Gameton - Chapter 2

introducing Tommy Jefferson

      Thomas Elijah Jefferson groaned as a body climbed over him. “Benjamin,” he muttered sleepily, “where are you going? It’s too early to get up.”

      “I gotta go pee,” his younger brother whined.

      “Shush,” Tommy warned. “Well go, and get right back here. If you wake up Sammy and George, we’ll all get into trouble for waking Mom.” Tommy forced himself to stay awake so he could be certain that Benjie had returned. He rolled onto his back and stared at the painting hanging over the bed that he and Benjie were sharing. The painting showed several men in red coats on horses with dogs running around them. Mom had been annoyed by the painting when they arrived at the resort. She had explained that the men and the dogs were hunting a fox. It was a sport in England, or used to be. Tommy’s musings were interrupted by Benjie leaping back onto the bed.

      “Oomph!” Tommy doubled up in pain from his brother’s knee landing in his abdomen. “Benjie!” he whispered as harshly as possible.

      “Sorry.”

      “Go back to sleep,” Tommy growled between his teeth.

      Benjamin crawled back under the covers and wiggled and tossed in an effort to get comfortable. Tommy wanted so much to smack his little brother but he knew that would just create more problems. Finally, the younger boy seemed to settle and Tommy drifted back off to sleep. Just as the hints of a dream started to play out, Tommy was reawakened by a harsh noise. “Benjie, what are you doing?” he whispered angrily. He flipped over to find his bedmate snoring soundly.

      Out in the main room of the family’s suite came the sound of his father’s rushing feet. Tommy could hear his father speaking as softly as possible. “Hello?” Obviously one of his parents’ cell phones had rung. “Sarah, she’s still sleeping.” Mom’s phone. Sarah was the secretary for Mom’s office. “Can’t it wait?” Dad sounded annoyed. “Alright, I’ll get her to call you back in about fifteen minutes.” There was a short pause and then, “You know she needs her morning coffee. It’ll take me that long to get her one.” Tommy climbed out bed and slid his feet into his moccasin slippers. He grabbed his bathrobe as he stepped out into the spacious room that served as living room, kitchen, and dining room.

      “I’ll go to the lobby and get the coffee, if you want, Dad?” Tommy offered.

      “Gee thanks, Tiger. That’d be great. I’ll start waking your mother.”

      Tommy stepped out into the hallway and quietly pulled the door closed behind him. Their suite was on the second floor at the end of a long wing of the resort. Their balcony looked out over the quieter end of the beach. This vacation was supposed to be a chance for Mom to have some peace and quiet away from the city and the big case she had been working on for a long time now. His feet made almost no sound as he headed for the elevator. That’s why he liked his moccasin slippers; they let him move like a brave in an old western movie.

      The elevator let him out at the front lobby. Straight across from him was the registration desk, but Tommy knew that the little dining area was just off to his left. He smiled and waved at the young woman standing beside the registration counter. She was filling a small case with brochures and advertising flyers. “Good morning, young Mr. Jefferson,” she called to him. Tommy just waved again and followed the floral pattern on the carpet that ran down the hall to the left. There were already several people enjoying the continental breakfast provided by the resort every morning. Tommy filled two paper cups with coffee and added cream and sugar to one of them. A nice lady handed him two lids for the cups and helped him get the coffees covered. He scooped up a cup in each hand and waited a moment to see if they would be too hot to carry back to the room. Again, the kindly lady came to his rescue. She took the cups from him and fitted them into a carry tray. “Do you want a small box of pastries to take with you as well?” she asked.

      Tommy thought about it for a second and then nodded. “Yes, please.”

      The woman balanced a box of breakfast pastries on top of the coffee tray. “If you think you’re going to drop anything, make certain it’s the sweets,” she suggested. “That coffee will scald if you spill it on you.”

      Tommy made it back to the rooms where his family was staying without incident only to realize that he had no way to get back into the room. Not only were his hands full but he forgotten to take a passkey with him. He turned his back to the door and gently kicked it with his one heel. He waited but nothing happened. He tried kicking the door a little louder. Again no reply. “Dad,” Tommy tried calling through the door quietly but hopefully loud enough to be heard. “Dad, I need help.” He kicked the door a third time. The door opened behind him and Tommy turned to find his next youngest brother, Samuel, standing there.

      “Thanks, Sammy,” Tommy said as he slid past his brother. He chose to make no comment about the fact that half of Samuel’s hair was sticking straight out from his head like the puffball on a rotten log they had seen on the forest walk yesterday. He took the box and tray straight to his parent’s bedroom.

      “Thanks, Tiger!” his father greeted him as he took the load from Tommy. “Oh, hey, you got donuts too. Good thinking.”

      Tommy took the black coffee from the tray that his dad had unloaded onto the small writing desk in the largest of the bedrooms. “Here, Mom.” He handed the cup to the sleepy form of his mother propped up against one side of the headboard. “This should get your engine started.” That was Mom’s favorite morning saying: A good cup of black coffee gets the engine running.

      “Thanks, Tiger,” she mumbled as she bent her head to sip from the little opening in the lid. “Did I hear your dad say you brought donuts too?”

      “The lady said they were pastries. I don’t know what’s in the box. Do you want me to bring it over?”

      Dad returned from the ensuite washroom with a small towel. “Here, Tommy, give this to your mom for her lap. I’ll bring the goodies over.” As an afterthought, Dad added, “and the cell phone.”

      Soon Tommy was listening in to his mother’s end of a phone conversation with Sarah. It didn’t take long for Tommy and his dad to understand that something had gone very wrong and Mom was needed back in the city for the day. Both of Tommy’s parents were lawyers but his dad did quiet stuff like house sales and wills and such but his mom was a famous criminal lawyer for the state. She put lots of bad guys in jail.

      “Uh, Tiger, can you go back down and get four bottles of juice for you and your brothers while I talk to your mom? Please?”

      Tommy knew there was going to be an argument about mom quitting on their vacation so he scurried out of the bedroom and out of the suite. Back down in the lobby, he saw that the rack of brochures was full again but the desk clerk was still standing there with a handful of brightly colored pages.

      “Hey again. Mr. Jefferson. What is your name again? I can’t keep calling all you guys Mr. Jefferson.”

      “I’m the Tommy, the oldest. Then there’s my brother, Samuel, and the little ones are George and Benjamin. But we just call them The Twins because only we can tell them apart and they hardly ever go anywhere without the other one.”

      “Well then, Tommy, has your family decided what they’re going to do today?”

      “I think Mom is going back to the city to go to work. Her secretary called about some big problem. That means Dad will want to just hang around or do something where he can keep a close eye on my brothers.”

      “Well then, let me give you a handful of these brochures for you all to look at. Maybe you can get an idea from one of them.” Before Tommy could answer, the woman snatched up five or six of the advertising flyers and stuffed them into Tommy’s hands.

      “Uh, thanks,” Tommy said as he backed toward the dining area. “I have to get some juice for my brothers for when they wake up.” He turned and dashed to the breakfast nook. It was even more occupied than just a short while before. He took another drink tray and filled the holes with four orange juice bottles. Then knowing his younger brothers, Tommy piled a second box of pastries on top, put the brochures on top of that, and hurried back to the rooms.

      Sure enough, Mom and Dad were having an angry discussion in their bedroom. The door was open just enough that Tommy could tell that Mom was getting dressed. He set the juices and pastries on the small dining room table in the central room. Luckily, the two small bedrooms being used by the four boys were on the opposite end of the suite from their parents’ bedroom. Tommy slipped back into the room he was sharing with Benjamin only to find all three of his brothers huddled on the big bed.

      “What’s going on, Tommy?” Samuel looked worried.

      Tommy sighed. “Mom has to go back to work for today and Dad doesn’t want her to go. It’ll all be okay.” He looked around at all of them. Three heads of curly black hair framed round faces with wide dark brown eyes. “Really, it will.” He thought of taking them to the dining room to eat breakfast but thought he should wait a little longer. “How about we play a game of I Spy? Sammy, you go first.”

      After a couple rounds of the guessing game, Mom came in and kissed each of the boys, promising that she would be back for supper. Dad hung back at the bedroom door and walked her out to the hallway. “Drive safely,” he said and gave her a kiss. Tommy led the younger boys to the table to fill up on pastries and juice.

      “What’re these?” Dad asked as he joined them with his coffee in hand.

      “Some pamphlets the lady at the counter gave me,” Tommy answered. “She said we could get some good ideas of what to do today.”

      “I want to ride horsies!” Georgie scooped one of the flyers off the table and waved it at his twin. “Look, Benjie, horsies!” Both twins began to chant, “Horsies, horsies, horsies.”

      Dad grabbed the pamphlet and stared at the photograph of a carousel. “Boys, boys, stop. They’re not real horses; they’re a kiddie ride like the cars at the fair.”

      Tommy tried to help Dad. “Look. Georgie, Benjie, look. Here’s a place with dinosaurs.”

      The twins just started up their chant again. Dad looked at Tommy and Samuel and shrugged. “I guess we’re going to go ride the carousel in ...” He paused to read the brochure. “In Gameton,” he finished. “Hey, listen to this: ‘Gameton was founded by Alexander Stephanos as a wedding present to his new wife in the early 1800s. It remained a farming community until the 1980s when many farms went bankrupt. The local inhabitants decided to create a tourist attraction by building an amusement park. That led to the present main shopping area well-known for selling every game and toy ever made. From books and dolls to radio-controlled cars and board games, your family is sure to find lots of fun in Gameton.’ Sounds like a great place to spend the day.” Dad looked up from the pamphlet and said, “Okay boys, eat up and let’s get dressed. I’ll have to rent a car so we can go.”

      “Do they really have every toy in the world, Dad?” asked Tommy. “Do you think we could do some shopping as well as go to the carousel?

      Samuel came fully awake at the thought of getting a new toy. “Oh, maybe they have that fire station made out of building blocks, or a police station, or a hospital. Can we go shopping for toys, Dad, please?” The Twins set up another chant. “Plushies! Plushies! Plushies!” Dad just groaned, “Eat! All of you! Let me make a couple of calls and then we’ll discuss this.”

      While Dad called the car rental company about bringing him a small van, Tommy encouraged his brothers to finish eating. He shooed The Twins away from a fourth sweet and made them go wash their faces and brush their teeth. “Hey, Sammy, maybe we could get a new game to play with Mom when she gets back tonight. Help Georgie find some socks in his bag. Something we could play after The Twins go to bed.”

      “I just woke up,” complained Georgie. “I want to ride the horsie ride,” added Benjie. Both twins started to pout.

      “I’m talking about really late tonight. You can’t stay up that late; you’re too little.”

      “|I’m four, so I’m big now. Mama said.” “Me too.” Tommy knew better than to argue with The Twins. He just ignored their complaints and helped Benjie tie his shoes.

      It took only a short time to get all five of the Jefferson men ready for a day of fun. As they stepped off the elevator, the pretty woman at the registration desk looked up from her work. “Oh my, all the Misters Jefferson. Let’s see. Good morning again, Tommy. And you’re Samuel. And you two must be The Twins. Oh, and Mr. Jefferson, there’s a car delivery guy just over there waiting for you. So, have you gentlemen decided on a place to go?”

      “Thank you for the pamphlets, uh, Jessica,” said Dad. He clearly had to read her name tag. “We think that Gameton sounds like a fun place.”

      “Oh my, it is,” insisted Jessica. “I just love going to look at all the different stores there. But don’t miss a chance to ride on the Big 3 or the Rocket Roller Coaster.”

      “We’re going to ride horsies,” Benjie called back over his shoulder as Dad dragged them to meet the car rental man.

      A while later, Tommy found himself in the front passenger seat trying to work the GPS from Dad’s instructions. Finally the screen showed the route they would take. “It says we’ll be there in 43 minutes, Dad.”

      “Okay, listen up boys,” Dad got everyone’s attention. “I spy with my little eye something that is …”