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bingobangobongoCandyLand
1950; Detroit, MI
"It's your turn, Trud." He passed the die and it clattered immediately against the worn and faded game board. Al Calavicci, sixteen years old, didn't bother counting the spaces his thirteen year old sister moved her coin. It didn't matter; the battered CandyLand game had probably been at the Wayne County Sanatorium for a decade and had long since lost all the important pieces.
Trudy picked a blue spot and clapped her hands, nodding to her brother approvingly. "Blue, Al!"
He grinned. "You just picked it 'cause it's your favorite color." The accusation made his sister giggle and turn away shyly, as if she'd really been caught. When she looked back again, Al pointed, face twisted into the silliest, sternest expression he could mesh. She fell into a whole new bout of giggles and he had to join in.
It was one of those days the eldest Calavicci didn't think either of them would have trouble committing to memory. Lingering somewhere on the cusp of summer, everything was fresh and green and bright and full, bursting with renewed life after a long and dark Detroit winter. The breeze blew through, rippling the soft grass of the courtyard.
Without cards, the rules of the game had changed. The gingerbread men gone were replaced with a dime and a penny, provided each time by Albert and kept each time by Trudy. They rolled a single die, crept their coins around the board, and that was about all there was to it. Sometimes Al would create their own cards or rules, but inevitably, his sister would just choose the color she liked the best, usually blue, and move coins until somebody won. From Al's most recent cast of die, today looked like his day.
The youngest Calavicci crawled onto one hand and both knees as leaned over the board, her tongue poking between her lips. Trudy struggled to chase her penny across board, unseating it from the blue square she'd just placed it on.
"Hey, I'm the dime, you're the penny," Al protested, pointing at the board.
"Nu uh!" She very carefully placed the penny back onto the board, two spots from the finish. Thinking better of herself (or maybe her big brother,) she used her pointer finger to advance one more spot, onto a red square so close to the faded candy castle. Al's favorite color; surely a purposeful move. "You're the penny," she teased, even if she knew better.
Al screwed his young face into a mock glare, pushing his bottom lip forward and drawing his eyebrows down as far as he could manage. "Yeah, well, next time I get to stay the dime because I'm older. You got that?" He reached out to tickle her, but Trudy was wise to the effort and scrambled around to safety, collecting up the die along the way.
He settled again, watching her toss the die while he mindlessly trimmed the grass under his hands. The cast rolled off the board so she rerolled and seemed satisfied with the resulting number.
With a surety she hadn't possessed with the penny, Trudy deftly lifted the dime from the board and placed it triumphantly over the castle waiting at the end of the colorful road.
"Why you little..." Albert make a spectacle of trying to get to his feet, giving Trudy the opportunity for a head start as she ran excitedly from the older brother she knew would make chase.
He waited until she dropped behind a bush and then stood and collected the game, closing the coins inside the board and tucking it under his arm.
Half hide-and-seek, half tag, Al chased his sister around for well over a half hour before the both of them collapsed into a laughing, tickling heap of happy. It was warm and bright and Trudy looked happy and healthy and as whole as he could ever remember her.
If he had the choice, or the money, this would be how it would always be.
Al would take care of it, eventually, though. He just needed some time. He was already saving money for a place of their own; two hundred dollars was hardly enough for a house, but it was one heck of an achievement. And a start, which was all he ever needed.
When at last their laughter fell away, they both stared up at the brilliantly clear blue sky, board nestled between them, and Trudy asked her brother, "Can we play again?"
It broke Al's heart a little. "Sure, Trud, but not today. I've got to go."
For whatever reason, it didn't seem to bother Trudy, who bent awkwardly to snatch up the eleven cents owed her, and then hug her brother while he lay still on the ground. "Bye, Al!"
Her squeeze left the elder Calavicci breathless for reasons that had nothing to do with her strength and everything to do with the fact that she was lucky enough not to miss him as much as he missed her. He managed to sit up quick enough to call after her, "Hey, I love you, too!" But Trudy had already found herself a doll and moved on to a whole different game.
Al watched her a little longer than he had the time to wait, but the carefree image helped to lighten his heart. They'd make it, eventually, he and Trudy would. And then, no more sanatoriums, no more orphanages, and no more missed chances.
1950; Detroit, MI
"It's your turn, Trud." He passed the die and it clattered immediately against the worn and faded game board. Al Calavicci, sixteen years old, didn't bother counting the spaces his thirteen year old sister moved her coin. It didn't matter; the battered CandyLand game had probably been at the Wayne County Sanatorium for a decade and had long since lost all the important pieces.
Trudy picked a blue spot and clapped her hands, nodding to her brother approvingly. "Blue, Al!"
He grinned. "You just picked it 'cause it's your favorite color." The accusation made his sister giggle and turn away shyly, as if she'd really been caught. When she looked back again, Al pointed, face twisted into the silliest, sternest expression he could mesh. She fell into a whole new bout of giggles and he had to join in.
It was one of those days the eldest Calavicci didn't think either of them would have trouble committing to memory. Lingering somewhere on the cusp of summer, everything was fresh and green and bright and full, bursting with renewed life after a long and dark Detroit winter. The breeze blew through, rippling the soft grass of the courtyard.
Without cards, the rules of the game had changed. The gingerbread men gone were replaced with a dime and a penny, provided each time by Albert and kept each time by Trudy. They rolled a single die, crept their coins around the board, and that was about all there was to it. Sometimes Al would create their own cards or rules, but inevitably, his sister would just choose the color she liked the best, usually blue, and move coins until somebody won. From Al's most recent cast of die, today looked like his day.
The youngest Calavicci crawled onto one hand and both knees as leaned over the board, her tongue poking between her lips. Trudy struggled to chase her penny across board, unseating it from the blue square she'd just placed it on.
"Hey, I'm the dime, you're the penny," Al protested, pointing at the board.
"Nu uh!" She very carefully placed the penny back onto the board, two spots from the finish. Thinking better of herself (or maybe her big brother,) she used her pointer finger to advance one more spot, onto a red square so close to the faded candy castle. Al's favorite color; surely a purposeful move. "You're the penny," she teased, even if she knew better.
Al screwed his young face into a mock glare, pushing his bottom lip forward and drawing his eyebrows down as far as he could manage. "Yeah, well, next time I get to stay the dime because I'm older. You got that?" He reached out to tickle her, but Trudy was wise to the effort and scrambled around to safety, collecting up the die along the way.
He settled again, watching her toss the die while he mindlessly trimmed the grass under his hands. The cast rolled off the board so she rerolled and seemed satisfied with the resulting number.
With a surety she hadn't possessed with the penny, Trudy deftly lifted the dime from the board and placed it triumphantly over the castle waiting at the end of the colorful road.
"Why you little..." Albert make a spectacle of trying to get to his feet, giving Trudy the opportunity for a head start as she ran excitedly from the older brother she knew would make chase.
He waited until she dropped behind a bush and then stood and collected the game, closing the coins inside the board and tucking it under his arm.
Half hide-and-seek, half tag, Al chased his sister around for well over a half hour before the both of them collapsed into a laughing, tickling heap of happy. It was warm and bright and Trudy looked happy and healthy and as whole as he could ever remember her.
If he had the choice, or the money, this would be how it would always be.
Al would take care of it, eventually, though. He just needed some time. He was already saving money for a place of their own; two hundred dollars was hardly enough for a house, but it was one heck of an achievement. And a start, which was all he ever needed.
When at last their laughter fell away, they both stared up at the brilliantly clear blue sky, board nestled between them, and Trudy asked her brother, "Can we play again?"
It broke Al's heart a little. "Sure, Trud, but not today. I've got to go."
For whatever reason, it didn't seem to bother Trudy, who bent awkwardly to snatch up the eleven cents owed her, and then hug her brother while he lay still on the ground. "Bye, Al!"
Her squeeze left the elder Calavicci breathless for reasons that had nothing to do with her strength and everything to do with the fact that she was lucky enough not to miss him as much as he missed her. He managed to sit up quick enough to call after her, "Hey, I love you, too!" But Trudy had already found herself a doll and moved on to a whole different game.
Al watched her a little longer than he had the time to wait, but the carefree image helped to lighten his heart. They'd make it, eventually, he and Trudy would. And then, no more sanatoriums, no more orphanages, and no more missed chances.
