Part 1 – It happened when I was little; I must have been five or six years old at the time. I remember it being warm out, the end of May. It was a nice day outside, the sun with a bright blue sky behind it with a scattering of white fluffy clouds. My mother was outside, taking a break and sitting on the bench swing reading a book.
My older brother and sister and I were inside, playing. With my mother outside reading and my father at work for the day, the three of us were left to find our own amusement for the afternoon. I know that there were Legos scattered on the floor in front of the television. I know the television was off, there was nothing good on TV on a Sunday so we didn’t bother turning it on. While I am sure I was completely content building vast cities and tomorrows vehicles, each with various weapons, out of Legos, I knew my brother and sister were not. They wanted to play something fun.
My sister suggested hide-and-go-seek, but my brother vetoed that one because it was hard to play with only three people and each of us knew all of the good hiding spots anyway. My brother thought it would be a good idea to play Power Rangers. What child our age didn’t want to run around and fight the evil putties? It was agreed, my brother called the Red Ranger, my sister the Pink. I chose the Yellow Ranger, not because I wanted to be a girl but because it was my favorite color.
And so we proceeded to play. Running about the house; screaming, jumping, punching and kicking invisible foes. I ran up stairs because I knew that there were sure to be enemies up there, and how right I was.
We had two sets of stairs in our house that led to the second floor. When I was up top, I called for my brother and sister to join me to vanquish the foes. My brother came up the front set of stairs and my sister up the back. But they did not come to help me it seems, they had hatched a plan in my absence. I was their new enemy. Since I was taken by surprise my sister had no trouble grabbing my arms and holding them behind my back. My brother then proceeded to kick at me. A jump kick gone wrong ended our fun. My brother connected with my face. Instantly blood gushed from my mouth, as did the screams. I ran down the steps and out the door to my mother, showing her the blood and the tooth that fell from my mouth. That was the year I gave my mother a freshly pulled tooth, blood and all, for Mother’s Day.
Part 2 – I am building the best space ship ever. I am going to give it wings and cannons and its going to be cool. If only I could find the pieces I need. Maybe mom put them somewhere. I wonder where she went.
“HEY LIZZI! WHERE’S MOM?”
“I am right here, duh. You don’t have to yell. Mom’s outside. She reading a book. She says she doesn’t want to be bothered for the next hour. So we gots to stay and play in here.”
“Want to play Legos with me? I’m building a spaceship.”
“No I don’t want to play Legos. I want to do something fun like hide and seek.”
“Hide and seek it dumb, stupid, if you only have three people.” That’s my brother, Micheal. He’s the oldest so he knows what he is talking about. “Let’s play Power Rangers. I want to be the Red one.”
“Ohh, I get to be Pink because Kimberly is the best,” my sister added.
“I get Yellow, I get Yellow. It’s my favorite color.” They never believe me.
We started fighting the bad guys. We were doing good, I kicked like seven of them. I knew there were more upstairs, so that’s where I went. When I got there, I was right. It was full of bad guys. I called Michael and Lizzi for help. Lizzi came up the back stairs and Michael came up the front stairs. Good, now we can take them.
“GET HIM!”
Michael and Lizzi came running at me. Lizzi grabbed my arms and held me while Micheal beat me up. Then he kicked me in the face. It hurt. I felt pain and blood and something else in my mouth. I think I bit off a part of my tongue. I ran to mom. She made it feel better.
Part – 3 It sure is a nice day out. I hope I have time to finish reading East of Eden. I know I told Lizzi that I wanted to be left alone for some time, but I am sure they will be out here any moment now. A mother can’t get any time to herself. But what am I doing worrying about this, I should be reading.
I do not know how much I read, but it seemed as though a minute later the three of them came running out. Danny is leading the pack, holding his mouth with a bloody hand and screaming. Michael and Lizzi are close in toe, looking guilty as always.
“What happened?”
Michael and Lizzi tried to sputter an explanation, no doubt trying to rid themselves of blame. Danny kept screaming, every now and then he’d say something about his tongue.
“Come on,” I said, “Let’s get you in to the bathroom to clean you up. Open your mouth for a second. No, your tongue is fine but you lost a tooth. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”