by Henry Givens
CHAPTER TWO
The more Arthur thought about what had happened that afternoon, the more excited he got. Frankly, he had been so obsessed with the fear of getting beat up by Ramón that the new relationship he had developed with the leaders of the Wildcat’s football team didn’t sink in at first. But, lawdy, lawdy, when it did, it began to build inside of him like a steam locomotive leaving the train depot.
His mom, Olivia, called him to the table for their normal early Thursday supper. Wendy, his baby sister was already in her high chair dropping every other handful of green beans on the floor. By the time he got to the table, Arthur had built up a pretty good head of steam.
“Sam’s the captain of the football team and he likes the Ninja stuff I showed him,” the babbler started, “and then when……no let me tell you about when Marco ran into me…well, no that’s not important. Oh, yeah, it is too, but not as important….Mom they invited me….oh, but the reason they invited me….”
Olivia was used to his prattle and recognized immediately that if she did not go into interrogation mode she would listen to this all night. She did the only thing any sane mother would do. She opened the palm of her hand and firmly patted the table with every word she said, “Arthur….shut….up.”
Now her hand was horizontal and flat on the table at that time. Arthur, being the brilliant child that he was, knew from experience that her hand could become vertical at any time and she was not so far away that it couldn’t reach the very middle of his forehead.
He stopped talking immediately, but began giggling profusely. “You’re going to interrogate me aren’t you?” he asked with those dark eyes sparkling in anticipation.
This was a game that he and his mother enjoyed. Number one, his mother knew how to ask the right questions that got him to the point quicker. Number two, Arthur was aware that his mind wandered from point to point without making sense most of the time. It also meant that he would be more of the center of attention than his little sister was. Arthur liked to be the center of attention.
“If I want any peace the rest of the afternoon I had better,” she replied with a smile. “Whatever has got my little man worked up must be very important to him, and I want to know all about. You and I both know that this is the fastest and easiest way of getting fact from fiction. Ain’t that right, Wendy?” Olivia asked as she looked at the baby.
Wendy was just over a year old and knew exactly what that flat hand meant. As always, she knew that she could get a lot of attention if she imitated her mother. She, too had her hand outstretched toward Arthur but looked over at her mother for approval, which she always got.
Olivia reached over and grabbed her hand and gave it a shake while praising her, “That’s my girl. Rule the roost well. Let’s see that hand in action.”
Wendy banged her hand on highchair’s tray and laughed at her mother’s attention. Green beans went everywhere. Samson, their Rottweiler, was going to have a feast later on. He so much enjoyed supper time at the Hollis house.
With her hand flat on the table, her eyes glued on her son and a smile on her face, she declared, “You know the rules, don’t ya, Mister Blister.”
Arthur giggled out a, “Yes, Ma’am.”
Arthur has a bit of a problem when he gets all excited. He has this tendency to ramble on without making a whole lot of sense. More likely than not, he would say everything that needed to be said but not in the right order and very seldom in complete sentences. It was a problem that he had had forever and it drove his mother crazy. All she wanted was the facts. She preferred that it be short and sweet and to the point. Hence the game.
Here are the rules of the game. They were made up by, and you had better believe they were enforced by, Mrs. Olivia Hollis. She would hold her hand flat on the table. She would ask a simple question to which she required a simple answer. When Arthur rambled, scrambled or jumbled his words, she would raise her hand. A raised hand meant that Arthur must stop talking immediately. And, Olivia enforced THAT rule of the game with a quick thump on his forehead. Sounds like a silly but fun mother-son type game doesn’t it?
Was it harsh on Arthur? Maybe it was at first. At first it was because Olivia was pretty frustrated with his meanderings. However, at the fourth and fifth time Olivia played the game, she noticed that Arthur rambled less and less. He began to think before he spoke. He actually began to catch himself getting hyped up and would calm himself down before talking. Olivia didn’t know it but her little game began to change the way Arthur processed information and used it. And, that along with the Ninja ways that Arthur studied created a very astute awareness in him that would serve him extremely well in the future. Just you wait and see. Right now, game on.
“First question,” Olivia started, “Who is Sam?” She always asked the questions slowly and was very careful to pronounce every word very clearly.
Arthur smiled as he calmed down and answered slowly and distinctly also, “He is a seventh grader and he’s captain of the football team.”
Hand up. “Next question,” Olivia said. “Who were the other guys?” Hand down.
Arthur answered, “There was Elrod and Marco and Murphy. All of them are seventh graders on the football team.”
Hand up. “But who was Ramón, the guy who came to the house and asked where you were?” she asked. “Which, to a mother who was waiting for her normally punctual son to come home from school, was a very pertinent question….Sport.” Hand down.
“He was the guy who wanted to beat me up,” Arthur giggled.
Hand up fast. “Beat you up? What on earth for?” Hand down on the table with a ‘pop.’
As he giggled profusely at his successful attempt to rile his mother a bit, Arthur’s brain went into super-careful-sort-the-info overdrive and he gushed proudly, “Oh, Mom. Listen to this answer. He saw my Ninja robe and called it pajamas. I corrected him. My friends made fun of him. He got mad and chased me after school. How do you like that answer?”
Hand up. She replied, “Good for you, bad for Ramón. He’s a big kid. You couldn’t outrun him. Tell me how you got away from him.” Hand down.
Arthur smiled as he thought a few moments and then answered, “I ran to the cave across from the park. The guys saw me running and Ramón following and figured I was in trouble. They came to the cave, made a plan and got me away without Ramón seeing me. Marco came up with an alternate way of getting close to the house. We took it. But, Ramón must have decided to wait for me here.”
With a very confused look on her face, Olivia pulled her hand back, crossed her arms and leaned forward on the table. Interrogation was over for right now. She just wanted to make sense of this whole situation. Besides, Arthur was calm now.
She continued her questioning, “Sweetie, I heard y'all talking but it sounded more like just guys carrying on. I didn’t hear any yelling or even any loud voices.” She tilted her head and squinted her eyes and asked, “Why were you and Ramón talking normally if he was that headstrong on beating you up? I mean, he was waiting for you and I could see him out the window.”
Arthur’s eyes grew big in bewilderment and he attempted to answer, “Gosh, Mom, I really don’t know.” After a few seconds he reasoned with a sheepish grin, “It might have been that little trick the guys played on him.”
Arthur carefully related to her the whole scenario of how he showed the guys some Ninja stuff. He told her how they wanted him to come over to Marco’s house to work out with them and show them some Ninja moves that they could use in football. Finally, he told her about the story they made up to make it look like Arthur was big and tough. It must have worked because Ramón obviously calmed down.
For whatever reason, whether it was the story or the way that Arthur told it, Olivia started chuckling and wagging her head. There was not an intelligent question in her head at this time. She did not know if she was satisfied with the interrogation or pooped from the mind boggling details.
Arthur’s eyes got big and he began to get a little excited again
as he continued, “And Ramón thought I was on the football team. I told him that I was just practicing with the guys.” Searching for the words Arthur looked down as he tried to make sense of his own feelings, “Mom, I don't think Ramon has any friends at school. I don't remember him hanging around anybody and just talking and laughing. Do you think it would be a good idea if I tried to be his friend? That is, if he would let me.”
Olivia reached over and pulled her precious bundle of joy to her and gave him a kiss on the cheek and a big old hug. As she held him tight and ran her fingers through his hair, she looked into his dark, handsome eyes and said, “Mama’s proud of her little man. And you're growing up before my eyes. Arthur, it is real important for you to have good friends. It’s even more important if you can gain the favor of those who might not like you. Who knows? They might become one of the greatest friends you would ever have.”