Aaron's Summer of '77 Ch. 04

I stop sniffling and say to him, "OK, Adam. That sounds really good. And as for dinner, I'll tell Mom. I know she really wants to do have you over."

"Now, let's just be quiet for a while and look out over that water with the moon shining on it. It's beautiful, isn't it?" he says.

A half hour passes without a word needing to be uttered and then Adam moves to stretch and says, "Cookie, uh, before I get more distracted than I am right now, I left a little something in my Man of Steel briefs for ya.' A little thank you present. It'll be a 'real' part of me next to you when you wear them tomorrow. I'll really be in your pants, baby. Now, just kiss me for a while and I'll take ya' home."

"This is so nice, Iva. I don't get out much, except to shop for groceries and such. I appreciate that you called. I can't remember the last time I was in Relax Restaurant for lunch. It's been years," says Adam's Mom, as she looks over the menu.

"Well Delphine, I have to admit, with the shifts I am on, I don't get out socially much these days myself."

"Oh, please call me Del'. Everyone does."

"So Iva, Adam tells me that Aaron is heading off to college in a few weeks, Iva. I'll bet you miss him already. I remember how I felt when Adam left home. It was hard for me being alone. I didn't know what to do with myself without him messing up the house and having to take care of him. They grow up too fast, Iva. How are you feeling about him leaving?"

"I don't think I've accepted it yet. I have to say though, Del, the house is going to be so quiet and I guess I'll just have to get used to the idea that he isn't my little boy anymore."

"He'll always be your little boy. Just the same as Adam is to me, Iva."

"Did Adam tell you he was giving Aaron driving lessons?"

" Not in that old car I gave him, surely!"

"Well, yes. They've been spending an awful lot of time together. And, well...Richard and I are very pleased that Adam has taken Aaron under his wing. You know, Del, there are times I've regretted not having more children. I know Aaron would have liked to have had an older brother. I think it would have helped him in so many ways," says Iva, as her voice trails off and she looks away from Delphine, lost in her private thoughts.

"You know it was hard for Adam growing up with just me, Iva. Sometimes I felt the same way about children. But the way things were with Tom, well, I'm just so glad we didn't. When his Father left us, Adam had a very difficult time. Adam saw and heard a lot of what he didn't need to while growing up. And at times, well, at times, Tom took his unhappiness and anger with me out on Adam. I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I asked one of the Psychologists at the Hospital to help me out and spend some time with Adam during that time. He needed reassurance and safety and someone else besides me to talk to. He had a lot of anger and resentment inside him and was very protective of me. Adam was just a young teenager back then, Iva. It took a long time for him to heal and get past what his Dad did to us both. And, because of what happened between Tom and me, I think Adam thought it was all his fault because he was born somehow. I'd do anything to take those memories away from him. Especially some of those earlier memories when he was little. I think he has blocked a lot of them out, I'm glad that he has offered to help out with your Aaron."

"So are we, Del. I have a feeling they are both looking for some direction in their lives. I hope I'm not being presumptuous by saying that to you."

"No you're not and I completely understand what you mean. I don't think either one of our boys fit the mould of a 'happily-ever-after' life in Brockville," says Delphine, while giving Iva a long, appraising and thoughtful look.

"Adam has been a loner and coasting for a while now. And I worry about him and his future. Perhaps seeing Aaron moving ahead with his education and life may be a good thing for Adam. I worry about him, Iva. He was not a happy boy in high school. He got into fights protecting me and trying to prove to his classmates he was as good as they were. I think being without a Father during those years affected him deeply. Dr. Miller at the Hospital said to me back then that he thought Adam was hiding his emotions and shutting down emotionally just after Tom abandoned us. Adam doesn't open up much with strangers and doesn't have many friends, you know. I'm so glad he wants to spend time with Aaron."

"I'm glad we are having this lunch, Del. You've made me feel a little better about Aaron leaving for school. And from one Mother to another, I 'know' you've done a good job raising Adam. Sometimes it takes some children longer than others to find themselves. We worry so much about them, don't we?"

"Sometimes too much, Iva."

"Funny you should say that, Del. Richard said the exact same thing to me recently."

"Let's do this again soon, Iva. It's good to be able to talk with another Mother. Let's you and I encourage their friendship. We women understand more about what it is to have a special friend than men ever will. And, we'll always be their Mothers. And they'll always be our little boys."

Iva smiles and nods at Delphine and says, "I think we understand how difficult it can growing up in a small town and being...well, being special. I'd like that too. Thank you, Del."

"When did you say that Adam was going to come, Aaron?" my Mom asks me.

"He said around 4:30, Mom. He needed to help his Mom out with some things around her house and it being Sunday and all, he said this would be the best time to get them done for her."

"I wished she'd been able to come over for dinner along with Adam."

"Maybe next time, Mom. Oh, I meant to mention to you. Adam was hoping to see my room. He offered to help with moving my stuff up to Ottawa when I start school. He was wanting to talk to you and Dad about helping. I'd like him to, if that's OK with you both."

"You and he have become quite close friends in a short period of time, haven't you, Aaron?"

"Uh, yeah. I like him, Mom. He's a really nice guy."

"If she only knew just how close," I think to myself.

"Well, you tell Adam to feel completely at home when he gets here. He was so kind when he came over the other day and offered to help pick some of the rhubarb in the back garden for me. In fact, I have a surprise for him. I've baked two rhubarb pies. One just for him and another to take home to Delphine."

"Gee Mom, that was really nice of you!"

"I'm just happy he has taken you under his wing, Aaron. You know, Aaron, friendships are rare and special things when we find them and not something to take lightly or for granted, irrespective of how young or old we become. I hope you both will continue contact after you move to Ottawa. And Adam can come over here on his own any time he likes to spend time with your Father and me. You tell him that too, Aaron, and don't forget to either."

Mom and Dad's house at 69 Bethune Street had been built around 1860 and was typical for some of the older houses in Brockville. Loosely based upon Italianate Tuscan architecture with a shallow hipped roof, bracketed eaves, white clapboard siding, two windows on the second floor and one down on the first beside an ornate front covered entry porch with five steps and cast iron railings up to the teal blue painted front door. It's a gracious and welcoming house.

Mom had worked hard over the years to furnish the inside with slipcovered sofas and chairs and some family heirlooms her parents had left to her when they died.

My bedroom upstairs was on the side of the house where there was a two story three-sided bay window overlooking the driveway. I was given free reign to pick the wallpaper and paint for my room and what I chose surprised even Mom at the time.

My favorite colour is red. The wallpaper in my room replicated a colonial stencil pattern, with tiny white hearts and dots on a strong red background. It wasn't nearly as girly and feminine as it sounds. My grandmother's antique pine writing desk and a pine armoire that Mom had been able to obtain at a local auction sale were the only pieces of furniture in the room, save for the bed that had an antique fireplace mantel serving as a headboard and shelf that had come from the old Bank of Montreal on Courthouse Square when it was torn down in the early 'sixties. Mom put a small red bokhara area rug beside the bed to finish everything off.

It wasn't exactly a typical teenagers room from the 'seventies. But then again, I'm not exactly a typical teenager either.

Adam pulls up just before 4:30 and pulls into our driveway right behind Dad's car. Dad has always been a Chrysler man and the 1973 two door Newport Royal he bought a few years ago is huge.

"Thank God we've got a big driveway," I think to myself, as Adam pulls into the driveway, hops out of his old Pontiac and stands there, just staring at Dad's car.

"Heya' cookie...jeezus, do ya' think your Dad bought a big enough car? That thing must a bitch to back up and parallel park!"

"Can you understand now how I backed into Mrs. Elliott's garbage cans when he took me out to drive it?"

"Hah, hah, hah! Yup. I kinda' can see that now, Aaron, baby!"

" C'mon in. Dad's reading the Saturday weekend edition of the Ottawa Citizen he picked up from Ritchie's Cigar Store last night and Mom's in the kitchen. She said to say to feel at home here and that we'd have dinner around 5:00 or so."

"Where's Blackjack, Aaron? I brought her a bone from the butcher's shop."

"Dad will be really happy you did that for her, Adam. You know, she really is Dad's dog more than mine. Most nights, my Dad sits down by himself at the kitchen table just before bedtime and Blackjack is there right beside him. He sometimes eats broken up pieces of bread, soaked in milk with sugar spread on top and Blackjack always gets to lick the bowl afterward. It's always two pieces for Dad and one for Blackjack. No wonder she's as fat as she is!"

"I wanna' see your room, Aaron first before I say hi to your folks," says Adam.

"OK, Adam. Follow me up the back stairs and I'll give you a tour."

"Jeez, cookie, I was expectin' to see a disco ball and incense burners and hanging plants and Donna Summer posters all over your room. This is not what I thought your bedroom would look like at all, babe!"

"Mom is pretty particular about what I can and can't put up on the walls. I like the room though. I picked out the wallpaper and some of the things, and this being an old house with plaster walls and all...well, I just really like my bedroom."

"Open up the armoire doors, Adam," I say.

He opens the doors to find two posters taped to the back of each door. One is of 'Harrison Ford' from 'Star Wars' and the other one is of 'Diana Ross' from 'Mahogany.'

"Yep! That's more like what I thought," says Adam.

"Look behind my clothes, Adam." He shoves my shirts and jeans over on the hanging rod inside and looks at the back of the armoire, only to find a poster of Superman with the caption 'The Man of Steel' boldly emblazoned across the bottom and starts to laugh. "And I'm wearing your underwear right now, Adam." I say.

"Fuckin' jeezus, cookie! Don't be doin' this to me in your parent's house! It's all I can do right now not to throw you down on your bed and do you right here and now! Now let's just settle down here and go down and have dinner with your folks! Once my cock calms down here in a minute or two, that is!"

"So, when are you starting school again, Aaron?" Adam says, as we sit at the dining room table finishing up with dinner.

"I need to be up there for September 12^th to start my first semester. But, I have to find a place in Ottawa close to the Campus and I have a final interview with Camilla Mezaros, who's the Head of Design on August 22^nd."

"Aaron, I was looking through the ads in the Saturday 'Citizen' for bachelor apartments and rooms to rent and there is a place on Argyle Avenue, just two blocks away from the St. Pat's Campus. It's just up from the Rideau Canal and close to Elgin Street and downtown. You'll be able to bike and skate along the Canal and the school is just over the Pretoria Bridge and only ten minutes away. I won't be able to take you up though until Friday at the earliest. Hopefully, it will still be available and not rented out by then," says my Dad.

"Mr. Christie, I can take Aaron up to look at the place if you like," says Adam.

"I'm sorry, but, not in that old car of yours, Adam. I don't want him to miss out on this place to another student looking to rent so close to the school."

"It's OK, Mr. Christie. Old lady, errr...that is, Mrs. Fullerton at the store told me I could borrow her car any time I needed it. I don't think she'd mind me takin' the time to help out here."

"That would certainly be a big help to me if you could, Adam. I'd really appreciate that."

"Consider it done, Mr. Christie."

"Thanks so much, Adam. I would suggest no later than Tuesday though to try to get this done, so we don't miss this opportunity. I'll call the rental agent to set up a time. You'll take care of him. Promise me that you will, Adam," my Dad says, while giving Adam a long, sober and reflective look.

"Yes I will, Mr. Christie. He'll be OK with me."