A Grateful Heart (ONC 2023; manxman)✅

Chapter 7

Before Church, I realized I was down to my last pair of underpants. I dreaded using an old-fashioned laundry machine. I bet it was a washboard in a bucket of sudsy water. But I had no time to worry about laundry. I heard Mrs. McDonough's voice as she urged everyone to hurry up, the most often used words in the house. I wore a brown suit today, the only other suit in my suitcase.

Dressed in their best Sunday outfits, the McDonough family resembled a picture perfect family out of a Norman Rockwell painting. The ladies wore dresses with matching hats while the men wore suits.

And then there was Teddy. He stuck out like a sore thumb. Teddy's suit was slightly too big for him, like most of his clothes. I suspected his clothes, including his Sunday suit, were hand-me-downs from his brother, George. Teddy claimed his hair had a mind of its own, so there was nothing he could do about it, no matter how many times his mother told him to stop playing with it.

Whenever I stayed at my grandparents' house, my grandmother dragged me to this church, St. Margaret's. I'd only seen a crowded church on Christmas and Easter, so I was in for a surprise today. The McDonough family sat four rows from the front and in the center. Every pew was full.

"I hate church," Teddy whispered in my ear.

Mrs. McDonough frowned at us as I chuckled at Teddy's comment.

Teddy continued talking, despite his mother's eyes narrowing in disapproval. "We're going sledding later. Wanna come?"

"I'm too old for sledding." I'd only gone sledding once in my life. My dad took me and a friend tubing at a local ski resort when I was ten. Growing up, I never played a sport, only video games. My parents never forced me or Erin to play outside. It was safer to play inside.

"No, you're not. It'll be fun."

Jimmy elbowed Teddy to shut him up.

Teddy had difficulty standing still. During Mass, he often shifted from one foot to the next and almost always had his fingers in his hair. He was right, though; Church was boring. I didn't miss going.

When it was finally over, the priest stood at the double doors of the entrance, shaking people's hands and smiling. I saw him bless Mrs. McDonough. Teddy stood close to me, almost holding my hand. "He always blesses my mother, ever since Irene died," Teddy said to me. "Whatever makes her feel better. Aww, shit, I still gotta go to confession. Damn... I'll go next week."

Since there was nothing else to do but read or listen to the radio, I agreed to go sledding. I borrowed George's snow pants and boots. Teddy insisted I give 'it a try.' Margaret, Dorothy, Helen, and Mrs. McDonough stayed back to prepare Sunday dinner. I wasn't sure what Mr. McDonough was doing.

Dinner was at three on Sundays, which gave us two hours to play. I recognized the area, which was now a playground. I never realized there was a hill big enough for sledding. The place was crowded with kids and families.

I hesitated before getting on the wooden toboggan. Teddy bent over behind me, getting ready to push me. I zoomed faster than I expected and ended up flipping over, landing face first in the snow. Teddy showed up, laughing hysterically as I rolled onto my back. "I'm too old for this shit," I groaned.

As Teddy laughed, I held his legs and swept him to the ground. He continued to laugh, proceeding to make snow angels. I turned to him and shoved a snowball in his face. He retaliated with a snowball in my face. I ran off, sprinting up the hill to avoid more snowballs. Instead of my face, he got me in the back. To escape, I hopped in Millie's toboggan, riding along with her.

This time I didn't flip over, but Teddy's toboggan bumped into ours. More snowballs hit my back. Teddy ran off, expecting me to run after him. Teddy was fast, but I was faster and caught up to him. He thought he was being sneaky, hiding behind a tree. He hadn't realized I was there. I surprised him by stuffing snow in the back of his shirt, scaring the crap out of him. He both shrieked and laughed. He laughed so hard he cried, falling to the ground. I pushed him on his back and shoved snow down the front of his snow pants.