Gonkers Visit the Saints

The Gonkers Visit the Saints

  By Mary Pearson

  copyright 2013 Mary Pearson

  Of course Molly was the one who found out. She prided herself on her sneakiness. Father Andrew told her church school class that they should figure out their God given talents. Well, being sneaky was her talent. She was the best at becoming invisible to her parents when she needed to be. And this could be a life saver.

  Some people might say it was stealing when she took the graham crackers, for example. The fact was that the casserole thing Auntie Gen made for dinner last week, the one Gen said was made with pork and stewed broccoli, but it actually smelled and tasted (yes, she dutifully tasted it) like some unidentifiable fish, needed to be replaced. None of the Gonkers had been able to eat it. So she used her sneakiness gift to save the lives of her siblings. None of them starved.

  So when she heard her parents discussing the fact that George had died she ran to tell her brothers and sisters.

  “I'm gonna miss the way he said, “O-oh! when he was surprised.” Lily tried to imitate it, but couldn't come close.

  Logan frowned. “He was like another kid, spending all his money on toys.”

  “Foy us,” Molly said through her sniffles.

  “For him, too.” This was Finne. “He bought them so he could play with them first.”

  “No more Christmas dolls.” Maggie's face was tragic.

  George wasn't actually their uncle, but he had befriended their mother and her sisters and had continued to give gifts to their children. Their mother was actually a bit annoyed by the clutter and probably wouldn't miss the toys. But it would change their lives in another way. Their mom had been taking the kids one at a time to visit George in the nursing home where he had reluctantly been placed after he had collapsed on a trip to the grocery store. Now they would no longer have this outing.

  “I'm gonna miss George.” Logan had known him the longest. “But he gets to go to Heaven. I guess that's better than playing with kids here.” His voice didn't sound so sure, though.

  “And I'm gonna miss Millie,” Molly said. Millie was one of the other old folks that stayed at the place where George was. She would chase the kids down in her wheelchair like they were the president or somebody. Millie loved kids.

  “I'm gonna miss a lot of them.” Lucien's face was glum. “And I'm gonna miss the outing.”

  “But we still have the Bible,” Logan reminded his brother. By now the Gonkers had taken turns going to dozens of different Bible events. Their ark box was more than half full of mementos.

  So when the Gonker children were summoned by their parents to receive the sad news they all got ready to act fake surprised. Such acting was unnecessary, as it turned out. That was when their parents dropped the bomb: the Gonkers were moving to the country.

  Minimize

  Apparently George had left their mother a piece of land no one knew he owned. There was a flowing creek and several fruit trees (which explained the bushels of fresh fruit he always gave them in the fall). It was his secret place. He wanted Auntie Gen and their mother to have it. (The other two sisters had moved away.) There was no building there but there were water and electric hookups. Their mother announced they were going to create a yurt community.

  “What's a yurt?” Finne was the only one who was able to find his voice.

  “It's kind of like a round tent. Only solid.” Their mother showed them pictures on the internet. A yurt contained one big room where everyone lived and slept.

  “What about bathing and,” Lily looked at Molly with discomfort, “other things.”

  “We'll build a separate bathroom yurt.”

  “Eating…?” This was Lucien.

  “Dining room yurt.” The smile on their mother's face challenged them to object.

  “But we can play outside…?” This had just occurred to Logan.

  Their mother smiled again. “As long as you stay on the acre.”

  Molly looked confused. “What's an acre?”

  “The piece of land George gave us.”

  Then it occurred to Lily. “How about church?”

  “We'll come in once a week for Sunday Mass. We can see all of our family and friends then.”

  “That's all!” Lucien couldn't help blurting this out.

  Their mother shrugged. “Gas is expensive. You'll get used to being in the country. There is so much opportunity for us there. The Bootzers are coming, too.” She looked from one child to the next before adding, “We'll be moving soon. Right now we all need to minimize.”

  “What is minimize?” (Mags)

  “Pick out just a few things to bring with you. The rest will be given away.” Her eyes were kind, but her voice had that finality they all recognized. On this, she would not be moved.

  Maggie sniffed. “My dolls?” she asked.

  “Just one.” Their mother said definitively. “Just think about how happy your toys will make another child.”

  “My toys make me happy,” grumbled Lucien.