The lady shook her head and then hurried off. It wasn’t fair. Those other kids were jumping on the beds and didn’t get in trouble. I just had my feet up because I was dizzy.
I went to a post that had short pencils and paper to write down furniture names. There was a comment box too. Did you ever see a sly fox, put a suggestion in a suggestion box? I folded the paper and dropped it in. Beside the comment box was a fire alarm. Last week the fire alarm at school had gone off, but it wasn’t part of a fire drill. One of the students pulled the alarm on purpose. Afterwards, in our class, Mrs. Stone asked us individually if we did it. When it came to my turn, she didn’t ask me, and said, “You’re too innocent to do something like that.”
I put the small IKEA pencil in my pocket and went to find Aiden.
“This one is pretty good. GULLHOLMEN.” He sat in a rocking chair made from weaved straw that was shaped like an upside down cowboy hat. “You okay? Did I spin you too long?”
My eyebrows must have still been squished together because I was mad at that lady.
“I’m fine.” I tried to untie the balloon string from my wrist. Dad didn’t tie a slipknot, so I couldn’t get it. “I’m going to ask Dad to untie this.”
“Okay.”
I walked back to my dad and the cartoon bear, but stopped behind the cabinet when I heard them talking. They didn’t see me.
“Did you hear what the union’s been saying?” Dad said.
“You know how they are. All we can do is hope for an agreement. And no lay-offs.”
“Yeah. We’ll be in a tough spot if there is.”
“I think everyone will be.”
I’d heard my parents speak about Dad’s job before, even though they tried not to talk about it in front of us. When I’d asked them what lay-offs were, they were honest. It frightened me at first. I had bad dreams of drowning in a swimming pool of twenty dollar bills and would wake up shouting.
Mom came into my room one night after she’d heard me. She kissed me on the forehead and told me, “Only worry about things you can control.”
“And the rest?” I asked.
“The rest, you have to let go. Just let them float up to God to take care of.”
I wondered if the worries floating up ever collided with the barrels of patience being sent down to Mom.
“Is there any other work you could do?” Dad’s friend asked. “What did you do back in India?”
I stayed curled behind the cabinet and pulled the balloon into my chest.
“Back home? I almost became a priest, if you can believe it.”
“You’re kidding?”
“Nope, came close. I’d met one too many rotten priests growing up. I wanted to become a good one. But in the end, that wasn’t a good enough reason. I just couldn’t do it. After that, I started working in tool and dye. Spent three years as an apprentice, only to become allergic to the paint.”
“You weren’t allergic before?”
“Nope. Just happened.”
“Unlucky.”
“Yeah, I could have been making good money working in tool and dye in the Gulf. A friend of mine went to Abu Dhabi and did very well. He lives like a sultan now…and I’m here, struggling to pay the bills. Just think, I might still be a bachelor if I went. I wouldn’t have the wife or the kids. Carefree. You remember those days?”
“A long time ago, my friend. Have you ever thought of going back to school? Or learning another trade?”
“Oh, I’m too old for that. I wouldn’t have the time anyway. The wife is trying.”
My eyes and mouth were wide open, but I couldn’t listen any more. I got up and walked away.
I reached the same red leather couch and lay down. I didn’t care if that lady came back. I would tell her to get lost.
Dad spoke of his friend in Abu-Dhabi often. Aiden and I had agreed Abu-Dhabi sounded made up, like Neverland or Shangri-La. Dad never told us he’d gotten allergic to paint though. Or that he would have gone to Abu-Dhabi if not for that. I couldn’t believe that he would rather be there, rich and alone, than here with us. I could feel my eyebrows squish together and I knew I was mad again.
I tried again to untie knot from the balloon that Dad had tied. It still wouldn’t come out no matter how hard I pulled. I hit the balloon and it bounced back. I kept thinking, Dad didn’t want us. I wanted the day to be over. It was then I saw the fire alarm.
I walked over to the post and I looked around. Nobody was watching. I reached up and pulled the plastic handle down. The alarm immediately rang throughout the store.
I stood there for a few seconds, not believing what I’d just done. Frightened, I ran and hid behind the red sofa.
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest when I peeked out above the couch. At first the customers were just looking around, annoyed that their shopping might be interrupted. But the fear of an actual fire and not knowing the way out spread. Soon there were people rushing for the exits, or trying to figure out where the exits were. It was chaos all around me.
I crouched down, holding the balloon between my knees, covering my ears and closing my eyes.
When I opened my eyes and peeked back out there wasn’t anyone else around. And then I heard my father over the sound of the alarm.
“Ally!” There was fear in his voice. “Ally!”
“Ally.” Aiden’s voice followed.
I spotted them, and the same lady who’d told me not to put my shoes on the couch. She shouted out to my dad, “You have to exit the building, sir.”
“I’m not going anywhere until I find my daughter.”
“Ally!” he shouted again. There was panic in his eyes as he frantically looked for me.
As I watched my dad, it was as if something opened up inside me. A place inside I didn’t know was closed, suddenly had feelings come flooding back in. Seeing how desperately Dad searched then, I knew for sure he loved me.
I finally shouted out, “Dad!”
He looked in my direction, and came rushing over. He picked me up and held me tighter than he ever had before; I couldn’t remember a time I’d felt safer in someone’s arms.
“You scared me to death. Are you okay Ally?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, tears coming down.
“It’s okay, I’m just glad I’ve found you.” He hugged me again, “Now let’s get out of here.”
Outside, Dad finally put me down when we reached our car.
I tried again to untie the string. Dad saw me struggling this time and helped me work the knot out. He handed me the balloon back once untied. I held it for a second, and let it go.
“What’d you do that for?”
“I don’t want it anymore.” I didn’t look up. I pretended the balloon rose up, avoided the falling barrels of patience and floated even higher than the first.
“Can we go visit Berne in the hospital after this?” I asked, already wanting to try to make up for pulling the alarm.
“I thought you wanted to go bowling?”
“I did, but we should see Berne.”
“But I want to go bowling,” said Aiden.
“Please Aiden. We can go bowling next week. It’s a better way to spend our time.”
I could tell by the lines on my brother’s forehead that he was confused, but he said, “Okay, fine.”
“You kids are the boss,” Dad said, with a smile. He unlocked the car door and said, “That certainly was a grand opening.”
