Oh, the Days of High School Summers

Friday, June 9, 2006

Friday morning – Collette had her usual race against the neighbor on the other side of the wall to see who could start their shower first at six o’clock. The winner was generally a toss-up. But that Friday, Collette won.

And apparently, for as much as Collette didn’t keep up with soccer, it was also the first day of the World Cup.

Thursday evening, OLeif and Collette had gone up to the park where Magnus, Ben-Hur, Augustus, and Molly were already gathered on the jungle-gym around the little tykes who were playing softball and spinning on the merry-go-round.

“You look like the bullies who beat up all the little kids on the playground,” OLeif told them as he walked over.

After deciding to play horse shoes, they discovered that there were no horse shoes available, and went to look for them in the bathrooms. Before that happened, however, Augustus began taking things out of his book bag for a miniature show-and-tell. The first item was Deerslayer, the book. Next, was a leather journal.

“Moleskin!” OLeif said admiringly, taking it from him. “Can I read it?”

“No!” Augustus snatched it from him.

And the show-and-tell was over.

It was soon decided, after once again discussing the magician “love child” from Shakespeare, that the group would walk over to Schnucks for snacks, which they did. Magnus blew puffballs to pieces and Augustus complained of the sharp weeds that had cut his ankles, walking through the grass.

“I think that plant was poisonous!” He said loudly, hopping awkwardly back onto the sidewalk.

After Ben-Hur continuously pressed the electric button at the cross-walk, Jimmy and Loraine flew past in their car, with the kids in the back. They pulled around to chat at the light.

“What are my friends doing out there?” Meg pointed at them from the back.

“You wanna come, Jimmy?” They asked, after explaining their mission.

“Sure,” Jimmy said, hopping out of the car.

And so they continued their walk over to the grocery store, where Loraine met them.

Inside, they spent a good bit of time messing with the blood pressure machine. Jimmy was not pleased with his results, initially joking that his blood pressure was 300/200. Meanwhile Magnus and Molly hunted down chips and donuts after they had picked up a case of sodas and of ginger ale.

“Chocolate peanut butter cookies!” OLeif exclaimed, walking past a display.

“I can’t have peanut butter!” Augustus, practically shouted, as OLeif picked up the package.

“Oh, that’s right,” OLeif set it back, “You’re allergic. Too bad for you.”

“Thanks for pointing that out, again.”

“Will you die?”

“Yeah. Will you buy me a lotto ticket? I’ll eat a peanut if you buy me a lotto ticket. It would be so worth it.”

However, it was time to leave, except that Loraine was distracted looking over the magazines, while Jimmy waited for them outside with the goodies.

“Come on, guys!” Ben-Hur tried to get them to move. “Let’s go.”

“Well, we can’t because Loraine is reading the tabloids!” Augustus protested, prancing off with his book bag.

Back at the park, the swings awaited them while a kid did some tribal dance on top in the middle of the merry-go-round. Magnus ran over to all the kids gathered there.

“You want a push?” He asked, and began to spin the merry-go-round.

One of the kids quickly lost his seat and was suspended in the air, hanging to the railing by two hands.

“Man, that kid’s got talent,” Ben-Hur noted.

“He totally did that on purpose,” Molly said.

Then the kid flew off into the dirt and Magnus left the merry-go-round, looking rather sheepish.

“Oh, you scarred him for life,” Ben-Hur laughed at him.

Collette had to wonder anyway, what the kids’ parents thought of having a bald kid stranger in black, play with their children.

Meanwhile, Ben-Hur was amusing himself pushing little Meg Saint on the swings.

“She has big feet,” Loraine whispered, watching her daughter fly up into the air. “Big feet. And she’s a girl!”

Jimmy tried to assure her that it would be OK.

“Dude,” Magnus called out to Ben-Hur, “You’re swinging her too high.”

Meg did, indeed, seem as though she might flip over the top soon.

“It’s OK,” Ben-Hur said lazily. “Meg, you want to go into orbit?”

“No!” Magnus cried.