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“Hey! You Got Eyeballs In There?” Book IV: Grandma Grace 43. Charles and David
Hey! You Got Eyeballs In There?
By Kate Chamberlin
As Grace grows up, some of her stories are happy, some trying, some enlightening, and a few themes are sad, but, they’re all the warp and woof of what goes into the tapestry of life we call Family. The daily living skills demonstrated by the fictional characters in these stories are valid, tried, and true.
Blind teacher Kate Chamberlin photographed by Kevin Rivoli for “Blind Ambition” written by Michele Locastro Rivoli, Democrat and Chronicle Newspaper, December 30, 1998.
kathryngc1@verizon.net
“Dream it. Write it. Read it.
Copyright © July 20, 2016, January, 2017 All Rights Reserved
by Kate Chamberlin
Walworth, NY 14568
Hey! You Got Eyeballs In There?
By Kate Chamberlin
Book IV: Grandma Grace
#43. Charles and David
Charles and his cousin, David were in the same Kindergarten. Charles’ favorite thing to do when he came home from school was to eat and watch TV. He weighed a lot and didn’t have much fun or energy.
David’s diabetes made him thirsty and tired much of the time. Sometimes, the insulin pump didn’t work right.
During recess one day at school, Tyler asked David, “Why do you wear that little box?”
“It helps keep me healthy,” David told him.
“Does it hurt?” John asked.
“No,” David said and got in line behind his cousin Charles at the slide.
“Don’t stand behind me,” Charles said to David. “I don’t want to catch your diabetes.”
“You can’t catch it, Fatty,” David said and pushed ahead of Charles.
“Am not,” Charles said, as David pushed him over and sat on him.
“Are to,” David said “Fatty, Fatty, two by four…”
”Just because you’re a girlie girl,” Charles cried. He rolled David over and sat on him. “Davy, Davy, skinny as a fox, wired to a little box.”
“Guys,” Tyler yelled. “Cut it out.” The recess bell rang. They brushed themselves off and lined up before they got into serious trouble.
At the end of the school year, Grandma Grace invited both boys to spend the summer with Granddad Ken and her on their farm.
“Where’s the TV?” Charles asked, putting his tag-along near the couch and petting Grandma’s guide dog.
“I’m thirsty. “Can I see the new kittens?” David asked.
“Well, Charles, Granddad and I don’t have a TV. We have other things we like to do. Let’s all have a glass of lemonade, then see the kittens.”
Every morning, after a glass of juice, a granola bar, and a check of David’s blood count, they went with Grandma Grace to weed the garden.
She encouraged the boys to try to pull up the weed with the longest root. Then, they’d try to find the reddest strawberry, the smallest lettuce, longest carrot, fattest potato, skinniest beans and other vegetables planted in the rows they’d just weeded.
“I NEVER PICKED STRAWBERRIES AND DUG POTATOES OR CARROTS AT THE SAME TIME.” Charles said.
Before they knew it, it was time for their big breakfast with granddad who had finished his morning chores.
“Boy, I love these pancakes and jam,” Charles said, helping himself to another stack of whole wheat pancakes. “May I have more cocoa, please?”
“David, the strawberry jam is made so you can eat it too,” Grandma said.
“Thanks, Grandma,” David said. “May I scoop my own?”
After breakfast, Grandma pushed the little button on David’s pump and THE BOYS went to the barn where Granddad was.
“Grandma said we’re going exploring,” David said, gently petting one of the new kittens.
“So I hear,” Granddad said. “She’ll be along soon with a snack and a plan. “
“And here I am,” Grandma said as her guide dog led her up to them. “Here’s a snack for each of you.”
The boys tucked the carrot and celery sticks, an apple stuffed with peanut butter, DAVID’S EMERGENCY CANDY, and a bottle of water into their day-packs.
They sauntered out of the big barn into the warm sunshine and toward the lane to begin their walk.
“Grandma, what are these tall, lacy flowers?” Charles asked, swishing through the meadow along the lane.
“They smell like carrots,” David said, yanking one up roots and all.
“Those are Queen Anne’s Lace, a member of the wild carrot family,” Grandma said.
Near the edge of the woods, David tripped over a tree root and said,” Wow, look at that! It looks like an elephant’s leg and toes.”
“That’s the Beech Tree,” Grandma said.
“The bark looks smooth, “Charles said, “but it feels scratchy.”
The boys ran ahead of Grandma to climb a tree or flatten out on their bellies to watch the minnows in the pond. Then, they’d run back to her with a thousand and one questions.
In the evening, they sat around a camp fire out by the old stone wall, roasting marshmallows.
“I see a castle with a dragon near it,” Charles said looking into the campfire flames.
“The clouds are going to make the old man in the moon sneeze,” David laughed, noticing how the wispy clouds floated right under the man in the moon’s nose.
Their day had been full of activity and the boys were more than ready to climb the steep stairs to their beds.
One day, Grandma said, “You know your way around well enough to go exploring on your own. Wear this lanyard with a whistle and blow it if you need help. Don’t forget your snack.”
Later that afternoon, David found a fallen, hollow log and crawled through it. Charles tried to follow him.
“I’m stuck,” Charles yelled.
“I knew you wouldn’t fit,” David laughed.
“You did this on purpose. “I’m gonna tell Grandma,” Charles wailed.
David gave in and worked hard to pull away the bark until Charles could get out. Once freed, Charles chased David toward the next tree, where they stopped.
“I don’t feel so good,” David said and slumped to the ground.
“David, David,” Charles called in alarm. “Are you dead?”
“No, but I feel really weird,” David said softly. “Give me one of MY candies.”
“Sorry, I got hungry and ate all of them,” Charles said. He blew his whistle as hard as he could.
SOON GRANDDAD AND GRANDMA HURRIED down THE lane. When they reached the boys, Granddad supported David as Grandma held the little straw of the juice bag to his lips.
“You didn’t eat your snack, did you,” Grandma said, knowing he did not.
“We were having too much fun and forgot,” Charles answered, not admitting he’d eaten all the candy.
“Let’s take a quick trip to see Dr. Alexandra,” Grandma said. “Just to be sure you’re okay.”
The next day, as they, laid on their backs in their tree fort, listening to the birds, Charles said, “I’m sorry I ate your candy. I’m glad you’re okay.,”
“Me, too and I’m glad Grandma still trusts us to go exploring alone,”
“Look at that rain coming across the field,” Charles said. “Run for the barn.” And they did.
“Wow, that lightening was close,” David said as he lay on the loft floor near the open door. “But, that thunder was right in here,” he yelled and put his hands over his ears.
“Let’s get to the house to see if Grandma’s okay,” Charles said, not wanting to admit that the thunder scared him.
“Let’s go,” David yelled and took off splashing through puddles to the house.
In the mud room, they put their muddy boots on the boot board, toweled their hair and put on the dry clothes Grandma had brought them.
“Now what can we do?” Charles asked. “There’s no TV.” “It’s still pouring!”
“Would you help me find something up in the attic,” Grandma said as she and Crackers led the way to the attic stairs.
“Somewhere in this old attic is the wooden checker board Granddad made for your parents when they were your age,” Grandma said.
“Grandma, what’s in these trunks?” Charles asked.
“Wow, look at this old Navy uniform,” David said, pawing through an open trunk. “Was Granddad in the Navy?”
“Yes,” Grandma said smiling, knowing the boys would now spend hours dry and warm exploring the attic.
The weeks flew by. Summer was almost over. The boys sat together blowing bubbles on the broad porch of the farmhouse.
”Your parents will be here soon,” Grandma said, giving them each a hug. “Charles, I think you have lost some weight and grown taller.”
“I ate lots of food from the garden,” Charles said, “but, my pants are too big for me. I need a new belt to hold them up.”
“I’ll give you one of mine,” David offered.
“And, David, I don’t have to push your pump button so often,” Grandma Grace said.
“Can we come again next summer? This was fun,” David said, blowing a chain of soap bubbles off the porch into the bright sunshine. Each connected bubble shone with a beautiful, miniature rainbow.
“You know, David,” I always knew we were cousins…” Charles started to say.
“…but now,” David finished for him, “we’re best friends, too.”
NOTE: adapted from “Charles and David” by Kate Chamberlin, illustrated by Dean Wroth, published in 2010, Jason and Nordic Publishers, out of print when the publisher went out of business in 2015.