Kidd's Kids

Clunk!  Little Mac dropped a piece of bicycle into the bucket.  Clunk!  Another.   Chhhhhinnnnkkkk!  The bike chain slid in next.  He wiped his greasy hands on his jeans. Yup. . .this  time he’d get it right.  This time he’d actually re-assemble that bike and it would work!  How many times had he taken it apart and tried to put it back together. . . how many?  He didn’t actually know.  He hadn’t been successful at the re-assembly part yet.  Every now and then, his father, the electrician/mechanic, would see the bike in pieces.  He’d heave a heavy sigh, silently fetch his tool box, and put the bike back together in twenty minutes or less.  As often as Little Mac watched him do it, he never quite caught on.  He was sure his father was horribly disappointed in him and his lack of bicycle re-assembly ability.  Of course, his father never said this to him, but then, his father never said much of anything at all.  That left Little Mac to assume the worst, which meant that if he was ever going to win his father’s approval, he’d have to keep taking that bike apart until he finally got it right.  This time he was determined.  Now, what was this piece called, and where did it go again?

The phone rang.  He was too busy to answer it, but his mother was taking her between-shift nap and it was sure to wake her.  She was working a double today at the restaurant where she waited tables. 

“Amanda!”  he shouted towards the house.  “Amanda!  Answer the phone!”

“I can’t!”  she yelled back.  “My nails are wet!”

“Amanda!”  It rang for the third time.  “Amanda, answer the phone!  My hands are all greasy!”

“I will not ruin my nail polish to pick up a phone!”  she shouted back.

“Forget it!”  they heard their mother shout.  “I’ll get it!”

Oops!  This was not what they wanted.  Working doubles was hard on their mother, and she didn’t like to be bothered when she was home between shifts.

“Matthew Thomas!”  she shouted.  “It’s for you!”

Double oops!  This was a dangerous moment.  He hadn’t answered the phone when it rang, he’d woken up his mother, and the call was for him.  He didn’t know which direction this would take.  Through her open window, he heard Amanda snickering. 

He picked up the cordless phone from the picnic table.  “I got it, Ma!”  he said.

“OK,” she replied, and hung up.  Whew!  She hadn’t said anything.  She would go back to sleep.  YES!

“Hello?” 

“Little Mac!  You gotta come over right now!  Glen and Jake are already on their way.”  Matt said.

“What do ya mean?  I just took my bike apart,” Little Mac replied.  “I gotta put it back together, first.”

“Oh, man!  What did ya go and take it apart for today?  It’ll probably be weeks before your father gets around to fixing it.”

“Hey!  I can do this!  It’ll just take a couple of hours, that’s all,” Little Mac was indignant. He’d show them all.  He’d put that bike