Black sneakers sunk into the powdery white sand, the rubbery tips just barely touching. Two boys, both with bright blue eyes and unruly blonde hair, stood face to face. The intense staring contest going ignored by everyone on the playground except for the group of rowdy boys - a mix of dirty blondes and dark brunettes, covered in sand, standing around them, laughing at them. The taller of the two boys shoved the other boy and sent him careening into the sand. He wanted to laugh at the shock that made itself clear on Eric McGorrill's face at being pushed down by the very kid he tried his hardest to bully. It must have come as shock to know that the most placid, well behaved eight year old in school could do that to someone.
"Stop bullying me. Just leave me and Mellie alone." Cody's sneaker clad foot shot out and jammed the rubber sole into Eric's knee without a second thought as to what he was doing. Eric hadn't had a chance to gather himself and stand up before Cody's kick to the knee had left him laying in the sand. "Leave us alone."
"Girls have cooties!"
"No they don't." Cody yelled back at him, making his way to the swing-set where Melissa was kicking her legs in order to go higher. "Want me to push?"
"I thought I had cooties?" Melissa let her sandal-clad feet skid in the sand, bringing the swing to a stop.
"Eric's a dummy." Cody told her resolutely.
"Well Taylor and Daley told me that boys have cooties." Melissa shrugged, jumping off of the swing. "So I'm going to play with them."
And with shock clear on his face, Cody Jackson watched his best friend walk toward the girls - one with a mane of wild red curls and the other with wild blonde locks - clearly believing that he had cooties.
xxx
"Bye Melissa," With a grumpy pout and a stomp of his sneaker clad foot, Cody Jackson stormed out of the school. His Superman backpack hung off of one shoulder, unruly blonde curls falling in his face and his shoes slapped against the wet concrete as he made his way into his Mom's car. He opened the silver door, tossed his backpack in and grumpily shoved himself intot he car and buckled his seatbelt. "Hi Mom."
"Someone's grumpy," Cindy laughed, ruffling her son's hair affectionately. "Bad day at school?"
"Eric told me that girls have cooties." Cody pouted, looking up at his mother. "And Daley and Taylor convinced Mellie that I have cooties."
Cindy pursed her lips together, unsure of what to say to resolve the situation. She could call the girls' mothers but that would only start unnecessary drama. She settled on taking her son to her husband and letting Johnny straighten him out; "I'm going to let you take that up with your father. I'm not the person to be talking about cooties with. I'm a girl."
All she could say was that her son - who at this stage in his life was more than a little conflicted about who should be his best friend - was simply going through a phase that in reality, Cindy was surprised hadn't come sooner. Cody loved Melissa but there was also that part of him that was still an eight-year-old boy who wanted to hang out with other boys instead of hanging out with Melissa all the time. While she was disappointed that Eric had planted ideas into Cody's head, she also knew that it might be good for Cody to learn that he could have a girl for a best friend and still hang out with other boys. Needless to say she was relieved to see her husband's green Dodge sitting in the driveway.
"C'mon, little man," Cindy sighed, grabbing her son's backpack as he raced out of the car. "Let's talk to Dad."
Her son was practically bursting at the seams to be let in the front door and by the time he was in, his energy had reached it's boiling point. In an explosive burst of blonde hair and blue eyes, her son torpedoed through the house with all the force of a category five hurricane, calling for his father. Her eight-year-old son was definitely a boy, in every sense of the word. It had been a lesson she had learned early on; little boys were handfuls.
"Jackson!" Johnny laughed, bunching a fistful of his son's t-shirt in his palm and yanking him back. He kneeled down and turned his son around, offering a stern warning; "Slow down, son, you're going to get hurt."
"Dad," Cody's naive blue eyes stared up into his father's twinkling brown eyes. "Do girls have cooties?"
"Ah," Johnny laughed, understanding why his son had been so eager to see him. "Alright, son, who told you girls have cooties?"
"Eric."
"Eric, huh?" Johnny sighed, wanting desperately to call Eric's mom and explain the false wisdom her son had so kindly imparted on Cody but he thought better of it and reached up to ruffle his son's hair. "Son, Eric's wrong. Girls don't have cooties."
"They don't?"
"Well your Mom's a girl and she doesn't have cooties. In fact I think she's pretty cool." Johnny grinned at his son, "Eric probably just said that to avoid playing with girls."
"Mom is pretty cool." Cody shrugged his small polo-shirt clad shoulders.
"Yeah," Johnny nodded with a laugh, "And so is Melissa, eh?"
"Yeah. I guess she is." Cody laughed, "Cool! Thanks Dad."
With the reassurance that his best friend did not in fact have cooties or anything similar, Cody retrieved his red and blue backpack and dashed off to his room to his homework. Johnny had no doubt that there would be many more instances where Cody would question whether or not it was okay to be best friends with Melissa. He'd just have to make it clear that Eric's wisdom shouldn't be taken seriously.
"Eric is trouble," Johnny stood up at the sound of his wife's voice. "That kid is going to be the end of a few friendships."
"Nah," Johnny laughed, slipping his arms around his wife. "He's just a kid."
"If you say so," Cindy wrapped her arms around her husband's neck. "Kiss? Thank you. Now I have to cook dinner so my boys don't starve."
"Dinner can wait. I'll order a pizza." Johnny shrugged, barely pulling away from his wife.
"Fine." Cindy giggled as her husband trailed kisses down her neck.
xxx
"Mommy," Eight-year-old Melissa jumped into the back seat of her mother's car. "I had a bad day."
"Why did you have a bad day, Sweetheart?" Sandy asked her daughter, "Did something happen today?"
"Taylor and Daley told me that boys have cooties." Melissa told her mother.
Sandy laughed as she pulled away from the school, "How about we go to Chick-Fil-A and discuss this over chicken nuggets, french fries and lemonade?"
"Okay." Melissa agreed.
The ride to Chick-Fil-A went in relative silence as Melissa happily read the book her mother kept in the backseat for her. Sandy pulled into Chick-Fil-A and got out before moving around to help her daughter out. Melissa walked beside her mother as they walked up to the counter to order. Once they had the cups and the receipt with their order number, they went to make their drinks and wait for the order.
"What did you learn in school today, Baby Doll?" Sandy asked her daughter.
"We learned how to subtract and how a little bitty seed can grow into a huge plant." Melissa told her mother.
Sandy laughed as she handed her daughter her lemonade and moved to the counter to grab their tray as the cashier called, "24!"
Once they were settled at the table, food in front of them with Melissa happily munching on a chicken nugget, Sandy decided to broach the subject her daughter had brought up in the car.
"Baby, why do you think boys have cooties?" Sandy asked, taking a sip of her lemonade.
"I was playing with Cody and Taylor pulled me away and told me not to play with him, he had cooties." Melissa told her, munching on a fry.
"Boys do not have cooties, your father is a boy and he doesn't have cooties." Sandy chuckled, "I'll bet Cody's Mom and Dad told him that you don't have cooties either."
Melissa nodded, seemingly content with her mother's answer. Once they were finished with lunch and Melissa was safely buckled up in the car, Sandy started the drive home. Melissa hummed to herself as her mother drove home.
"Would you like to go see, Cody?" Sandy asked her daughter.
"Can we?" Melissa asked her excitedly.
"I think you two have something to work out." Sandy laughed as she turned down the street that her best friend lived on.
They pulled into the driveway a few minutes later and Melissa nearly broke her neck trying to get to the door. Sandy giggled as she rang the doorbell and grabbed her daughter to keep her from falling when the door opened and Cindy appeared in the doorway. Looking down at a very excited Melissa, she moved aside and watched Melissa barrel into the house, frantically calling her best friend's name.
"Good grief, that phase didn't last long." Cindy giggled as she let her best friend into the house.
"Did his?" Sandy asked her.
"It lasted all of ten minutes." Cindy giggled as they walked into the living room.
Cody and Melissa were sitting on the carpeted floor holding a rather animated conversation over the sound of whatever TV show was playing. Their excited and animated chatter seemed to revolve around one thing, the fact that neither one of them had the mythical yet so very dreaded illness otherwise known as the cooties.
I know this chapter was a little weird in that they didn't stay away from each other the way most kids tend to do but let me explain: I had a hard time writing this chapter because I don't remember ever going through "the cootie phase". I wanted them to be told that the other had cooties but not necessarily stop hanging out with each other because of it. I also wanted to include some Johnny/Cody interaction because I think the relationship between a father and his son is amazing! I'm a Daddy's girl through and through but I still like the way a man interacts with his son.
Anyway, my computer is now virus free so you can expect a two maybe three more updates before July 4th :)
Goodbye Loves,
RobertDowneyJrLove
