CHAPTER 4: December—Mary Anne
It was a couple of days before Christmas. We were making the first of three trips to the Hartford Airport. Today, we were dropping Dawn off and picking up Grandma Baker. Dawn was going to spend Christmas in California with her dad, stepmother, and brother. We'd be taking Grandma back to the airport on the 28th, and picking up Dawn and Jeff. The plan was that Jeff would spend New Year's with us, then we'd take him back to the airport the day after that. Since we were making three trips in ten days, it would be our version of Picking Up And Dropping Off.
"Have fun," I told Dawn as we entered the terminal.
"I will," she promised.
When we got outside the security area, Dad said, "Well, Dawn, this is as far as we go."
"Okay," Dawn agreed, giving each of us a hug before going through security. Ever since 9/11, the people picking up and dropping off passengers have not been allowed past the security area, which I think really sucks. We saw Dawn's plane leave, then checked the board to see where Grandma's plane would be coming in, and went to that gate area.
About 45 minutes later, Grandma's plane touched down, and before too long, we saw her coming out of the security area. "Grandma!" I shouted.
"Hi, Mary Anne," she said.
"It's great to see you," I said as I hugged her.
"You, too."
After we got Grandma's luggage, the four of us headed out of the airport and toward the parking lot. I was really looking forward to Christmas, because this year, Grandma's plane wasn't stranded somewhere due to fog, heavy snow, or anything like that. I never want to go through that again!
On Christmas morning, I woke up early. "Merry Christmas, Tiggy," I said.
"Mew," Tigger answered.
"Mew," I echoed, then grinned.
I put on my robe and picked up Tigger. When I came into the living room, I found Dad and Sharon having coffee. Well, actually, Dad was having coffee—cream and no sugar, like he usually does—and Sharon was having French vanilla cappuccino.
"Merry Christmas," I said.
After the adults finished their coffee, the four of us tore into the presents. As the narrator of A Christmas Story says, "We plunged into the cornucopia, quivering with desire and the ecstasy of unbridled avarice." On the upside, Sharon didn't give Dad a bowling ball, and accidentally set it on his you-know-where, making him talk like Mickey Mouse.
Anyway, I got a new shirt from Grandma. It's purple and black striped with elbow-length sleeves. I think that when I wear it, I'll feel like a fugitive from Zoom. (I saw that once on I Love the '70s on VH-1, and for the life of me, I can't do the arm trick that Bernadette Yao did.) Dawn had left me a cross necklace. Dad had given me To Be Or Not To Be, High Anxiety, and the remake of The Producers, and Sharon gave me a bracelet with sapphire studs on it.
Later that morning, Logan stopped by. "Merry Christmas," he said, handing me my present.
When I opened it, I saw that he'd given me Young Frankenstein, History of the World—Part 1, and Blazing Saddles, three more Mel Brooks movies. (And yes, I've seen those, but the only part I think is stupid in Blazing Saddles is the "I, state your name" part, because in reality, when you take a pledge of some kind, you're supposed to actually say your name.) After I gave Logan his present, he stayed for about an hour, then went home.
Shortly after that, we sat down at the dining room table. Dad and Sharon sat on the ends, and Grandma and I sat on the sides. After everyone had been served, Dad turned to me and said, "You know, Mary Anne, I think you're old enough to get your ears pierced."
"Really? Could I?" I asked. I thought this day would never come, but a small part of me was still a little nervous. You see, one summer, us BSC members had been counselors-in-training at Camp Mohawk. Actually, Jessi and Mal had been junior CITs, because they were told they weren't old enough for the real thing yet.
Anyway, several of our younger siblings and baby-sitting charges—the ones six and older, which is the cutoff age for Camp Mohawk—were campers. My co-CIT, as well as the ones in the cabin next door, decided to pierce my ears one day. Luckily, they didn't get very far before they chickened out. I also heard from Kristy that her fellow CITs tried to give her a makeover, but the only thing about her that changed was that she'd wear make-up on rare occasions.
"I think so," Dad said.
"You know, your mom was about your age when she got hers pierced," Grandma said.
"Really?" I asked. Grandma nodded.
"If you'd like, I can go to the mall with you tomorrow and sign the papers for you to have it done," Dad said.
"Thank you!" I exclaimed.
I couldn't believe it. After all these years of not wearing anything on my ears, it was finally going to happen.
Three days later, we returned to the Hartford Airport. Every time I passed by a mirror or plate-glass window, I'd admire my new earrings and occasionally turn the studs, like the woman had said, so they wouldn't get infected. I'd gotten little gold balls and bought a pair of tiny silver hoops for when I was allowed to change my earrings in a couple of weeks. The experience itself wasn't that painful, but even so, Dad and Grandma Baker held my hands the whole time. While the woman was piercing my ears, I was remembering a story that Mal had told about when her family had gone to the mall, and she, Claire, and Margo had watched a girl get her ears pierced. When the woman brought out the piercing gun, Mal said that Claire screamed, and Margo announced to everyone in the entire mall that she was going to hurl. I also remembered when the entire BSC had gone to the mall, Mal and Jessi had gotten their ears pierced, and Dawn and Claud had gotten a second hole: Claud in her left ear only, and Dawn, one in each. I don't know why, but Claud almost fainted when she got off the stool.
When we got into the terminal, we checked Grandma's suitcase through, then the board to see where her flight would be leaving from, as well as where Dawn and Jeff's flight would be coming in. We noticed that we had an hour and a half between the two flights. Grandma's plane was supposed to leave at 4:30, and Dawn and Jeff's plane was supposed to come in at 6:00. We needed that hour and a half to get from one gate to the other, as well as a bite to eat.
As soon as we got to the security area, I gave Grandma a hug. "See you later. I'll try to come out this summer if I can, okay?"
"Okay," Grandma agreed. Then after she hugged Dad and Sharon, she went through security.
After we watched Grandma's plane leave, we checked the schedule to see where Dawn and Jeff's plane would be coming in. We stopped at the Burger King on the concourse for a bite to eat.
After we sat down with our food, a huge grin spread across my face. "What is it, Mary Anne?" Dad asked.
"I was just remembering the cast party we'd had after Carnival opened," I said.
"Oh, yes," Dad remembered. "I think you told us about that."
"In fact, Dawn told me that after she heard Watson telling the kids to step away from the sugar, she was almost tempted to tell them that they were too close to it!"
"I think they were, too!" Sharon laughed. "Anything else?"
"I was also remembering the talk I'd had with Jackie Rodowsky before the final dress rehearsal. Stacey says she overheard me saying, 'This is not Burger King, and you can't have it your way'."
"Did you really say that?" Sharon asked.
I nodded and giggled, then after we finished eating, Dad threw our trash away, and we went to the other gate.
At 6:00 on the nose, we saw the other plane touch down. We didn't have much of a view, because we were outside the security area. A few minutes later, we saw Dawn and Jeff coming into the terminal. "Hi, you guys!" I called.
"Hi, Mary Anne!" Dawn exclaimed as the two of us hugged. "Oh, you got your ears pierced! I love them!"
"Thanks," I grinned. "And thanks for the necklace."
"You're welcome," she answered.
"Dawn and Jeff, your presents are at the house," Sharon said.
"Okay," Jeff said. "Thanks."
The five of us headed out of the airport together. It had been a wonderful Christmas, and I knew it was going to be an even better New Year's.