Chapter Seven
Beatrice:
"What was on your mind today, Beatrice?" Tommy asked me as we started eating our dinner with Dad.
"What was on my mind today?" I asked back.
"Yeah. You didn't say very much while we were spending some time with Dad. Was and is something bothering you?"
"I was thinking about a dream that I dreamt of last night. It wasn't bothering me. I was just constantly reminding myself to record the dream down before I forget."
"Dream?" Dad asked after swallowing his food. "What was the dream about?"
I thought about not repeating the dream to anybody after recording it but since this is my dad and I'm trying to speak a little more than usual, I should tell him but not in a lot of details.
"In the dream, I walked into a room that contained all of my memories from my past and certain objects that were really important to me in my childhood." I explained. "After a brief second of looking at my memories, I was surprised to see a friend of mine sitting on a sofa while he had a mask covering his face. I tried to persuade him to take off the mask but my friend…"
I stop right there.
If I tell Dad about Greasy, then it might threaten the secret of my and Tommy's gift of seeing, hearing, and talking to Toons that can't be seen by those who don't have the gift that Tommy and I have.
How am I going to tell Dad about Greasy without threatening the secret?
I don't want to lie to my dad.
"Beatrice, are you okay?" Dad asked.
"Yeah, Dad." I replied. "I'm okay."
"You don't have to talk more about the dream if it's bothering you, Beatrice."
"No, no. I would like to continue."
"Okay. Go ahead."
"All right. Where was—Oh, yeah. My friend refused to take off the mask after I tried to tell him to take it off because the mask was freaking me out. I finally persuaded my friend to take off the mask after telling him that he wasn't being honest with me. Just as my friend was about to take off the mask, he told me to not be afraid. Then, the mask fell down from my friend's face, rolled off his lap, and landed on the floor of the memory room. To my shock, my friend didn't have his face or head."
"Oh, my!" Tommy exclaimed.
"That's scary and interesting." Dad said.
I scoop up some of the fried rice with my spoon and brought it up to my mouth.
Mmmmmm, my gosh, this so delicious.
"What's scaring me is trying to understand the dream." I explained after swallowing. "I don't understand why I had to walk into a room that had a lot of memories from my past and discover that my friend didn't have a face or a head."
"I think that your dream is giving you a message about something." Tommy replied. "The dream is telling you that an opportunity is about to be given to you, Beatrice."
I look at Tommy with surprise.
Then, he noticed that I was looking at him.
"You're wondering about my reply." Tommy said after a pause. "Trust me, Beatrice. I've read a couple of things about dream symbols and I taught myself to find the meanings of the symbols and connect the meanings after that."
"That's a pretty good skill, Tommy." Dad said with a mouthful of Chinese food.
"Thanks, Dad."
"Can you tell me what you know, Tommy?" I asked.
"Sure. The door that led you to the room that contained all of your memories of your past meant that it's leading you to an opportunity that you don't fully know. The mask that your friend was wearing meant that he's hiding something from you."
I nodded slowly in understanding.
"Okay." I replied. "Keep going."
"Your dream is telling you that you're being lead to an opportunity to knowing more things about your friend, even though he wants to keep some things hidden." Tommy explained.
"Do you really think so?"
"Oh, yeah."
"Okay, Tommy. I'll remember that."
Oh, man. That was too close.
I was so close to revealing the secret of my (and Tommy's) gift, powers, and interactions with Toons and Yen Sid.
I mean, I know that Dad met Yen Sid when Tommy and I were born but I'm afraid that if I tell Dad about Yen Sid, the gift, and the powers, he might have bad memories come back to him or maybe freak out.
I don't like to hide stuff from my dad.
I'm very close to him and I get along better with him than Mom.
It doesn't feel right to hide everything that Tommy and I had to experience since our first trip to 1947 Hollywood and Toon Town.
…..*sigh*….
Maybe I should talk to Yen Sid when I have the time.
I can't tell Dad anything yet until I find out what Yen Sid wants me to do after we talk over the secret that Tommy and I have promised to never reveal to anyone who aren't involved in the destinies that Tommy and I are a part of.
…..
*TIME SKIP*
*9:00:34 AM*
"I know it's kind of early for me to make a recording at this time but Tommy and my dad are still sleeping and I wanted to talk to somebody about what's on my mind right now." I said as I recorded myself with the tape recorder. "I've added more questions on my long list of questions about the Toon Patrol. These are my questions. How did the Toon Patrol come together? Were they drawn by the same cartoonist or were they drawn by other people? Do the members of the Toon Patrol have any families? Was Greasy's hair always long or was it short during one part of his life?"
I pause and took a deep breath.
"Now that I've recorded my questions, I would like to add—"
*DUN, DUN, DUN*
"Okay, somebody's knocking on my door. I will pause this recording for a temporary moment and come back and finish what I have to say."
I press the STOP button.
Then, I cleared my throat.
"Who is it?" I asked the person behind my bedroom door.
"Guess who it is." …Greasy replied.
I chuckled and shook my head.
"Greasy, is that you?" I asked as I smirked.
"No, it's Bing Crosby." Greasy replied. "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Of course it's me!"
"Well, what are you doing out in the hallway? Come on in."
As I listened to the sound doorknob jiggling and turning, I quickly undid my messy ponytail and combed my fingers through my hair, trying to make my hair less messy and more slightly better.
Hey, I'm not fixing my hair because I have on Greasy (I still like him as friend).
I'm trying to fix my hair because I think it's pretty weird to have a messy ponytail and bedhead while I'm with a friend.
So…yeah.
Anyway, I heard the door open and close.
I quickly tied my hair back into a ponytail as Greasy said,
"Who were you talking to, Beatrice?"
"I was just recording my personal thoughts with this old tape recorder." I replied. "I wasn't really talking to anyone."
"Oh. Why were you recording your personal thoughts with a tape recorder?"
"I wanted to talk to Tommy and or my dad about what I was thinking but since they're still sleeping, I had to use the tape recorder and act like I'm talking to somebody."
"I see."
As we continued with our conversation, Greasy took his hat off and started to brush it with his hand.
"So what brings you here?" I asked.
"Just came to see how you're doing." Greasy replied as he put his hat back on his head.
"Ah."
"I'm also curious about that tape recorder. I know it may sound ridículo o demente but I don't know how to use a tape recorder. How does it work? Can you show me how to use it?"
I nodded.
"Sure." I replied.
I picked up the microphone and placed in front and between me and Greasy.
"You get this microphone ready and set it at the perfect angle where it can hear you speak." I explained. "When you feel like you're ready to say something or when you want record something very useful and important, you press this RECORD button…"
I press the RECORD button.
"…and as you can see, the recorder is working and the microphone is picking up what I'm saying, even though it's not really close to my mouth."
Greasy smiled and chuckled a little bit.
"Now I'm going to say the first thing that just popped into my mind." I continued and picked up the microphone.
"Okay." Greasy said.
I bring the microphone up to my lips and said clearly,
"I have nothing important to say today."
Greasy laughed.
I chuckled a little bit.
"Now, to stop the tape recorder, I simply press the STOP button…" I continued and pressed the button. "…and the tape recorder stops recording. In order to play the things that you've said to the tape recorder, you press the REWIND button and the rewinding begins. Then, you press STOP again…" I pressed the STOP button. "…and finally, you press PLAY."
Then, I press the PLAY button.
"…and as you can see, the recorder is working and the microphone is picking up what I'm saying, even though it's not really close to my mouth." I said in the recording. "Now I'm going to say the first thing that just popped into my mind."
"Okay." Greasy said in the recording.
"I have nothing important to say today."
Greasy and I laughed.
Oh, I hope that I didn't laugh too loudly.
I don't want to wake up Tommy and or Dad.
I stop the recording.
"And that's how you work with a tape recorder." I said to Greasy.
"All right, then." Greasy replied. "Now that you've given me algunas instrucciones, I'll remember the next time I use a tape recorder."
"If you forget any of the steps, I can always repeat them again."
"Gracias, Beatrice."
"No problem."
(I actually did a few searches on the Internet a couple of days ago and I know what 'thank you' means in Spanish.)
"So what are you going to do today?" Greasy asked.
"I don't know." I replied. "I'm waiting for my dad to wake up and tell me and Tommy what we're going to do today. What about you?"
"I thought of hanging out with you for a while. I haven't really thought of doing anything else…unfortunately."
"Has Smarty given you any ideas?"
"No. When I—"
"Beatrice?" I heard Dad said from the hallway.
"Hold on." I said to Greasy.
Then, I looked at my closed bedroom door.
"Yes, Dad?" I asked.
"We're leaving in forty-five minutes." Dad replied.
"Why?"
"We're going to help Grandpappy do a couple of improvement projects at his church. There's not enough people to help him."
"Okay. I'll eat in a couple of minutes."
"All right."
I looked at Greasy.
"Would you like to come along?" I asked.
"I would love to but I have to head back to Toon Town." Greasy replied. "When I left to come talk to you, Smarty and the others were sleeping. I have to go back. When are you going to be back?"
"I'll probably be back during the late afternoon hours."
"Okay."
