Independence Day
The fourth of July fell on a Sunday, less than a month after eight year old Jed Curry and eleven year old Hannibal Heyes arrived at the Valparaiso School for Waywards. Being a Sunday, the children were not provided the luxury of an extra day of no school. Nor were several of the teachers, who were actually made to work most of the day by escorting the children into town for the city-wide celebration and festivities.
Boys being boys, the teachers soon found it impossible to keep track of them all as they darted about from booth to booth. Each of the boys had been given ten cents to spend however they wished. Some entered one of a dozen different contests, ranging from two-legged races, to catching a greased pig that squealed almost as loud as the children.
Some bought trinkets, others took great pleasure laying down a penny at the shooting gallery or the dunking booth, both of which lured people in with the possibility of winning a rag doll, a wooden hand carved gun, or one of a dozen other prizes. All spent a few of their precious coins on penny candy, an item strictly prohibited at the orphanage.
At noon, and again at suppertime, the two local churches provided an assortment of picnic foods all lined up on rows of tables set up on the courthouse lawn, and the boys gorged themselves on pies and cakes, and other such sweets that were a rare commodity for the orphans.
But as the sun began to set, all the boys reluctantly began to migrate back to the prearranged rendezvous site. Fireworks were to begin at dark and the school feared having a child wonder off into the dark night, so the orphans were never allowed to be off the school grounds after dark. Independence Day was no exception.
So, after completing a head count and searching out two stragglers, the teachers escorted all the children back to the orphanage, reassuring the new arrivals that the view from the dormitory windows would provide them with a clear view of the impending fireworks. All the boys raced up the stairs to the dormitory windows with only a minor amount of pushing and shoving to obtain the most choice viewing spots.
But Jed and several other younger boys showed little interest, and each slowly migrated to their beds. Some, like Jed, changed into their nightshirts before crawling into their beds. Some pulled the covers up over their heads, some rested their hands over their ears and closed their eyes tight. Some curled up into little balls. All had their heads turned away from the windows.
Heyes glanced around the cluster of boys as he searched for his cousin to maneuver the small boy to the window ledge for a clear and full view of the fireworks. When he did not see Jed, Heyes' eyes swept the room and spied Jed lying in his bed.
"Jed, don't you want to see this?" Heyes called to his cousin.
"Too tired, I guess," Jed replied. "And maybe too much cake in my belly."
Heyes accepted this explanation, but as he turned back to the window, he saw six other beds also occupied with the younger of the children.
"None of you boys wanna watch the fireworks?" Heyes called to them.
Some replied with a shake of the head, but others offered no response at all.
Heyes found their lack of enthusiasm peculiar as he realized it was all of the younger boys who had quietly retreated to their beds.
"I get my spot back," Heyes told the older boys as he broke a path through them and walked over and sat down on the edge of Jed's bed.
Heyes reached out and gave Jed's shoulder a gentle tug, prompting Jed to turn over, first to his back, then to his side so he was facing his cousin.
"What's the matter, Jed?" Heyes asked.
Jed shook his head. "Nothing. Just tired."
"You and every other boy your age? Seems kind of funny that you boys are the only ones that wore yourselves out today. Now what's the real reason you've all got yourselves wrapped up in blankets like a bunch of mummies on such a hot night?"
"Guess we just don't like fireworks," Jed replied
"Don't like fireworks? Why?"
Jed looked up into his cousin's eyes. "I guess... mostly the sound."
Heyes smiled. "The sound? Why that's just from the little bit of gun..."
Heyes stopped mid sentence, suddenly realizing what his cousin was trying to tell him. The sound from the fireworks reminded the boys of the sounds of battle from a war that had not yet been resolved, but had shattered all their lives and planted them all in this one small dormitory room.
"I'll be right back, Kid," Heyes said and stood and walked over to each of the occupied beds. He stopped at each bed and bent down and whispered into each boy's ear.
Slowly, each of the young boys, got up from their bed, some wrapping a blanket around his shoulders, and walked down the aisle to Jed's bed. There, they all climbed onto the bed and sat, waiting for Heyes to return.
"Heyes, they're about to start firing the rockets," one of the older boys called to him.
Heyes waved the boy off. "You go ahead and watch without me," he called back to the boy, then walked over to Jed's bed and wiggled his way to the center of the bed with all the other boys huddled about him.
"You all know why they shoot off these fireworks on the Fourth of July, right?" he asked the young boys.
Some knew, some didn't, so Heyes decided to give them a brief explanation.
"It was over a hundred years ago that this country decided to declare its independence, and they did so after a great war, almost as big as this one we're going through right now. Families got broken up, just like what's happened to all of us. Why there was boys just like you and me that ended up in orphanages just like this one. Boys that lost their families just like us. Boys that bonded and took care of each other, and sort of formed their own families, just like we're doing. We might not all be related by blood, but we're all related by something that might even be stronger than that. We're related by a common bond, a need to take care of each other."
"What's that got to do with fireworks?" Tommy Gilstrap asked.
Heyes had to speak a little louder as the fireworks began outside, but he noticed none of the boys looked frightened and none were covering their ears or closing their eyes. Instead, all were listening very intently to Heyes.
Heyes smiled. "The fireworks do sound like the guns of battle. But those sounds, and those flashing lights in the air serve as a reminder to all of us. They remind us that those guns of battle gave us our freedom. Now there's a funny thing about freedom, it ain't free. Freedom takes a lot of work. Sometimes it comes at a mighty high price, the price of losing loved ones. And them fireworks are a symbol that we won't never forget the price of freedom. And we won't ever forget our loved ones who paid that price for our freedom."
Heyes watched each boy carefully and was pleased to see more than a few eyes turn toward the windows.
"You boys all know the song Yankee Doodle?" Heyes asked and each head nodded.
"How about, while these fireworks are going off, we all sing Yankee Doodle? Sort of our own tribute to those folks that have given us our freedom?"
Heyes watched the boys heads nod hesitantly, each willing to participate, but none wanting to initiate the song.
"Yankee Doodle went to town a riding on a pony..." Heyes began and soon seven soft voices were joining in.
When he had finished the song, Heyes began again in a slightly louder and stronger voice and the boys all did likewise. By the time the fireworks were over, every boy in the room was singing at the top of his lungs and two teachers came bustling into the room to see what the commotion was all about.
The teachers saw Heyes sitting on the bed with the younger boys and were quick to surmise what was going on. They two then joined in on the singing. By the time the fireworks had stopped, the dormitory room was filled with joyful singing. New songs were added and a good hour passed before the teachers called for a curfew to quiet and settle everyone down.
Heyes and a couple of the other older boys helped get all the younger boys back into their beds and settled in for the night. Then Heyes walked over to his own bed situated next to Jed's and got himself readied for a good night's sleep. As he reached to douse the lamp, he saw Jed lying on his side smiling at him.
"What's that for?" Heyes asked.
"You really do have a silver tongue," Kid said.
"A silver tongue? Where did you hear that expression?"
"Mr. Eubanks. I heard him telling Mr. Wayneright that Hannibal Heyes has got a silver tongue. I didn't know what he was talking about...Until now."
Heyes smiled and pulled the covers up to his shoulders. "Go to sleep, Kid."