“I found an old box in the garage a few months ago. It looked like a radio so I took it apart because it looked broken,” he said. He shifted onto his knees to search for another piece.
“So how’d you know that’s how mom and dad met then?” My eyes glanced over the holes in his sneakers. His t-shirt swam around his stick arms.
Adam had a way of making you feel like you should know the answer to things and that it was some great inconvenience for him to have to explain anything. I shifted from one foot to another, raised my eyebrows and sighed loud enough to wake a sleeping baby. He fished around for a random piece, skipping over the green one.
I learned that as long as I was quiet and let him think I was seriously concerned about not having a clue what he’s talking about, he’ll save me and let me in on the thoughts running through his head.
After a minute Adam pushed one of his sleeves above his shoulder blade. There was a white scar the size of a grain of rice on the back of his shoulder. He rubbed it thoughtfully before his eyes met mine. “I showed Dad how cool the inside of the box was. There were all these wires and stuff. He told me I broke the C.B him and mom met on. She was keeping it I guess. He pushed me into the wall. Mom’s garden scissors cut me.”
“Oh.”
Mom tripped over a toy fire truck as she entered the room. “Hey- Adam,” she said, looking at all the scattered pieces on the floor. You could barely see the spinach colored carpet beneath the toys and random pieces of clothing scattered everywhere, which was no great feat in this cramped room. “I thought I told you to put this away? Now let’s go, put this away, now.” She picked up a toy, decided she didn’t know what to do with it, and put it back down again. “We’re not going anywhere unless this room is spotless. You have five minutes.”
Adam practiced his lawyer skills. “Mom, I only have to finish this one piece.”
“Where we goin’ Mom?” I asked.
“Grandma’s, Grandpa’s making dinner. Once Thomas wakes up from his nap and after Kat nurses. Adam I said now.” She shoved a pile of plastic pieces into a pile with her foot.
“But Moooom,” Adam said. “It’s not fair. All I need to do is this one piece.”
I wanted to go to Grandma’s. Now. My knees hit the floor beside Adam and I searched for the part he needed. His eyes widened. “Hey, hey mom she’s messing up my stuff!”
“I’m helping.”
“No you’re not. You don’t even know what I’m looking for!”
Mom is going to yell in two seconds. Where IS it?
I locked eyes with the green connector and reached for it. The structure now complete, I looked toward Adam. His head dropped and he turned on his heel. “I knew I needed that piece. I didn’t need your help to find it.”
“Can we go now?” I asked.
Mom hustled Adam, Thomas, Kat and I into the minivan. We spent ten minutes driving down Southern State highway before we pulled up in front of my grandparents impressive, white Victorian home. Engraved columns hovered around the garden on the side of the house, and the lawn was striped from a fresh cut. Grandpa was expecting us. He was nowhere to be seen, but if I had to guess he was probably out in the backyard skimming the swimming pool. Oak trees that lined the property kept him busy during the fall and summer months between his weekly pool and grass preservations.
My seat belt was unbuckled and I jumped over the seat in front of me before Mom put the van in park. The metal door handle fumbled in my hands before I rushed it open and jumped off the platform of the van onto the grass.
Grandma came to the front door before I could call out to see if Grandpa was still lingering in the garden. “Grandma!” I said, and ran full speed to the front porch.
“Hey, sugar!” she said as I tackled her waist. She wrapped me in a soft hug and pulled me closer. Her perfume danced around my face and she tightened her grip.
“How’s my girl?” she asked. Grandma hugs were always so genuine, so warm.
Before I could answer Mom was walking up the porch steps and handing Kat over. “Careful, she’s doing the projectile spit up thing again,” she warned. Grandma held outstretched arms and took the baby while Adam zigzagged around her. Thomas waddled behind him, stopping to put a dandelion in his mouth.
“Hi Grandma!” Adam called out. He dashed into the house and I heard the wooden toy chest creak open in the front room. My grandpa had built him a custom toy box when he was just two years old, but my mom said the stain he had used on the cedar wood gave Adam an allergic reaction. Grandpa had spent weeks building it, even detailing the top in bright white letters that spelled out his name. Now it was tucked under the window of their front room, waiting for us whenever we came over.
My grandma moved us into the living room. “I just had the carpet shampooed, sorry if it’s still damp. Just put the diaper bag on one of the flowered couches, Molly.”
Symmetrical paintings of the ocean floated above each couch. I wandered over to the wood stove and looked up at the mantle filled with pictures of family, grandkids, and knick knacks from the beach.
I sunk into a couch and stared up at the ceiling that seemed to go on forever. The room smelled and felt like Grandma. “My goodness, look at how big everyone is getting,” Grandma said. She put Kat on the living room floor. “I think that somebody’s birthday is coming up, but I can’t remember who.” She met my eyes with a smile.
“Me! It’s my birthday Grandma. I’m turning eight.” I smiled. She remembered.
“Oh it is?” she exclaimed, bringing her hand to her forehead. “Well I guess we’ll just need to go to Toys R Us while everyone else swims then.”
“Oh mom, no,” Mom started, shaking her head, “Not necessary.” She handed Kat a stuffed bear and pulled a pill bottle out of her pocket. Two oval shaped, cream colored pills fell into her hand, and with a fluid motion she popped them into her mouth and threw her head back.
Now you see them now you don’t.
I had heard my mom repeat the story of how she hurt her back thousands of times. She had worked as a nurse’s aide at Great Side Hospital in lower Manhattan up until three years ago. Her shifts were sporadic, and having three small children at home made it difficult to juggle everything.
She managed to generate significant income working mainly around Dad’s work schedule. They had asked her to work a double shift last minute a few weeks before Christmas and she obliged, making a quick last minute call to the babysitter.
A heavy-set man had just come out of surgery for gall stones and she assisted in transporting him to his room. The registered nurse left the room suddenly, telling my mom not to move him until she came back with more help. She hurried out before my mom could protest otherwise.
The man groggily tried to shift himself from the cot to the bed on his own. His weight fought against him and he began to slip through the two beds. Mom acted on instinct, and pushed against the cot to catch him between the two instead of letting him fall to the floor.
Two nurses walked into the room a second too late, and scrambled over to help just as Mom fell to the floor from the pressure. She herniated and ruptured seven discs in her back all together, and doctors were sure she would never be pain or painkiller free for the rest of her life.