I wake up covered in sweat. My bedroom is unbearably hot. But that isn’t why I woke up early. I hear a buzzing in my ear. I always cover my head with the sheet at night to keep the biting mosquitoes at bay. But that doesn’t stop the annoying and relentless buzzing.
Before we go to bed for the night, my family searches out all the mosquitoes in the house and massacre as many as we can find. New Jersey used to be a swamp. The swamp is gone, but the mosquitoes remain. It’s the only thing I detest about summer — the mosquitoes. I make a promise to myself that tonight, I will not leave a single mosquito alive. I make this promise every night, but tonight I will not fail.
The 5& 10 Store Main Street, Maple Shade, NJ
I hear my mother and father talking in the kitchen. I get out of bed and put my ear on the heater vent. “Mom, what do you need from the Acme for dinner tonight?”
Yes, my dad calls my mother, Mom. I didn’t think it was weird when I was young until I visited my friend’s houses and found out my friend’s fathers don’t call their wives, mom. But I guess every family is somewhat different from every other one.
Boy, I could tell some stories about what goes on in their houses. For instance, at my best friend’s house, her father talks to Joanie and me from the bathroom while he is sitting on the toilet. I’m not kidding. If I ever to talk to my father in the bathroom, he would murder me for sure. I never told my mother about that, or she wouldn’t let me go over there anymore. It’s practically my second home. One day Joanie’s father said, “Don’t you have a home of your own Susie?” I just laughed and asked if I could have another donut. Joanie’s dad works in the meat department at the Acme and brings home lots of goodies. He is kind of grouchy like my father, but I’m used to that.
And then there is my friend Darlene; boy, is she lucky. Darlene’s family keep all the snacks in the oven. Her mother only cooks on the stove top. And her dining room table is covered in piles of unopened mail. It always looks the same. So, I’m not sure where they eat their meals. Her mother and father were born in Poland. Anyway, they have every kind of cookie you can imagine: even Oreo Cookies, my absolute favorite. I twist the cookies apart, eat all the delicious icing, and then dip them into ice-cold milk. Once a week, Darlene’s mother gives Darlene money to buy fresh bread at the Maple Shade Bakery downtown. And we eat half of it on the walk home. Her mother never says a word about it. And best of all, Darlene’s Dad gets a big can of Charlie Chips delivered to their house once a month, along with lots of beer. And they are so good (the chips not the beer) you wouldn’t believe it. They melt in your mouth, crisp and salty.
Darlene’s mother is a tailor at the coat factory in Maple Shade. She makes all of Darlene’s clothes. Darlene’s closet is almost as big as my bedroom, and she has a queen size bed with a fluffy comforter on it. We sit on her bed and tell each other our secrets and read comic books.
Summer is my favorite time of the year. I’m free to go wherever I want as long as I come home on time for lunch and dinner. My parents don’t ask what I have been doing. And after I got my own bike, I was able to go much further, including the Strawbridge Lake in Moorestown with my best friend, Joanie. We watch the ducks swimming around the lake and walk across the dam and watch people fishing. In the winter, we go ice skating on Strawbridge Lake and drink hot chocolate that we bring with us in thermoses. Strawbridge Lake is my favorite place on earth. I always look at the big houses that are across the street and wished we lived there. But I know I would miss my friends too much. And I’m happy where I live now in Maple Shade.
During the hot summer months, all the kids in the neighborhood go swimming in my next-door neighbor Jackie’s above ground swimming pool. Just last week, I, Joan, Elaine, Darlene, and a couple of other kids from down the street went swimming. We had such fun. Unfortunately, Jackie’s mother forgot to put chlorine in the pool this year, and we all got impetigo. This is some kind of skin infection on your skin and is very itchy, and you get scabs everywhere. We all had to go to the doctors for antibiotics. My mother said, “Susie, that’s the end of going swimming at their pool.” I cried and whined, but that was the end of swimming in their pool.
On Saturdays, there is a matinee at the Roxy Movie Theater on Main Street. All the kids in town go. It costs a quarter. My mother makes me Lebanon Bologna sandwiches with cheese on white bread to eat while I’m watching the movie. There’s a stage in front of the movie screen. Before the movie, a woman plays the organ that is on the left side of the stage. And sometimes they give away collector dishes to kids whose ticket stubs are picked. So far, I haven’t won, but I know I will. And I ‘ll give the plate to my mother. When the movie is about to start, they pull back the velvet curtains to reveal the movie screen. Then turn off all the lights in the theater, and loud music is played. All the kids start clapping and stamping their feet. It’s exciting.
Last week we saw Village of the Damned. It was the scariest movie I ever saw. It was about these psychic children that were all born at the same time in one small town under mysterious conditions, and they were a threat to their town. They were all blond and had blue eyes and were very smart. When my friends and I were leaving the movie theater, all the kids started pointing at me because I have blond hair and blue eyes like evil children.
Sometimes my friends and I catch the bus in front of the police station, and we go to the Riverside Roller Rink. My friends and I go roller skating for fifty cents for the whole day. It’s great fun. First, we have to rent our roller skates if we don’t have any of our own. Sometimes they don’t fit too well, so I always bring an extra pair of socks. Otherwise, you end up with blisters on your feet. I try not to think about all the people that wore these skates before me. Of course, I spend most of my time getting up after falling and crashing into the wall. I’m usually bruised from head to toe by the end of the day. But I love it. By the time my bruises heal up, it’s time to go again.
But by far, my favorite thing to do in the summer is walking down to the library. It’s attached to the Maple Shade police station. I love to read. I spend hours in there looking at all the books, and I take out as many books as I’m allowed. I even have my own library card. It’s a blue card, and it has a little metal plate on it with the MA236 embossed on it. In two weeks, I go back to the library with all the books that I read and get six more. The librarians all know my name since I go there all the time and say, “well, if it isn’t Miss Carberry again. How are you today?” I give them a big smile, and I’m off to find some more treasures to read. Heaven.