Chapter 10...a lie is just a lie

                    Chapter 10

          A half truth is a whole lie.

                       - Yiddish proverb

     We sat in relative quiet that evening at supper.  Dad started with us, but about half way through dinner, he simply rose from the table, slowly walked to his bedroom, and laid down. No one spoke and nothing was explained to us. We didn’t have to know the details...at least I didn’t.  Mom eventually spoke while standing at the sink, cleaning the ort off our plates and scouring them with a Brillo pad. She spoke to no one in particular, and simply said,

     “Daddy isn’t feeling well and will be going into the hospital tomorrow for some tests.”  But no one, asked for what.

     Sandy was 16 years old and was as smart as a whip. She was so smart, the school system “allowed”  her to skip seventh grade and go directly into eighth several years prior.  She would be graduating High School this year...at the age of 16.  She was very mature and had been babysitting for years. On this particular night, she also had a babysitting job and was preparing her books (she actually DID homework) and herself to be picked up around 6:30 p.m.  The house was a buzz with quiet, subdued activity, for we also had things to do. The Ed Sullivan Show, our family’s favorite, would be on in another hour or so, and we enjoyed watching the entire show from the beginning.

     My sister Arlene was busy scrawling her homework and taking a shower.  She may have been doing this simultaneously to make sure everything got done.  She wasn’t as smart as Sandy.  Who was? Or very organized...actually she was sort of disorganized and messy, but she did ok in school.  Better than me, that’s for sure. But, who didn’t.

     I simply played around with my toy soldiers and Indians. I had this great fort that the Indians would attack every day and without fail, all the Indians would perish...until the next day, when another tribe would attack the fort and they would also all die. Every Indian that ever attacked my fort would die, no exception. A few of the soldiers would bite the dust or get wounded, but not many.  It was after-all my game, my fantasy, and my war. I chose who would live and who would die.  If only real life was that way.  That moribund thought was soon interrupted by the nightly question;

      “Allen, have you finished your homework and taken your bath,” my mother yelled from the kitchen as she was finishing the dishes.

     “Yeah, mom. Almost.” I sheepishly replied.

      I never considered it lying, because I had thought about doing my homework and did in fact wash my face and hands.  My mother was just too busy to notice. Too preoccupied to really hear my answer.  She was however, concerned enough to ask me the same question every night.  She honestly cared. She just was always too busy to check to see if her only son was being truthful or not.  She trusted that I was, and of course, I wasn’t. 

     Mom worked full time, came home to cook dinner, usually did the dishes, which meant drying and putting them away, helped get clothes ready for the next day, talked on the phone to friends or my Aunt Ceil (who was also a friend), or out of town relatives. She looked at homework we may have completed but never really knew what homework wasn’t being completed or shown to her...How could she? And of course, tonight she had more serious thoughts and concerns, than any of us cared to understand. The weight of the world was truly on her shoulders, and she endured this burden by herself.

     Sandy got picked up around 7:00.  Meanwhile, the rest of us began settling in my room, which doubled as the den.  The T.V. was in my room, but my room was only “my room” when it came to sleeping.  I don’t know how my bedroom became the bedroom/den, but it did.  The TV started out in the living room but somehow ended up in my room. I was still playing with my fort, and getting my Indians ready to attack anew. My plastic trees and boulders offered protection, but for how long.  Now, my soldiers had to be positioned, some on the upper platform, stretching around the inner portion of the fort. Some in the four towers, one in each corner.  Others were at the gate (inside of course)…and the rest strewn about the various buildings within the fort.  We were well fortified and heavily armed.  Did I mention the canons?  The Indians didn’t have a chance.

     Arlene was now in my room, messing with some of the Indians’ positions.

     “Leave them alone, Arlene. That’s the way I want them. Quit moving them!”

     She didn’t stop, of course, because she preferred to annoy me.  That is until my father sidled in.

     “You kids finished your homework?” he asked.

     “Yes, daddy,” Arlene boasted.

     “Yes, daddy,” I muttered without looking up.

     I could see his slippers and the bottom of his bathrobe clinging to his blue striped pajamas, as he slowly headed to my bed that doubled as the couch.

     “Good,” My father said. 

     “Good” He echoed to no one or nothing, in particular.

     He turned on the TV and positioned himself on my bed lying down with a pillow under his head so he could view the television.  His feet were toward the set. I was sitting on the hard floor, half way up the bed, facing in the same direction, with my stage in front of me, for I was not as enamored with old Ed Sullivan as everyone else.  I would quietly have my own show taking place during the program, just in case I didn’t like who Ed had on this night.  Arlene was sitting slightly in front of me diagonally to my left.

      We were prepared to spend the next hour together, when the phone rang.

                                   

                                               

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

Hope this isn't getting too self indulgent...actually thinking of telling it in third person or even fictional....mulling the possibilities...
All feedback is appreciated. Thanks
allen

Reviews

[_]

I love the quote, hahaha i hsall all the time with or without reason! great chapter i don't know but it was very enjoyable and pleasant. :)

[RainQueen]

This is perfect. I can see the little boy framing this scene, this moment in a square before his face, and capturing it forever. The snapshot of family has not faded sepia with time.

[Coyote Poetry]

I like this chapter. Good to remember the simple moments with family. I like the description of your mother and the daily functions of life. I hope old dad test came out Ok. Thank you for the excellent chapter.
Coyote

[Tamia123]

I loved it :) It was so real and down to Earth. Great job :)

[Brad]

damn, Allen, read to me like Sedaris with a punch. i've just chimed into your story and i'm enthralled with the next bit!

[Wolf's Dark Song]

I like the way you told this chapter just fine. It is very interesting and the telling from the child's point of view (yours) helps keep the interest level high.

[Leslie Philibert]

Like autobiographical writing, and Allen has done splendidly here,lots of detail.

[Trusting]

Well,the title is what brought me in. The story is what held me to it. The details you put into this is just amazing. Even more than amazing. Just continue on in whichever way you desire.
-Trusting

[patricia]

As soon as i saw the Yiddish proverb i was excited to remember your past beautiful chapters.
Dont u just hate those high achieving siblings!
found myself beaming at the fort games, it reminded me of my love of hiawatha as a kid, and of the horses i cried for in the cowboy and indian films.!
enjoyed the bit about the bedroom den...i miss my childhood dens...(sigh)
you told the war strategy of the soldiers v the indians superbly. i am thinking the guys will love this book too!
whilst being amazed at you total recall, i am reading this a little sadly, anticipating something sad is about to happen.
you have a great book allen, i will be following it all the way to the end, and re reading all the jewish tradition bits, cause they are still there, being savoured in my memory, that is how much they affected me. Beautiful. Thankyou.

[Shy Girl]

It's almost as if you lived in a different world than your siblings and parents..they had their lives and you had yours on the floor with the battle looming.. Everyone tells mom and dad that they did their homework...but it's the distracted way that the conversation was brought about that caught my eye. Your mom and dad were living as robotic in this one memory...trying to make as if everything was normal.. just that mom had to have tests done (which it appears nobody commented on in the house...except that dad went to laydown because he didn't feel well) The fibs are subtle but scream when looked back upon carefully...that day just like any other really was the beginning of nothing being normal again..(I would suspect) Very nice scene of home and family you have given us with such detail, I almost felt as though I was sitting there...I would be the Indians of course since I'd be the visitor...(my brother and I created US vs. Germany ;) Terrain of comforters and blankets..all so normal this day would seem...but full of half truths and comforting lies... Thank you for the RR...kinda flashed back there for a moment :)