The House in the Meadow

Chapter 10 B is for Bicycle

The closest small village only had a postage stamp size grocery store that was slightly bigger than a convenience store. The cousins avoided that village because they didn't want anyone to figure out where they were living. The next closest village was twice the distance in the opposite direction, and the route took them off the main highway onto a pothole-ridden, barely two-lane road that hugged the side of the mountain leaving almost no shoulder to walk along. The view allowed them to see deep into the valley that lay just below. In the early morning, the whole valley filled with white, cotton-candy fog that sometimes spilled up and over the road. Cars and trucks, unafraid of the steep fall-off, quickly sped by. After walking there and back again a few times when they ran out of supplies, Feeldog and Euijin decided that it was too far and too dangerous.
"If we had a bike, we could ride to the closest town. It would be faster than walking there and back again." Marco complained and wheedled as he looked at the last roll of toilet paper and knew they'd run out of cooking oil the night before.
Buying all the needed necessities and groceries in the city then carrying them home on the bus, was a pain. Now that the bus was always crowded, there often wasn't room in the overhead compartments, and it was uncomfortable to have a lap filled with a full bag for the entire trip home. They'd started buying half in the city and half in the town when they picked up the food pantry box. But, since they tried to only buy things when they were on sale, they occasionally miscalculated and ran out.
Feeldog sighed, "There's enough toilet paper to last until we get to town tomorrow."
"You just want a bike," Hojung flippantly teased.
"I think a bike would be nice," Jun mumbled as he ate his last bite of stew. Only chicken bones remained on a plate in the center of their table.
"We can't afford to buy a bike," Daewon offered in a regretful tone.
The discussion ended as they all started the evening chores.

The next afternoon as they met up at an outdoor amphitheater that was built into the side of a hill, Marco watched bicyclist ride by on sidewalk that ran parallel to the mountain.
Feeldog lightly hit him in the back of the head, "Stop thinking about bikes. Someone would notice if you suddenly tried to bring a bike onto the bus."
They set up the battery operated boom box, and Euijin started trying to pump the crowd up. Euijin and Feeldog encouraged Daewon to go first. He showed off the acrobatics he'd been practicing. He stunned with cartwheels, hand walking, and a few back handsprings. The small audience cheered and applauded. Marco was next with a skit that featured his magic tricks, but the highlight was his gags and jokes. The audience laughed loudly. All the cousins, except Kijoong who watched, performed a dance routine. This was followed by Euijin's and Feeldog's mini dance battle. Marco came out from the side and asked the audience to vote on the winner. Somedays, it was Euijin, and other times it was Feeldog but this day they tied. Kijoong jumped up with his hand in the air and shouted that he voted for Feeldog to win. The audience laughed again. They did two more routines, the last one featured Hansol's long solo dance. Whoever wasn't on stage, held a small pail that slowly filled with money, increasing their desire to perform harder.

By the end, they were all exhausted and covered in sweat. The cousins all had a short break and then started over from the beginning.

Jun begged to walk with Hansol and Marco to go get the food box from the pantry. He skipped along and chatted. Occasionally, he would stop and try to mimic some of Euijin's moves.
"I am going to be the best dancer in the whole world when I grow up," Jun announced. "Even better than you, Hansol."
"Didn't you say you wanted to be an actor?" Marco asked the younger boy.
He shrugged, "I changed my mind."
"I thought you were going to be a rapper like Feeldog?" Hansol teased him.
"I'll do it all: singing, dancing, and raping." Jun kept dreaming, "I'll be a chef too. I'm going to open a fancy restaurant. They'll be steak and cakes and pork belly. Everything delicious."
"You're going to do all that?" Marco asked pretending amazement.
Jun suddenly lost some of his shine, "At least some of it. I might not be able to do all of it."
Marco comforted him, "Well, having at least one dream come true is pretty good. I'll bet you'll have at least two."
"What are your dreams?" Jun asked the two older cousins as he reached out and grabbed a hand from each.
"I only dream about dancing," Hansol answered honestly.
"I'm still deciding," Marco swung Jun's arm as he moved his own, "doing stage magic is fun, but I also like making people laugh. I like composing raps too." He changed the subject, "What do you call two octopuses that look exactly the same?"
"What?" Jun and Hansol asked at the same time.
"Itenticle." Marco smiled.
Hansol shook his head, "that one was terrible."
Jun stopped walking and laughed. "what did one ocean say to the other ocean?" He finally managed to ask as they reached the church.
"I told you this one the other day." Marco reprimanded.
"I don't know it." Hansol turned to Jun, "So what did the ocean say?"
Jun let go of Marco's hand and only held on to Hansol's, "Nothing, they just waved."
The line for the food boxes stretched down the hallway and into the church's main lobby. A kind woman who worked there offered Jun a sucker and told him that other kids were playing outside. She offered to introduce him. He looked at the older cousins. Hansol said it was okay and Jun followed her out with slow steps.

When he'd first started coming to the food pantry, the line for food had amazed Hansol. He'd whispered to Marco, "are there really so many hungry people in this town?"
"Most people are too proud to come and get handouts," Marco whispered back. "The line would reach around the block and keep going if everyone came."