Assignment:
Childhood event from your perspective as a child, and your perspective of the same event as a grown up.
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I really don’t like this bike it is too big –my feet don’t touch the ground. But it was my Mothers bike when she was a girl and Tommy Boy still has to ride the tricycle.
Dad said it was a 28”.
It is a beautiful day –hot and we want to ride our bikes.
The street we live on is really neat and made of cool rocks that we like to find and put in the garden, but it is not so good for bikes.
Mother said we can ride on Fraleys driveway. They have a really big paved driveway the goes in a circle and then goes over to the work garage. Fraleys live behind us or we live behind them, They own the five little brick houses where we live. We are renters. Everyone is renters. Mr Fraley is a brick layer and he made the houses almost by himself. He also made the big house where his family lives –no little kids.- and a swimming pool the renters can use. Tommy and I are learning to swim by ourselves, but for now we swim in the children’s side. A tall fence is around the pool –no children allowed without parents. We look in on really hot days and make sad faces at SarahJean and Raymond and all their teenage friends. Sarah-jean is our babysitter at night time–but it is daytime now and she tells us to scram. She is 13 and almost a grownup.
It is ok we want to ride bikes.
Every house has kids and we all know the rules. We ride our bikes one way around the circle. It is against the rules to go both ways –to many bikes and to many kids –there could be accidents. That day Tommyboy decided to ride his bike the wrong way. We all yelled at him –but did he listen ? No way –so we kept avoiding him as best we could. No one hit him, and I think maybe he wanted to be crashed into.
Like when we were all in Mike’s treehouse and Tommy climbed way high and had his SAW from his Daddy’s helper tool box –then he sawed for a long time and we ignored him until we heard the branch crack and Tommy fell past us to the ground with the tree branch. The crazy boy sawed off the tree limb he was sitting on ! So we looked down and he was dead of course –with his eyes open and looking at us –and we yelled –Good job Tommy that was a really good cutting job –then he blinked and came back alive. Fool boy. Of course, Dad took the SAW away after that.
So we are all riding around the driveway circle and no one has hit Tommy. So, of course, he aims for the biggest wobbly target, the person whose life he makes crazy with fighting, the person whose name was in all our books first (and he crossed out that name and wrote his name in) –the oldest person in our room –yep he aims for me. I see him and I try, I really tried to avoid him –but the little tricycle with the crazy brother pedaling like mad; hit the front fat tire of my Mothers old 28’ blue bike.
I heard all the kids yelling before he hit me –then as I sailed over the front of the handlebars –silence. I hit the driveway on my head –it hurt when I hit –then nothing- he killed me.
I got dead for a little while. I remember a lot of dirty, sweaty, smelly, little kids faces all upside down looking at me. They asked if I was dead ? and my Mother was coming. Tommy was there but I couldn’t yell at him –then my Mother was there. My head hurt so badly I had to close my eyes again. Then she made me pick up the bike and walk down the hill and home. I think she stayed behind to Thank the children and capture Tommy. Manners are always important.
I just wanted to lay down and close my eyes. My nose was running. No blood , but my brain was swelling out a big bump on my forehead. My head hurt worse than it ever had in my whole -entire- life.
I guess someone called the Dr down the road and since Dad was at work with the car and Mother didn’t drive yet; Dad must have come home or a neighbor took us. I do not remember the drive there.
Tommy didn’t come with us. He was probably on a chair in a corner at some neighbors house,.until my parents made it uncomfortable for him to sit. He was in BIG trouble. It is against the law to kill your sister in Virginia. The prisoners worked in handcuff and chains on the storm ditches in front of our house. The guards had rifles. I think I whispered to Tommy that he was going to the chain gang. Then he got scared. Then !–NOT when he was killing me. Brothers –jeeze ! Truthfully –we never saw any little kids on the chain gang –but I don’t think he remembered that.
Mother and I get to the Dr office –it is very nice –maple furniture –BUT very hot. He had a nice brown rag rug with one circle that goes round and round and round and round like the driveway –I kept looking at it and following the circle as it got smaller and smaller towards the center –then I felt really sick in my stomach –and yep –that rug needed to be cleaned after we left.
I don’t remember anything else. The Dr said; I had a concussion of my brain and my Parents had to keep me awake all night. Which isnt as fun as you think -you have to keep moving -I think it was because my brain would get hard and I would die or I would turn into spinach or some other vegetable. My stomach and my head both hurt, all night.
The worst part was they made me ride that big bike again. The very worst part was I had to get glasses the next year. But Tommy did treat me extra nice for about a day. That was ok, but not worth getting glasses though.
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From a Grown up pointy of view:
I just wrote about this experience because;
I just bought a used bike and am trying to reteach myself to ride, The bike is the right size but since my stroke I am wobbley, again. smile. My brother is not around while I am relearning but I have a helmet just in case. I asked my parents why they didnt buy me a smaller bike and they said because no one was using the 28” bike and so they gave it to me.
Hello? I was about 5 or 6./ Tommy was 4 or 5 and the parents were 26 and 29. You think they would know better.
But back in 1957; NO one got anything new if old /used /stuff could be cleaned up, mended , painted and passed on and little boys got SAWS that worked and lots of dangerous things.
Tom grew up to be a wonderful man and Dad –that can fix or repair anything and is an Inventor for his employer.
Me –well my brain never worked right so after 31 yrs - I retired from the Government.
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