If midnight is the witching hour, then one o’clock is last call, two is the hour of the burrito run, and three… three is the hour at dead man’s curve. – A tired, old bar brawler
The rest of that afternoon, we sat around, watching television and eating grilled cheese. My mom kept trying to talk to Aly and Jonathan, but Aly was more interested in the television, and Jonathan kept getting up and hiding in the bathroom. In the back of our minds, I think, we all kept thinking about what we had seen and heard, what we felt, and what we were going to do that night.
To keep my mind off it, I pulled my mother into the kitchen and asked her if we all could go get pizza for dinner. She thought about it and said, “We’ll have to wait until your father comes home.”
I knew this meant yes, hugged her, and managed to keep the secret from my cousins for almost eight minutes. They were watching an old rerun of Friends, when I walked back in, whistling poorly and rolling my eyes extravagantly.
Jonathan picked up on it quickly. “Hey, Dewey, what’s going on?”
I shrugged, “Oh… hmm, hmm, hmm… noooothing.”
He looked at me for a second. “Oh,” he said and looked back at the TV. I was crestfallen. He was not playing the game! Luckily, Aly took pity on me and said, “No, really Dewey, what’s going on?” She smiled at me. I smiled back, as mysteriously as I could with lots of rolling eyes and looking behind my back.
“I really can’t say,” I said. “I would get in trouble!” I looked back at the kitchen door again, to emphasize how serious the issue was.
“What if you whispered it in my ear, so the other two can’t hear?” she said. “Then it’ll be both our secret.”
I pretended to think about this for a moment. “Nope, I don’t know if I can trust you.”
Aly rolled her eyes, then returned her gaze to me. “Then I’m going to have to…” she stood up, “get you!”
“Oh, no!” I cried. The two of us then spent a merry five minutes racing around the Library. As I got close to a couch, Aly leapt, barreled me into it, and started tickling my stomach and that tricky area on the neck, right below the ears.
I laughed and squirmed and laughed some more. Finally, when I couldn’t catch my breath anymore, I shouted, “Ok! I’ll tell!”
Aly stopped. I placed my lips over her ear and whispered, “We’re going to Gambino’s!”
Jonathan, having overheard every word, yelped. “Gambino’s? We never go to Gambino’s anymore.”
I nodded. The secret was out, so it was ok to discuss it now. “Yup. That’s the best reason to go.” Also, I loved Gambino’s. They had gotten out an old arcade machine from when my father was a kid, and I loved to play it.
“Sounds pretty good,” said Kenzie. “When are we going?”
“When Dad gets home,” I said.
She grunted and went back to watching the show. I felt that a grunt was not a very good response, but was too happy to say anything.
When my father got home, the usual display of affection occurred. Aly ran to meet him. Kenzie got up when he walked over and gave him a hug. And Jonathan pretended not to notice that he had come home. My father once confided in me that he thought Jonathan’s sham was funny. He had done the same thing when he was little.
My dad strode over to Jonathan, patted him on the head, and said, “Hello, Uncle Jonathan!” I do not know exactly how my cousin felt about this. For my father it was a little inside joke. Jonathan always called him “Uncle Natey,” and so my dad started calling him “Uncle Jonathan.”
I got up and ran over to him. “Dad,” I said very seriously, my eyes meeting his, my hand pulling at his finger. “Mom says we can get pizza at Gambino’s.”
“Did I?” When I was not looking, my mother had wandered into the room. “I remember saying something about asking your father first. Maybe I dreamed that.”
Caught, I quickly backpedaled. “I mean, if you say it’s ok too, Dad.” I looked at my mother nervously.
My father flopped himself onto an armchair. My mother walked over and sat on his lap. I then pulled myself on to her lap. My dad laughed. “Dewey!” he exclaimed. “I think you might be getting bigger than your mom!”
His words made me feel proud, so I patted him on the head, just as he had done to Jonathan. He laughed again. “Alright. Pizza it is. Where are we gonna go?”
Quickly, I whispered in his ear. He listened and said, “Uh huh. Right. Yes, that was pretty fun. Yeah. Ok. It’s decided then. Gambino’s!”
My mother put her hand to her forehead and said, “Not again!”
For the next few weeks, I would look back at that time at Gambino’s fondly. It was to be the last safe, warm, and happy time any of us would have until we reached Matty’s home in Lenexa, that far away town, hidden on the outskirts of Kansas City, KS.
Gambino’s tried very hard to be Italian. The owner’s daughter had painted frescos on the wall ten years ago and updated them ever few years. The most recent update had a renaissance theme. Images of the Vatican and grapes littered the walls. A massive last supper of pizza adorned the north end. The Madonna and Child was on the south wall. Images of vines draped everywhere.
Jonathan and I played the arcade game, and all the while he assured me that the PlayStation 4 was going to be way more awesome than this game could even pretend to be. We ate pizza and cheese sticks. Mom and Dad got salads, though when my mother was not looking, my father did sneak a slice of pizza. He gave me a grin and a wink while doing so.
Kenzie and Aly talked about boys, but kept getting interrupted by my father’s jokes on the subject. My dad loved to tell jokes, even if he was not very good at it. My mother jumped in when the two talked about guys in movies. It seems they all loved that guy from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. My mom made a point of saying how hot he was, while jabbing my father in the gut. My father responded by tickling her sides. I was happy.
Too soon it was over. The bill came. My father paid. We got in the car and returned home. After baths and teeth brushings, it was time for bed. The dome over the Library was dark. The night was overcast. The cousins slept on couches in the main room. I was to sleep in my bed. My parents wished me goodnight. My dad gave me a hug. Then my mom gave me a hug. As my mother started to let go, I grabbed her shoulders and hugged her tighter. I could feel the separation, even if they could not.
They walked to the door. My father turned off the lights. My mother closed the door behind them. It has been years since the moment my mother closed that door, yet the sound it made echoes like a fifty foot steel barrier slamming into place. Those last hours shall always be indelibly etched in my mind as the final hours of my childish innocence. When that door closed, I knew the path that lay before me would be a path of threat and peril. I would see a dark, angry world that I had never known before.
As I thought about this new road, I realized that I did not want this evening to end. Every moment I stayed awake would be another moment putting off the inevitable. I resolved to stay awake until three.
Seconds later, I turned over and fell asleep.
When I awoke, I knew something was wrong. For a moment, I did not know what it was, I only had a strange and empty feeling. Then it struck me. The world had gone quiet. All that ambient noise that we forget about was gone. The sounds of powered speakers, of wind, of the hum of light bulbs and refrigerators, all were gone. It was like the power had stopped and the weather had vanished.
I looked at my alarm clock.
3:00 A. M.
I climbed out of my bed, pulled on some pants, a shirt, and a warm jacket with a hood. I grabbed my new backpack and tossed in some extra clothes. As quietly as possible, I tip-toed my way downstairs and into the kitchen, where I threw in some breakfast bars, cookies, jerky, and anything else I thought might be useful. Then, I slung the pack over my back, stepped into the living room, and called out to my cousins.
“Kenzie!” I whispered urgently. “Jonathan! Aly! Get up. It’s time to go.”
After some grumbling, all three had risen, grabbed their packed bags, and looked to me.
“Ok, Dewey,” said Kenzie. “What do we do?”
I looked at her and looked away, suddenly frightened. My cousin Mackenzie was asking me what to do? She was supposed to take command. She was the leader. I said nothing for a second. Well, if she was going to put this on my shoulders, then so be it. I met her gaze. “Abraham said to start at the front door. I guess that’s what we should do.”
For a moment, I could see a smile touch her face, and then she became stern again. She turned to Jonathan and Aly. “You heard him,” she said. “Let’s go.”
She marched passed me. Jonathan and Aly followed. I brought up the rear. Once last time, I thought back on the love and safety of my parents' arms, then I steeled myself and looked forward. Now we stood in front of the door. Kenzie turned to Jonathan. “If you would be so kind?”
Jonathan looked at Kenzie, looked at me, gave his pack one more heft, and opened the front door.
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