Chapter 4: A Day with the Ways
Mikey Appleton: March 7, 1964
Finally! It’s Saturday, not only that; I also get to spend the day with Cherry and her family! It will be the best, considering how much better Mr. and Mrs. Way treat me compared to my parents. When I get ready, I load a little backpack with some of my comics to show to Cherry; I actually get excited . For most days, I just feel ok at best… Nothing all too interesting… Well, at least having something good to look forward to is good enough to make me feel better than ok. I exit the room to wait in the living room, I notice my dad walk up to me; and I think I know what exactly he’s going to tell me.
“Look Mikey, whatever you do; don’t you dare tell the Ways what we do here!” He exclaims.
Oh yeah… the talk… Well I may or may not have broken it already, it’s ok my parents would probably never know. I wait around for another few minutes, but finally I notice my dad gets ready.
“Come on shy boy, let’s get moving.”
I quickly say goodbye to my mom, and I walk over to my dad’s car. It’s a nice light blue, with tires as black as coal. My dad really enjoys his car, at this point he loves and cares for it more than he does for me… I mean it makes sense, it does what it needs to do, and without talking back… My dad mentions to people at the church it’s a 1955 Chevrolet 150, apparently it's the same age as me. I enter the backseat, and we go to Cherry’s house. I get a little scared when my parents drive, they like to go fast. I know most people are like that, but do they only do this cause they also know how much I get nervous? I don’t know, maybe it’s both.
We shortly arrive at the Way’s house, my dad dropping me off on the sidewalk close to the house.
“Mikey, we’re here now. Come on, don’t be shy as always and just ring the doorbell.” He demands that I do.
I walk over and ring the doorbell, waiting for someone to respond.
“Just a second!” I hear Mrs. Way shout excitedly.
She opens the door to greet me and my dad.
“Hi Mikey! Hi Dennis! How are you?”
“I’m good Alice, have Mikey for the day. Make sure he enjoys his time.” My dad says in a joking manner, part of his fake love for me I see…
“Y-Yeah Mrs. Way, I-I’ll h-have fun!” I add in.
Soon, Mr. Way and Cherry enter to greet us.
“Hi Mr. Appleton!”
“Oh hi Cherry, how are you?”
“I’m good, excited to spend the time with Mikey!” She says, and we both run off together.
I catch the glimpse of my dad greeting Johannes before we disappear into Cherry’s room.
“Hey Mikey, did you bring your Mighty Man comics?”
“O-Oh yeah! I-I did!” I proudly exclaim, as I reach into my backpack.
I pass her comic, after she briefly adjusts her glasses she begins to read it. I look around her room, looking at some blocks and dolls which she has. It’s much more well kept than my room, that’s for sure. I look back at Cherry as she reads my series, showing genuine interests in them. She quickly adjusts her glasses before responding to me.
“Wow Mikey, you’re a genuinely good artist! Have you considered making this your job when you’ve grown up?”
“U-Uh… N-not really… I-I don’t th-think m-my parents would l-like that…”
“Well don’t worry Mikey, you find a way!” ‘
We continue to play in the room, having a blast. We both built forts from the blocks for some stuffed animals we chose. It’s our little war game, I think you can say it like that. It’s a fun little game we play. I try to build mines with surrounding walls, to hopefully create small barriers, with a main area to place the teddy bear. I notice Cherry builds a multilayered superwall to protect it. Maybe it’s like that “Iron Curtain” my dad talks abouts that Russia has… Must really be heavy to move. We continue to play, finally testing out the stability of our structures.
“Alright Mikey, let’s see how powerful your walls are!” Cherry exclaims, rolling a Hot Wheels car right into them, it only knocked down one part of a wall until stopped.
“H-Ha Ha! N-Now let’s s-see how strong y-your wall i-is!” I reply back, rolling the car right into Cherry’s fortress. However the blocks barely budged.
“R-Rats… Y-You win again C-Cherry…” I reply.
We continue to play until our names are called from the other room.
“Mikey! Cherry! Lunch is ready!” I hear Mrs. Way shout out.
We quickly rush over to begin our lunch.
After Lunch
I quickly rush over to the bathroom, ready to go wash my hands after eating pasta. Then, I notice Mr. Way looking at something in his bedroom; he’s very interested in whatever it is. I want to approach him and also observe what he’s looking at, but I’m too scared to even enter the grown up’s bedroom without asking permission. Just as I’m about to walk away, he notices me, and I freeze in my place. I might end up in trouble after all…
“Hi Mikey, come in; I think I have something you might want to see.”
I enter the room, observing the furniture as I stand next to Mr. Way. He points to a small photo in a much bigger frame, it’s of a squad of soldiers in some forest. There’s two prominent ones standing at the center of it.
“U-Uh Mr. Way… W-Who are t-those two s-soliders standing in t-the c-center?” I ask.
“Oh, the one on the right is me; and the one on the left is your dad,” He replies, while pointing at the two, “And you can just call me Johannes.”
Observing the photo again finally makes it clear it’s my dad and Johannes. I remember overhearing the stories my dad would mention about his time in Europe during the war.
“O-Oh wow, w-was it before o-or after t-the accident?”
“Before, Mikey, shall I tell you the full story?”
“Y-Yeah… Y-you can…”
“So you see Mikey, we just finished our landing in France; heading into Belgium in the forested region so close to the German mainland. Then all of a sudden, I hear an explosion and I immediately fall on the ground. It must have been from the enemy, but all of a sudden I felt everything go dark; just like entering a tunnel. I could have been caught by the Germans, or could even have died before they could; if it wasn’t for your dad who picked me up and took me back to the American camp. I heard from him and other friends that there was fighting and bombs around… But in the end I was able to recover well enough.”
“W-Wow… D-Do you w-wonder i-if that’s t-that’s the same p-person as my d-dad?”
“You know Mikey, I wonder about that as well… Once we returned home, your dad wasn’t really the same guy that left for the war. I could definitely tell something was up… He started to smoke a lot more than usual, way more than what I did before I stopped. He became much more serious and less happy-go-lucky. But he hides it, like what he currently does now with you… or at least that’s what Cherry told me. You know, in the privacy of his home; all bad emotions like Pandora’s box would just open up. I remember from the times I would visit your house. And finally I personally think your mother, Josephine, caused much more problems…”
“H-How so?” I ask, definitely knowing what the answer is.
“Well Mikey, it’s her drinking habit. I mean from what you told Cherry, you’ve probably experienced it. They were perfect for each other, however I feel like her attitude; both normal and drunk, definitely made your dad feel happy after his time in the war. For example, their wedding… Oh that wedding was quite interesting to say the least…”
“O-Oh… I see…”
“Continuing on, even after the wedding; and when you were born; they always just seem to be hiding something. You know, when I first noticed you were becoming more shy; they would claim you just developed that. At first I believed it as fact, though when you repeat that several times and notice how you reacted… Well I had my suspicions before you told Cherry.”
We continue to stand up and view the photo, looking at the few old photos I can see of my dad is quite interesting. I don’t know, how can this war hero be the same person as my dad; one who I won’t really call a hero… After a little bit of debate, I finally ask Mr. Way a question.
“J-Johannes… Do y-you ever t-think I w-would be s-safe at h-home someday?”
“Just have some faith Mikey, we can get you from there someday. You might need to deal with them for a little while, but Mrs. Way and I will try our best to get you safe.”
We continue to observe the photo, for a good few minutes before I decide to return back to playing with Cherry.
“U-Uh Johannes… I-Is it okay if I-I return to p-playing with Ch-Chery?”
“Of course Mikey! It’s the reason why you’re spending the day here, right?” Mr. Way replies excitedly
“O-Oh yeah… You-You’re right…” I reply, as I soon run off to play with Cherry.
As I spot Cherry outside in the backyard, I start to head there. Though, I still think about my new knowledge over both Johannes and my dad… And especially more so my dad and mom as people… Well, just someday I hope to finally be free from them… Just maybe…