![](\"https:\/\/images.dailykos.com\/images\/1262901\/large\/Saugatuckpostcard.jpeg?1704752453\")
\u201cCooper, wake up\u201d, dad whispered, and I felt something shaking my foot under my covers, \u201cMolly\u2019s here and it\u2019s time for your big trip.\u201d I had trouble opening my eyes and figuring out what was going on. Everything was dark, but then I remembered they would be here super early to pick me up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he awake?\u201d I heard Molly\u2019s voice whispering.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting there\u201d, dad whispered, \u201cI just don\u2019t want to wake up David, he gets so jealous when Coop gets to go somewhere without him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell\u201d, whispered Molly, \u201cIf I was in charge he\u2019d get to go too!\u201d Dad nodded his head and laughed quietly through his nose.<\/p>\n
I sat up to see if it was really Molly in my room before it was even light out, and it really was, she was standing in the doorway to the hall. She was wearing a Detroit Tigers baseball cap and a dark blue Michigan sweatshirt.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis suitcase is out by the front door with everything in it\u201d, dad whispered, \u201cHe just needs a minute to put his clothes on and then he\u2019ll be ready to go.\u201d Molly nodded, but kept standing there.<\/p>\n
I threw back my covers and swung my legs out over the side of my bed, getting ready to jump down like I always did.<\/p>\n
\u201cDON\u2019T JUMP\u201d, dad whispered sharply, \u201cYou might wake up your brother.\u201d I nodded and rolled over on my tummy and kind of slid off the bed, I felt dad\u2019s hands grab my waist as I slid down so my feet were on the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere ya go\u201d, dad whispered, \u201cHere are your pants and shirt.\u201d I was wearing just a t-shirt and underwear because my pajamas were packed in the suitcase. \u201cMolly, maybe you can wait out in the living room so Coop can have some privacy putting on his clothes.\u201d She pushed her lips together and wrinkled her nose thinking.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo that\u2019s okay\u201d, I whispered to dad. Molly looked at me in my underwear and smiled as she watched me put on my pants and my shirt. I remembered when we had gotten naked together up in her bedroom in their old house across the street when we were still little. I figured she remembered too. I wondered if she looked the same now as she did then.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should wear your Michigan sweatshirt and Tiger baseball cap too\u201d, she whispered. I nodded and looked at dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cUhh\u201d, he said, \u201cYour sweatshirt is already in your suitcase. I\u2019ll get it for you. And your Tiger\u2019s cap\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got it\u201d, she whispered, holding the cap up in the air and waving it.<\/p>\n
Dad laughed through his nose again and went out in the living room, bringing back my sweatshirt. I put it on while Molly watched, still smiling. When I pulled it over my head she stepped towards me and put the hat on my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerfect\u201d, she whispered.<\/p>\n
\u201cOut in the living room you two\u201d, dad said, \u201cBefore we wake up your brother.\u201d He gently put a hand on each of our shoulders and pushed just a little bit towards the door. I reached down and grabbed my sneakers.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo socks?\u201d he asked. I shook my head. \u201cWell there are socks in your suitcase if you need them\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
Carrying my suitcase, dad walked with Molly and me out to the street where Molly\u2019s mom and step dad were by their station wagon. They put my suitcase in the middle seat with their suitcases and other stuff.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave a great time Coop\u201d, dad said, patting my shoulder, \u201cMaybe you\u2019ll tell us all about it when you get back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s stepdad opened the back part so Molly and I could climb in our favorite \u201cway back\u201d seat, and then shut us in our cozy little place. Dad talked to them for a minute by the front of the car, and I could hear him say, \u201cThank you, this means a lot, we owe you one.\u201d I wondered what he meant by that.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou’re very welcome Eric\u201d, said Molly\u2019s mom, \u201cMolly is so excited that Cooper will be joining us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then her stepdad started the car and drove down the street towards Stadium Boulevard. Looking out the back window, I saw dad waving to us, and Molly and I waved back.<\/p>\n
It was really neat in the \u201cway back\u201d seat, because all the suitcases and stuff filled up the middle seat, between Molly and I in the back and her mom and dad in the front of their station wagon. It felt like we were in our own separate car, but we were going backwards instead of forwards, seeing where we were leaving rather than where we were going. It was still dark outside and the streetlights flashed by us on either side of us on the big empty street. Molly\u2019s mom and stepdad sounded far away way up in the front talking about the numbers and directions of the highways we were going to go on to get there. Twenty three north, sixteen west, and eleven south.<\/p>\n
Molly got the blanket next to her and threw it over my head and then went under it herself so we were both under there. I felt her shoulder against mine, bit I couldn\u2019t really see her at all except when we went by a streetlight and a tiny bit of light got through the blanket to make her face look like a ghost.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in our secret cave now\u201d, she whispered, \u201cIf we\u2019re really quiet we can do whatever we want.\u201d Then she asked, \u201cWhat do you want to do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d, I whispered, but it was really exciting to start thinking about that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s our secret cave\u201d, she whispered, \u201cWe need to do something that\u2019s secret?\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered back in January when Mary kissed me on the cheek in Wurster Park, and then in April, after Joey told on me, and how Mary was always mad at me for the rest of school and wouldn\u2019t talk to me or even look at me at all. I liked Mary, but I liked Molly even more. She was my best friend. It felt like we had been friends forever. Mary was just a girl that I liked, or at least used to like. Molly was a girl too that I liked a lot, but she was different.<\/p>\n
But she WAS a girl, and not a boy, and older boys and girls kissed each other. Margie said so, and I\u2019d even seen them do it hiding in the lilac bushes when they were \u201cmaking out\u201d. And we were getting older now too, though Molly had only finished second grade, even though she was older than me. I wondered if Molly wanted to kiss ME. I wondered if Molly would think I was bad if I kissed her, but then I thought that I wouldn\u2019t think SHE was bad if she kissed ME. So wasn\u2019t that kind of like that \u201cGolden Rule\u201d thing that mom had talked about, treat others like you want to be treated. I wanted to do it but I wasn\u2019t sure.<\/p>\n
The streetlight made her ghost face appear again in front of mine. Her eyes looked at mine and she whispered, \u201cI can see you thinking about something secret.\u201d I nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am\u201d, I whispered, \u201cBut I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ll like it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI promise I\u2019ll like it\u201d, she whispered.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou really promise?\u201d I asked. She nodded and kept nodding, so I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Then without even thinking she just kissed me on the cheek back. Her ghost face appeared and we just looked at each other.<\/p>\n
The car suddenly stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cUh oh\u201d, Molly whispered, \u201cPretend like we didn\u2019t do that.\u201d She pulled the blanket down from over her head so she could peek out. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d she asked in her regular voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh nothing really, young lady\u201d, said her stepdad, \u201cThat blankety blank car in front of us changed lanes right in front of us without signaling and then stopped. Go back to sleeping or whatever it was you two were doing back there in, what do you call it, the\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe WAY BACK\u201d, said Molly. Molly\u2019s stepdad laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat name\u201d, he said, \u201cI\u2019ll have to tell my colleagues.\u201d He and Molly’s mom went back to talking about other stuff. Molly pulled the blanket back over her head so we were back in our secret cave.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s \u2018blankety blank\u2019?\u201d I asked her, whispering again because we were back in the cave.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe says that instead of using a swear word like \u2018damn\u2019\u201d, Molly whispered. I did a quiet nose laugh. I liked doing that now when grownups said or did silly things, because that was what they always did to us kids.<\/p>\n
Molly didn\u2019t say anything for a minute and then whispered, \u201cYou seem different.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d, I whispered, \u201cMaybe.\u201d She seemed kind of different too, but not in a bad way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019m different too\u201d, she whispered, \u201cSo it\u2019s okay I guess, since we both are.\u201d I nodded. Our shoulders still touching, I felt her head leaning toward mine, so I leaned mine towards hers and the sides of our heads touched and I heard just the tiniest sliding sound from her hair rubbing against mine.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
I guess I had fallen asleep, because I woke up and our heads and shoulders were still touching and Molly was making a sleeping noise next to me. The blanket was still over our heads but there was a lot more light coming through it. The car felt like it was moving really slowly and doing a lot of turning. Then it stopped and I heard the front doors of the car open. Then a much louder noise as the back part of the car clanked open and the cooler outside air pushed through the blanket into our warm cozy cave.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnock knock\u201d, said Molly\u2019s stepdad, \u201cAnybody home in there? Asleep in your cozy little lair?\u201d<\/p>\n
I pulled the blanket down off our heads and the light was so bright my eyes hurt and I could barely see anything at first except the outline of her stepdad.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh my god Joan\u201d, he said, \u201cThese two are SO CUTE with their matching Michigan sweatshirts and baseball caps. What does that olde English \u2018D\u2019 on the caps stand for?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDetroit Tigers\u201d, said Molly, opening her eyes and then squeezing them together and putting her hands over her eyes because it was so bright.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course\u201d, he said, laughing through his nose, \u201cI should know better by now. My work comrades would be aghast at my continuing ignorance of American sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPit stop, ladies and gentlemen\u201d, he said, \u201cGas for the wagon, bathroom for the humans, a quick breakfast including some nice hot caffeine juiced caf\u00e9 for the grownups and maybe a Cola for the youngsters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know Larry\u201d, said Molly\u2019s mom, coming around next to him to look at us, \u201cMaybe better just an orange juice or a Seven Up for these two.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh\u201d, he said, \u201cBut we\u2019re all on vacation darling. We should treat ourselves for all the hard work we do the other fifty one weeks of the year!\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s mom sighed. \u201cWell okay, maybe just this once.\u201d Molly\u2019s stepdad winked at us.<\/p>\n
So after we got gas in the car we walked across the highway to a little \u201ccoffee shop\u201d place. It had those neat \u201cbooths\u201d with a table between shiny puffy couch things. Each booth had one of those little \u201cjuke boxes\u201d on the table against the wall. I\u2019d already used those at that Miller\u2019s ice cream place on Main street and Dog n\u2019 Suds way out on Packard. You\u2019d put in a nickel and then you could push the buttons to pick a song to play. They were really neat. This machine had round openings for a nickel for one song, a dime for two, and a quarter for six, so you got an extra one.<\/p>\n
Both Molly and I really liked that little juke box so we sat on either side of it. Molly\u2019s stepdad sat next to me and her mom next to her.<\/p>\n
\u201cAh, modern musical appliances\u201d, said her stepdad. He seemed to like to say silly stuff like that. Even though the words sounded real and complicated, I could tell he was trying to be silly by the way he said it. I looked at him and made a silly face like I KNEW he was being silly and he laughed quietly through his nose and winked at me again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell\u201d, said her mom, \u201cI imagine we have a range of musical tastes at this table. Your stepdad likes Jazz and Blues, I prefer either Classical or Folk Music, and god only knows what you young people like these days, rock and roll?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s try this\u201d, she said, \u201cI\u2019ll put in two dimes which means we have four choices. You kids can each choose one, then your stepdad and I.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMagnificent idea lady\u201d, said Molly\u2019s stepdad, which I knew meant great, I might say \u201csuper good\u201d. I figured he was still saying those really big words because I liked him being silly. Some grownups tried to be funny or silly so kids would like them more.<\/p>\n
He pointed his hand at Molly and asked, \u201cLadies first? If that\u2019s still the protocol these days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly wrinkled her nose and then said, \u201cLet Coop go first, but no one watch what he picks so it\u2019ll be a surprise.\u201d She closed her eyes and put her hands over them. Her mom and stepdad did that too.<\/p>\n
I looked at the thing with the metal pages under the glass with names of songs and who sings them. I moved the little metal levers that stuck out above the glass part to change pages. There was a Beach Boys song, \u201cLittle Surfer Girl\u201d, but I had never heard it. But then I saw that song \u201cHeat Wave\u201d I\u2019d been hearing on CKLW. It had a \u201cC4\u201d next to it. I pushed the \u201cC\u201d button and then the \u201c4\u201d button.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay\u201d, I said, \u201cI picked mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then the rest of us closed our eyes while Molly picked hers. Then Molly\u2019s mom did hers and then her stepdad. The song that had been playing finally ended and then the \u201cHeat Wave\u201d song came on. It started with that clangy music part. Molly looked at me surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s MY song\u201d, she said, \u201cWhat happened to yours?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI picked that song too\u201d, I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally?\u201d she asked. And then she looked at me in a way I couldn\u2019t remember her looking at me before, like maybe we really WERE the same and she never knew that. When we were little we talked about being the same, even though I was a boy and she was a girl. But then she moved away and we were in different grades in different schools, played in different parks, and we figured we had to be different, though we were still best friends.<\/p>\n
The main older girl in the song started singing and the other girls sang back sometimes after her and sometimes before her\u2026<\/p>\n
Whenever I’m with him (Ooo-ooo ooo ooo, ooo)
\nSomething inside (Inside)
\nStarts to burnin’ (Ooo-ooo ooo ooo, ooo)
\nAnd I’m filled with desire<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe song was complicated. It had a lot of stuff in it, and each time I heard it on the radio I figured out more of what it was about. This time it was that \u201cdesire\u201d word, which I had read in books and heard grownups say before. It was something you really really wanted.<\/p>\n
(Ahh) Could it be the devil in me
\n(Ahh) Or is this the way love’s supposed to be
\nIt\u2019s like a heat wave
\nBurnin\u2019 in my heart (It\u2019s like a heatwave)
\nCan’t keep from cryin’ (It\u2019s like a heatwave)
\nIt’s tearing me apart<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWhen older boys and girls got all kissyface with each other I had figured they were really happy, but \u201ctearing me apart\u201d didn\u2019t sound happy.<\/p>\n
Whenever he calls my name (Ahh)
\nSo slow, sweet and plain (Yeah yeah yeah yeah)
\nI feel, yeah, yeah, well I feel that burnin\u2019 flame (Yeah yeah yeah)
\n(Ahh) Has high blood pressure got a hold on me
\n(Ahh) Or is this the way love’s supposed to be<\/p><\/blockquote>\nI guess she couldn\u2019t figure out what \u201clove\u201d was. It didn\u2019t seem to make her happy. It just made her more crazy.<\/p>\n
After that second verse there was a music part, first all high and clangy and then low and croaky, and just the other girls were singing\u2026<\/p>\n
(Ooo-ooo ooo ooo, ooo, heat wave)
\n(Ooo-ooo ooo ooo, ooo, heat wave)<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAnd then the main girl sang the third verse, and the other girls sounded like they were singing other stuff but I couldn\u2019t figure out the words they were saying\u2026<\/p>\n
Sometimes I stare in space
\nTears all over my face
\nI can’t explain it, don’t understand it
\nI ain’t never felt like this before
\nNow that funny feeling has me amazed
\nDon’t know what to do, my head’s in a haze
\nIt\u2019s like a heat wave (heat wave)<\/p><\/blockquote>\nI looked at Molly and wondered if she wanted us to get all worried like this or just be good friends that were happy to be together. But then the main girl got really excited and crazy, and the other girls sang to the main girl that it was alright to feel like that and it was okay to have a \u201ctrue romance\u201d with the boy she liked\u2026<\/p>\n
Yeah yeah yeah yeah (but it’s alright girl)
\nOh yeah (go ahead girl)
\nYeah yeah yeah yeah (well it’s alright girl)
\nOh (Ain’t nothin’ but love girl)
\nI feel it burnin’ (don’t pass up this chance)
\nRight here in my heart (it sounds like a true romance)
\nDon’t you know it’s like a heat wave<\/p><\/blockquote>\nFinally the song finished and it was quiet for a minute.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell\u201d, said Molly\u2019s stepdad, \u201cIt\u2019s quite notable that you both picked that song. And I quite enjoyed it, it has some Gospel, Blues and Jazz elements to it. Who\u2019s the artist?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArtist?\u201d Molly asked, wrinkling her nose, \u201cIt\u2019s a song.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight\u201d, he said, \u201cWhat I meant was who sings it?\u201d Molly lifted her shoulders and made a face like she didn\u2019t know, then looked at me.<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t remember either but I did knew something about it. \u201cIt\u2019s Motown\u201d, I said. The song started playing again, because Molly had picked it too.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you two even know what the song is about?\u201d Molly\u2019s mom asked. We both nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut mom\u201d, Molly said, \u201cIt\u2019s too embarrassing to talk about!\u201d Her mom and stepdad looked like they were starting to laugh and then her mom put her hand on her stepdad’s hand and they didn\u2019t and just nodded. I never liked it that grownups always seemed to want to laugh at kids, I guess because they thought we were \u201ccute\u201d or something.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s fair\u201d, said her mom, nodding her head.<\/p>\n
The second time we heard that \u201cHeat Wave\u201d song, I really liked that part where the main girl singing said \u201cYeah, yeah, yeah\u201d all loud and excited. I wondered if all girls got excited about being \u201cin love\u201d. And I wondered if boys could feel all those things too if they really liked a girl. I mean, I said I\u2019d pull down my pants for Mary and I had done that with Molly when we were little, but I don\u2019t think my heart was \u201cburning\u201d.<\/p>\n
After the song finished a second time, the song Molly\u2019s mom picked came on. It was a guy\u2019s quiet voice and there wasn\u2019t much music, mostly his singing, with no one else singing too\u2026<\/p>\n
How many roads must a man walk down
\nBefore you call him a man?
\nHow many seas must a white dove sail
\nBefore she sleeps in the sand?<\/p><\/blockquote>\nI couldn\u2019t really figure out what he was talking about, and why he was asking those questions, but I looked at Molly\u2019s mom and she listened like it was really important.<\/p>\n
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
\nBefore they’re forever banned?<\/p><\/blockquote>\nSounded like he was talking about wars, but I didn\u2019t know what the word \u201cbanned\u201d meant.<\/p>\n
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
\nThe answer is blowin’ in the wind<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAnd that didn\u2019t make sense to me AT ALL, but it looked like it made sense to Molly\u2019s mom, who looked kind of sad.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my kind of music\u201d, she said, \u201cA compelling young voice with a guitar, challenging capitalism and the military-industrial complex.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe WHAT?\u201d asked Molly.<\/p>\n
Her mom sighed and asked, \u201cAh dear Molly, where do I begin?\u201d I figured she should begin by answering the question.<\/p>\n
\u201cBig business interests making money\u201d, she said, \u201cFrom building guns and tanks and bombs and forcing our young men to fight their wars for profit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mom\u2019s on her soapbox\u201d, her stepdad said. That made no sense, she was sitting in a booth.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I am\u201d, said her mom, \u201cSo I am. It needs to be said. We don\u2019t want dear Cooper here to have to grow up and be caught up in the war machine.\u201d All us boys did play soldiers in the park, and talk about war stuff a lot thinking someday we would have to fight in wars like our dad\u2019s did. I had to think about all that some more.<\/p>\n
Before the song ended that guy sang\u2026<\/p>\n
Yes, and how many deaths will it take ’til he knows
\nThat too many people have died?
\nThe answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
\nThe answer is blowin’ in the wind<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe song stopped and we were all quiet. Then the song Molly\u2019s stepdad picked came on. The music started all screechy and honky, more like that \u201cHeat Wave\u201d song than the \u201cBlowing Wind\u201d one.<\/p>\n
\u201cRay Charles\u201d, said Molly\u2019s stepdad, \u201cGreat blues with a nice jazz twist.\u201d The guy singing sounded like a grownup who was really sad and worried\u2026<\/p>\n
Yeah, my bills are all due and the baby needs shoes but I’m busted
\nCotton is down to a quarter a pound but I’m busted right now
\nI got a cow that went dry and a hen that won’t lay
\nA big stack of bills that gets bigger each day
\nThe county’s gonna haul my belongings away ’cause I’m busted right now
\nOh, yes I am<\/p><\/blockquote>\nI thought of mom and those \u201cbills\u201d she was always worrying about and figuring out how to pay.<\/p>\n
Y’all know I’m broke
\nI ain’t got no money
\nI’m talkin’ ’bout empty pockets
\nAh, forget it
\nAh, to hell with it
\nYeah<\/p><\/blockquote>\nDefinitely a grownup, I thought, because he did swearing.<\/p>\n
We ate our breakfast. Molly and I had pancakes and orange juice. The syrup tasted really good.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
We got to that Saugatuck place and it was really different than Ann Arbor where we lived. It was more like that Dexter place that we drove through to go to Silver Lake. The buildings and stores were small, and there were some houses, but not very many. There were these buildings called \u201chotels\u201d where people could pay money to have a room to sleep in when they were \u201con vacation\u201d. Other ones were called \u201cmotels\u201d, though I wasn\u2019t sure what made them different, except they didn\u2019t have any upstairs parts to the buildings.<\/p>\n
We drove to this little house called a \u201ccottage\u201d that was across the street from a little lake called \u201cKalamazoo Lake\u201d. The front of the cottage had three steps that went up to this screen door that didn\u2019t have a regular door right behind it. It went into this really neat room that didn\u2019t have regular walls or windows, but had walls made out of screens that you could see through, so it felt like you were outside when you were inside it. It had a couch that looked like it was made out of big strings all stuck together. Then on the other side of the room from the screen door was a regular door with a window in it that went into the kitchen part of the house.<\/p>\n
The kitchen had the regular kitchen stuff and a round table with four wooden chairs. It also had three doors and each went into a different room. I ran after Molly as she ran into each one to explore. First a bathroom that had a toilet and a sink but no bathtub. It just had one of those \u201cshower\u201d things instead in a tiny little white place you could just stand up in and had a white plastic curtain to close it. I had seen one in one of my friends’ houses, but I\u2019d never used one. Second, a little room with a bunk bed and a small dresser, but no other furniture. Third, another room with a bigger bed, like the one in mom and dad\u2019s room, with those little tables on either side of the bed by where the pillows were, and another little dresser. Each of the four rooms in the regular house part had one window. It all seemed pretty neat to me, though I liked that screen room the best.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsually boys and girls sleep in different rooms\u201d, said Molly\u2019s mom, looking in the room with the bunk beds, \u201cUsually just grownup women and men sleep in the same room or the same bed, like your stepdad and I.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly looked worried about that, then said to her mom, \u201cBut Coop and I can sleep in the same room because we’re best friends, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell\u201d, her mom said, \u201cIdeally you\u2019d sleep in different rooms, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy\u2019s that, mom?\u201d Molly asked, sounding a little bit mad and worried.<\/p>\n
Her mom looked worried like she was trying to figure out what to say. \u201cBoys and girls are supposed to sleep in separate rooms so they have privacy when they are sleeping or changing their clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut why do boys and girls need privacy when grownups don\u2019t?\u201d Molly asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a very good question young lady\u201d, her mom said, \u201cAnd I\u2019m struggling to give you a good answer.\u201d She looked at Molly\u2019s stepdad. \u201cLarry, any words of wisdom from the university professor to clarify this quandary?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNone\u201d, he said, rolling his eyes, \u201cOther than the show of force approach\u2026 \u2018We\u2019re the grownups so we make the rules\u2019, but that\u2019s probably not what you\u2019re looking for here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo\u2026 it\u2019s not\u201d she said slowly, sounding just a little bit mad, but then laughing a little through her nose and shaking her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe promise we won\u2019t do any kissyface stuff\u201d, Molly said, shaking her head and looking at me. I had never talked to a grownup about kissyface stuff and never seen any other kid talk about it to a grownup either. I didn\u2019t know whether to nod like I promised too, or shake my head like I wouldn\u2019t do that stuff, but I figured if Molly was shaking her head I would too, to show that we both thought the same thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh dear\u201d, said her mom, blowing air out of her mouth, \u201cThis conversation is going down a rabbit hole!\u201d She sat down in one of those chairs in the kitchen. I had no idea what she was talking about and Molly didn\u2019t either.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s that mean?\u201d Molly asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy god\u201d, Molly\u2019s mom said, putting her hand on her forehead, \u201cIt\u2019s when something you are doing or talking about gets way more complicated and messy than you want it to.\u201d I could tell Molly was thinking about that.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow about this\u201d, her mom said, \u201cYou and Cooper can both sleep in the room, in different beds of course, but we\u2019ll keep your bedroom door open during the night. And when you need to change clothes, in or out of your pajamas or your bathing suits, you\u2019ll do it in the bathroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly wrinkled her nose, thinking, then pushed her lips together. \u201cDo you guys get to sleep with your door closed?\u201d Molly\u2019s mom looked like she was about to say something but just blew out air instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour stepdad and I are married\u201d, she said, \u201cThat gives us certain privileges. Someday when you\u2019re married, to each other or other people, you\u2019ll have those privileges too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat seems reasonable to me\u201d, said her stepdad.<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s face was still all squished together when she looked at me and her eyes got big like she was asking me if I thought it was okay. I tilted my head, raised my shoulder and looked up at the ceiling.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay\u201d, she said, letting her face be regular again, \u201cI guess so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s mom sighed and clapped her hands together once and said, \u201cOkay, good. I\u2019m glad we could come to an agreement.\u201d Then she looked at both of us and smiled. \u201cLet\u2019s bring in all our stuff and get settled. Okay?\u201d We both nodded, and Molly ran out of the house back to the car, with me behind her.<\/p>\n
Molly and I brought our suitcases into the bedroom. Since we both liked the top bunk best, we decided we would take turns sleeping on the top and the bottom bunk. Molly\u2019s mom said we were, \u201cSo grown up!\u201d<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
It was interesting, that when I had to go to school, I always remembered what day of the week it was and how many school days left until it would be the weekend, so each day felt different. Monday felt bad because I had four more days of school before the weekend. By Thursday I only had one more day of school so it felt better. Sunday was pretty good, because I didn\u2019t have to go to school, but I had to go to school the next day, so I would be worrying about that. Friday was good, because even though I had to go to school, once it was done, I had two days when I didn\u2019t. Saturday was the best, because it was the only day I didn\u2019t have to go to school that day, and I didn\u2019t have to go to school the next day either.<\/p>\n
But during the summer, I only had to remember what day it was so I knew when to go to my Little League practices on Tuesday and Thursday, and my games on Saturday. Which day of the week it was was for things that grownups were in charge of, like school and Little League. And now that it was August and Little League was over, I didn\u2019t have to remember what day it was at all, like here in Saugatuck, which was really neat.<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s mom and stepdad did say that we had to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with them each day, and we could only go across the river to where the beaches were with them. But everything else we could decide for ourselves what to do and where to go as long as we ate with them and came back to the cottage when the streetlights came on.<\/p>\n
So Molly and I did all kinds of stuff together. We made our own map of the \u201ctown\u201d. That\u2019s what everybody called it because it wasn\u2019t big enough to be a \u201ccity\u201d. Our map was really neat and we marked down all the places we had been to – restaurants, ice cream places, book store, post office, playground. We even explored the outside of a school, looking in the windows and trying to figure out what grade each classroom was.<\/p>\n
We found this one ice cream place we really liked called \u201cRound the Corner\u201d, on this little street, Mason street, and after we found it we went there every morning. It was up the Lake street that our cottage was on, which turned into Culver street which went into the town part with buildings instead of houses. You could either walk all the way to Mason street, or you could take the \u201cshort\u201d ways by turning on Griffith or Butler street before you got to Mason. The place was kind of like the Washtenaw Dairy in Ann Arbor, which was the first ice cream place Molly and I ever went to ourselves, back when we were little.<\/p>\n
After we found it and put it on our map we went there every morning. But we decided that each time we went we would get something different, different than the other times we went and different from each other. Then we\u2019d eat half of what we got then trade and the other person would eat the other half. We had money because every morning at breakfast Molly\u2019s stepdad gave Molly and me some to buy stuff. When he did he would say, \u201cDon\u2019t spend it all in one place\u201d, but we could tell he was just being silly, and we spent most of it at that ice cream place.<\/p>\n
He and Molly\u2019s mom drove us to the beach pretty much every afternoon except for the one day that it rained. The beach was on this place on the other side of the \u201cKalamazoo\u201d lake that was across the road from our cottage. It was funny, because it was just a tiny lake with a river going out each side that went into the giant \u201cMichigan\u201d lake on the other side of the island, which looked like the ocean to me.<\/p>\n
They would sit on a big blanket with their hats and sunglasses on and rub this \u201clotion\u201d stuff on their arms and legs. Molly and I would go out in the water. We could go pretty far before it got too deep and we\u2019d let the waves lift us up and back down again. Molly was a better swimmer than I was and when a bigger wave came towards us she could swim towards the beach really hard and when the wave came it would kind of carry her body like she was flying on it. I tried it a couple times but I couldn\u2019t do it. Molly said it was called \u201cbody surfing\u201d, and I remembered that Beach Boys \u201cSurfin USA\u201d record with the picture of that guy on that \u201csurfboard\u201d thing with that giant wave behind him. I wondered if this Michigan lake ever had giant waves like that. Usually the water was okay to swim in, except that one day when it was really windy and the water got super cold.<\/p>\n
One time I got really scared because I was out pretty far though I could still touch the bottom. But when I started to walk through the water to the beach there was a deeper part and after swimming a little, when my feet tried to stand I went completely under water instead, and forgot to do my swimming, and a wave went over me too when I tried to breath and I swallowed some water. For just a second I thought I was going to drown, like the giant lake was going to eat me up. I finally did enough swimming with my arms and kicking with my feet until my feet touched the bottom again and I had to cough for a while to get the water out from inside me before I was okay. After that, the big lake and thinking about the ocean was always scary for me. I didn\u2019t tell Molly about it or anyone else, specially my mom and dad. I didn\u2019t want anyone to think I was a sissy or something.<\/p>\n
Then when we stopped playing in the water we would build sand cities on the beach with long roads between them. We had to build them down by where the sand was kind of wet so you could make houses and walls with your hands in the sand and they stuck together. Sometimes the waves would then come farther up and start washing some of the cities away that were closer to the water. Molly and I would pretend that all the people in that city would be scared and have to quickly go on the road to the next city that was still okay and build new houses for themselves there.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
That one day when it rained in the afternoon, we didn\u2019t go to the beach and Molly\u2019s mom and stepdad went out to the store and Molly and I stayed in the house on the porch with the screen walls while it rained. It was pretty neat to watch everything outside get really wet and the cars driving down the street making a whooshing noise. Since we were on the porch we didn\u2019t get wet but we could smell the wet air and were all dry and cozy. We sat next to each other on that \u201cwicker\u201d couch thing with the shiny pillows that squeaked when you sat on them. It was the first time we\u2019d been alone together in the cottage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Heat Wave song is really neat\u201d, said Molly. We had heard it again today when we went with her mom and stepdad to this restaurant for lunch. The place had one of those \u201cJukebox\u201d things, though this one was a really big one, and not a bunch of little ones at each booth. Molly and I went over to it and put a quarter in and got six songs. We chose Heat Wave four times and Surfin USA two times. The guy that worked there thought maybe the Jukebox was broken because it was playing the same song over and over.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like the part at the end where that main girl sings \u2018yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah\u2019 a bunch of times\u201d, I said, \u201cAnd the other girls tell her that it\u2019s \u2018alright\u2019 and \u2018go ahead\u2019, like they\u2019re telling her it\u2019s okay to feel that way and do what she wants.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I like that too\u201d, said Molly, then she looked at me, thinking. \u201cBut my heart isn\u2019t burning when I\u2019m with you, and you\u2019re my best friend\u201d, she said, \u201cIs your heart burning?\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head. I wondered if we didn\u2019t like each other as much as the girl and boy in the song. But they probably were a lot older. \u201cMaybe when we\u2019re older we\u2019ll be like that\u201d, I said, \u201cYou know, burning.\u201d Molly nodded, thinking again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about when you kissed me on the cheek under the blanket in the car, were you burning then?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cHmm\u201d, I said, thinking, \u201cRemember you said you wanted me to do something \u2018secret\u2019. So I figured we were getting older, and older boys and girls who really like each other sometimes kiss each other when they\u2019re in a secret place like the lilac bushes in the park, and that\u2019s something I would only do if it was secret.\u201d<\/p>\n
She thought about that and said, \u201cThat makes sense, but were you burning when you kissed me?\u201d I kind of thought maybe I was a little bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou kissed me back\u201d, I said, \u201cWere YOU burning?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d, she said, \u201cAfter you did it I just really wanted to do it to you too.\u201d I nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen grownups kiss\u201d, she said, \u201cThey kiss each other on the lips at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know\u201d, I said, \u201cThat seems really\u2026\u201d I didn\u2019t know what to say.<\/p>\n
\u201cDifferent\u201d, she said, \u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know\u201d, I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShould we try kissing like that?\u201d she asked, \u201cPretend we want to be kissyface with each other, just to see what it\u2019s like?\u201d I nodded.<\/p>\n
Her head slowly moved towards mine, so I moved my head towards her. She pushed out her lips so I pushed out mine. They finally touched. It felt strange, like we weren\u2019t two different people anymore. We just were there with our lips touching, I didn\u2019t dare move them around. Finally she moved away.<\/p>\n
\u201cHmm\u201d, she said, \u201cThat was weird.\u201d I nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt WAS weird\u201d, I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut not bad weird\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight\u201d, I said nodding. Then shaking my head, \u201cNot bad weird.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood weird?\u201d she asked. I\u2019d never thought of something being good and weird at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan something BE good weird?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d, she said, raising her shoulders and dropping them again, \u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember when we took all our clothes off and were naked together up in my old room?\u201d she asked, \u201cWas THAT weird?\u201d I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the best thing ever\u201d, I said, before I could even think about if that was a good thing to say and that maybe she\u2019d think I was bad for thinking that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know\u201d, she said, and her eyes got bigger and sparkled, but then got worried and thinking, \u201cBut I don\u2019t think people are supposed to do that kind of stuff, even grownups.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what about when they get kissyface an do that \u2018makeout\u2019 stuff?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne time I heard funny noises from my mom and dad\u2019s room, before they got divorced\u201d, she said, \u201cAnd I sneaked open their door a little bit and spied on them and they were under the covers of the bed and dad was on top of mom and moving around. But it looked like they had their pajamas on, at least the top parts that I could see. I couldn\u2019t figure out what they were doing, but now I wonder if they were \u2018making out\u2019.\u201d I nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe they were doing that thing in the Roy Rogers joke\u201d, I said, \u201cHe was putting his pistol in her holster.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean his thing down there in her thing down there?\u201d she asked, and I nodded. \u201cEww, yucky\u201d, she said, shaking her head and making a face like something smelled bad.<\/p>\n
Then I remembered what Ricky told me. \u201cRicky\u2019s friend\u2019s older brother said that that\u2019s how you make babies. He sticks a tiny baby inside her and it grows in her stomach.\u201d Molly made that face again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s how it works\u201d, she said, \u201cIf mom and dad were doing that then why didn\u2019t they make a baby?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d, I said, \u201cMargie says that older boys and girls sometimes \u2018make out\u2019 too, even though they\u2019re not supposed to, but I didn\u2019t dare ask her if they did that kind of stuff that Ricky was talking about, because she might think I was really bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know\u201d, she said, \u201cThere\u2019s this older girl Monica who\u2019s MY babysitter, who said when older boys and girls \u2018make out\u2019 they go to \u2018first base\u2019 or \u2018second base\u2019, but never to \u2018third base\u2019 or do a \u2018home run\u2019, because that\u2019s really bad unless your married. When I asked her what the different bases meant, she said if I didn\u2019t know already, she couldn\u2019t tell me because she could get in big trouble and not be able to babysit anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did she talk about bases at all?\u201d I asked, \u201cIf she wouldn\u2019t tell you what they were?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d, Molly said, \u201cMaybe she just wanted to show me how much she knew about stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you ever find this stuff out?\u201d I asked. Molly just raised and lowered her shoulder and made her eyes really big.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I knew\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
It was finally time to go back home. It had been a whole week. Molly and I hadn\u2019t spent so much time together since when she lived across the street before we had to go to regular school. We had slept at each other\u2019s houses back then a couple of times, but not every night for a WHOLE WEEK.<\/p>\n
I had never been away from my mom and dad and my brother for so long, but I still didn\u2019t want to go back home. That\u2019s because I\u2019d be starting school again next week, fourth grade. Mom and dad would want me to go every day and I\u2019d have a new teacher who\u2019d be in charge of me all the time I was there, except maybe at recess. I\u2019d see all my school friends, but Mary would still probably think I was a \u201cpervert\u201d and hate me. We WOULD get to play in that BIG playground across the street from the regular playground, so that might be neat. I wondered if I would have to do school FOREVER.<\/p>\n
When we got back to my house, Molly\u2019s mom and stepdad all talked to mom and dad in the front yard for a while. Molly came inside with me and we went down in the basement. David was down there and had all the toys set up. When he saw us he looked mad.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no fair\u201d, he said, \u201cI didn\u2019t getes to go with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour brother and I are big kids\u201d, Molly said to him, \u201cYou’re still a little kid. We did big kid stuff.\u201d Molly looked at me and smiled.<\/p>\n
David was still mad and went back to playing with the toys like we weren\u2019t even there.<\/p>\n
Still looking at me, Molly got fierce and said, \u201cYou better not tell anybody what we did, not even your friends! Okay?\u201d I nodded.<\/p>\n
David turned his head again to look at us. \u201cWhat did you do?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of your business\u201d, said Molly, \u201cMaybe when you’re eight like we are we\u2019ll tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat will be almost forever\u201d he said, still mad, and then pretending we weren\u2019t there again and going back to playing. Molly laughed through her nose.<\/p>\n
Then she looked at me all fierce and sang, \u201cIt\u2019s like a heat wave\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
And I sang back, \u201cBurnin\u2019 in my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cCooper, wake up\u201d, dad whispered, and I felt something shaking my foot under my covers, \u201cMolly\u2019s here and it\u2019s time for your big trip.\u201d I had trouble opening my eyes and figuring out what was going on. Everything was dark, but then I remembered they would be here super early to pick me up. \u201cIs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1777,13,1774,1799,1800,1775],"class_list":["post-7718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","tag-1960s","tag-ann-arbor","tag-autobiography","tag-free-range-kid","tag-growing-up","tag-memoir"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7718"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7727,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7718\/revisions\/7727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}