The Blog of d10

Trying to roller skate in the driveway on a cold Monday in February.  We didn't have to go to school.  It was our first day in our new house, in the new neighborhood, with our new father. Our move here was slower than expected because of the snow.  Two brainiacs, roller skates, why not a sled? 

Later in the afternoon, two boys, nasty boys, stopped at the bottom of our very long, sloped, driveway.  "I'm Hemi and he's Jimmy, who are you?" "I'm Angel and she's D, what do you want?" Angel always had my back.  These two nasty boys would be my first friends with my new family, in my new neighborhood, with my new father.

School the next day, my first day in the new school, what lovely person do I get to sit next to, Hemi, nasty boy.  He wants the world to know that he met me and Angel first, what a loud mouth show off he is! 

Angel and I walk home and have to go past their house.  A snowball fight ensues and we are in the middle of it.  These two boys haven't met the likes of me and Angel. We just moved from a block with all boys and although it was the country compared to this city, we don't take shit from anyone.  As the fight progresses we find that Hemi and Jimmy are being bombarded by the rest of the neighborhood kids.  Apparently everyone thinks they are loud mouth, show offs.  Angel and I are instantly on their side, they appear to be the underdogs in this battle.  The friendship is cemented.

There are five boys in that family and although Hemi is the same age as me, his parents hire me to babysit the three younger boys for the summer.  Angel is the eldest but I am a half foot taller and people all assumed I was the older child.  We had a great summer going from their house to ours skating, biking, swimming, playing ball.  A new gang of boys. 

Hank and Alice have a milk business a couple of blocks away and I would wind up working at the store through out high school and continued helping out part time over the years afterwards.  She was my idol, the way she played with her boys.  Turns out she had 5 brothers and no sisters.  No wonder she was roughneck.  My friendship with Hemi and Jimmy turned into a friendship with Alice, their Mom. I so admire her.

My bar closes at 3 and theirs at 2 so every Friday night, Hemi and Jimmy meet me at my place for last call.  We compare war stories week to week.  Still loud mouth, show offs, they win weekly.  Except one Friday in April.  No Hemi, where is Hemi? Jimmy is there, but no Hemi.  The bar phone rings.  It's for Jimmy, David (the next one down) is on the other end.  Cops are at the house and they are looking for Jimmy.  We are half in the bag and shouldn't be driving, let alone to meet with police, but we are out the door and drive to the next town over.  The police forward us to the hospital.  Hemi has been in an accident. 

We arrived at the Emergency Room and we told as bluntly as anyone could say "your brother is dead".  I will never forget that asshole of a doctor and the way he spoke to Jimmy. How can any human being waste themselves to treat someone like that? Jimmy just lost his brother and his best friend.  We are nineteen year old kids, I have no clue how to handle this other than take Jimmy home and make the call to Hank and Alice at the summer farm house, three hours away. 

I tell them only that there has been an accident and they need to come, now.  I can't tell them that their son is dead.  The four remaining brothers can't move.  They sit stunned, crying while we wait the three hours for Hank and Alice.  My relationship had grown to be the sister/daughter of this crazy clan.  I love this family.  I have to be there to help hold them now. 

That family had such a rough go of it, but they made it through.  Project Children and Philip saved them.  With all the sadness and sorrow they endured, the act of charity and kindness involved them into a healing process.  Beautiful Irish faces coming here to learn acceptance.  Every summer thereafter the freckled faces arrived putting life back into my friends.

Selling and retiring from the dairy business, Hank and Alice followed their boys to Arizona.  One by one each moved their families.  They have grown to be a large, happy clan surrounding the wagons when one is in need. 

Alice finally admitted to me a couple years ago that she had always wished that Hemi and I would grow up, marry and have children so I would have official status with the clan.  She is forever grateful for my friendship with her boys and she teases that she could never understand "why a nice girl like you would hang around with my hooligans." 

She is in my neighborhood for a visit today and I am so flattered that she and Hank stopped at the house to see me.  I finally had the opportunity to tell her face to face, how I admire her and loved her always. She is an old woman now.  I don't think that until today she understood that it wasn't only about the hooligans but it was about her too.