with spelling words and helped him complete a two-digit math sheet with and without carrying numbers. Next, I watched Hunter form letters.
“Hunter? Do you know I had the exact same practice paper when I went to school?”
“You did?” He said this in such amazement that I realized he thought I was ancient.
“Yup,” I said and crossed my eyes at him.
“You shouldn’t do that. They might get stuck,” he said.
“Baloney,” I said. “Who told you that?”
“Momma,” he said.
“Well, then, it’s true. Now what else do you have?”
“An Under the Sea math sheet,” Hunter said.
“And I have a counting money sheet,” Tyler said. “And a sheet on homophones.”
“Well, let’s get on it so we might have an hour for the playground before supper!”
“Yay!” they both said and focused on the job at hand.
I marveled at the fact that although Tyler sometimes seemed to have all the earmarks of an adult already in place, he didn’t yet know how to tell time or the difference in coin values and how they related to basic math skills and social literacy. And it was the same with Hunter. He was still learning his ABC’s and how to write his name when otherwise he seemed like he knew everything in the world. I thought then about who was going to help them with this work. Who was going to praise their small incremental leaps and big accomplishments? Would it be Archie? Well, to be honest, he might help with special projects like building a papier-mâché volcano, but it was doubtful he’d be available on a day-to-day basis to help his boys with these small tasks. Would Sharon? The answer to that would be a strong hell, no in neon lights.
“I love doing homework with y’all,” I said.
“We love doing homework with you, too,” Tyler said.
“Yeah, you make it fun,” Hunter said.
“Well, listen, when your daddy and Sharon get back, I’ll still help you with homework any old time. How’s that?”
“Boy, that would be great. I was worried about that,” Tyler said.
“You shouldn’t worry about anything. It’s not a big deal at all,” I said. “Okay, let’s pack everything up so it’s ready for the morning when we make the mad dash! In fact, why don’t we go to school on the golf cart tomorrow?”
Big smiles broke out on their faces, as they repacked their backpacks and zipped them closed.
“Can we?” Hunter said.
“Our mom used to take us on the golf cart all the time,” Tyler said. “I don’t know if it even still works.”
“We should find out. I suspect it’s probably pretty dirty from just sitting under the house for so long. Let’s go find out.”
I took a roll of paper towels, a garbage bag, and a bottle of spray cleaner, and the boys and I went outside and under the house to investigate. We lifted the cover off and stood back. The cart was surely in need of some attention, because the seats were covered in mildew stains and the floor was all sandy.
“Ew! Gross,” Tyler said.
“It is?” Hunter said. “It looks fine to me.”
“Trust me,” I said. “It needs some love.”
I rolled a half dozen paper towels out for each boy and then for myself. Then I sprayed the seats and seat backs with the cleaner.
“Gentlemen? Let’s show this thing who’s boss!”
They descended on the golf cart like vultures on roadkill, and it was as clean as a whistle in no time at all.
“Now we need the broom and to get this baby on the charger!” I said.
“I’ll get the broom!” Hunter said and took off like a shot.
Tyler plugged the charger into a wall socket and the other end into the cart. We checked the charger, which we should’ve done first, and, happily, it was working.
“We’re going to have new wheels!” I said.
“Can I drive it?” Tyler said.
“Are you sixteen years of age and in possession of a driver’s permit or a valid license?”
“Guess not, huh?”
“Guess not,” I said.
Hunter returned with the broom and I swept all the sand from the floor of the golf cart in the front and in the back, while Tyler and Hunter wiped down everything else and disposed of the used paper towels. We stood back to admire the fine work we had done.
“Good job, boys! There’s a playground in your immediate future!”
Just as we had the day before and as we would for every day it wasn’t raining, we walked to the playground, the boys sprinting the last half block or so, and I watched them while