The Feud: Cathy's Story

 This picks up Cathy's story again from Grandma's Broken Leg.  What I'm posting is just first draft stuff.

Cathy thought they would go home after they left Uncle Bill and Aunt Ruth.  They were all still in their bathing suits.  Cathy’s was dry by now and the sand caught inside itched.  Still, she was happy to see that they were going to see Aunt Dodie and Uncle Jim instead.  She loved playing with her cousins.

Once they arrived, Aunt Dodie told them through Dottie that it was too hot to go outside.  The children decided to play Parcheesi while the adults signed back and forth.  Cathy knew her parents were telling her aunt and uncle all about what happened to Grandma.  She could tell by their shocked expressions and Aunt Dodie’s moan.  The conversation continued while the children played.

The sounds of angry hands coming together made Cathy look up.  Mama and Aunt Dodie were both red-in-the-face and it was their hands making loud angry noises as they signed.  Their voices were flat but very breathy and angry sounding.  Cathy saw the other three children were watching now too and she asked Dottie, “What’s the matter?”

Dottie watched the conversation for a few minutes and then answered, “It’s about who will take care of Grandma during the week.  Your mom wants to split up the week but my mom says she can’t until the weekends cuz we have school.”

“But Mikey and I have school too,” Cathy pointed out.  She didn’t understand.

After another moment, Dodie said, “My mom says it’s cuz Jimmy is just starting first grade.”

Cathy frowned, puzzled.  So?  Mikey was just starting kindergarten.

Daddy and Uncle Jimmy weren’t signing much.  They would exchange glances and shrug now and then.

Mama stood up.  She was signing very fast now and was clearly outraged.  Daddy stood up, too, and began signing quietly to her.  He was trying to calm Mama down, Cathy realized.

“What is it?”  Cathy asked Dottie again.  Jimmy and Mikey watched, wide-eyed.

“I think they’re going to do it my mom’s way, but your mom doesn’t like it,” Dottie explained.  “Uncle Mike is saying that he’ll take care of you and Mikey until it’s time for him to work.  And now my mom is saying she’ll come over and fix you dinner Monday through Friday, and then my dad will come over to watch you guys until Uncle Mike gets home.”

It sounded quite complicated.

Mama was already heading out the front door.  Daddy gestured to Cathy and Mikey to get up.  “Time to go home,” he said to them.

But Mama was still very angry.  Cathy felt afraid.  Mama was scary when she got that angry. 

 

When Grandma came home from the hospital, Mama packed up right away to go spend the work week with her.  Cathy cried because Mama wouldn’t let her come along to see Grandma.  Aunt Dodie came over with Dottie and Jimmy because Daddy had already left for work.  Cathy was comforted by the presence of her cousins.

For about a month, life took on a very different routine.  Daddy would get Cathy and Mikey up to have breakfast and get ready for school.  He made bag lunches for them while they dressed.  Cathy was quite pleased at first to have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and banana every day.  What a treat!  After a week and a half, though, she began to grow very tired of it.  Mama gave them ham and cheese or bologna and cheese during the week too.  Cathy didn’t complain to Daddy, though, because she didn’t want to make trouble.

One Friday night, Mama came home exhausted.  She signed with Uncle Jim and then went into her bedroom and shut the door.  Cathy asked Dottie what had happened.  “Aunt Maggie doesn’t feel very well and so she asked my father to stay until Uncle Mike gets home,” Dottie explained.

The children sat down to watch television.  Soon Daddy arrived home and instead of leaving, Uncle Jim stayed to “talk”.  That pleased the children to no end: now they could stay up late.  Dottie changed the channels on the TV until she found a late-night scary film called “The House On Haunted Hill.”

“No, it has ghosts,” Cathy objected.  She didn’t like scary things.  The wicked witch and her monkeys always made her cover her eyes when The Wizard Of Oz came on once or twice a year.  She didn’t even like the ghosts in Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol.

“Ghosts are fun,” Dottie said firmly and Jimmy agreed.  “Let’s vote.”  Dottie and Jimmy immediately voted for the movie. 

Jimmy turned to Mikey and demanded: “Are you a sissy?”  Mikey shook his head ‘no’ and raised his hand.  Three to one, Cathy was outvoted.

It wasn’t long before Cathy was terrified of the movie goings-on.  She asked Dottie to put something else on the TV but her cousin refused.  Cathy could’ve changed the channel herself but whenever the children were together, Dottie was the boss.  She was the eldest and the bossiest.

Finally, Cathy could stand no more.  She went in to tell Daddy but he and Uncle Jimmy were too busy signing, so she had to tap Daddy’s shoulder several times.  When Daddy looked at her at last, he noticed the kitchen clock and said peremptorily, “So late, go to bed.”

“I’m afraid, I’m afraid,” Cathy objected.  Going to bed now was the last thing she wanted.  After all, she had a wolf in her closet and obviously Daddy was too busy to check it for her.  Daddy asked why and she pointed to the living room.  “The movie.  I’m scared.”

Daddy shook his head and said, “Don’t be silly.  Late now, go to bed.”  He called to Mikey to go to bed too.

Cathy tiptoed through the living room with Mikey.  He went into his room and she continued down the hall, terrified.  Her parents’ bedroom was directly across the hall from hers and she had an idea.   She opened the door to her parents’ bedroom and went in, turning on the light.  Mama was curled up, sleeping, and Cathy had to shake her several times to awaken her.

Mama finally roused and started to sit up.  “What?”

“I’m scared, I’m scared,” Cathy mouthed back slowly.

“Tell Daddy.  I’m sick.”  Mama began to reach for the lamp, but Cathy tapped her.  Now Mama sat up, looking pale and annoyed.

“The movie.  The TV.”

Mama grabbed her bathrobe and rushed out of the bedroom and into the living room.  Dottie and Jimmy looked up, startled.  Mama rushed through the living room and into the dining room, where Daddy and Uncle Jim were sitting.

Mama was yelling.  “Get out, get out, get out!”   She was yelling at a very startled Uncle Jim.  Daddy got up and signed to Mama.

Mama was still yelling as she signed back.  “Why do you let them watch a scary movie?”

Daddy and Uncle Jimmy only looked at her in confusion.  She was pointing to the door and continued to sign so furiously that her hands smacked loudly and cracked.

Cathy looked at Dottie, who was wide-eyed.  Dottie said, “Your mom says my parents are using her instead of taking fair turns.  And she says my dad is stupid for letting us watch a scary movie.”  Uncle Jimmy was signing something back, which Dottie interpreted as “But he didn’t know.”

Now Daddy was also trying to explain to Mama but she was shaking and jumping up and down, pointing to the door.  “Get out, get out, get out!” she screamed again.

Cathy ran from the living room, terrified.  She jumped into her bed and pulled the covers over her head.  She could hear Mama and Daddy arguing.  Their hands were so loud when they were angry.  She began to cry.  She wished she hadn’t woken Mama.  Now she would be in trouble!  Finally, she cried herself out and fell asleep.

 

Cathy was sure Mama would be very angry with her, but she wasn’t.  Something was wrong with Mama, though.  She continued to feel sick and stayed in bed.  Daddy would go in to take care of her, bringing her meals and tea or water.  He would sit on the edge of the bed and sign with her.  Mama cried and cried.

Cathy and Mikey only knew that Mama wasn’t feeling well.  Daddy took them to the park for a few hours and made all their meals during that weekend.  On Monday, Mama didn’t go back to Grandma’s.  There seemed to be a new arrangement: Daddy went to take care of Grandma during the day until he had to leave for work.  After his shift was over, Uncle Jimmy went to stay overnight.  Aunt Dodie continued the weekends.

Mama did get up that week to get Cathy and Mikey ready for school.  It was a relief not to have peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches every day, but Cathy was worried.  The following weekend, Daddy took Cathy and Mikey to the park again while Mama stayed home and rested.

Cathy knew a few basic signs because she’d seen them used so frequently.  She signed a simple question: “What’s wrong with Mama?”

Daddy answered with his voice.  “She had bad dream.”

Bad dream?  This was even more confusing and worrisome because Cathy didn’t have the vocabulary to ask why it was a bad dream and why Mama got sick about it.  She just nodded her head.

Just before the third weekend came, Mama seemed in a good mood so Cathy used her lips to ask about seeing Dottie and Jimmy.  She missed them.  But Mama looked suddenly annoyed.  Her lips pressed together, she shook her head no.  The little girl didn’t want to press Mama any further and asked Daddy.  And Daddy said, “Mama, Aunt Do have big fight.  Not talking.”

It wasn’t over then.  Now Cathy really wished she hadn’t wakened Mama.  She wondered what that bad dream had been about.  She wouldn’t find out until she was older.

Cathy: Broken Leg

 The other day, I posted about the day my Grandma broke her leg at the beach.

Today, it's fictionalized as Cathy's experience.

Most of the time, Cathy and her family went to one of the town’s bay beaches when they wanted to cool off during the summer months.  It was there that Cathy’s daddy taught her to swim.  When he began to teach her, he stretched his arms out across the water to support Cathy’s little body.  First, he taught her to kick, moving in a slow circle to give her the impression she was swimming.  Later, he showed her how to do use her arms.  One day, he let his arms fall and Cathy was delighted to find herself moving effortlessly through the bay.  Daddy tried to teach Mikey in the same way but her little brother was only interested in doggie-paddling.

Sometimes the family would go to a larger beach park.  That involved a bit more planning.  They would bring the same blanket, towels and cooler but they’d have to spend more time in the car.  They would cross a bridge to get to Captree State Park.  They’d trek their stuff from the car across the parking lot and down to the beach.  They would have their lunch there and soon after, would shower and then make the trek back to the car.

There was another beach that Cathy loved and they would go there once a month or so.  This involved even more steps.  First, they’d drive their stuff to the Captree parking lot.  Instead of hauling it all to the beach, they’d go to the ferry.  That was one of the parts Cathy loved most of all.  She and Mikey would have so much fun!  While Mama and Daddy sat nearby watching them, the little ones would chase each other on the deck.  Sometimes Mama and Daddy would hold their hands and go up to the railing to look out at the water.

The bay usually rippled with just small waves.  There were sailboats and motor boats to watch and puffy white clouds at which to look up and see.  Sometimes there were crying seagulls overhead and, when Cathy saw other passengers throwing bread up to the birds, Mama began to bring crusts for the children to throw too.  Most of them landed on the water instead of going very far into the air but it was fun to watch the birds dive bomb the bits of bread.

Once they arrived at Fire Island, there was another long trek to the beach.  This time, instead of the bay, they would be visiting the Atlantic Ocean!  The ocean was as big as the sky and the waves were bigger and rougher.  Cathy and Mikey weren’t allowed to go into the ocean.  Mama and Daddy would go wading with them, holding hands.  Cathy could feel the water tugging her little legs, wanting to pull her far out.  When Mama and Daddy wanted to swim or to rest, Cathy and Mikey were only allowed on the packed sand.

When they were on the packed sand, waves would wash up over their toes and feet.  Sometimes a bigger wave would come along and they would play tag with the ocean.  If they were able to get onto the soft sand before the wave covered their feet, they won.  But if the wave caught them and ran up to their ankles, they lost.  They never tired of that game.

When they went to Fire Island, they would stay until late in the afternoon.  Daddy would get a huge beach umbrella to provide shade during the sunniest hours of the day.  After lunch, Mama made Cathy and Mikey put shirts on over their bathing suits.  She smeared smelly stuff all over them and explained it would keep the sun from burning them.  When they weren’t playing with the ocean, Mama had them sit on the shaded part of the blanket.  She and Daddy didn’t hide from the sun and smeared that stinky stuff over each other.

Whenever they asked Grandma if she’d like to come with them to Fire Island, she was always busy.  One special day, though, she said yes.  When they picked her up, Mama didn’t seem happy.  Cathy wondered why Grandma was wearing her favorite blue spotted dress instead of a bathing suit.  Mama kept pointing to Grandma’s feet, shaking her head.

“No, I’ll be fine,” Grandma said, mouthing each word carefully.  She was wearing what Cathy called “grandma shoes”: chunky black shoes with little heels.  They weren’t beach sandals like everyone else wore.  When Mama saw she wasn’t getting anywhere with the shoes, she shrugged and they all got into the car.

Mama and Daddy signed to each other in the front seat while Cathy and Mikey sat on either side of Grandma, chattering happily.  In not time, they’d arrived at Captree.  It was the fastest trip Cathy could remember!  Grandma helped carry some of their stuff over to the ferry.

Grandma stood at the ferry’s rail for almost the whole trip.  Cathy stood with her; Mama, Daddy and Mikey grew tired of it and sat down on a bench to relax.  Cathy was just tall enough to see through the space between two of the rails.  Grandma said, “The bridge will be open soon.”

Cathy looked at the bridge.  It looked pretty tall, taller than the Captree Bridge.

“When it opens, they’ll close the ferry, I suppose,” Grandma added with a sigh.

“Why?” Cathy wrinkled her nose and eyebrows.  Close the ferry?  But it was so much fun!

“Yes, people will want to drive their cars over the bridge.  They won’t want to ride the ferry anymore.”

Cathy heard the sadness in Grandma’s voice.  “But I will,” she declared.  “Maybe you and I can ride it and they’ll keep it open.”

Grandma smiled but didn’t answer.  She patted Cathy’s head instead.

 

After the challenge of hauling all their stuff to the beach, the next step was to find “the perfect spot.”  Cathy and Mikey danced with impatience, wanting to hurry up and go play tag with the ocean.  Finally, the grown-ups settled on a place for the blanket and cooler.  Daddy went off to get an umbrella while Mama opened a folding chair for Grandma.   The children kicked their sandals off and ran down to the packed sand, ready to race the waves.

They’d won against the waves a couple of times, giggling uncontrollably as they ran back and forth.  Cathy heard Mama’s voice calling out, “Mom, mom!”  She looked toward the blanket and saw Grandma carefully making her way toward them.  Mama had started to follow, still calling to Grandma.

“I wanted to see what the fun is all about!” Grandma said loudly, although Cathy knew Mama couldn’t hear it.

She and Mikey turned and rushed back to the packed sand, getting ready to outrace another one.  The swell was rising and Cathy saw it would be a big one.  “Come on!” she called to Mikey, about-facing and running back toward dry sand.  She could hear Mikey running behind, and they passed Grandma just ahead of the wave.

Mama screamed.

Cathy froze.  Mama’s eyes were bulging but in fear, not anger. 

“Oh, my goodness!” Grandma exclaimed.

Cathy turned and was shocked to see Grandma sitting down.  Her leg looked funny and Cathy froze.  Mama ran past her and Mikey and fell to her knees beside Grandma.  Cathy realized Grandma’s leg was bending the wrong way.  Something was sticking up, just below Grandma’s knee.  It looked like raw chicken before Mama cooked it.

“Granma, Granma!” Mikey cried, tears of fright streaming down his face. 

Mama jumped up and began to run toward the lifeguard, waving her arms and crying out.  The lifeguard looked down at her from his perch, puzzled.

Cathy broke out of her deep freeze as she realized the lifeguard couldn’t understand Mama.  She began to run toward the lifeguard too, crying out, “Help, help, my Grandma’s hurt!”

The lifeguard immediately jumped down.  He’d seen Grandma and ran past Mama and Cathy.  Mama turned immediately; Cathy did too, but reluctantly.  She was afraid of what she saw on Grandma’s leg.  She could hear Grandma beginning to moan, “Oh, what have I done?  Just look at my leg.”

The lifeguard knelt beside Grandma, speaking to her softly and looking at her leg.  He stood up and began signaling with his arms.  Cathy turned to see where the lifeguard was signaling and saw Daddy drop the umbrella he was carrying and race toward them.

“We have to get her to the emergency room,” the lifeguard was saying.

Mama shook her head, not understanding.

“She can’t hear you,” Cathy told him, trembling now.  She turned to her mother and mouthed slowly “Go hospital.”

Mama nodded and Daddy arrived at her side, wide-eyed.  The guard frowned and turned to Cathy.  “Who’s going to go with your grandmother?  Someone has to ride in the ambulance.”

Through gestures and mouthing some of the words, Cathy put the question to her parents.  Mama was already shaking her head ‘no’ and signing to Daddy.  Daddy stepped up and said, “I will go.  I will talk to doctor.”  Daddy could hear a little bit and his speech was better than Mama’s.

Now more lifeguards arrived.  Two carried a stretcher and one a medical bag.  Mikey began weeping loudly.  “What’s wrong with Grandma?”

“She’ll be OK,” the one with the medical bag said.  “She broke her leg, that’s all.”  To the other guards, he said: “Compound Fracture.  She’s in shock.”

Even though it was a hot day, one of the guards picked up a blanket from the stretcher and covered Grandma.  The waves had begun to creep closer and closer more often and another guard advised, “Better get her out of here before she gets wet.”

Now that Grandma was covered, Cathy could look at her and asked in a shaky voice, “Are you okay, Grandma?”

Grandma just kept saying, “What have I done?  What have I done?”

The men gently lifted her and put her on the stretcher.  The blanket had fallen and one stooped to retrieve it and cover her again.  Two carried the stretcher and began to move away swiftly.

Daddy was signing something to Mama, who was nodding.  Daddy turned away and hurried after the stretcher.

The other two guards remained behind to help Mama and the children pack up their stuff.  Mikey had stopped crying hard and was sniffling as he and Cathy carried off all their beach toys.  The guards helped Mama carry everything else, right onto the ferry.  “I’ll call so some of the guys at Captree can help you get everything to the car,” one said to Mama as they left the ferry. 

Mama nodded and when they were off the ferry, she turned to Cathy and asked, “What did they say?”  This happened a lot.  Mama and Daddy often would smile and nod and then, later, ask Cathy what “they” said.  If it was really important to know right away, Cathy could give her parents the message on the spot.

Cathy mouthed “More help there.”  This was a time she wished she could sign too.

Mama was too restless to sit on the ferry’s bench.  She paced the deck while Cathy and Mikey sat quietly subdued.  When Mama went to the rail, Cathy and Mikey joined her.  Mikey tapped Mama and said, “Grandma?”

Mama pointed and the children looked.  There was the bridge that wasn’t open yet.  A white vehicle was just cresting the top.  Cathy recognized it as the big car that took sick people to the hospital.  Daddy and Grandma were in it and the bridge wasn’t even open yet.  They would be the first regular people to go over that bridge.  Wow, Cathy thought. 

As promised, there were a couple of lifeguards waiting for them when the ferry arrived back at Captree.  They helped Mama get everything to the car.  Mama smiled a little and said thank you as they closed up the trunk.  Mama gestured for the children to get into the car.

“Hospital?” Cathy asked. 

“Uncle Bill’s,” Mama answered, her face as white as milk.  When Cathy frowned, puzzled, Mama added that Uncle Bill would need to go to the hospital with Grandma’s insurance information.  Daddy would need help talking to the doctors too.

Cathy enjoyed visiting Uncle Bill and Aunt Ruth.  They were her godparents.  They had adopted two children, younger than she and Mikey.  Uncle Bill raised Great Danes.  He always had a couple of them and when they had puppies, he’d give them away.  Cathy had asked her mother for a puppy once but Mama said no and shuddered.  Too big, she’d said. 

Mama, Uncle Bill and Aunt Ruth went right into the kitchen and began writing to each other on a pad of paper.  Mama didn’t try to talk to Uncle Bill because she said he was too hard to lipread; he didn’t move his mouth much.  Aunt Ruth was much easier to understand but this was an emergency and so they needed to write.

“What happened?” little Susie asked.  She was about 4 or 5.  Mark was even younger.

“Our Grandma broke her leg,” Cathy answered solemnly.  She felt important to be the conveyer of such important news.

Susie was properly impressed.  They all went in the backyard to romp with the two Great Danes.  They were as big as horses in Cathy’s eyes but very gentle and playful.

They’d been playing a long time when they heard car doors slam.  “Daddy!” Susie cried, running back to the house.  The children piled inside the kitchen to find Uncle Bill and Cathy’s daddy just arriving.  The grownups sat down in the kitchen, each couple conversing to the other.  Mama and Daddy were signing fast, and Uncle Bill was telling Aunt Ruth what had happened at the hospital.

Cathy listened to Uncle Bill.  Grandma had badly broken her leg.  The raw chicken thing Cathy had seen was bone and tissue.  She felt sick.  Grandma had to have a cast and would be in the hospital for a week.  When she came home, she wouldn’t be able to walk around and would need help with everything. 

Grandpa wouldn’t be able to help because his health was failing, Uncle Bill added.  Cathy remembered that Grandpa only seemed to move from his bed to his rocker nowadays.  He would leave his hearing aids off and didn’t mind that he couldn’t hear anything without them.  Grandma had to give him a shot of insulin a few times a day.

Who would take care of Grandma?