My Summer
By Caroline Blaisdell
Rough Draft
School was let out June 15, 1980. While my friends were going on
about trips to the beach, pool parties, and even a few flying to Europe,
all mine consisted of was getting a new brother.
My father is a police officer, actually he's a Captain of a whole precinct. That's one whole building where there are lots of uniformed officers and detectives. The building is crowded, I don't know, maybe it's only crowded when I'm there. Sort of like let's make sure the bad guys are here so we can scare the little girl into staying good. It works. There's no way I'd want to go there and be a prisoner.
Anyway, once a year, my father goes to the orphanage and other places to talk to kids about police work, staying out of trouble. He says if he can keep one kid out of trouble, that'd be one less person for his precinct to worry about. I don't know if he's right or not, but Mom says it makes him feel good.
She's not really my Mom, she's my step-mother, but she loves me. And my sister and even our new brother. Annie, that's her name, is blind, but don't let that fool you. I think she wears those glasses just to fool you.
My dad went to the orphanage about five months ago and spoke to the kids there. I didn't go with him, but I knew when he came home that something had happened. He was…excited. It was the same excitement I remember when mom said she was pregnant with Kelly, my sister.
I asked him what had happened, was Annie pregnant again. Oh, the sadness that came over her was only brief, then she smiled as my dad told me no, but he had met a kid he would like to visit again and would I mind if he brought him home to visit, sort of like playing big brother. You know that new program that they are coming up with where an adult pays attention to a kid that may get into trouble.
At first, the idea of some stranger taking up my father's attention, made me mad. Let that kid find some other father to steal time from. Not mine. I already have to share with Kelly and Annie and there are some months when my dad goes off for days and even weeks without us even hearing from him. He says it is to go to police conventions, but I think he says that for Kelly. She worries about him. She's not even a teenager yet, like me.
Peter came the next weekend to our house. That's him name, Peter Caine. I didn't know he was older than me and well, a little cute. He's shy, also. It was a disaster from the moment he stepped into the house. Apparently daddy had forgotten to warn Peter about mom being blind. When she asked him a question, he just nodded his head. She scolded him, but not badly, but he took it the wrong way. It's just she can't see you shake your head.
After that, he wouldn't look at anyone. Daddy took him to a hockey game. I don't mind that, I don't like hockey. I can't keep up with the little thing they scoot back and forth to each other. And all that fighting, why don't they just put up a ring and call it ice wrestling?
When the game was over, they came back home. Peter was more relaxed. Dad must have had a talk with him. Peter went on and on about the players. I didn't know they had TV in the orphanage. They just don't have cable. I guess if I had to describe that place from what Peter says, I'd have to say it was a prison for kids. He even had to be back that night by nine. It was a Saturday night and he had a curfew and he's almost fifteen.
He started coming back nearly every weekend. Dad would help him with his homework or lessons. From what I understand, Peter was almost failing the eighth grade. I don't know why, he's not a retard or anything. Dad said that it was how Peter was raised. It was in some sort of monestary and that Peter wasn't used to classrooms.
Finally, about the first of May, daddy asked if we wanted to have Peter come live with us, permanatly, not just on the weekends. I felt proud that he'd ask my and Kelly's opinion. Not many father's would do that, they'd just do it and didn't matter what you thought. A friend of mine's dad is like that.
Peter came to live with us the weekend after school let out. He got out a week earlier than us, so when we got home from school, he was already there and moved into the spare bedroom. I still don't know where Granny is going to sleep when she comes over for Christmas, but Dad said they'd work something out.
We took Peter to St. Louis and went up in that arch, then went to visit the Budweiser plant. They have a big barn with all their horses and dalmations. You know they actually retire the horses? They are so big. Peter had never seen a horse that big. He said that he'd seen a quarter horse at the fair the orphanage puts on each year. They have pony rides. I wish the Budweiser people let us ride the Clydesdales. Kelly wanted to take one of the puppies home. There were several litters of puppies there, they wouldn’t have missed just one.
After that, we went to Niagra Falls. Peter had never been there either. Can you believe it? He didn't even know about it. His eyes got so big when he saw the falls. And the sound. It was like thunder. Peter wouldn't wear the poncho dad bought. He didn't mind getting wet, but dad made him sit on it in the car so the seat wouldn't get wet.
Peter started school, he's one grade ahead of me for now. Daddy and mom told him that he needed to catch up, that if he does well, he could move up to the next grade. He's going to go out for basketball, said he didn't like football. Dad had put up a basketball goal over the garage door. Peter's good, he hits the basket nearly every time.
I hope he makes the team. I am one of the cheerleaders for the junior high team. The outfits they gave us to wear this year are really cool. I can't wait to show mine to Craig. He's another boy going out for the basketball team. He's so cute. I hope Peter likes him.