The Fourth Monday in a Row

Think about how really naïve you were when you were a kid. When you were young you never fully thought out your actions prior to actually doing them; the ramifications, the outcome, or any possible ‘whooping’ you would receive. I suppose you thought nothing you ever did could have been wrong.

This story describes what I like to call my most illogical period, that period of time in your life where you’ve been taught right from wrong, but haven’t quite made those connections to your actions. You can look at any kids face between the ages of eight and twelve and almost see the word, DUH!, painted on their forehead.

Remember, we went to a catholic nun-run school. We were a known element!

And this takes me to where my story begins, the fourth Monday in a row.

My sister and her best friend Nancy were my cohorts. Skipping school was a very simple process: we leave for school as normal, walk to the corner and meet Nancy, and brazenly walk to our Grandmothers’ house, where our exploits took place.

Circling around to the back yard we would enter the house through the never locked back door, quietly make our way through the kitchen, the dining room, through the hallway and climb the stairs that led to the second floor (always careful to skip over that squeaky stair). Meanwhile, our grandmother, obviously elderly, would be in the parlor watching Today and Hugh Downs or Jack Chase WBZ news.

We would quietly spend the entire day on the second floor of our grandmother’s house. We’d watch TV on a small portable B&W, play music quietly. We would have our lunches eaten by 10AM.

We were so sure of ourselves that we would never be caught, because we were prepared! We staged ‘fire drills’! These were practice panic run: hide someone is here, type of drills. Each one of us had a job to do when the drill started. GO! My sister would shut of any gadget we were using, Nancy would be the lookout and I would hide any food or dishes. Then quickly and quietly proceed to our assigned hiding spots: my sister hid under my aunt’s bed, Nancy hid in the back bedroom, and I hid in the front bedroom closet sliding the hanging clothes in front of me for that added protection. After the drill we would meet back in the front bedroom very pleased with ourselves.

We were so cocky about our skills, one of us, my sister, would sneak down the stairs at lunch time, make lunch for the three of us and sneak back up the stairs without my Grandmother being any wiser. We knew we would not be caught because we would not go downstairs until, The Guiding Light, came on…we were so sure Gram would not get out of her chair during her program, and she didn’t.

Then the day came that would scare the living bejesus out of any kid! The day all our preparations and fire drills could not have prepared us for: Our Aunt came home from work! AGHHHHH!! By the time we heard the car door slam we knew we were too late. We scrambled: TV off, scrambled to our prearranged defensive positions.

Once separated, I lost all sense of time, I’m in a closet, and I’m in the dark. Was I in there for a few minutes, a few hours? Did the other two manage to escape and leave me behind? Was it getting dark outside? I decided I would go on a scouting mission. I would leave the safety of the closet and see what was going on… I’d be brave. It was just then while pulling myself up using the clothes bar I got the full impact of what 300 pounds of clothes weigh! The bar came down on top of me, along with winter coats, sweaters, blankets, boxes, and I have no idea what else.

I couldn’t move! Hangers were sticking me, boxes were jabbing me, and I was failing at the attempt to hold the bar and the 300 pounds of clothes from totally crushing me to death. So I laid there. I don’t remember for how long, I don’t remember how we got out of there- all I know we were all so scared we swore we would never skip school again.

The Fifth Monday in a Row… This is when the word DUH appeared on our foreheads. Despite the fact we swore we would never skip school again, we skipped school again the following Monday. Now I know as kids we think teachers are “dumb” but come on… anyone could have figured this one out! Five Monday’s in a row? The same three kids? Ummm HELLO??

So we were caught. We got nabbed. We were heading back to the Big House in a car driven by our step-father and heading to the principal’s office. Yeah…good day...good day.

I don’t remember seeing much of my sister after that; I don’t know what the nun’s did to her. I did manage to catch a glimpse of her years later at her wedding. HA! Only kidding.

I truly don’t remember what happened to us for skipping school. I remember dinner was really quiet at house for the next few days… but then the memory fades.