I was the best hide-and-seek player in my entire family, no one could ever find me. And that’s because none of them knew of my secret hiding place. My older brothers and sister would look and look, but never find me until they hollered “Ollie Ollie Oxen Free,” and I would magically appear. None of them could see the crack in the wall in the basement bathroom behind the wooden armoire. They were all too tall, but I was seven and the perfect height to see the boxed hole in in the wall.
The basement of our new house was known as the kids room, it was my siblings and my place to jump around, play, and have fun. We could do whatever we wanted down there, the walls were already littered with holes from our rough housing, but that didn’t stop us from creating more holes with hockey games and baseball. The taupe carpet was stained a dark color from our muddy feet and soda drinks, even after countless scrubbings the stains seemed to hold their ground. My father recently insulated the walls, because the basement seemed to retain the cold better than a freezer could.
The first time I discovered the hole was an accident, I had been using the foot stool to look in the mirror above the amoire. I must have stepped on the stool at an awkward angle because it slid out from under me, sending me into the wall, and the stool into the wall. When I gained my bearings again, I saw there was a perfect square shaped hole in the wall, and the wall itself that was removed lay unharmed on the floor below it. I stuck my head inside the hole, it seemed to have been made for me, the perfect size for just me to fit in. The perfect hide and seek hiding place. The walls were a sleek silver material, with black charcoal coating them. It must have been used as a coal bin once upon a time. I put the dry wall back in place and ran up the stairs to where my family was.
My older sister was sitting on the yellowed couch in the living room, her fingers fiddling with her green skirt. My brothers sat on the floor, their bellies against the taupe carpet, they wore matching khaki pants and brown belts. The old black and white television was turned on to the cartoon channel. Mickey Mouse danced across the screen, on a boat, tapping his foot, and whistling a catchy tune.
“Hey Syd. Want to watch the television with us?” my sister, Ruth, asked. I shook my head,
“I want to play a game.” I said shuffling my muddy tennis shoes across the carpet towards my brothers. John looked up at me first, he knew what was coming, but Ben’s eyes remained captivated by the television. I leapt into the air, aiming myself towards their backs. My stomach hit first, I made a humph sound as I landed on the destination.
“Sydney!” they both moaned, and rolled over, flipping me onto the ground near their heads.
“Let’s play hide and go seek, please!” I pleaded.
“We played two hours ago.”
“Please!”
“No.”
“Please.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“Fine!” Ruth groaned, “Get up, guys. If we play now, we wont have to play later, because the baby will be in bed.”
“I’m not a baby!” I shouted. She always called me that.
“You got scared when we played hide and go seek last time, why do you want to play again? You are just gonna start crying and one of us is going to have to come find you.”
“I won’t get scared this time.” I whispered.
“You will if the ghosts come out to get you.” She poked her finger at me.
“There is no such thing as ghosts. Mom said so.”
“Then who are the people hiding in your bedroom at night?” She smiled.
“Shut up, Ruth.” John sighed. He turned his back to the rest of us, and put his elbow over his eyes.
“One… Two… Three…” He counted, Ruth moaned in protest as we all took off in separate directions trying to find the best hiding spot. I, of course, sprinted down to the basement to my new found hiding place. It was somewhat cramped, but it fit like a glove to a hand. I smiled as I sat back and waited to never be found.
“You are cheating!” Ruth accused me.
“I am not! How can you cheat at hide and seek?” I replied back to her.
“I don’t know. But, you are cheating! You have won every game we have played so far!”
“You can’t cheat at hide and seek, Ruth.” John defended me once again.
“Then how does she keep winning?” she said, putting her hands on her hips.
“Because she is the tiniest of us all, she can squeeze into weird positions.” John crossed his arms. The two glared at each other, both holding their stances. Even though John had at least half a foot on Ruth, she knew how to hold her own in a house with older brothers.
“Why don’t we play a different game?” Ben offered. But, both Ruth and John ignored the option and continued their staring contest.
“We could play monopoly?” He attempted to make the offer more appealing, but in my mind a twelve hour game of monopoly did not sound appealing at all. However, I knew now was not the time to interject my own feelings. A pair of feet, wearing shiny leather shoes descended the stairs, they belonged to my father.
“Ready for…” His sentence ran off as his eyes ran over the situation in the living room. Ruth and John caught in a death glare, while Ben and I were standing on either side of them, trying to diffuse the situation. My father hiked up his pants, and cleared his throat, but the scene didn’t move.
“Is everyone ready for the babysitter?” He tried his question again. Ruth broke first, “Dad, I told you we didn’t need a babysitter this time! I’m old enough to take care of everyone, and John will be here to make sure I do everything right. You promised! Dad! It‘s 1971, we don‘t live in the 1800‘s!” She whined.
“Honey, I told you I just wasn’t comfortable with you kids being home alone, yet. Your mother and I agreed on it already, so that is the last word on that subject. Do you understand?” He said using his stern voice. Ruth bowed her head. Dad turned and walked into the kitchen to greet Mom. Who looked gorgeous, wearing a red dress, with black heels, her hair styled in an up do. It was my parents date night, which happened once week, and so far we hadn’t had much luck with babysitters. We, somehow, always seemed to drive them away.
The four of us turned, the prior fight forgotten, and sat down on the couches to discuss what the plan for the night was.
“So, what’s the poison choice for the night?” Ben directed his question to John, the leader of the pack.
“It’s all planned out. She will send Sydney to bed about an hour after she gets here. Then another hour after that she will send the rest of us. Half an hour after Sydney is in bed we will…” John’s voice trailed off, the television was on and capturing my attention. American Band Stand was on, I didn’t know the band, but it had a very catchy tune. All the dancers were doing the jitter bug, in their skirts, and high heeled boots. I wondered how old I would have to be before my parents would let me have high heeled boots.
“Sydney! Are you listening? You are a big part in this one.” John shoved my shoulder to get my attention. I shook my head that, no I had not been paying attention. He rolled his eyes, and continued to tell me what my part in the babysitter prank was going to be. Soon, the babysitter arrived.
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