Good Afternoon At The Park
Setting: Sam is seven and Sara is five. A look at an afternoon at the park and how Sam is a good brother and how he is rewarded for it.
Park Near General Braddock's Home
Seventeen year old Justin was again at the park. It was a long hot summer. He took this job as an ice cream vendor at the park as a summer job. Most of the kids in the park were good kids. They were all from military families, like he was, so there was an expectation to be good or you could get mom or dad into trouble.
However, there were a few bad seeds. A couple of preteen boys that would come to the park just to cause trouble. Usually the Moms or Dads would send them home with a scolding when they pulled their dumb stunts or bothered the little kids.
He stood up as three kids approached. Each knew exactly what they wanted and he took their change and pulled the ice creams out of the freezer. The kids ran off happily chatting to their mother and headed out of the park eating their treats.
It was a slow afternoon at the park. There was a large number of troops deploying or coming home today so most the families were busy with that. Justin sat back down and pulled out his hot rod magazine to pass the time.
Justin looked up when he heard familiar laughter. He smiled at the two blonde kids riding their bikes into the park. She was doing much better riding now. The little boy did not have to go so slow. Justin liked watching the General's kids. They were always so kind to one another.
He knew their names because they came to the park almost every day this summer even though they rarely got an ice cream. He heard little Sara calling her brother Sam often. He knew they were the General's kids because he came once to pick them up.
It looked like the General had come straight from the field. Sara had run happily screaming to her father and jumped into his arms. She surely did miss him. Sam however, became rigid and the smile faded from his face. It was almost as if the kid came to attention. Well he sorta did everything except for a salute.
Justin found it odd that Sara chatted away calling the General daddy while Sam was reserved and called him Sir. That kid was not the same in front of the General. It must be a Braddock thing. Justin's dad had told him that all Braddock males for generations went into the military.
He put down his magazine and watched them since he had read the magazine cover to cover several times now.
Sam looked behind him. He really, really wanted to speed faster on his bike. But Sara was behind him and he did not want to get too far away so he had ridden slower. He stopped at the bike rack and hopped off.
Sara pedaled quickly and then braked as she got to the rack. She sat on her bike, easy to do when you had training wheels holding it up. She looked at her Sammy and said "Did you bring the tools?"
"Sara do you really want to do this? Maybe we should wait until the General is home. He can teach you" Sam said.
Hopping off her bike Sara said "I want you to teach me. Once I learn then we can ride faster. Please Sammy."
Sam grinned and pulled the tools from his backpack and crouched down by her bike. As Sam worked to remove the training wheels he said "Okay. I guess you can surprise mom and the General this afternoon. We got about an hour before we have to be home."
Sara danced around happily as Sammy took off her training wheels.
Once he was done Sam held the bike as Sara got on. He said "Now remember, you have to keep pedaling you will get wobbly if you slow down. You ready?"
Sara turned to her brother and said "Don't let go until I say, okay."
"Okay" Sam responded.
Justin watched for twenty minutes as Sam ran and pushed his sister as she pedaled furiously. There were a few close calls when Sam let go but Sam always caught Sara before she could crash to the ground. Sara was really getting the hang of it. Justin was impressed with how patient Sam was with Sara. Their laughter was nice to hear.
Sam ran as fast as he could holding onto the back of Sara's seat. He had done this over and over. He called out "Ready?"
Sara gleefully said "Let go."
Sam let go and ran along side of Sara for a bit. Then he stopped and called out "You got it. Way to go Sara. Look at you fly."
Sara pedaled as a huge grin settled on her face. She yelled out joyfully "No more training wheels. Yippeeeeeeee!"
Racing back to his bike, Sam hopped on. He pedaled fast and furious and caught up to Sara.
The two of them made the circuit around the park several times laughing with each other as they rode faster than Sara had ever ridden before.
Sam asked "You ready for a solo trip around the park?"
Sara nervously said "I want you next to me."
In a confident voice Sam encouraged "You got this. You can do it."
Sam peeled off to the side and let Sara start to ride around the circle on the sidewalk around the play area. He grinned as he watched Sara ride her first solo trip. He was so proud of her.
Sara made it all the way around without incident. She stopped next to Sam and said "I did it. I did it."
"Yes you did. You want to keep riding or play on the swings?" Sam asked.
"I wanna ride but if you want to go on the swings" Sara said.
Sam was a little tired from all the running so he said "You ride. I'll watch you from the jungle gym."
"Oakie dokie" Sara said and then hopped back on and managed a wobbly start that quickly turned into a confident steady ride.
Sam walked over to the jungle gym and climbed to the top. He sat down and then hooked his legs and swung down so he was hanging upside down. He swung back and forth as he watched Sara ride. After a few more solo trips Sam took his eyes off Sara and looked at the ice cream vendor.
Man what he wouldn't give for an ice cream right about now. He was hot and sweaty from doing all that running teaching Sara to ride without training wheels.
Sara's cry of "Don't" had Sam twisting to locate her as he dropped to the ground.
He was running as soon as he feet touched the ground. It was those stupid boys that caused problems at the park. They had teased Sara for riding with training wheels. Right now they were running around her and jumping in front of her trying to make her fall off.
Sam was angry. No one teased his sister and no one hurt her. Sam yelled "Get away from Sara. Leave her alone."
Drew yelled "What ya gonna do about it pip squeak?"
Reggie picked up two handfuls of sand and threw them in front of Sara's path. Sara hit the sand and the tire of the bike slid as she wobbled and started to fall. Sam was too far away and Sara fell to the ground. She landed on her hands and knees and began to cry as they got scrapped up on the sand.
Sam poured on the speed and plowed into Reggie. They went down in a tangle of arms. Reggie was nearly twice the size of Sam but he didn't care. He was scrappy and he let his fists fly as he yelled "You hurt my sister. That was not nice. You're gonna pay."
Drew and Perry came to the aid of their friend and it was soon three twelve year olds against one seven year old.
Sam was pummeling Reggie who was still on the ground. Perry grabbed Sam's arms as Drew hauled off and hit Sam in the eye. Sam started kicking. He kicked Drew in the nuts, mostly on accident.
He twisted away from Perry and was going to go after him when strong arms grabbed him and picked him up off the ground. Sam struggled to get out of the hold a moment until he heard the person speak.
Justin had raced over as soon as he saw what happened. Damn that little kid was fearless. But he was in over his head. Those older boys would tear him apart if he did not intervene. He forcefully picked up Sam to stop him and to protect him from the boys.
He yelled "Drew, Perry, Reggie you all better get on home now or I'll be contacting your parents. I'm pretty sure you will all get in trouble for picking on little kids. Especially the General's kids."
Reggie stood up brushing off sand "You saw. He attacked me. My friends were just defending me."
Sara's cries had Sam turning to her and saying "Put me down. Sara's hurt. I gotta help her."
Justin put Sam down but put himself between Sam and the boys as he said "I saw what you did Reggie. You deliberately made Sara fall off her bike."
"Did not. Not my fault she is a baby and cannot ride through a little bit of sand. She should have kept her training wheels on" Reggie whined.
Justin bellowed "Go home! Now! Or I report what you did to the MPs."
The three boys slunked off. Drew was holding himself and walking funny. Reggie was rubbing his sore face where Sam had punched him several times.
Justin came up to the siblings as Sam was checking out Sara's hands and knees. He heard Sam say "Just little scratches. They will wash right up. Can you stand?"
Sara wiped her tears. She had been more frightened than hurt so she nodded and then stood up. Sam picked up her bike and said "You want to go home?"
Looking at her bike and now afraid to get on it Sara shook her head. She said "I wanna go sit on the swings a bit Sammy."
Sam nodded. Started to push Sara's bike toward the bike rack.
Justin stopped him and asked "Are you both okay?"
Sara said "I'm okay. Just a little scratch."
Wanting to be strong for Sara, Sam said "I'm fine. Thanks for getting rid of them."
Justin reached out and took hold of Sam's chin gently and tipped his face up. "That's gonna be some shiner. Are you sure you are okay?"
His eye hurt a lot but Sam pulled his face out of the ice cream vender's hand and said "Yeah." Then he started pushing Sara's bike to the rack.
Sara followed then the two of them went to the swings as Justin headed back to the ice cream cart.
Justin sat down and watched the two sit on the swings. After a bit he saw Sam get off and push Sara. Her laughter filled the air as she begged to go higher.
Sam pushed Sara for a little bit and then said "We need to be getting home."
Stopping the swing, Sara glanced at the bike. She was afraid to get on it. She was afraid to fall again.
Sam saw the direction that Sara was looking and said "You can do it. How about I run next to you a few times?"
Sara nodded and asked "You won't let go?"
"Not until you tell me" Sam assured her.
They headed to the bike rack. Sam pushed her and held on as he ran around the circle five times. Finally, on the sixth time Sara told him it was okay to let go. She wasn't afraid anymore.
Sam stood watching Sara ride with a big smile again as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. He accidentally touched his eye and winced. He sat down in the grass and wondered how much trouble he was gonna be in for fighting. He couldn't hide the fact with the bruise that was sure to be on his face by now.
He would probably be standing at parade rest in the living room until bedtime. He might not even get dinner. If it was just mom here he would get a small talking too and a reminder that he should have used his words before his fists.
But with the General home today, he was in for a long lecture about keeping control of his emotions and thinking before acting. But Sam couldn't let Reggie get away with hurting Sara. He just couldn't. Standing at parade rest and listening to a lecture would be a small price to pay for defending Sara.
Reggie would think twice about teasing her in the future. Sam smiled as he remember how his fists had landed on Reggie's face. Served him right for causing Sara to fall.
Sam wiped the sweat off again then stood up. It was time to go home and face the music. He would tell the General exactly what happened. He called out "Sara time to go home."
He picked up Sara's training wheels and put them in the backpack along with the tools.
Justin watched the two of them ride out of the park. He smiled thinking that Sam Braddock was a good big brother.
One Hour Later - Park Near General Braddock's Home
Sam could not believe he did not receive a lecture. Mom had fussed over both of them cleaning Sara's scrapes and giving him a cold pack to put on his eye as the General stood listening as he reported exactly what happened.
He was then surprised when the General called the parents of each of the boys and told them what their boys had done. He had not heard his dad use that tone before as he told the parents what Sam did to Reggie and Drew. It was almost like the General was proud of what he did to protect Sara. Man, Drew, Reggie and Perry were sure gonna get in trouble. Especially because the General called their parents.
When Natalie woke up from her nap, Mom suggested they all go to the park so they could watch Sara ride without training wheels.
The ride here was faster than ever and Mom and the General let them ride ahead as they walked with Natalie in the stroller. Sara kept up with him. It was so fun to get to ride fast. The wind in his face cooled him down on the hot summer afternoon.
Sam put his bike in the bike rack and headed for his favorite jungle gym. He climbed up top and watched over Sara who was happily riding around the park until his parents got there. Then he hooked his legs and swung down upside down. He closed his eyes because it felt better that way. He swung back and forth and just relaxed knowing his parents were watching Sara.
He was surprised when the General said "Samuel."
Sam was surprised because the voice came to him from atop the jungle gym rather than next to it. He opened his eyes and looked up. Sam saw the General sitting on the jungle gym.
He swung himself upright and sat nearly at attention on the top "Yes Sir."
William moved his hand from behind his back producing two of Samuel's favorite ice cream treats, which just happened to be his favorite too.
He said "Son you did well today. Not only did you teach your sister to ride without training wheels and help lessen her fear after her fall. You were fearless against a stronger and bigger force as you defended her. You showed them that no one hurts our family and gets away with it."
Then William handed Sam one of the ice creams as he stated "I'm very proud of what you did and how you handled yourself. But if your mother asks I gave you a lecture about using your words first."
Sam was dumbfounded but smiled and reached out for the ice cream "Yes Sir."
William tousled Samuel's hair. He asked "How does the eye feel?"
Shrugging Sam said "It's okay Sir."
Father and son sat atop the jungle gym and enjoyed an ice cream treat as they watched Sara joyfully riding her bike without training wheels.
It was a good afternoon at the park and a fragment of a beautiful life that Sam would tuck away and remember.
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AN: This one hit me and popped out over my lunch break. Hope you enjoyed it.