We worked hard all day Monday and figured we would be ready to put on our play on Tuesday. We finished up and I went inside for supper. But my mother was having one of her spells.
I always know when she’s having one of her spells because she will be lying on the couch with a blanket over her, even her face. I think she’s asleep, but I’m not sure, so I try not to make any noise. But today I was so excited about the play that I came running in and let the screen door slam with a bang. Then my mother sat right up and marched down to her bedroom. Then she slammed her door with a bang.
Well! Ladies aren’t supposed to do that, but I didn’t think I should say so.
I looked in the kitchen but there was no supper ready. I wondered if I should make something. I can make French toast and sloppy joes and s’mores because I learned at Brownies. But I knew my father didn’t call this real food. So I was standing there, looking in the fridge when my father came home.
“Where’s your mother?” he asked.
“She’s lying down. She’s having a spell,” I said.
“Humph” said my father.
“Can you come to our play tomorrow?”
“What?”
I didn’t tell him he should say pardon. I just reminded him about our play and then asked him again if he could come.
He shook his head. “Don’t think so, kiddo.”
I guess he saw the look on my face because then he said, “Tell you what. How about you and I go out tonight and get some grub? We’ll celebrate the success of your play ahead of time.”
This was a surprise! And then I had a brainstorm.
“Can Cassandra Jovanovich come, too?” I asked.
My father looked a little surprised. But then he said, “Sure. Why not?”
This was wonderful! I’d never taken a friend out for dinner before!
So I ran over to Cassandra Jovanovich’s and Mrs. Fergus said yes and then the two of us ran back to my house and were ready to go.
My father came out of his bedroom. He didn’t look too happy and I was suddenly afraid my mother said we couldn’t go. But he smiled when he saw us and said to hop in the jalopy. My father says things like grub and jalopy when he’s trying to be extra nice. I don’t know why.
We both sat in the backseat and pretended we were rich ladies and my father was the chauffeur. And my father even let us listen to CHUM on the radio! We never listen to CHUM when my mother is in the car. We always have to listen to CFRB and then there’s hardly any music, just a lot of old people talking.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“You’re supposed to tell me where to drive,” answered my father. “I’m the chauffeur, remember?”
Well! This was a surprise. So I said, knowing my father would say no, “How about the Dairy Queen?”
“Very well, madam,” he said, and Cassandra and I laughed.
So we drove for about fifteen minutes and we listened to The Beatles and The Dave Clark Five and Herman’s Hermits and Simon and Garfunkel and then we were there.
I thought we were only going to get a cone, the same as always, or maybe a vanilla cone with chocolate dip for extra special, but my father said we could have whatever we wanted. And we weren’t even having any real dinner!
So we both got a deluxe banana split and my father said that sounded good and he got one too.
“This is scrumptious,” I said. That’s a word Anne Shirley uses.
We sat at a picnic table and I said, “Did your dad ever take you to the Dairy Queen?”
I knew it was very daring of me to sneak this in, but maybe she wouldn’t get mad at me this time, asking questions about her parents.
“No,” she said. “No, my dad never took me to the Dairy Queen.”
“But–”
My father butted in. “Well then, this really is a special day. How about we get something for the road?”
What was going on here?
“You mean we can have more ice cream?”
“Why not?” said my father.
So Cassandra and I headed back into the shop and ordered two chocolate milkshakes, and when we came out my father was back in the car, and we were headed home.
My father turned onto Dixon Road and headed west. And I knew!
I poked Cassandra Jovanovich in the ribs with my elbow and smiled. “Guess where we’re going?” I said.
“Dunno.”
“The airport!”
“So?”
“So? Are you kidding? Haven’t you ever been to the airport before?” I was amazed that she had missed this treat.
We drove and drove and then my father pulled over on the side of the road by the farmer’s field and we got out and put the blanket from the trunk on the hood of the car and climbed up and lay down. Lots of other cars were parked along the road beside us.
We could see clear across the airport to where the planes started, and by the time they got to us, they were in flight. I screamed and screamed as they roared just over our heads.
For a bit, Cassandra didn’t say anything. But by the time the third plane flew over, she was screaming too. My father just shook his head and smiled at us. And when he pulled out a package of cigarettes, I knew the deal. He walked along the side of the road, puffing away, saying something to the other dads, sometimes offering a light or even a cigarette. And I wouldn’t tell my mother. She hated him smoking. Just like Marilla hated Matthew smoking and said (Marilla, that is), “What else could you expect from a mere man?”
So I turned away and Cassandra and I finished our chocolate milkshakes and we screamed at the top of our lungs.
“Where do you think they’re all going?” asked Cassandra.
“Everywhere. All over the world.”
“I wish I was on one,” said Cassandra Jovanovich.
And I suddenly knew I could sneak in another question. “Have you ever been on a plane? Like, with your parents?”
But a plane was coming toward us and Cassandra pretended she didn’t hear me.
It roared overhead and then everything was silent. So silent we could hear the birds in the fields. And it seemed odd, the jet scream and our screams and then the birdsong.
But it was getting dark and my father said we had to go home.
When we got home, Cassandra started to walk away and then turned to my father in a rush and said thank you. “Thank you, Mr. Mets. That was… was … truly one of the best –” She didn’t finish.
“It’s okay, honey. And you’re welcome,” said my father.
Honey?
Cassandra went inside and my father looked at me.
“Don’t be asking her questions all the time. Sometimes, people just can’t answer them.”
Then my father went inside and I waited a moment and then hurried to my Sanctuary. I stared up at the stars and wondered where all those planes were now.