WATCHING BRAD
Part 140
Part 140
"Do people always greet you like this when you come home?" Brook asked from the back seat of the van.
"Not usually," I sniggered nervously. I glanced at Brad, who looked as astounded as I felt.
"Gee-sus Murphy, Pops," he said in a whisper, "we have a friggin' carnival in our front yard!"
He was right. We did! And in his parents' yard, too!
"Brook," I said over my shoulder, "do you know how to use a digital camera?"
"I sure do," our friend replied.
"It's in the suitcase back there. Could you dig it out?"
"There's empty memory cards in the green case in the right-hand pocket of the suitcase," Brad added.
We heard some quick shuffling in back of the van, then the clicks of the suitcase latches. Moments later, Brook's voice came to us. "Got it and got them. Ready to go."
I began driving forward again, slowly. The crowd of people standing in front of my house parted and a makeshift gate was pulled away by Barry and Nathan, allowing me to pull into my driveway. We passed under a huge, purple, inflated arch which was set at the bottom of the driveway at the street. At the top of the arch, a marquis announced in colourful letters, "Happy Birthday Justin & Jeremy". The fence - really nothing more than metal barricades that you would find at an outdoor concert - extended the full lengths of our yards with more helium balloons tied all along the top rail while colourful birthday streamers were strung throughout.
All of our family and friends were gathered beside the driveway - our parents and Lindsay, of course, Nathan and Barry, Lori and Brad and Andrew, Mark and Jamie and several other of my co-workers, including JW and Sally. Jacob was there, and so Cali, Mags and Tyler.
I suppose I should take a quick moment here to explain what happened to Cali and Mags. Unfortunately, their story is not an altogether happy one. Also unfortunate is the fact that, until now, I have been prohibited from mentioning anything about it. You will soon see why.
Not long after I had talked to Mags about the twins so long ago in my kitchen, their world began to fall apart around them. During his regular weekend visit with his son, Cali's ex-husband and Mag's brother skipped town with the boy. Cali wasn't even aware of it until they failed to return that Sunday evening. By that time, they had a two-day head start. Needless to say, Cali and Mags were frantic and spent the next few days trying to locate them. On that Wednesday, Cali was given a warning from her work. If she didn't return to work on Thursday, she would be fired. Cali never returned to work.
By that Friday, they were no further ahead. Mag's family refused to talk to them and the police were unable to make any headway with them either. Except for a province-wide alert, there was little more the police were able to do. Cali had come to me in tears, crying on my shoulder for almost an hour as Brad sat nearby with Mags, ready to do whatever was necessary. When Cali finally stopped crying, I grabbed my telephone and called Jacob. He came right over as soon as I told him a friend's child had been kidnapped by his father.
Jacob began immediately, but it still took him almost a week to find the trail. After that, it was a long, slow, and very frustrating chase with Cali's ex always staying one step ahead of his pursuers. Jacob finally tracked him down in Dawson way up there in the Yukon Territory and followed him until the police were able to move in and arrest him. Mag's brother was kept in police custody awaiting extradition back to Ontario and Tyler was taken into protective custody by the Children's Aid Society in Whitehorse until Cali could fly out to get him.
The trial had taken place during my breakdown and Cali's ex was now in prison in the Warkworth penitentiary.
The result of all this? Not only had Cali lost her job, but she lost her rental home as well. The search for her son had virtually drained her bank account and they had to move out of their house and across town into a small basement apartment. Cali was still looking for a better job and was working part-time on weekends as a waitress in one of the local bars. Even Mags had found work part-time doing housekeeping during the week.
Their lives had fallen apart, but they were slowly putting the pieces back together.
Cali had asked me not to say anything, at least until the trial was resolved, and I promised her that I wouldn't, but now, with things looking much better for them, she gave me permission to finally tell you her story. I must say, though, it was good to see them again and, especially, to see the smile once more on Cali's face. It was something I hadn't seen in many, many months.
There was one other special guest there as well, and I saw her as I got out of the van and walked around the front toward the side door. It was Nancy, from Children's Aid. Brad was already in the back of the van, unbuckling the twins from their safety seats and taking off their slippers. We would carry them everywhere. There was no way I was going to let them walk.
It was sprinkling again, but the small drizzle did nothing to relieve the oppressive heat and humidity. We were all dressed in shorts and T-shirts, but Brook was dressed in jeans. I hoped he'd packed shorts as well.
Brad handed Justin to me, then stepped out a moment later with Jeremy in his arms and stood beside me. Brook followed a moment later and began moving about and taking photos. Meanwhile, the family and friends began singing ‘Happy Birthday' as soon as the twins were visible and were quickly joined by the crowd of well-wishers along the street. The twins hooked their fingers over their teeth and smiled and looked around, totally amazed at their reception.
As the song drew to an end, a rousing round of cheers and applause filled the air. Even the twins joined in, clapping their little hands together and giggling in total giddiness and bouncing up and down in our arms. The family passed first, offering their best wishes to the boys.
"What is all this?" I asked Dad as he stood in front of me. He held Lindsay's left hand. Mom held her right hand. "Where did it come from?"
"It is what your daughter wanted," he replied with a proud grin. "She selected everything from the rental shop in Toronto. We simply opened our wallets." He glanced at John and Bernice Hayes, who stood next in line, and acknowledged their contributions with a nod.
"It must have cost a fortune," I told him.
He glanced down at Lindsay who was looking up at me with more pride in her happy face than I had ever seen before. "It didn't, but it is worth every penny we spent."
The rest of the group quickly passed, but Nancy stopped for a moment to ask the twins, "Do you remember me?"
The boys smiled and nodded. "Hi, Nancy," Justin said.
"Are you here for our birthday?" Jeremy asked.
"I sure am," Nancy replied. "I wouldn't miss this for the world." To me she added, "Ron wanted to be here but he's at the office. He'll be here as soon as he can get away."
When the last of our friends had passed and wished the twins a Happy Birthday, Dad motioned us to follow him toward the fence. Nancy followed as well. He held up his hands to the crowd, bringing them to silence.
"Good afternoon," he called out to everyone. "As you may have guessed, today is my grandsons' fifth birthday and it is their first birth to be shared with their new family." He swept his left arm around, indicating the attractions set up in the front yards of the two homes. "This is for Justin and Jeremy, but you are all welcome to join us. There is no entry fee, but a cash donation is requested. The donation boxes are next to the purple arch." At this point, he motioned Nancy forward to stand beside him. "This is Nancy Stillman. She works for the Children's Aid Society and it is she who brought our grandsons to us. She is here today to gratefully accept all of the proceeds from the donations and they will be used to buy new toys for the unfortunate children at CAS. Please, be as generous as you can possibly be." There was another burst of applause which died down once again when Dad held up his arms. "One more thing," he added. "Since it is their birthday, my grandsons do not queue up." And then, with a flourish, he announced, "Let the fun begin!"
Barry and Nancy moved forward to set the donation boxes into place and to open the barricades from beneath the archway. It was then that I noticed a hotdog vendor unhooking his cart from the trailer hitch of his car and moving it into place on the sidewalk.
"Barry!" I called. "Tell the hotdog guy he can set up on the driveway behind the van! As soon as he's ready, he's got two hungry customers here!"
Our parents remained with us, but Cali and Mags left Tyler and Brad Smith and Lori left Andrew in our charge. As volunteers, they headed off to their designated positions.
Now, where do I begin? We had a carnival in our front yards and, apparently, in our back yards as well. As the people began filing in through the arched gateway, snappy, upbeat carnival music began playing from some speakers set somewhere in Lindsay's garden. We turned and were met by a pair of legs dressed in black and white-checked pants. We looked up to see a young man towering over us, his face painted as a mime. He wore a checked jacket as well with several bulging pockets all over the place, a black bow tie, and a bowler hat. A stilt walker.
He grinned at the twins, reached into a pocket, and pulled out a balloon. He blew it up and tied it off with a deftness and expertise which put me to shame. He quickly reached into another pocket and pulled out two more smaller balloons, blew them up, tied them off, and twisted them together with the longer balloon. From yet another pocket, he pulled out yet another balloon. He worked smoothly and quickly and, within moments, had created a balloon ‘doggie' which he handed to Justin. Moments later, he had created another dog for Jeremy. Two more animals were quickly made for Tyler and Andrew. With a glance and nod at Dad, he turned and left us, walking easily and carefully on his stilts through the gathering crowd and attractions.
As he walked away, I noticed Brook standing off to the side and I motioned him to me with a wave of my hand. "Brook, these are my parents, Jan and Lillian de Villiers," I said. "Mom? Dad? This is Brook."
"Ah, yes," Mom said as she extended her hand. "The wedding singer."
"That would be me," Brook replied with a bright smile as he shook her hand. "I am very pleased to meet you." He turned to Dad and shook his hand as well. "Pleased to meet you, Sir."
"The pleasure is mine," Dad told him, "and the name is Jan."
"And these are my parents," Brad said. "John and Bernice Hayes."
Hands were shaken and greetings made, and then Brook turned to my daughter. "And you are Lindsay. I am very pleased to meet you."
"Hi," Lindsay said as she shook his hand.
I looked at the twins. "Okay, guys. What do you want to do first?"
"Mickey!" they both shouted in unison.
Next to the driveway, in front of Lindsay's garden, was a huge, inflated Mickey's Fun Jump with images of Mickey and Minnie standing beside the entrance and Donald Duck and Goofy standing to the sides. All the attractions, in fact, were inflated. There was a large, red fire truck slide which ran lengthwise from our diningroom window almost to the barricades and, beyond that, in front of the Hayes' home, was a large, interactive set-up with a huge, inflated Nemo, aptly named the Finding Nemo Experience, and a large clown-faced hut named Clown Typhoon.
Set up between the attractions were a Duck Pond, a Ring Toss game, two ladies who sat under a large beach umbrella and painted faces for the children, a candy floss machine, a slushie machine which offered yellow and red slushies, and something called a Silly Shower.
There were more surprises awaiting us in the back yard, but we'll get to them in a moment.
I had turned and taken a step toward Mickey's Fun Jump when Lindsay stopped me. "Daddy," she said anxiously as her hand slipped into mine, "there's a special surprise for J and J. Come on."
There was nothing I could do but follow her lead. As a group, we all moved to the front door of the house and inside. Lindsay guided us through the hallway and livingroom to the patio doors. The vertical blinds had been pulled closed. She stopped us directly in front of them and let go of my hand. "Wait here," she said excitedly as Brad stepped up beside me. The others gathered around us.
Lindsay went to the patio doors, took the drapery chain in her hands, and quickly pulled them open.
There was a very audible gasp from both of my sons. "Oh, Daddy," Justin whispered. I had heard those words not all that long ago, and they were spoken in exactly the same way now as they had been spoken then in Centreville. "Ponies!"
Lindsay opened the patio doors and we stepped outside.
In the Hayes' back yard, there was a huge, inflated obstacle coarse. In Mrs. Simm's back yard, my neighbour on the other side, there was a huge inflated monstrosity which looked very reminiscent of Jurassic Park. Wooden steps had been built over a portion of the stone walls near the houses allowing access to both neighbouring yards. But it was what was in my back yard that garnered the twins' attention.
Three teenaged boys stood just outside the door, each holding the reins of a pony. A fourth youngster stood nearby with a shovel and a bucket in his hands. On the bucket were painted the words, "Get Them While They're Hot!" He was obviously on clean-up duty.
"These are the Baldwin brothers," Dad explained. "They live near Maple Grove and they are here at my request." He reached is arms out for Justin, who went to him immediately. Dad placed him in the saddle of one of the ponies. Next came Jeremy, who was set into place on the back of the second pony. The boys grabbed the bridles of their respective ponies and handed the reins to the twins as I asked Tyler and Andrew if they wanted a ride. Tyler nodded eagerly, but Andrew shook his head ‘no' with great authority. I picked up Tyler and set him in place on the third pony.
Dad stayed beside Justin and Brad went to stand beside Jeremy. I walked with Tyler. With Justin's pony in the lead, the other followed and we walked beside them as they made a large circle around the outside of the back yard, along the stone wall on the right, past the hedge at the back, skirting the swimming pool security fence on the left, and back to the patio. We made another circuit before I was happy enough that the boys could ride on their own and then we all stood back and watched as they made several more circuits.
"The ponies are very gentle," Dad assured me. "The Baldwin boys have been doing this for many years." Then he said, "Excuse me a moment, please," and disappeared around the corner between the houses. He returned a few moments later and carnival guests began to file into the back yard. "We had barricades between the houses until the twins had the first ride."
The clean-up boy then set out a metal stand holding a sign which read, "Pony Rides $2."
I know the twins would gladly have spent the whole afternoon riding the ponies, but the Baldwin boys were here to make some money as well. They stopped in front of us after the fifth circuit and I stepped forward to retrieve Justin. He didn't want to leave, of course, but I told him that there were other children waiting to ride and that we would come back again later. Brad lifted Jeremy from his pony and Dad helped Tyler get down.
We walked back through the house, closing and locking the patio doors behind us and closing the blinds, before continuing on through and out the front door and moved toward Mickey's Fun Jump..
Mrs. Simm stood outside the entrance to the attraction. Apparently she would keep track of the time and regulate the number of kids inside. Justin and Jeremy crawled through the opening first as Brad and I held onto their balloon animals. I don't know whether Lindsay had foreseen the twins' injured feet, but she couldn't have made a better selection for them than these inflated games. It was like the boys were jumping on air, which, of course, they were doing, and they showed very little discomfort. They jumped and bounced and rolled and laughed and giggled and screamed with glee. Tyler and Andrew and Lindsay followed them in.
To Mrs. Simm, I said, "Thank you for loaning us your back yard."
She merely smiled and said, "Nuthin' good on television on Saturdays, anyway."
I turned to our families then and said, "And thank you everyone. This is more than we could possibly have imagined. It's a birthday they're going to remember for a long, long time."
"You must thank Lindsay, Theodore," Dad told me. "She selected everything herself, including the clowns and other entertainment she wished to be here. It was also she who arranged all the volunteers. My granddaughter put her entire heart into this party for her brothers."
She would certainly get a huge hug for this one.
The drizzle had stopped again and the sun began peeking through the clouds once more and the humidity closed in even more. I noticed beads of perspiration on Brook's forehead. "Brook," I said to him, "if you brought shorts with you and want to change. . ." There was no need to finish the sentence.
Brook laughed. "I don't know what I was thinking, wearing jeans," he said. "I guess I was expecting something a bit more formal for a birthday party."
"There's a bathroom to the right of the patio doors. Help yourself."
Brook nodded. "I won't be but a moment, and I'll take your things in as well." He handed Brad the camera and memory cards, then headed to the van to gather the suitcases.
"He's a very polite young man," Bernice said when he'd gone.
"Did you hear him singing?" Mom asked. "He has such a beautiful, mellow voice."
"And I don't?" I asked Mom jokingly.
"Oh, my dear Teddy," Mom said. "A cat makes better music when you step on its tail!"
I can't remember the last time I heard Dad laughing so hard.
The kids played in Mickey's Fun Jump for about five more minutes before Justin came crawling out and into my arms, ready to go on to the next attraction - the Fire Truck Slide. Jeremy followed, and then the others. Brook had rejoined us by that time, now dressed more coolly and comfortably in shorts and sandals and a short-sleeved shirt.
Barry was watching over the slide. He wore white cotton shorts and T-shirt and a fireman's hat and he stood beside the doorway at the cab of the truck. He leaned into me to tell me that he'd rented a full costume, "but it's too damned hot for the coat and pants, though," he said under his breath. "If you want me to sweat my nuts off, it's going to cost you big bucks!"
I laughed and told him to stay cool. I didn't mind, of course. Barry has beautiful legs.
Let me describe the slide. From the side, it looked like a real fire truck with the ladder extended at an angle. Inside, the children climbed the steps on the left side to the landing which was about five metres off the ground and slid down the right side. Over and over again, the twins and Andrew and Tyler scrambled up the stairs and down the slide.
When the kids had had enough of the slide, we went to the face painters for a bit of a breather. The ladies were quick and very efficient and, within minutes, Justin looked like a lion cub and Jeremy looked like a puppy. Tyler opted to look like a clown and Andrew wanted to look like a cat. The twins were free, but it cost five bucks each to do the others.
With our menagerie in tow, we walked over to the hot dog cart. I had seen the man often. He was usually set up in front of Zellers.
"These are the birthday boys, aren't they?" he asked as he looked at the twins.
"That's them," I told him.
"Hotdogs all around?" he asked the boys and Lindsay. They all nodded and he set about preparing the hotdogs and buns and handing them out to each. "And how about you folks?" he asked, looking at the adults. Only Bernice declined.
The man, whose name turned out to be Andy, refused payment for the hotdogs, telling me that "it's worth a few dogs to be allowed to set up inside." He'd already phoned for more supplies. Business was good. I insisted that we pay for the soft drinks, though.
As we stood around watching the crowds and eating our lunches and sipping our drinks, we were approached by a juggling clown who was wandering around the yard. Each time anyone stopped to watch him perform, he would juggle and do simple magic and then hold out his hat for ‘spare change'.
"Did you have to pay these guys to be here?" I asked Dad.
"Only a small deposit to cover their time," Dad replied. "They earn their real wages busking. Do not worry, though," he added. "I have already paid everyone to entertain my grandsons."
The juggling clown stopped in front of us and put on a little show for us. He wore big red shoes and floppy red and yellow pants and jacket. The jacket had huge pockets from which he pulled various items to juggle, much to our delight. He also did simple sleight of hand magic, pulling quarters from the kids' ears and such, but then Brad's mouth seemed to catch his attention. He stared at it for a few moments and looked at Jeremy with an exaggerated expression of curiosity. Then he placed his thumb on Brad's chin and pulled down. Brad obediently opened his mouth. Jeremy watched in total and silent fascination.
The clown curled his fingers and thumb into a tube and placed it against Brad's lips and leaned in to look into the ‘tube'. He jerked his head back in surprise, his mouth and eyes wide as he looked at Justin, and then he smiled a huge, red clown smile, reached into the tube made by his hand, and pulled out a yellow handkerchief. Jeremy giggled and clapped his hands as the clown looked in Brad's mouth again, then pointed at Jeremy and mimed that he should look as well.
"He wants you to look, Jeremy," I told my son when I realized Jeremy didn't understand.
Jeremy twisted around in Brad's arm and looked into the clown's hand, then jerked his head back and grinned at me. "I see something, Daddy!" he shouted excitedly.
A quick glance at the clown told me what I should do. "Pull it out," I told Jeremy.
Jeremy stuck his fingers into the tube and pulled out a red handkerchief, which was tied to a blue one, which was tied to a green one. . . Jeremy's giggles turned to all-out laughter as he pulled the string of kerchiefs from his best friend's mouth. Justin grabbed the string as well and, together with his brother, kept pulling and pulling, and as they pulled, the kerchiefs began to pile up on the ground and the laughter increased to hysterics. No-one was immune to their joy - even Brad - and, before long, we were all laughing right along with them. Mom and Bernice were both laughing so hard that they had to dab at the tears leaking from their eyes. It was truly a magical moment.
Finally the last kerchief was pulled out and the kids all burst into wild applause. And then, as if on cue, Brad burped.
Jeremy's arms flew around Brad's neck and hugged him tight. I didn't hear what Jeremy said, but I heard what Brad said back to him. "I love you, too, Jeremy."
It was my turn to dab at the tears in my eyes.
To Be Continued
