Chapter Sixteen: The Opposing Team Won

Dominica, Aunt Doris and Grandma Feldman are spending the day at the toy store.

"I'm worried about the Stickles boy. I went to his father's restaurant today and found out poor boy injured his head during a wrestling match at school. His father told me little Jared had a concussion." Uncle Davis informed me while stretching and yawning on his lounge chair.

"That's too bad. He's a good athlete. I know that he's a good football player in addition to being a fantastic wrestler, in that Jared has won so many awards and honors in both sports. Not to mention the fact that he gets good grades in school. At least that's what I recall his father telling us when you and I visit ate their restaurant some time ago." I said while turning off my computer and getting it and the cords put into their designated places.

"He is a good student, and a good boy." Uncle Davis said cheerfully, and then went back to sleep.

Washing my hands in the bathroom, my mind drifted back to a couple weeks before, when Grandma Feldman was so depressed, because she thought of herself as being a burden to me and to the rest of our family, but especially to me. "Doris, I shouldn't be here. If I was gone, Dominica could go where she wanted to go. She could live her life as it should be lived, instead of having to stay here with me while you are at work." Grandma wailed while sitting on the side of her bed.

"Don't talk like that. We all love you and need you here with us. Dominica, Davis, Avery and me. You're not a burden, mom." Aunt Doris cried while stroking grandma's back.

I was sitting in the living room eating a sandwich when Aunt Doris approached me with tears in her eyes. "Dominica, please come inside our bedroom. Your grandmother is in tears and is saying she doesn't want to live, because she thinks of herself as a burden. I don't know what to do." She cried while wiping the tears from her eyes with her hands.

Uncle Davis wasn't home at the time, because he left earlier that day, to go pay for some bills. I followed Aunt Doris into hers and grandma's bedroom. Grandma sat on the bed with her head hung down, in tears. This sight just broke my heart. I offered her some words of comfort and some reassurance. "We need you grandma. All of us do. We're glad to have you in our lives." I then hugged her, and, kissed her on the cheek.

My mind faded back into the present while I dried my hands on a towel. By this time, Grandma Feldman and Aunt Doris were both sound asleep. So I went back into the living room to work on the computer once more, while I waited for them to awaken from their naps, so we could go out. I sneezed about three or four times, and then went straight to work on my follow up book to The Long Stretch.

Around 4:30 p.m., Uncle Davis's brother Leo's son-in-law Donald called Uncle Davis to invite him to come to a basketball game at Winslow Elementary School which was only a block away from Uncle Davis's house. Donald, and, Leo's daughter Veronica's son Ely was on the basketball team, and his school played against Winslow Elementary School, that night.

Uncle Davis left his house around the same time as Aunt Doris, Grandma Feldman and me, although the three of us were already in the car by the time Uncle Davis came out the side door. When he was opening the garage door, Aunt Doris was just pulling the car away from the garage door and was getting ready to turn her car around so that it faced the street. Prior to that, Aunt Doris had Grandma Feldman and me wait inside of Uncle Davis's house in his kitchen as she took the car out of the two-car garage, and moved her car closer to the house, so Grandma Feldman wouldn't have to walk so far. The pain in my grandmother's legs came back and was much worse than ever. She said that there was a burning sensation in her legs. I held the porch door open for her while Aunt Doris helped her exit the closed in porch, and walk over to the car, because the driveway was slippery and covered with slush. She cried when she was coming out of the porch door. "I'm scared. I don't want to fall. Not only that, but my legs are hurting so badly that the pain is unbearable. I can't do it. I can't walk right now. I want to stay home, Doris."

"You can't stay home, mom, because we are under your doctors orders not to leave you home by yourself, for in case you fall or if there is some other kind of emergency. I told you that some many times, already. Just hang onto me with one arm. You'll be alright. Just take little steps at a time. If you keep your mind focused on falling, then you will fall. You need to think positive." Aunt Doris advised her while keeping a firm hand on her so grandma wouldn't fall and hurt herself.

"Grandma, you just think in your mind, "I think I can. I think I can," you know. Just like the children's story The Little Engine That Could." I encouraged her.

Upon pulling into the parking lot of Milton's Shiver's toy Store, I glanced into Aunt Doris's rearview mirror and asked, "Aunt Doris, do I look like an old Lady with my hair styled like this?" My hair was in a bun, because even in cold weather, I got uncomfortably warm with my hair down, dangling against my neck.

"It looks nice like that." she said while unfastening hers and Grandma Feldman's seatbelts.

"Dominica, you look very pretty with your hair fixed like that." Grandma Feldman added.

I walked into the toy store ahead of Aunt Doris and Grandma Feldman, because Aunt Doris had to get grandma's wheelchair out of the trunk, and get her situated. I told Aunt Doris to meet me by the dolls.

I was looking for a certain doll. In particular, I was hoping Milton Shiver's Toy Store would have in stock the new doll of Olivia Newton-John, of when she portrayed Sandy in the movie Grease, the doll where she was wearing a red cheerleading uniform from the pep rally scene. I wanted it for my grandmother, but, unfortunately, it wasn't in stock. The only doll Milton Shiver's Toy Store had from the movie Grease was the one of Rizzo. I was so disappointed. I then went to the other aisles to look at all of the other dolls and toys the store had. After looking up and down the aisles of dolls, I went to where the action figures were stocked. Unfortunately, I saw nothing that impressed me.

Aunt Doris and Grandma Feldman couldn't find anything they wanted either, so we left.

When we arrived at Henry's Diner on South Westnedge, we waited for about twenty minutes before we were finally seated. This teenage couple came in and they waited for quite some time for a table, also. They were followed by a family of four that entered the diner shortly after we did and waited a long time.

After waiting for fifteen minutes for a table, the teenage couple left to go somewhere else to eat, because they didn't want to wait any longer.

The hostess finally approached us and asked for our smoking preference. We told her we wanted nonsmoking. She then lead us to a table she just cleared and cleaned.

Shortly after that, the waitress approached our table, introduced herself as Nellie, and gave us each a menu. "I'll let you folks look through the menus, and give you a few moments to decide what you'd like to have to eat."

Nelllie returned to our table about five minutes later to see if we had decided what we wanted. "Are you folks ready to order or would you like me to take your drink orders, bring them out and give you a few more minutes to decide?"

We chose the latter, because we couldn't quite make up our minds as to what we wanted to eat. There were so many delicious meals to choose from.

After we gave our orders to Nellie, Aunt Doris went with Grandma Feldman to freshen up in the ladies fascilities.

The side dishes arrived first. Shortly after that, Nellie brought out the rest of our meals.

I was almost finished with my side salad when Aunt Doris and Grandma Feldman returned to our table.

I started our discussion with the issue of my parents. "I tell you one thing. The day I go down to Florida to see my mother is the day Warren dies. I don't even want a funeral for him. I prefer to have him cremated and have his remains put into a paper sack to save on the cost of an urn, because he isn't worth a piece of crap, and I would like to flush his remains down the toilet. He does have a captains license, that's true. But getting his remains flushed down the toilet is the closest thing he'll ever get to being buried at sea, and even the toilet is too good for him."

"I don't want to even think about the right now." Aunt Doris said, after taking a bit of her hamburger.

Before heading home, we stopped at Wilson's Drug Store to get some treats for my grandmother and some pain reliever medication for me. I bought a couple of bears for Aunt Doris and Grandma Feldman for Valentine's Day. I also bought two small boxes for Uncle Davis and Avery.

Grandma Feldman's face lit up when I presented her with the bear. "Oh, thank you. This little bear is so cute." she said cheerfully. She then handed it back to me to put into the plastic bag which contained my pain reliever medication and the two small boxes of chocolates, so she wouldn't get it dirty.

Aunt Doris was also very touched. "Dominica, you didn't have to buy me anything. I would have even been more than satisfied with a candy bar. Thank you so much for the little bear."

Upon our arrival home, Aunt Doris helped Grandma Feldman with getting out of the car and walking into the house. I waited for Aunt Doris in the car. She then came back outside to put it into the garage.

I walked into the kitchen to discover Uncle Davis back from his outing. He was standing at the counter making a sandwich when I asked, "Who won the basketball game, Uncle Davis? Did Ely's team win?"

"No. The opposing team won. But I had a good time. There were these little girls about the ages of six and seven years old that were cheerleaders. They were adorable. I tell you, Dominica, you should have seen these little girls jumping up and down in the air with thier little cheerleading dresses on." he said with excitement and glee.

Walking downstairs into the basement, of Uncle Davis's house, I called to him, "Uncle Davis, close your eyes. I have a surprise for you."

I walked into the room where he was, relaxing in a chair, reading a book. "Uncle Davis, keep your eyes closed and hold out your hand." I said while holding the box chocolates behind my back. "Are your eyes closed all the way?" I asked.

"Yes, always." he responded cheerfully with his hand held out.

He was pleasantly surprised when he opened his eyes and beheld the box of chocolates in his hand. "Oh thank you, Dominica. Thank you so very much. Please put them upstairs in the living room for me."

"I'll put them next to your books in the front of your lounge chair so you can have something to snack on while your watching television." I suggested to him while taking the box of candy from his hands.

By the time Uncle Davis came upstairs and entered the living room, the eleven o'clock news was on. There was a news segment about a student from Northern Illinois University who brought a gun to school, entered a room of a building on campus where there was a huge gathering of students, and he fired some shots. Several students were gunned down in cold blood. Others were injured. One girl played dead in order to save her own life.

There was another segment about a schizophrenic runaway who had been missing for several weeks, and had been featured on the news everyday from the time her parents discovered she was missing. If understood, correctly, the segments in the news I viewed on television days before this one, the woman wandered off barefooted, and had on thin clothing. Her parents appeared on the news from day one, to appeal to the public for help in recovering their daughter, and bringing her home safely.

While I was typing up some poetry onto the computer, I glanced over at Aunt Doris, who was reading a health magazine, and said, "Aunt Doris, do you work tomorrow?"

After taking a deep breath in frustration, she replied, "Now you know I don't work tomorrow. I told you that earlier today."

"I'm sorry. I just didn't remember. No need to get upset." I responded, as I continued with my computer work.

I then glanced at the television to listen to remarks made by Phil Ryan on the Phil Ryan Show. He was making fun of some politician with his usual antics.

Aunt Doris got up from the chair she was sitting on, while holding the health magazine in her hands, glanced over at the television, and said, "That show is stupid. I'm going inside to go to bed. Good night."

"Good night." Uncle Davis and I responded in unison.

Uncle Davis was reading one of his favorite hunting magazines, from his vast collection.

When I glanced once more at the television, Phil Ryan was making remarks about a young pop star who was a victim of the paparazzi, that followed her around wherever she went. The poor girl didn't have even a moment of peace, in that the media was always sneaking up on her, while sticking microphones, cameras and lights in her face. They didn't give her any room to breathe. What the media and comedians such as Phil Ryan and others like him needed to do was just leave the girl alone.

Phil Ryan also made fun of another celebrity who was newly married, in that he made cruel jokes about the actor's height and about the marriage itself.

I then glanced over where Uncle Davis sat, dozing off to sleep. At least he looked like he was sleeping, but I wasn't certain. So, to be on the safe side, I asked him, "Uncle Davis, are you asleep?"

"No." he responded while opening his eyes a little wider.

I then logged off the computer, so I could get ready for bed.

Author's Note

What do you think of the dialogue?"