Into the Country

Where the Sunbeams End: Chapter 2

Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash

The memories of that neighborhood are glaciers, frozen. But, If I sit here long enough the memories begin to pour forth, melting and running together faster than I can keep up with. Sprinting through the back yards of the townhouses, playing tag in the dark on a warm fourth of July. BAM, straight into our neighbor’s short peach tree. The circle of children in the back fields. The girl with beautiful long straight brown hair yelling, “GOOSE!” as she slammed her hand down on my shaggy blonde head. Playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the Nintendo with my best friend Victor. Learning how to ride a bike and rollerblading with Jake. The jingle jangle of the ice cream truck. Begging mom for fifty cents. Sucking on a Crybaby until my tongue was numb. And there was nothing quite like Halloween night, wandering up and down the sidewalks. The houses were endless and so was the bounty.

But we outgrew that townhouse, and it was time to move on. Ray and I had a little sister on the way and Mom and Dad had found a house in the Shenandoah Valley. A country home off an old country road. It feels like Abby was born on our first night in that house, although it must have been a few weeks, maybe even months.

My father woke us gently.

“It’s time to go, guys. Your sister is on the way.”

We were then quickly ushered into the Monte Carlo, and off we went to meet Abby. My brother sat in the back with my mother, while I got to co-captain with my dad in the front. It wasn’t a short trip. We had just moved, so we had to make our way back towards Maryland to a familiar hospital.

For me it was just another car ride. I stared out the window into the darkness and watched the headlights flash by, my mind preoccupied with the recent move. I was unsure about this country town, and I desperately missed my friends along with the only house I’d ever called home.

My first day at D.G. Cooley Elementary School was a disaster.  During the Pledge of Allegiance my teacher quickly made a B-line for me. I was confused and scared. Apparently, I had forgotten which hand to place over my heart, or perhaps I was always using my left hand, but no one had ever thought to correct me. I had already felt the unsure glances from the other kids in class, and this fatal mistake left me completely naked and exposed.

When we lined up and headed for the cafeteria, I was worried. Where would I sit? Yet the thought of pizza on my first day was a boost. I sat down alone at a less crowded table towards the back of the cafeteria. That first bite into the square slice of pepperoni sealed it. Everything seemed worse here, even the pizza. And some of the kids talked so weird, like hillbillies. Why could my parents have possibly wanted to move here?

“Hhheee Hhheee! Whhoooo Whhoooo!”

“Mom…what are you doing? Are you ok?” I asked as I finally turned away from the window and my thoughts dissipated.

“Peter, be quiet! Leave your mother be,” said my father.

We were on the highway now and suddenly I realized we were flying past cars left and right. Dad was driving like a maniac.

“Hheee Hheee! Whhooo Whhoooo!”

I twisted in my seat to check on Ray, he was fast asleep behind me. And then I saw the flashing lights of the police car.

“Shit,” my father whispered as he steered the car onto the shoulder of the highway.

Mom’s heavy breathing continued as the officer stepped up to the window of the Monte Carlo.

“I’m sorry officer, my wife is in labor and I’m trying to get her to the hospital.”

The cop didn’t say a word, but simply pointed down the highway.

In the end we made it. My grandparents, or Bubba and Dzedu as we called them, picked me and my brother up from the hospital as Mom was wheeled back to welcome Abby into the world.

What I remember most vividly is lying awake in bed at my grandparent’s house, the streetlights throwing shadows through the window. I got the feeling that life would never be the same after tonight and perhaps the country town we had moved to would be a good place for Abby and Ray. I’d always miss what I had lost, but laying there that night, anxious to meet my sister, I trusted that my parents had made the right decision.