Me and Charley

22. An Adventure With Grandpa

Mom was knocking on my door. "Trey," she said. "Wake up, I need to talk to you."

"Come in, Mom," I said as I came awake and sat up. I tapped the alarm clock and it said, "The time is six oh two a.m."

"Trey, I realized after you went to bed that you probably wouldn't want to go to church today," Mom said.

Suddenly it came to me. "Oh, sh... uh, it's Sunday, ain't it."

"Yes, it is, Mom said. "You don't want to be seen in your condition by all those people at church. Or at least, I don't want you to be seen that way. Too many questions. I talked on the phone with Ms. Rhoda and we agreed you shouldn't cross the road by yourself. When you're ready call her and she or Mr. Bob will meet you at the road and make sure you get across safely."

"Aw Mom," I said, "I can listen for traffic."

"No way, Buster," she said. "You will call Ms. Rhoda and meet her at the road."

"Yes'm," I mumbled.

"May I hear that again?" Mom said.

"Yes, ma'am," I said in as submissive a tone of voice as I could muster.

"That's better," Mom said. "When you're done breakfast, call your Grandpa from the McDougall's and he'll come out and keep an eye on you until the McDougalls come back from church."

"Aw, Mom, I'll be all right by myself," I protested.

"Look, Trey, even if you could see you're only nine years old," Mom explained. "If you got hurt or there was some kind of trouble they'd have me up on child neglect in a heartbeat."

"OK, Mom," I said. "I'll call Grandpa when I get done at McDougalls."

"Good," Mom said. "Now turn over and go back to sleep. I need to get in to work. I love you." She kissed me on the forehead and was gone. I turned back and forth a couple of times but I was more than half awake, so I decided to get up. I took a long shower and fished in my drawer for a clean T-shirt and shorts. I wondered what getup I might be putting on today. Tapping the clock again told me it was seven-ten a.m. I slipped another pair of eye patches into my pocket, went downstairs and found my way to the phone. Dialing was a challenge but I counted my way around the holes and got it right the first time. Ms. Rhoda answered, "Hello?"

I replied, "Hello, Ma'am, it's Trey. I'm supposed to call you when I'm ready to come up there."

"All right, Trey," Ms. Rhoda replied. "We'll keep an eye out for you and get you across the road in one piece."

"You really don't have to do that, Ma'am," I protested. "I'll be all right."

"Well, Trey," said Ms. Rhoda, "that seems to be a matter of opinion, and your mother's opinion and mine are what counts."

"Yes, Ma'am," I said with little conviction.

"We'll see you an a few minutes. Goodbye."

"Bye, Ma'am," I said, and hung up the phone. I made my way out the front door and across the asphalt Sahara. The weather report must have been wrong. The day was surely overcast since I felt no warmth of the sun to help me navigate. Despite that I did find my way to the grassy edge of the lane and on up to the road. Without warning I heard Charley's voice right in front of me, "'Mornin', Trey."

"Hey, Charley," I said. "You must be in your chair. I never heard nothin'. I was expectin' your mom."

"She's busy with breakfast," he said. "Let's go, the coast is clear." I tapped my way across the road and on up the lane. "We goin' by the garage or the deck?" I asked.