg when he caught me. That really hurt!
