Sonny Boy was now in Kindergarten.  Gus was growing up so fast and learning so many new things like dialing the telephone.  He was very proud of himself because he knew his address as well as his home phone number. And, he had learned Dada’s phone number.  

The mommies insisted that he only use the telephone when one of them was with him.  On one occasion, Gus had dialed a long-distance number and was talking to someone on the other end of the line when Lindsay came into the living room.  She hadn’t heard the phone ring so she asked the little boy who was he talking to.  He responded, “I wanted to talk to Dada.”

Lindsay quickly took the receiver from Gus’ little hand and started talking and discovered that the person lived in California.  She was horrified and apologized to the party and hung up the phone.

Thus came the rule that Gus could only dial the phone when either of his mommies was with him.

Brian decided that he and Justin would take Gus for the weekend.  But before he could call the mommies to get their OK to the plan, his cell phone began to ring.  He was in the car so looked at the caller ID and saw that the call was from Munchervilla.  He pressed the send key and was greeted with a child's whisper "Hello."

"Gus, where is mommy?" Brian asked.

"Mommy’s outside," whispered the small voice.

"May I talk with her?"

The child whispered, "No."

Surprised, and wanting to talk with one of the girls, the Brian asked, “Well, is your momma there?"

"Yes."

"May I talk with her?"

Again the small voice whispered, "No."

Brian was hoping there was somebody like the babysitter around. "Is anybody else there, Gus?"

"Yes," whispered the child, "a policeman."

Wondering what a cop would be doing at Munchervilla, Brian asked, "May I speak with the policeman?"

"No, he's busy," whispered Gus.

"Busy doing what?"

"Talking to Mommy and Momma and the Fireman," came the whispered answer.

Growing concerned and even worried as he heard what sounded like a helicopter through the earpiece on the phone Brian asked, "What is that noise?"

"A hello-copper," answered the whispering voice.

"What is going on there?" asked Brian, trying to stay calm so he wouldn’t upset his son.

The child answered with a whisper, "The search team just landed the hello-copper."

Alarmed, concerned, and even more then just a little frustrated the father asked, "What are they searching for?"

Still whispering, Gus replied along with a muffled giggle:   "ME."

“Gus, just exactly where are you?”

“Dada, I hiding.”

“Gus, where are you hiding?”

“In the closet under the stairs.”

“Gus, I’m on my way there now.  We’ll stay on the phone so you won’t be scared, OK?”

“OK Dada.”

As Brian approached the house he found the situation chaotic and the girls were terribly frightened.  They were dealing with the police and fire departments, not to mention the police helicopter search team had landed in the nearby park.

“Brian, what are you doing here?” asked Lindsay.

“I came to discuss plans for Gus to come with Justin and I for the weekend.”  

“Why didn’t you call us ahead of time, you asshole?” demanded Melanie.

“Well, I tried but a little voice told me that his Mommy and Momma couldn’t come to the telephone.”

“What do you mean?” asked the girls.

“Well, my cell phone rang while I was driving home.  Gus was whispering to me about what was going on.  He said that you were talking to a policeman and fireman.  I even heard the ‘hello-copper’ as it was landing.”

“Where is he hiding?” demanded Mel.

“Mel, wait a minute.  Don’t yell at him.  He’s hiding in the little closet under the stairs.  He thinks he’s playing hide ‘n seek.  Apparently he learned about the game in school from one of his little friends.”

“Do you realize how worried we’ve been because we couldn’t find him? asked Lindsay.

“I’m sure you’ve been very worried, but he probably thinks it’s a game.  Let me go get him?” Brian requested.  He didn’t want either of the mommies to scream and upset him.  He left everyone on the front lawn and went inside the front door.  He crouched down and knocked on the little door under the steps.  

Gus asked, “Who’s dere?”

“It’s Dada, Gus.  Please, can we open the door?”

“Sure Dada.  It’s getting dark in here and nothin’ to open the door with.  My light is going out.”

Brian opened the tiny door and a hot and sweaty Gus was swept up into his dada’s arms.  “Why were you in the closet Gus?”

“Jimmy from school was telling me about this game he was playing with his brother and sister and I wanted to play, but I only have Mommy and Momma, an I thought they would find me.  I couldn’t get out, but I had the phone wiff me.  So I called you Dada.  I knew you’d find me.”

“Your mommies are very upset with you.  You really scared them, not to mention the policemen and firemen and the man who flies the ‘hello-copper’.”

“I sorry Dada.”

“Do you think you can tell Mommy and Momma what happened?”

“Yes, Dada.”

“Ok.  Let’s turn off the phone and go outside and talk to everybody.”

Brian picked Gus up and walked outside to confront the small army of searchers.  Lindsay ran up to Brian and Gus and hugged and kissed her son.  Melanie held back with a scowl on her face.

Brian got the girls’ attention and mouthed “Don’t yell at him?”  Then he told Gus to tell everyone what happened.  

After Gus finished his explanation, as well as a 5-year old could, he began to yawn.  He’d had a difficult and tiring afternoon being trapped in his little hiding place.  

Brian took Gus upstairs.  They walked to the bathroom to wash little boy’s face and hands with a cool cloth and then went into Gus’ room.  Brian put his Sonny-Boy in the bed and Gus was out like a light.  He gently pulled the covers up over the sleeping child.  He watched his son for a few minutes and then pulled the door almost closed and descended the stairs.

By this time, the crowd outside had left.  Lindsay and Melanie were sitting in the living room waiting for Brian’s return.

“Don’t yell at him?’ said Brian quietly as he sat down in a chair, as exhausted as his son was upstairs.”

“He needs to know how upset we were when we couldn’t find him, Brian.”

“No.  He’s been through enough.  He couldn’t open the door from inside, and his little flashlight was dying out.  At least he thought to call me on my cell phone. He was scared as hell. ”  

“How would you know, Brian?” demanded Mel.

“Because I did something like this when I was about his age.  My parents’ screamed and yelled at me like you wouldn’t believe.  I was so scared that I started wetting the bed.  They were really mad at me. I didn’t understand what was going on.  I might have been little at the time, but that’s one thing I do remember about my childhood.  I’d never want Gus to go through what I endured.  That was just the beginning of what the abuse and neglect from Jack and the Warden.”  

Lindsay had silent tears coursing down her face.  Mel just sat there dumbfounded.  Neither of the girls knew anything from Brian’s early childhood.  This revelation just stunned them into silence.

“Justin and I would like to take Gus for the weekend, if it’s OK with you two.”

Mel countered with “You want to reward him for what he’s put us through?”

“No.  I want to show ‘our’ son how much I love him and want to protect him.  I want to be a better parent than my parents were to me.”

“Sure, you can take Gus for the weekend, Brian,” Lindsay replied.

“I think we need to discuss this without Dada being here, Linds.”

“No, Mel.  This is something Brian needs to do.  Has to do.  To prove to himself that he’s a good parent.  Not tyrants like his father and mother were to him.”

Mel finally relented and walked away to blow off some steam rather than take it out on her wife and Brian.  She wasn’t happy with the situation, but she understood where Brian was coming from.  For once.  

“That’s why parents go gray,” Mel said quietly.  Now she understood the old saying her mother always used.  In fact, Lindsay and Brian nodded at the thought as well.

About an hour later, the sound of little footsteps alerted the Mommies and the Dada that Gus was up from his nap.  He carefully made his way down the stairs and peeped at his parents through the railing.  “I up now.”  

“I see you are Sonny Boy.  How would you like to come home with me and spend some time with just us guys?” Dada asked.

“Is Jusin gonna be there?”

“Of course.  Let’s go pack you a bag.  Then we’ll go pick up Justin from the diner and you can tell him about your adventure today.”

“’Kay Dada.” Gus said smiling at his father.  

The Kinney men went up to Gus’ room.  They came back down with his SpongeBob backpack and his teddy bear, ready to spend the weekend with Dada and his Jusin.

Gus was now a happy little boy.  

And Brian was a proud father.  Proud that he could put part of his childhood behind him.  

And proud that he was trying to be a good father.

Brian hoped he wouldn’t go gray for a very, very long time.

And the Mommies made a mental note to check the little closet under the stairs when they couldn’t find Gus. 


July 9, 2004