Chapter 5
Chapter Description: Jimmy gets out of the house.
The
next night, as Steve was putting the boys to bed, he handed Benny to
Jimmy. Jimmy, at first, was going to
refuse, but then thought, «This feels so childish, but Benny is really soft
and warm and, honestly, it was really comforting to hold him last night. It’s so nice of Steve to give me his
childhood teddy bear, I really don’t want to be rude and say no. » So, he took the bear and curled up with
it. From then on, every night, he was
given Benny as he was tucked into bed.
Jimmy
always woke up wet and had to be changed out of his GoodNite. The rest of his day went on much like before,
only the twins included him in their games less and less often. When they did include him, they almost always
included Bobby as well. This meant Jimmy
spent a lot of his time playing games or watching TV with Bobby.
Then,
just a couple of days before Christmas, Janet told Paul and Steve, “Lisa, Lois
and I need to do some shopping and gift wrapping. Why don’t you two take the boys into town and
go see the new Pixar release? After that
you can go bowling. Bobby won’t sit still
for the movie and we’ve already wrapped all his gifts, so he can stay here with
Roger.” The guys said, “Okay. Sounds like a fun-outing for the boys.”
Steve
had a thought and asked Lisa, “Hey, where are Jimmy’s pants? He’ll need them if we’re going into town.” Lisa replied, “Just a second, I’ll get them.” Steve and Paul went into the playroom where
the boys were and Paul said, “Tommy, Timmy, we’re going to the movies and then
bowling. Bobby. Grandpa wants you to
stay with him. Won’t that be fun? Okay, boys, Let’s go get dressed.” Steve walked over to where Jimmy was playing
Candyland with Bobby and said, “Come on, Jimmy let’s get your pants on. You and Bobby can finish your game later.”
Steve
held out Jimmy’s pants for him to step into and then pulled them up to his
waist and fastened the snap and zipped them up.
Jimmy’s first though was, «These pants itch. It must be because I haven’t worn pants in a
couple of weeks. I’ll get used to it soon.
»
When
Paul finished getting the twins dressed, Jimmy was downstairs watching TV with
Roger and Bobby, while Steve was moving the car seat from his truck to Paul’s
SUV as Bobby’s wasn’t quite big enough.
Once he was done, Paul brought all 3 boys outside and buckled Tommy and
Timmy into their booster seats while Steve strapped Jimmy into his car seat.
When
they got to the theater, Steve came around and lifted Jimmy out of the car seat
and began to carry him to the box office.
Jimmy whined, “I can walk.” Steve
replied, “Your shoes and socks will get wet in this slush. You’ll catch cold
and I’ll catch hell from Lisa. It’s
better that I carry you.”
While
they were walking, Jimmy saw giant after giant on the street. Even the preteens were over 6 and a half feet
tall. He couldn’t believe there were
this many giants and nobody knew. All
his reading of Sci-Fi had him wondering if he’d slipped into an alternate dimension
or something.
When
they got to the box office, as Steve was buying their tickets, Jimmy realized,
«The itch isn’t going away, it’s getting worse. What am I going to do? »
They
went inside and sat down, Jimmy on one side of Steve, and on the other side
Steve set down a backpack. About halfway
through the Pixar short before the movie, Jimmy was squirming so much that
Steve leaned over and whispered, “Are you okay?
Do you need me to take you to the potty?” “No.
These pants are itching like crazy.
I can’t sit still.”, Jimmy replied.
Before he realized what was happening, Steve had pulled his shoes and his
pants off and put them in the backpack.
Jimmy’s first thought was, «I can’t sit here in public in my Green Lantern
Underoos. What will people say? I have to ask for my pants back. Oh god, this feels so much better though, I
don’t think I can stand to put them back on. » He whispered to Steve, “I need my pants. I can’t sit here in public in just my undies.” Steve whispered back, “No. I’m not going to have you squirming all
afternoon. It’s fine. No one will care about a little boy running
around in his undies. Just relax and
enjoy the movie.” Jimmy said, “It’s too
embarrassing, I need my pants.” Again,
Steve said, “I said no.” Jimmy, both
dismayed and relieved, thought «I’m really embarrassed, but what can I
do? Steve said no. But I’m relieved I don’t have to put them back
on and I can blame him if anyone says anything. »
After
a few minutes with no one saying anything about his attire, Jimmy began to
relax and watch the movie. When it was
over, Jimmy realized, «That was awesome.
I thought I was too old for it, but I really loved it. »
As
they got ready to leave, Steve said, “Let’s get something to cover you up for
the walk to the bowling alley, it’s cold out there.” He rummaged in the backpack and pulled out a
blanket with baby blue and pink letter blocks all over it. He said, “This’ll work.” He wrapped Jimmy up in it and picked him up. In a minute, Paul and the twins were ready to
go. The twins each grabbed one of Paul’s
hands and they all walked outside and down a couple of blocks to the bowling
alley, with Steve carrying Jimmy the whole way.
Once
inside the bowling alley, Steve went to the desk and said, “One Large Men’s 13,
please.” Indicating Jimmy, he asked, “Is
it a problem if he just plays in his socks?”
The guy behind the counter said, “I’m not supposed to let him, but go
ahead. I’m not sure we have anything to
fit him anyway.”
They
headed to their assigned lane and Paul began programming the scoring
machine. He programmed bumpers for the
twins and went ahead and programmed them for Jimmy. While Paul was doing that, Steve got the
twins each 22-pound balls and got Jimmy a 20.
While they were getting ready to play, James thought, «I’m so embarrassed. I feel like everyone is staring at me. I keep expecting someone to say something or
start laughing at the grown man running around in his undies. »
Tommy
went first. He walked up to the line
with the ball in both hands, bent over and swung the ball between his legs
before rolling it down the lane. He
knocked over 6 pins. On his next ball,
he picked up the spare. Then Timmy went
and did the same throw and knocked 9 pins down.
Next was Paul and then it was Jimmy’s turn. Jimmy realized, «If I want to look like a
kid, I better bowl like the twins. » His ball bounced off the bumper and only knocked
over 3 pins. The next ball went through
the same space and so he didn’t get any additional pins. At the end of the first game, Jimmy had only scored
59. Tommy got 75 and Timmy got an 83.
The
second game Tommy got an 81 ,Timmy a 74 and Jimmy only scored 56.
Before
the third game, Steve asked Jimmy, “Do you need to go potty?” Jimmy replied, “Maybe.” Steve said, “Let’s go try.” Steve took him to the men’s room, but the
large stall, where he could stay in the stall with Jimmy, was occupied. So, he took Jimmy to one of the regular
stalls, pulled down his undies and set him on the toilet, but left the door
open so he could see Jimmy and help if necessary. Jimmy thought «This is so humiliating I’m
going potty in front of complete strangers. » He went peepee and Steve helped him pull up
his undies and then wash his hands.
On
the way back, Jimmy, sick of coming in last, decided «I don’t think anyone
will think it’s weird for a kid to ask an adult to teach him to bowl the way
the adults do. » He asked, “Steve,
can you show me how to bowl like you do?”
Steve replied, “I’ll try, if you want. We’ll need to get a ball made for
smaller hands.” They went looking for a
new ball. The heaviest they found that
would fit Jimmy’s hand, was 14 pounds. When
Jimmy’s turn came, Steve walked behind him and held his arm to show him how to
swing. He got 6 pins on that throw. After about 4 frames, Steve let him do it
himself. In the 9th frame he
actually picked up the spare. He was so
proud of himself, even though he normally bowled 140, the longer lanes and
heavier pins kept throwing him off. He
ended up with a score of 86. He still didn’t
beat the twins, but he was only 2 pins behind Tommy and only 5 behind Timmy.
The
guys decided three games were enough and it was time to take the boys
home. It would soon be time to get them
ready for bed. As Steve carried Jimmy on
their way out of the bowling alley, an older lady stopped Steve and asked, “Who
is this cutie?” Steve answered, “This is
Jimmy.” She then asked, “And how old are
you, Jimmy?” Jimmy thought, «It would
be way too embarrassing to tell her my real age. The twins aren’t being carried; I better say
I’m younger than them. » Jimmy said,
“I’m this many.”, holding up 5 fingers.
Steve corrected him, “More like four and a half, but he likes to sound
older than he really is.” Jimmy then thought,
«Great, now not only am I passively allowing people to assume I’m a little
kid, I’ve said it out loud, in public. This whole trip has been so humiliating.
I’ll die if anyone I know finds out about this. »
When
they got home, Lisa noticed immediately that Jimmy wasn’t wearing pants. She asked Steve, “Where are his pants?” Steve replied, “They were itching him to
distraction, so I took them off to let him enjoy the afternoon.” “Well, give them to me and I’ll put them back
in the laundry”, she said.
Jimmy
decided, «I’m going to sit in one of the chairs like a big boy instead of on
the floor to watch TV until bath time. »
He went to one of the chairs in the living room and with more than a little
difficulty was able to climb into it. He
thought, «I don’t remember it being this difficult to get in this chair on
the first night. »
Later,
while they were getting ready for their bath, Jimmy was standing next to Timmy
and mused, «He seems taller than I remember.
Could he really grow that much in just a few weeks? No, I’m just imagining things. Though I swear
Steve looks taller too. »
