All Quiet on the Playground Front

-It’s your turn now, Phil!

Nine Jacks lie motionless on the ground, scattered between Sal’s feet and the group formed by the other children.

-Sal couldn’t even catch three Jacks! He’s so bad!

-I was just unlucky, that’s all… You’ll see next time.

Phil intervenes and takes the ball from Sal’s hands. He takes off his hat and gives him to Joe. Joe would do anything for Phil.

Michael looks at them from a distance. He is sitting next to Jimmy on the grass, not too far away from the other kids playing baseball. He is afraid the ball might hit him, the kids look older than them. They can probably throw the ball very hard. The playground is not big enough for baseball.

Michael moves a little, then gets up to stretch his legs. He has already played –he managed to catch four Jacks– and now he’ll have to wait for a while before his turn will come again. Without thinking about it, he adjusts his pants with his hands as he gets up. They feel cold and a bit wet: the grass stained them. Darn. Mom will get angry now.

-There, you see? Five jacks! –Phil holds five fingers up and waves them in front of Sal’s face. –I could have easily caught six or seven of them!

Michael turns his head towards Jimmy again. He doesn’t look impressed. He is probably the only kid who can challenge Phil at Jacks. The contest is between them really. Nobody else can win.

-I bet he couldn’t have done it- Jimmy whispers to him. –He just likes to brag.

-I bet you’re right –Michael nods. Mom will definitely get angry about the pants.

-And nobody is really good here, anyway –Jimmy says with that tone of voice he uses when he wants to tell you something interesting that you didn’t know. Trouble is, he often knows interesting stuff other people don’t.

-I’ve seen other boys playing in Manhattan, –he goes on- they are good. Really good. You know they play in the streets there?

In the streets? What do their parents say? Mom once caught Michael chatting in the alley behind the park with Tom, and was so upset that she immediately took him back home. She even slapped him. Mom always thinks he is too young for doing anything. But aren’t there too many cars in Manhattan?

-Isn’t it dangerous to play in the streets there?

-Not if you were born there. Those kids were smart and knew their backstreets very well, you could tell by just looking at them.

-I would love to live in Manhattan. All the craziest and most exciting stuff happens there.

-Have you seen the Empire State Building yet?

-You mean the new skyscraper? Isn’t it still under construction?

-Yes, but it already looks great! You have to see it, it’s bigger than… -he hesitates- it’s bigger than everything I’ve ever seen!

-Bigger than the Chrysler Building?

-Much bigger!

That really sounds darb. Nothing really interesting happens in Brooklyn.

-Jimmy’s right, that building is huge! –Sal jumps into the conversation. –My mom and dad went to Manhattan to watch a movie last week, and when they came back they were only talking about the new skyscraper.

Now, that’s silly. If you go to the movies, you want to enjoy the show and have a good night out and maybe eat some popcorn –you don’t waste time going around. What if you arrive late? Michael can’t even remember when was the last time he went to the cinema. With the new baby around, mom and dad have practically stopped going out.

-What movie did they go to see?

-Oh, it was something about the war. They didn’t want to take me with them because they said it was violent.

-Everything’s Quiet on the Western Front? Isn’t that the title?

Of course Jimmy knows the title.

-Yeah, something like that. My dad liked it a lot. He fought in the war and he told me that the movie was very realistic.

-He fought in the Great War? Did he go to Europe? –Michael is always impressed by the stories about the war. His dad told him that it was the greatest war America had ever fought in. There were hundreds and hundreds and thousands of soldiers and they joined myriads of others in Europe. English, French, Italians, even Russians. How the heck did they understand each other? And they all fought Germans, dad had told Michael. Dad hates Germans, and according to Michael every boy in New York should hate them. Dad never went to Europe, though. He was in the army, but stayed in America. He was too young and they didn’t call him. What a pity.

-Of course he went to Europe! He fought in France and Belgium. He still has friends there.

-What was the movie about, then? –Here’s Jimmy again. Always pragmatic and straight to the point.

-Well I’ve just told you, I don’t know exactly. It was about the Great War. I think the protagonists are Germans.

-Germans? –Michael can’t believe his ears. –You can’t make a movie about Germans!

-Why not? –Phil intervenes. –They make movies about gangsters and thugs. Germans are exactly the same. They just live in another country.

-They’re much worse!

-All of them? –Joe asks. Apparently, nobody is playing Jacks anymore.

-Well, most of them anyway. Do you know what they were doing in Europe before we went there?

-Do you?

-Of course! –Michael looks quite confident now. This is one of his favorite topics with his dad. –They were invading other nations and killing other people all around. They wanted to conquer all of Europe! And they would have managed to do it, hadn’t we intervened to stop them.

-My uncle told me that they weren’t so bad after all… -Joe continues. –The Germans, I mean. It was their Emperor. Can you believe they still have an Emperor? It was his fault, his and of all the people who followed him.

-Europeans can’t handle things on their own when the situation gets bad. –Phil adds. –It’s up to us to sort things out.

-I don’t know, Phil –Jimmy interrupts him. –I wouldn’t care. I mean, let them be. They have their bad people, we have ours here. I think everybody should do what they want, really.

-Yeah, suppose we lost that war… -Sal looks quite thoughtful while he says this.

-Oh, c’mon! –Phil dismisses Sal’s thought with a flick of his hand. –Do you hear yourself?

-Phil’s right. Of course we won that war. We are Americans! –Joe agrees with Phil, as usual.

-All I’m saying is that America could have had trouble there. Any sort of trouble, you never know. It’s not our business, it was the French and the Germans, I would have left them fight or quarrel, whatever. What did we have to gain?

-You don’t understand –Michael is quicker than Phil and Jimmy, which is quite a feat. –The situation was bad, the Germans were very close to conquer all the other nations there. Even the British. You like the British, don’t you?

-I don’t really mind, British or French are the same to me… -Jimmy looks even more confident than usual, but he has some strange ideas today.

-The situation was bad and was about to get worse. –Michael continues. Phil (and Joe, of course) seem to nod and agree with him. –I’m sure the Emperor would have tried to attack the United States next.

-Yeah, let him try! –Phil laughs.

-In that case you might be right –Jimmy finally agrees. –But still… I don’t know, I don’t think we should fight with any other country if it’s not really necessary. And the Germans are peaceful now anyway, aren’t they?

-You bet! I don’t think they would attack anybody now…

-Michael!

All the kids turn their head. Michael’s dad is standing at the entrance of the playground. He looks a bit bored. It is usually mom who comes and fetches Michael home, that’s probably the reason.

-Come Mike, dinner’s almost ready! Good evening, young chaps.

-Evening, Mr Floyd. –All the kids reply almost in unison.

Michael says goodbye to his friends and follows dad down the road. He didn’t want to play Jacks anymore in any case. Now he would like to talk to dad about the war and how it was exactly to be in the Army, and what did the older soldiers say about the fights in Europe. He knows many of dad’s stories already, but this is one of those topics of which he never gets tired. Those years were so much more exciting and thrilling. There were villains –real villains– and consequently there were heroes.

But there is one thing in particular that Michael would like to ask.

-Do you think there will be another war, dad? –Michael drops casually, while walking next to him on the road that leads to their house.

-Gosh, I hope not! War’s the last thing we need now.

Michael becomes a bit thoughtful.

-I wouldn’t worry too much, Mike. America is a peaceful country.

-But, say, in maybe ten years? When I’ll be eighteen or something?

-Well, I have no idea. –Dad turns toward him with a surprised look on his face. –Is everything all right, Mike?

-Yeah dad, sure. It’s just that I was thinking about your stories and the fact that you couldn’t go to Europe. I know war is not a good thing and that people get hurt or worse, but it must be a great thing to do –to kick the tyrants in the face and force them to stop. It’s like you always say, isn’t it? You never know with those Germans!

Davide

Just five or ten minutes before switching over

-How long will it take yet, dad?

-Oh don’t worry, we’re almost there. There’s not much traffic today.

Michael looks outside the window. No, there are not many cars around, but the streets are full of people. Moms and dads with their little children, young boys with their girls, old men just sitting there and talking and glancing at the couples. You wonder what they think.

The fresh air hits Michael’s face when he stretches his head a bit out of the window. Dad doesn’t say anything, so he maintains his position, sticks his head out a bit more, and keeps looking at the fellas out there. He likes the air in the face, when he fights to keep his eyes open and his hair goes everywhere. That’s one of the reasons why he likes when dad takes the car.

-Look at how many people are in front of the Kings, dad! -Michael says pointing his arm towards the theatre. –That movie must be good!

-It’s Sunday, –dad smiles- people want to have fun and relax. Don’t lean out of the window, Mike.

Michael manages to get a glimpse of the poster outside the cinema. The movie title is “The Love Parade”. That doesn’t sound particularly good.

When dad parks the car and opens the door to get out, Michael is almost sorry that the trip is finished. He likes Coney Island, who doesn’t, but staying in the car, sitting there watching people around while she does all the work for you –well, Michael finds that really pleasant. He bets he could do it for hours. He misses old Tin Lizzie, though. It must have been one year ago. Dad liked Lizzie a lot, and there was something about her which inspired trust in Michael. When he’ll grow up he’ll probably buy one just for himself.

-Are we going to the Luna Park, dad? –He promised, but it’s always better to double-check.

-If you still want it… –dad replies, half-smiling. –Come, Mike, it’s this way.

This is great. Michael loves the park, there are so many attractions and rides inside. And the animals. Everything is fun there, really. And the fact that mom didn’t come is good, too. Every time they go anywhere, she tells him not to run and shout, to be considerate towards other people and basically to stay next to her without moving and breathing. And candy is absolutely forbidden when she is around. Dad is so different, he understands Michael much more. It’s a question of attitude, but what do women know about that.

He and dad can talk about interesting stuff, car trips and holidays and the new things that happen in Manhattan and Bill Tilden. He knows his onions.

-The new baby is coming in one month, Mike. You know that, right?

Michael wants to try the Shoot the Chute thing. He has never done it and it looks just great.

-Yes dad, I know. –One month. It’s still quite a lot of time. –Do you think it will be a boy or a girl?

-We don’t know that yet –dad smiles and lowers his head, as if he had just been unexpectedly distracted from his chain of thoughts.

-I hope he’ll be a boy. We can play together and he can meet all my friends.

-Be it a boy or a girl you’ll love him all the same, won’t you Michael?

Well, yeah. I guess so. You don’t really have a choice there.

Dad and Michael approach the cotton candy kiosk. They don’t ask each other and they don’t think about it: they just buy the candy as they walk and talk, men united by the same passions. Well, obviously it’s dad who actually buys the candy, Michael has no money, but that’s purely incidental. When Michael will start to work (he will probably be an accountant like his dad) they will go together to Coney Island or to Manhattan and they will both spend money, real money, and they will talk about the usual stuff. Movies, life. Sport.

-Do you think the Yankees will have a good shot next year, dad?

-They could. I don’t think Philadelphia is stronger. And they don’t have Babe Ruth –dad adds while lifting his head for one second from the cotton candy and looking in Michael’s eyes.

Babe is great. Michael has a picture of him in his bedroom that he never fails to show to Jimmy every time he comes to his house. But how old is he now? Dad’s age, more or less? At what time do you stop playing baseball and become an engineer or an accountant?

-You know Mike, –dad continues- now that the new baby will arrive we’ll have to be a bit more careful.

Careful? This is something mom would usually say. Michael likes the matter-of-fact tone of his dad, though. Talking about sport, eating that giant mountain of cotton candy, and then casually dropping there something important, something about family. Straightforward, face to face, like a man should talk to another man.

-What do you mean, dad? –Michael tries to look as intelligent as possible while asking this question. He knows how to do that, he practiced on the mirror once. You have to close your eyes a bit and assume a stern expression. Something like that.

-Well, we will be four instead of just three. And the new baby will need a lot of care and protection, do you understand that? From all of us. That includes you, young chap –dad says patting Michael’s hip for attention.

Oh, yeah. Before he will be able to play with him and talk about stuff, there will first be that period when everybody will have to look after him. What a drag.

-Yeah, I know dad. –People are getting off the Shoot the Chute. He could go and try it now.

-This means, Mike, that when we’ll have a spare dime or two we will have to consider the baby first, at least at the beginning.

Wait a minute. Why is dad talking about money now? Michael didn’t expect this.

- He is the youngest one now. It’s only fair, don’t you think? –Dad goes on.

That automatically makes Michael the vice dad, he guesses.

-But why are you telling me about this? I mean, I understand about the attention and him being small and everything. But why the money, what does that have to do with this?

And isn’t this mom’s job, anyway? Taking care of the baby and buying food and stuff?

-Well… let’s see, do you remember when we gave you three dollars for your birthday? Do you remember what we told you, exactly?

-That I could buy whatever I wanted…

-…And?

-I could buy whatever I wanted, but I wouldn’t have received any more money. So you told me to think about it carefully and decide what I really desired.

Boy, that was hard. Michael remembers it very well now. You think that having money would solve all of your problems, then you receive some money –just some, not enough to buy all you want– and you have to make a choice and you risk wasting all of it. Phew!

Obviously, having a lot of money would solve everything. But Michael never found himself in that situation.

-So you had to think about it, didn’t you Mike? The money was yours, but if you wanted to buy something you had to renounce to something else. You had to make a choice, and you did a good job at that –dad smiles again, like he always smiles when he talks with Michael and mom is not around, but with an expression of complicity on his face.

Michael is not so sure he did that good of a job, however. That toy car he left in the shop was really good.

-I and your mother have to make the same decision now. Think about it. We have some money, we have to buy food and clothes like before, but now we have to count four people instead of three. We will make it, Michael, no doubt about it, but there will be times in which we’ll have to choose which thing is more important for the family. What we really need. Like you had to do with your three dollars.

-I understand, dad. I do. –It’s hard to look solemn and credible when you have pink cotton candy all over your mouth.

-You’ll understand better when you’ll be a bit older, Mickey. Things are changing. –Dad is not smiling now, not even half-smiling. It looks almost as if he’s muttering those words to himself more than to Michael. -Things are becoming more complicated. People are a bit scared.

-Scared of what? –Is everybody having a baby?

-It’s a tough world sometimes, young chap. –Dad laughs and punches Michael jokingly under his shoulder. –I can’t explain you everything all the time or we won’t be able to try any of the new attractions!

The Shoot the Chute is ready again. Dad keeps talking about the Yankees and Bill Tilden and the new Ford which is better than the old Tin Lizzie. Michael knows this is only fluff talk now. That’s what adults do: they discuss about serious stuff, and then they switch over to sport and gossip and the other beautiful things in life. There is a specific time for everything, you can’t always talk about the most important matters. That’s what grown-ups do, if you observe them. Talk about the war and the new President and then change the subject to baseball and smile to the ladies who walk down the street.

Mike is part of that now, you can’t change it. He has to think about the new baby, soon he will discuss with dad about the news in the Times and the money he earns at work. Just five, maybe ten minutes, before switching to boxing and cinema when mom will enter the room. He understands it very clearly, though to be fair –to be absolutely honest– he is not sure he likes it. He thinks about the toy car and the three dollars. He looks at the Shoot the Chute which is almost ready to start again and has not finished the cotton candy yet, and his mouth and all around his lips is sticky and tastes a bit like sugar.

Davide

Three Plus One

Michael is going to have a brother.

Or a sister.

Well, in his mind it’s a brother, anyway. There’s no way to tell, of course, but he would like a brother to play with and talk and share secrets about mom and dad and the neighbours. But, think about it, how long would it take? Obviously he’ll first have to grow up a bit. At two or three you’re not really able to do anything interesting. It will take a while.

He looks at mom. He tries to look at her belly, he has seen pregnant women before. That’s how you recognize them. But he can’t really see anything strange, she looks normal as ever, and anyway with the coat and everything you can’t really tell, it’s meaningless.

-You are going to have a little brother or a little sister, Michael –mom and dad told him, just like that. They were smiling and looked at him with that expression they use when they have bought you something and they know you’ll like it. And then, as if nothing had just happened, they told him to get dressed so they could go and watch Laurel and Hardy together.

Wait a minute. Does Michael have a say in all of this?

They decided to have another baby. Right. Michael realizes that mom and dad do not necessarily have to ask him if he wants a little brother, too, before making plans. It would certainly be very nice, but they don’t have to. Maybe it’s just a question of protocol, parents are not supposed to talk about that with their children. He would like a brother, ok. But that’s just coincidence. How could they know it would have been a nice surprise for him?

-Hurry up young chap, we’ll be late! –dad puts his arm across Michael’s shoulders. He’s still smiling. They have definitely taken the good news as an opportunity to celebrate together. So let’s go to the cinema, just like that.

Michael likes Laurel and Hardy, though. He has seen them in a movie last year. It was funny. What was the title? He can’t remember.

It will take so long, anyway. Mom said the brother will not arrive before November. Six months. It’s a lot of time.

-This is a talkie, Mike. You’ll love it, won’t you?

-Yes, dad, I really think I will. –He likes dad. He always looks for the funny side of things. He’s never worried. That’s a good way to live your life, if you ask Michael.

-And I bet you want popcorn, as well –dad continues with a strange air of complicity, looking at him and half-smiling while averting mom’s gaze.

That’s a really safe bet, anyway. Michael always wants popcorn.

-Take this –dad gives a coin to Michael- and buy a ten pence bag. You’ve become old enough to queue and buy things alone, Mike.

A ten pence bag, all for him? Wow, they are happy tonight.

While he’s eating his popcorn sitting in his chair, Michael thinks that the movie is probably going to be good. Laurel and Hardy in a talkie. That’s fun. He wonders how will their voices sound like. Hardy is big and fat and Laurel is so thin and has that strange expression on his face when he talks. Hearing them talk to each other will probably be hilarious. It’s only a pity this is a short movie. Buster Keaton’s movie was longer.

He might talk about his little brother –he really hopes it will be a boy now– with Jimmy. Michael is not sure he is allowed to, he doesn’t know whether people should talk about this stuff. You know, new children and births and moms getting pregnant even though you can’t really tell yet. Is that bad manners? Michael has a feeling mom would get angry with him if he talked about this in public.

But Hardy sounds like Hardy and Laurel sounds exactly how Laurel should sound. That is great.

-Dad, have you heard them? Their voices are exactly how I imagined them to be! Aren’t you thinking the same?

-Shh, be quiet –dad says, but he doesn’t sound upset. –Yes Mike, I think you’re right. And it’s even funnier now that you can hear them talk!

Michael is about to ask mom the same thing, but he suddenly changes his mind. That might really cause too much noise, mom is one seat away from him. Michael observes her for one second. She is there looking at the screen, still and without saying a word. She’s smiling but she doesn’t seem to be particularly chatty tonight.

Everybody is laughing now. Darn, Michael missed the joke. He looks back at the screen and Hardy’s wife is yelling at both him and Laurel for some reason. She looks so upset. And she’s not beautiful, in addition to being a harpy. Mom is such a beautiful woman, Michael thinks. And she actually is, not like those children who say that their moms are so nice but then you look at them and they’re not nice at all, they are fat or short or have an ugly face. That’s a good thing. Michael’s mom is beautiful and he likes it. He feels lucky.

Unaccustomed as we are. What a bad title. What does that even mean? It sounds like it’s trying to be smart, to suggest something to the moviegoers so that they might get the joke or the reference and feel smart, too. It’s a comedy, people are supposed to laugh and have a good time. Michael does not like those pretentious, sophisticated titles. You have to keep it simple, so that people will know what they are going to watch.

Leave ‘em laughing. That was the title of the other Laurel and Hardy movie he saw. Much better title.

The police officer in the movie is so threatening. Boy, he is big. If he knew about his wife... and Hardy looks so frightened! That’s brilliant. Michael is laughing a lot now. That’s just about the funniest thing he has seen the whole year.

It’s not that he didn’t like Buster Keaton. The Cameraman was really good. You did laugh quite a lot in some scenes. But Laurel and Hardy are just funnier. Michael is holding his stomach laughing now. Mom asks him to control himself a bit, and even dad tells him not to disturb the other people in the room. He takes Michael by his waist and positions him back on the chair, his shoulders firmly against the seatback. What’s the point of this? Why taking him to see a really funny movie, and then asking him to restrain himself when the movie makes him laugh? Michael would have been angry with his parents hadn’t he been so amused by those two guys on the screen.

Laurel and Hardy. Maybe Michael and his brother will become like them, and have fun together. But no. Michael will never be that fat.

While Laurel falls down the stairs hitting every single step and everybody laughs vociferously (perhaps their mothers never told them to be quiet while watching movies), Michael thinks that if he can’t decide when and how mom will have a new baby, he should at least make his voice heard.

He keeps the ticket in his pocket while he’s leaving the theatre. He wants to collect them. He already has another one. If only they went to the movies more frequently! Once a week would be just perfect. Imagine all the tickets of all the best movies in the box under his bed.

-Mom –he calls, with a firm voice.

-What’s up, Mike? Didn’t you like the movie? –she asks smiling.

Yes, yes, of course he liked it. That’s not the point. Why can’t they never guess when Michael wants to be serious and solemn?

-I want to ask something.

Well, he doesn’t know whether this will sound stupid, but he has to ask. This baby thing will influence his life quite a lot. You can’t have a baby and pretends nothing changed!

-I mean, this thing you were telling me about… the fact that you will have a baby. –He says it quickly, lest something might hear them. He’s still not sure this is something that can be talked about in public.

-Yes. –She stops, dad is some steps away from them. –Tell me, Mike –and she lowers herself to Michael’s level.

-I know you and dad have already decided… but… can I ask you something? I want you to do something for me.

-What’s the problem, Mike? –mom seems a bit worried now, she is even more beautiful. Michael looks at her in the eyes.

-Promise me it will be a boy. Promise! I want a little brother. Sisters are such a drag!

Davide