Friday Sept 20, 2019

Bobbie ended up inviting Myra and Kirby to come with them for the weekend. She was shocked that Johnny had never told her about his sister. She knew that his mum died when he was around 15 and he he had trouble dealing with it. When he was 17 his dad was being pretty hard on him and that’s when he finally left home. He lost a year of high school and when his father found where he was staying; he got shipped off to his aunt in Crow Harbour and Bobbie always thought that was the whole story.

Friday morning Johnny showed up to explain things. When Bobbie was in university and dated and eventually married Alex, Johnny was back in the UK making music and mending bridges with his father. It all fell apart in 1990 when his dad married a much younger woman. She had a baby right away. Johnny’s new stepmother was envious Johnny’s relationship with his dad and Johnny’s music career and personal life was falling apart anyway so he returned to Crow harbour to work as a mechanic.

“I never thought much about my half sister because I never even saw her. She was born after I came home. It turns out she was having a pretty hard time. I’m not surprised, my stepmom was a piece of work. Myra got into trouble when she was 16. My stepmom made her have the baby and kicked her out. Charity which, ironically, was my stepmother’s name, raised Kirby as her own and she wouldn’t let Myra see the boy.”

“Dear God, where was you’re father in all this?”

“He died when Myra was 14.”

“So, your stepmom is dead now too?”

“Ding dong, She died last year. Myra inherited a little and finally got custody of Kirby. She spent her inheritance to come here and contacted me two weeks ago.”

“I’m glad they’re coming with us anyway. How are we all going to travel down there? Will you be taking Myra and Kirby?”

“Nobody knows how to get there Bobbie, why don’t we all go in the motel shuttle bus?”

“Will Drey need it over the weekend?”

“I made sure your minivan works and Drey said he was fine with that. I already sort of told Barb we’re taking the mini bus already.”

Bobbie laughed. “Of course you did. That’s a good idea anyway. Let’s bring the bus around and start loading it up.”

Johnny walked around the corner and came back with Myra and Kirby. Myra smiled. “Where’s the beach?”

Kirby looked up from his comic book. “Is there a beach where we’re going?”

Bobbie put a bag in the bus and turned. “There sure is a beach, we can have a campfire and I think there is a sailboat we can dust off too.”

“Nice.”

Barb’s car pulled up beside them and she got out. She was wearing knee length denim shorts and a cute top. “Hi guys are we ready to go? I’ve heard so much about your Grandma’s house Bobbie. I can’t wait to see it.”

Johnny came out with his guitar and Jarrod and Jamie’s car pulled up.

Bobbie hugged Jarrod. “Jamie are you guys coming too?”

“Yes, Mom told me you were going down home and I figured you just forgot to invite us.”

“Oh Jamie, I’m sorry, I thought you would be working this weekend…”

“I’m just kidding Sis. Jarrod’s mom will open the store for limited hours this weekend. I thought Jarrod needed a break. And I brought my fiddle and mandolin.”

“Great, of course you’re welcome to join us. It will be amazing to fill the old place with music, I’ll go get my guitar.”

She turned and saw Townes looking freshly washed and shaved and carrying his bag. “Hi guys. Bobbie, if you load my bag, I can get your guitar. Effie’s up there playing with Fossie.” Bobbie went over, kissed him on the cheek and said, “Thanks sweetie.”

The back parking lot was busy. Mark and Sipho came out with a dolly full of boxes and coolers. Mark smiled. “Here’s all the food and stuff. You look like a demented church group, travelling in that minibus.”

“Johnny was loading Jamie’s instruments and he turned. “No way man we’re an aging rock and roll show.”

Everything was loaded Johnny was driving, Bobbie and Towns were right behind him so Bobbie could give directions and every one else was crammed in the back of the bus.

They pulled out of the motel parking lot and down the road to the highway. Bobbie chatted to Townes about the scenery and indicated to Johnny where to turn. After about two hours Bobbie wanted to stop. “There’s a service station coming up. They have famously clean washrooms and we could stop and stretch our legs and Johnny, you should gas up. This is the last gas station for a while. There is a little thrift store across the parking lot and I might want to drop in there.”

They piled out of the bus and Johnny pulled up to the pumps. Bobbie grabbed her purse and was making her way across the parking lot. Kirby trailed behind her. “So where are you going? There’s a big line up for the bathroom in the petrol station.”

Bobbie smiled. “This is a really good thrift store and they have bathrooms in there, just get the key from the guy at the cash.”

They went in the thrift store. Kirby wrinkled his nose. “This stuff stinks.”

They have to use stinky chemicals to make sure there are no bugs in the clothes. Is there anything you need?

“Um, no, I’ll go get the key.”

“Bobbie started digging in the bins and found 2 pairs of nice board short type swimming trunks. Kirby was done in the bathroom and was walking over to her. “Kirby, here’s a couple swimming trunks that would fit you if you need any.”

“Hey, those are pretty sweet, I didn’t bring any so I could use some.”

“There’s a washing machine where we’re going so, we can clean anything we get. Go have a look and see what you can find.”

Kirby busied himself and found some jeans then he picked up a hoodie just as his mom walked in. “Hi guys, Johnny is anxious to get back on the road. What is this place?”

“Myra, this place is lit. Bobbie found me some swimming trunks and I found these jeans and this hoodie is rad.”

“Okay, okay what is all this going to cost anyway? She went over to Kirby and looked at the hoodie. “You were bugging me for a hoodie like this last week and it was too expensive buddy, I think we have to let it go.”

Kirby was shaking his head. “No, I checked the list of prices on the wall and it’s going to cost 4 dollars.”

Bobbie grabbed Myra’s arm. “Let’s go look for something for us. I want a pair of skinny jeans so I can cut them off and make pedal pushers like Barb has.”

Myra smiled. “Johnny can wait. I like Barb’s peddle pushers too.”

Johnny was leaning on the bus when they came out. “Did you find me any treasures?”

Bobbie laughed. “I found this lined plaid jacket for you and I got a sweater I can turn into hats and mitts that match.”

“Right on, can you make the top of the mitts flip over so I can use my fingers and put leather on the palm? You made me some like that before and I wore them out.”

Bobbie entered the bus and shoved the bag of clothes under the seat. Johnny got back in the driver’s seat and said we’ll be there in less than an hour.

“Do we get a fashion show tonight? Called out Barb from the back of the bus.”

“Maybe just an unboxing. I got a lot of stuff.”

The bus was full of chatter and the last hour of the trip flew by. They debarked and Johnny drove around back and pulled up to the back entrance.

It was a big red Dutch colonial house. It had 4 gables on the second floor and a large porch that ran across the front. The front step was rotted so getting up to the front door was tricky.  Johnny poked his toe through the wood. “I can just nail a board there temporarily so the step isn’t so treacherous”

The front doors had side panels with a bottle-green glass and Bobbie opened one side. The foyer had doors to the left and right and a large curved staircase faced them. “There are six bedrooms and one bathroom upstairs so we’ll have to be organized. Townes and I will be in my grandparent’s old room on the main floor and there is one bathroom there too.”

Bobbie walked gingerly upstairs. “These stairs seem solid come on up and see the rooms. At the top of the stairs was a large landing that had extra light from one of the gables and the door to the family bathroom. It was huge. There was a big claw foot tub. Two large sinks a toilet and a bidet and a big storage closet for linen. To the left were 2 large rooms they each had 2 windows, one on the side and one on the back. The front bedroom had the gable and also had two windows. On the right side of the landing, there were two smaller rooms along a short hall that led to two more large rooms that mirrored the left side.

“This small room has a gable and I used to stay here and sit in the window seat and read. Maybe you can stay there Myra. I packed all linen we’ll need and we can make up the beds later. Across the hall is the room were Jamie used to stay. You can stay there Kirby. The other big rooms are up for grabs but I’d like to reserve the right front for Trixie and Greg.” They all claimed their rooms and Kirby said, “This place is like a hotel.”

“At one time it was an inn. Come on downstairs, I’ll show you where Gramma ran the telephone switch board.”

They trouped back into the kitchen. It was a huge kitchen with a big soapstone sink that a had worn drainboards on either side. In the centre of the kitchen was a large work table with a shelf underneath that had big Tupperware tubs lined up. “Mom packed up all the dishes and stuff to keep it clean. I’ll likely wash it anyway. Of course, she labelled it all so we’ll find everything.”

Johnny brought the last cooler in. “I plugged in the fridge. It was empty and open when we got here. I hope it works. These coolers are pretty cold though. This cooler has sandwiches for lunch that Mark kindly made. Jamie and Jarrod are in the backyard and dug out the patio furniture from the shed so I don’t know about you all but I found my special gluten free stuff and you should all dig in.”

Bobbie was pulling out paper plates and Barb found a big tray and was drying it off after washing it. “We can unpack the sandwiches onto that tray that Barb found and this cooler has the cold beer and pop. We shouldn’t need cutlery yet so let’s take it all out and eat in the back yard.

After their lunch they all agreed to do a deep clean of the house. They all pitched in and scrubbed, vacuumed, and dusted and made all the beds. They had charcoal barbecued hot dogs and burgers for dinner and found that the travelling, the fresh air and all the cleaning wore them out so they all went to bed early.