Notebooks and Boxes

Del, Roe, and Mac sat outside the convenience store holding a shoe box, while Cheese went back and forth nuzzling them for pats on the head, and running into the weeds chasing crickets. Del held a slightly crumpled and dented flier they had found taped to a light pole: “Rummage Sale, Saturday, 2pm, Community Center”. Roe had a small notebook, spiralbound at the top, that he had taken to carrying in his pocket with a pencil he won at the library for reading all the books in his favorite science fiction series. He got the notebook there too, and Mac had a matching one, because Roe had asked the librarian if reading your friends comics counted in the reading program where you could win prizes for reading a certain number of hours, or books. He had asked Mac first if Mac thought it counted, and overhearing, Del said they thought it kind of wouldn’t be fair, because then you could just make every book you ever wanted and read it, but Roe said, that’s just what’s at the library anyway, which made sence to Mac, so he said he thought they probably counted comics your friends made, and they all decided to ask. When the librarian said they did, in fact, count comics your friend made as part of the reading contest, and they totaled up all the things they had read, they each got their prizes for comic book reading: Roe got his notebook and pencil, Mac got a notebook and a small pack of gel pens, and Del got a pack of temporary tattoos that had UFOs on them and some reflective slap bracelets to wear playing outside in the evening. They currently were sporting a UFO on each arm.

Roe looked up from his notebook, “Ok, so here’s our list so far of what we’re going to try to find at the Rummage sale. Del wants to find drums, and guitar strings and a guitar strap, and roller blades, or roller skates.” Mac looked at Del. “Either roller blades or roller skates?” Del nodded. “Yeah, both seem like fun.” Mac wrote it down in his notebook with a pen he had borrowed from off the counter at home.” “Ok” Mac said, “I also wrote down that Roe wants to find a cool jacket or vest, and some paints, and some tools, like a hammer and maybe some screwdrivers and a saw.” Roe held up a separate piece of paper, “My older brother wrote me a note in case anyone asks” the note read “This is a note to say Roe can get a hammer, or saw or whatever if he has enough money, he has workshop space to share and wants to have some tools to use there. – J, PS Roe, if they have a 5/16th wrench or a plane get it if you can I’ll pay you back”. “What’s a plane?” Del asked looking over his shoulder?” Roe shrugged, “Its like a tool thing, it’s for making a board flat.” Del shrugged at that, and looked at their list, “I have those ones written down, except I didn’t write down the wrench or the plane. I don’t know what a plane looks like.” Roe looked unsure. “I think I know what was is, but I would ask if we see what I think it is, in case I’m wrong. Thanks for writing it down.” Del nodded. “I also have written down that Mac wants a little skateboard, not a long board, whatever the little kind of one is called, or a razor scooter, and also some CDs, and some paint brushes, and a watercolor set if they have one. And Cheese wants a frisbee or a ball maybe, something to play with.”

They put their notes in their various pockets, and opened their shoebox. Inside was a note they had written together last night when they met up at Mac’s house and combined all their recycling money, babysitting money, birthday funds, and other spare change and dollar bills they had found around and saved up. Mac’s grandma had an after dinner coffee and crocheted at the other end of the table. “There’s going to be a rummage sale!” Mac told her. “That sounds very nice, maybe some good deals down there at the Community Center. I saw that flier when I was down there last week at an Open Mic night to listen to your Aunt’s comedy routine. They already had some things getting set aside in a room, it looks like it’s going to be a lot of different kinds of things to look through when you go shopping.” Roe smiled big. “I didn’t know there was Open Mic! Did a lot of people do funny ones?” Ara, Mac’s grandma nodded, sipping coffee and looking at her crochet intently. “Oh yeah, it seemed like this last time, it was mostly comedians, they were pretty funny. I laughed a lot. Sometimes, lots of poetry, sometimes, music, sometimes a mix. And they have good coffee at the community center, so sometimes I head down to get coffee and have some chit chat with my friend who lives around the corner there, and get lucky because there will end up being music or something going on.” Del eyed Ara’s coffee a little, “Does coffee taste good? Ara laughed. “I think so, but you can have a little sip to see if you like it and make up your own mind” and poured a little bit into a small mug, handing it to Del.” Roe took out his list, and added, “guitar and drum”, then turned back to his friends. Del sipped the coffee and kind of winced. “It’s kind of bitter.” Ara laughed. “Not everyone likes it.”

“Ok”, Roe said, partly to Ara, partly to his friends, and partly to himself to keep track of the way they had organized everything: “Here is our paper where we wrote down how much each of us has, and Del’s mom showed us how to write that thing out, like when she write a check book, so if we spend a little, we won’t get confused, and lose track of our money, or get our money mixed up.” Ara looked up from her crochet work, and looked at Del. “Your mom is such a smart cookie, that was so sweet of her to do for y’all, so you could make sure to get your things at the Rummage Sale without losing track of your pocket money.” She looked at Mac, “You be sure to write her a thank you card afterward.” He nodded, and smiled, “I will!”

Del looked over at the convenience store, then up at the sky trying to guesstimate the time from the daylight. “Do you think we should get Gina a present today?” Del asked, looking back earthward. Mac and Roe looked over at the convenience store too. “I think it depends if we see anything Gina likes.” Mac shrugged, “She likes fashion magazines. Do you think they have those at a rummage sale?” Del and Roe both shrugged but wrote it down. “She has to wear a uniform at work, but she’s allowed to wear hair clips and jewelry and stuff.” Roe said. “We could get her some hair clips.” Del wasn’t sure if their mom would wear hair clips from a rummage sale, and said so. “I don’t know, I think we will just have to see if we see something that seems like Gina.” Del said and shrugged.

They put their shoebox with their money in it into Mac’s backpack, and walked down the trail behind the convenience store toward the library and community center. Cheese ran ahead through the bushes barking at crows, then darted back behind them chasing butterflies in the wildflowers, wagging his tail happily. They rounded a bend in the trail, and crossed onto a path, arriving at the community center. Mac asked the person who was helping a last few people bring items to sell if it was ok to bring Cheese inside. The person looked down past a box of lamps at a wiggly and excited Cheese, and smiled. “He doesn’t chew in furniture or anything.” Mac said. The person laughed, “Oh, I know I’ve seen you all at the library a few times, making your comic books. But rules here are the same as over there. Cheese isn’t allowed inside, some folks here have allergies.” Mac nodded. “I wasn’t sure. I’ll play with him outside then.”

Roe patted Cheese on the head. “Don’t worry, I’ll take a quick look around, and come back and you can go look and I’ll stay with Cheese.” Mac smiled, “Ok! I’ll see you in a while!” Roe and Del went inside. Mac sat on a bench and teased Cheese with a stick he brought over. “Hello, is it ok if I pet your dog?” Someone about his age stood there, with a box of hats with felt, rhinestones, and googly eyes, and looking at Cheese. “Sure” Mac said. “Are those hats for the rummage sale?”. The person nodded, scratching Cheese’s back. “You can look if you want, its not only hats, its a few kinds of things I made, I like to put on plays with my friends and these are some of the costumes we have, we’re trying to make money to make some new ones for a play we want to do next.” Mac looked in the box. “Cool!” he exclaimed, taking items out. “Hey!” he pulled out a few packages of sparkling, multicolored shoe laces, with bead packs stapled to them. “These would be perfect for someone I know! How much are they?” The person pulled out a list they had printed at the library of prices, and ran their finger down the list: “Multicolor shoelaces with beads: $2.50” the person said. “I came with some friends, and I want to check in with them. How many of the shoelaces are there?” The person smiled. “Plenty! Don’t worry! I’ll remember you wanted some and I’ll try to save you some until you get a chance to talk to your friends. I’ll see you inside in a while!” They gave Cheese one last pat, and headed inside.

Mac sat back on the bench and gave Cheese some snacks and some water from a jar he had in his backpack. Roe came outside, “Hey! I found the wrench my brother wants, and I asked someone to hold onto it, until we see if we find the things we want. I found a skateboard you might like, and I wrote down the price. I found some rollerblades but I need to find Del and ask what size they wear, because I forgot. I told the woman selling them who Del is, because they’re wearing that shirt they like, the basketball jersey, so I said, if that person with that basketball jersey that has the sleeves rolled up comes over, they really want roller blades, but I don’t know their size, and the woman said she would try to set them aside for Del, but I need to find Del to tell them to ask that lady, and also I need to find the restroom; did we bring any snacks do you know?” Mac pointed at the backpack, “We have a couple kinds of crackers, and some water, and some banana chips. I found a great gift for Gina I think, and the person who had that had a typed up list of things they have if you want to look at that, maybe they have other things, it was like clothes and hats and stuff, so maybe they might have a vest for you.” Roe grinned, “Awesome! I’ll go find the bathroom, and then sit and have a snack with Cheese. I wrote down where the things are that I already found, if you see Del, tell them I want to tell them where the roller blades are. Do you want to run inside and check for me if that other place has anything for my vest? Here is where the skateboard I saw is.” Roe handed Mac a slip of paper that said “Booth 217”. “Thanks!” Mac said, and looked at the top of the first sheet of paper in his notebook, where an amount was written. “I’m going to take my money inside with me I think.” Mac said, and Roe nodded. “I’m going to go use the restroom, and then we can get our money out.” Roe danced back inside to where the restrooms in lobby were located, and the person who had been helping people carry items in earlier spoke up from the other bench. “Hey, your friend that has on that basketball shirt that you came here with, is right past the inside doors, want me to holler?” “Yeah, thanks!” Mac said and the person opened the doors and poked their head inside. “Hey, Christa, that person with the basketball shirt that just walked past, they still there?” Mac could see someone look over, then turn and look the other direction, nod, and point, and wave, and gesture, then turn back and say something. “Yeah, tell them their friend outside with that dog wants to talk to them real quick if its ok with them.” The person turned again as Del appeared and talked, and gestured. Del smiled and nodded, then ambled over to the doors, which the other person still held open. “Thanks!” Del called back over their shoulder. “Thank you!” Del said to the person holding the door. “Sure.” The person said, and let the door slowly close, and they turned back to a group of people around the bench examining the things they had picked out, talking, and having coffee in newly acquired mugs and teacups.

“What’s up?’ Del asked scratching between Cheese’s ears. Mac pulled the backpack out from under the bench, careful not to knock over Cheese’s water. “Roe came out real quick before he went back to use the bathroom. He said he found some stuff on our lists, and I can go look around for a little bit when he’s done using the bathroom. I didn’t want to get the money out without letting you know. Did you want to get any out of the shoebox?” Del pulled out a pad of paper from their jeans pocket and nodded. “I think I wrote down how much I need. I found the roller skates I want, I found a color and size I like, and I found guitar strings.” Del pulled out a wadded paper from the other pocket. “I also found some stuff you all were looking for. There’s a booth with fancy tools, I wrote down the number. It had scales, and tripods, and protractors, and a bunch of different pencils and pens and bottles of ink, and metal files, and other stuff. I also found a skateboard that had some awesome stickers on it. The person said you’ll need to grease the wheel bearings and I think you’ll need to talk to him about what that means or where to get grease, but it was awesome. It was about a medium sized one though, and you said you wanted a small one. It wasn’t a big one, so that might still work if you want. I also found these people who had some pretty cool hair clips, and I told them I was looking for something for my friend who likes hair clips and fashion magazines, so they showed me a spot where someone has old copies of some magazines that he’s had for a long time. They’re about make up and fashion, and he said Gina might like them so I wrote that down too.” Mac smiled. “I talked to someone out here who had some stuff I thought Gina might like! That’s great. Thanks for writing everything down.” Roe returned from the bathroom, walking up next to Del. “Ok” he said, “I’m ready to play with Cheese for a while. Wanna come find me in 20 minutes?” He asked turning to Del, “I forgot to ask Mac that before.” Del nodded. “Sounds good. I was going to get some money, I wrote down how much I need, and then write it inside. Here.” Del handed Mac and Roe each crumpled pieces of paper. “It’s where I found some stuff you might like.” Del looked at the note, which read “roller blades, “table 36”, and Mac opened up the backpack, removing the shoe box. “You said you only wanted some of your money right now?” He asked Del. Del nodded, and sat down next to him, taking a little notebook they put inside. “Thanks!” Del said to Roe, putting the note he had given them with their notebook. Del then found the page they had labeled ‘Del’, with the amount of money from recycling and babysitting written in, and wrote in a subtracted amount, writing “roller skates” and “guitar strings” next to each amount subtracted, then took out some bills and coins.

Mac looked at how much money they took out, and at the list they had given him. “I don’t think I want to take out all my money either, only part of it. I’m gonna go ask about those skateboards you both found, and see if I like them.” He flipped to the page with his name, wrote a subtracted amount, and wrote his name next to it. Roe was looking at the list that Del had given him, and he also opened up the notebook, wrote down a subtracted amount, wrote his name next to it, and took out some of his money. A significant amount still filled the bottom and they put it back in the backpack. “Do you want the backpack too since it has the snacks?” Mac asked Roe. Del dug into a side pocket and took out a small paperbag with banana chips to munch on. “Is it ok with you if I take these with me inside? I’m hungry!” “Roe inspected the contents of the bag. “It’s ok with me if it’s ok with Mac. I was thinking one of you can take the backpack, and I’ll take Cheese across the street to the library park to run around for a while.” Mac took the backpack. “Thanks! I bet he’ll like that.”

Mac put on the backpack and walked inside with Del. He spotted the person with the googly eye’d hats and shoelaces across the gymnasium, and began moving over there. “Hey!” he said as he got closer. “Do you still have some shoelaces?” The person looked up from their table of items. “Oh hi!” they said, “Yeah, still plenty of shoelaces” they gestured to a row of them. Mac carefully looked at the rest of the table, and saw a group of patches, some with sequins, some with beads, some embroidered, in various shapes, and sizes and colors. A patch of a possum with dyed hair, earrings, and a guitar caught Mac’s eye. He consulted the price chart, and added it in with the turquoise shoelaces he had picked out and payed, writing down the subtracted amounts in his notebook. “That’s an awesome patch” the person said, “I like putting them on my jeans.” Mac looked at it again. “Where do you get some of them? They’re cool.” The person, pointed over to a far corner of the room where clothing and blankets were had been grouped together on display. “My mom’s aunt showed me how to use her sewing machine, it has a setting to make patches so I can draw stuff, then make a patch of it. It’s pretty awesome!” Mac looked at the patches again. “That’s so cool! I asked my grandma a while ago to help me make something like that, but I didn’t know you could make patches.” “What color threads do you like to use when you’re making stuff with your grandma?” the person asked him. Mac considered, “I like a lot of different kinds of green, like plants, and slime, and glowing stuff.” “I like to make sequins and use them when I make stuff” the person pointed to some more patches and hats, ” and I have beads I made” the person said gesturing to the items on the table. Mac looked again at the selection. “You made the sequins?” The person nodded. He looked at the price, and pulled out a handful of coins. “I think my grandma might like some of them, that’s pretty cool.” he said. The person smiled. “Thanks!”

Mac consulted the slip of paper Del had given him, and wound his way past tables to find the skateboard with cool stickers Del had described. A guy about as old as a volunteer Mac knew at the library had a table with some backpacks, soccer balls, a boogie board, a snorkel, and a lot of other fun stuff to look through stood there leafing through an old windsurfing magazine. “Hey”, Mac said, an eyed a brightly patterned box with dice of various numbers of sides, stickers and cards inside, “my friend said you have a skateboard, is it still here?”. “Got a couple!” he said, and pulled two out from under the table, “Hey Theresa! You still want to sell your old board, right?” Across the walk way someone with short choppy hair and glasses looked over their shoulder a little from a conversation with some other people who stood in a circle around some statues that looked like they had disco balls glued all over them. “Yeah! I wrote the price on the sticker on the bottom.” “Cool” the person holding the boards said, and flipped them both over to look at the stickers. He looked at Mac, “Yeah this one is pretty good, its not wobbly, kind of small, needs new grip tape on top, and the wheels need grease.” This was the board with stickers. “This one is pretty great, my friend over there does custom paintings, and he painted this scene from a book I like on the bottom. It needs a new front wheel though, but the painting is awesome.”

Mac looked at the painting, an air brushed space scene in swirls of colors, amid crystalline shapes. “That’s an awesome painting. Mac said. What book did you ask him to paint it from?” “Vonnegut, kind of an interpretation of the zoo.” Mac examined the board again. “Cool! Is your friend who painted it here?”, the guy handed him the board, and nodded, pointing over Mac’s shoulder. “He’s right over there, HEY BILL!” he yelled on tiptoe. Several people turned around. “HEY! YOU DOING PAINTING STILL?” Several people turned back around, shrugged, and went back to browsing. A guy on the far end of the waved, “HEY! YEAH MAN! GET SOMEONE TO WATCH YOUR STUFF AND I’LL SHOW YOU MY LATEST PIECE ON THIS DUDE’S CAR OUT FRONT!” The guy looked over at the knot of other people across the walk space, “Yo! Theresa! Can you watch my stuff? I wanna go check out Bill’s new painting.” Theresa looked over, “Sure, hang on a sec.” And turned back momentarily to the group of people who seemed to be looking at some cards on a table. “Hey, I think I want to get this board. And is it ok if I come check out that painting too?” Mac said, still looking at the painting on the skateboard. “That one’s gonna be an awesome board for you! Don’t forget to get it a new wheel, front right. And sure, come check out the painting, it should be cool.” He reached over and wiggled the wheel as he spoke. “You can show him you got his board if you want.” Mac counted out some money, carefully, and handed it to the guy, who flicked some hair from his eyes, counting it out, glancing over to see if Theresa was really going to come over in a sec from her cards. Theresa walked up next to him. “Those cards over there are pretty cool dude, you should check them out when you come back over. They’re starting a new game in like 15 minutes they said.” Theresa nodded behind her to the group still standing around looking at cards spreading further and further out on the table. “Also, tell Bill I said hey.” Theresa said, stepping behind the table of gear, as their friend stepped around the other side. Just then Mac noticed Roe round the corner of tables. “Hey Roe!” he called. Roe looked over and waved. “Me and this guy are going to go check out a painting, you want to come?” Roe’s face lit up, “Yeah!” he walked over to join them, waving at the guy. “Sup. Alright, let’s go meet Bill in the parking lot.” They wound their way to a wall where they found doors open to the lobby, and waited as people passed to and fro, stopping and chatting in the path, blocking the entrance in a friendly way. “Did you find any paints yet like you were looking for?” Mac asked Roe. He shook his head. “You?” Roe asked. Mac shook his head also.

The person Mac and Roe were following stood on tiptoe, and through gaps in the crowd they saw a guy who had what looked like a handmade beanie on; Bill, the guy who had been yelling across the room at them, leaning against a beat-up Mazda in the parking lot. A group of small kids ran yelling through a group of chit-chatters, causing them to pause and split momentarily down the middle, and the painting enthusiasts took the opportunity to slip in between and out the doors, past the bathroom and water fountain, and out another set of doors to the parking lot. Del sat on a bench with Cheese, dangling a little scrap of knotted rope they brought in the backpack, and playing tug of war. “Hey Del!” Mac called over, we’re gonna check out this guy’s painting, want to see?” Bill looked over at Mac, and then Del, and gave a big wave to them, then spinning around bowing, to the Mazda. “Come check it!” Bill said. “Yeah!” Del said, and got up from the bench, walking over to the others, nodding to the tall guy who was standing on the other side of the Mazda, excitedly talking to Bill. “WHOA!” He said and the four others, including Cheese, walked over to the front of the Mazda to see the hood, which had been air brushed. Bill was talking, “…so this is Cam’s new car, and he wanted something pretty cool on it, and he was like, there’s this song I like, about space cowboy’s or something, I don’t know the song off the top of my head, I have it written in my notebook, but he was telling me about it, so he wanted me to do something like that. It’s a 2002, so it’s pretty old car, but it’s manual which is cool, Cam’s a pretty good driver…” Bill’s friend nodded, listening, and looking at the hood. “A 2002, that’s ancient. You’re out here painting Model T’s now dude, it looks great though…”

Roe looked at the space scene in awe, and Del noticed the skateboard Mac had decided on. “Did that guy paint that skateboard too?” They asked, looking it over closely. Mac held it up to them, “Yeah! It’s pretty cool!” Bill looked over from talking to his friend about what kind of car Cam had decided to get and why. “Dude, that skateboard is one of my favorite painting’s I’ve done! Want it signed?” he asked half joking, pulling out a permanent marker from behind his ear. Mac looked at it. “Sure” He held the board out, for a flourishing signature by the artist. “I’m gonna learn to ride on this” Mac told him, “my cousin has a skateboard, I was going to go with and practice sometimes.” Roe pointed to the hood of the Mazda, “Do you use the same paints on the car as the board? I was looking to get some paints here today, but I don’t know much about this kind of painting. He pointed to a spot where different colors blended together.” “OH DUDE!” the guy who had brought them over to show them the painting slapped his leg, “DON’T EVEN GET HIM STARTED ON PAINTS!” Then he laughed, and turned to Bill, “I’m gonna go catch a look at the cards Theresa was telling me about, this car is rad. I’ll see you later!” and walked away. “Later!” Bill called, and turned to Roe, “I have a lot of paints inside, that’s mostly what I have at my table, you all want to come take a look?” Mac took a last long look at the large painting on the hood, and Del closely examined a spaceship.

“Hey, do you think I could write a comic about this picture? If I say it was inspired by your art?” Mac asked. “Sure man, that sounds awesome.” Bill said, and Roe piped up, “I would actually like to go check out what paints you have if that’s ok. Do you use any tools with them to get it to look like that?” He pointed to the blended area on the hood. Bill looked at where he was pointed, then waved his arm back toward the community center. They started to head back inside. “You can go look around inside again if you want” Mac said to Del, adjusting his new skateboard under his arm, “I’ll stay out here with Cheese for a while.” They smiled and handed him the rope toy. “Thanks! I had some things I wanted to go look at still.”

Mac sat down on the bench, and Cheese hopped up next to him, curling up to go to sleep, with one ear turned toward the sound of friendly chatting people, and one eye ready to get attention and pats.

Roe and Del walked inside with Bill. As they walked through a crowd, Del called over to Roe “I see Gina, I’m gonna go talk to her, I’ll catch up with you in a while.” He nodded and waved, and they turned to walk over to Gina and some of her friends. Roe walked with Bill towards his table.

Gina was standing with her friend that Del had seen around, Cassie was her name maybe, Del wasn’t sure they were remembering. Del’s brother and Roe’s brother were also there, and they were talking together, looking at some of the clothes, and shoes. Cassie had a few comics she had bought at another table, and Gina had found some matching friendship bracelets the group was figuring out the knots on, trying to untie them, and them tie them on eachother’s wrists. “Hey!” Del said walking up. “Hey!” Gina said, “long time no see since this morning.” And laughed. Del smiled, “It’s been so long!” Del said jokingly. “We just ran into Ner” Cassie said to Del. “More like Ner ran into us” Gina laughed, “and Ner was saying that the Peacetime Music Collective, Ner’s band”, “Or band that Ner is involved with,” Del’s brother interjected, “anyway, they’re planning to play this afternoon in the park across the street, and its free, but they made some fliers about what items are needed at the food bank and the shelter if people want to pick some extra things up and donate them.” Cassie handed Del a flier, “Nel asked us to make some photocopies and hand a few out, they’re starting soon.” The set list included at least three major local bands of various indefinable genres. Del’s favorite was playing in the middle. Del had no idea who Nel was, but they seemed like a nice person with good taste in music, and Del read the flier. Del’s brother noticed them reading and re-reading the flier and rolled his eyes. “I know you love Cros for Bros, they said they made some new cassettes you can get. I’m not a fan of their latest, I figured I’d tell you up front so you could make sure to blast it at home even louder.” Cassie laughed, “But its specifically for Bro’s.” Del smirked, and their brother rolled his eyes a little. “Go make a couple extra copies of that flier at the library, noise complaint.” he said, teasing his sibling a little. “We forgot to tell you earlier about the concert, but we brought some food for the food bank and some blankets to sit on for the concert.” Del nodded and smiled. “I’ll run over there in a while and make a few copies.”

Roe walked up beside Del. “Check this out!” He held a book and several zines on air brushing, and spray paint art. “That guy even gave me a list of tools to get started if I want to start learning! He has a bunch of cool stuff, but I wanted to come ask my brother about it, since it will use up some space in the workshop.” He looked at his brother, “Will you come talk to this guy with me, his name is Bill, he’s an awesome painter. Also, I found that wrench you want!” Roe said producing it from his pocket, handing it to his brother. “Sweet!” his brother said, examining the proffered wrench, “you remembered the right size. It’s a good brand too.” “Oh yeah!” Del said, and handed Roe’s brother a slip of paper, “I think they might have planes at this booth, but I also am not sure what a plane is, they had some other tools though.” He took the paper. “Thanks Del.” He looked over in the direction Roe was pointing, to Bill’s table. “Let’s go see if we can figure out if this will work in the workshop. I owe you a little money anyway for picking the wrench up for me.” They walked off together. Gina nudged Del, “check out this booth we found when we were looking at shoes” she said, pointing diagonal from them. A little card table held tidy rows of bandanas, rhinestone collars, and bowties, for dogs, cats, rabbits, and guinea pigs. Gina had a giant smile, and pointed to a handsome, cheese-print bowtie. Del’s face lit up, and they broke into laughter.

The concert was starting in the park, and there were blankets and snacks laid out on the lawn of the park. The families of Del, Roe, Mac and Cheese, as well as Gina and her friends and congregated together on one side of a large tree close to where the music was setting up. They set out more water and some food for Cheese, who wagged happily on the blanket amidst so many friends, getting little bits of their snacks given to him as everyone unpacked their finds. Del, Mac, and Roe sat around looking in their notebooks, trying to decide which days were good to go practice on their newly acquired finds. Del’s notebook sported a couple of new stickers, one was glittery, one was holographic. Del had managed to find a pair of skates that fit, and Roe had a bike at home. They decided Saturday mornings might be good to try practicing riding around together, and Mac made himself a note to remember his helmet.

Roe’s cousin had found Roe and his brother when they were talking to Bill, and from his bag, produced a vest in Roe’s size. “Your mom asked me to make sure we found one in your size, this one looked warm.” “Thanks!” Roe said, and his brother turned to his cousin, and nodded toward Roe, “Yo, you think this guy here would be able to use that back bench in the workshop to keep some of these paints? If he kept it tidy and cleaned up after he was done painting and stuff? I think with some of these books and some practice, he could do some pretty cool art.” Roe moved aside as his cousin moved forward to look at painted helmets, custom shoes, and framed art. “You do that one out in the parking lot?” His cousin asked. “Yeah, I did, that’s for my friend” Bill said. “Oh yeah, do you remember which song you said your friend wanted you to paint? You said you wrote it down in your notebook.” Roe asked before he forgot, “Sure, hang on” Bill said, digging out a small beat up notebook covered in paint and tape and doodles, “It was…the Dance Remix of the soundtrack to Urban Cowboy. He sent me a link and I listened to it while I painted.” Roe scribbled it down in his notebook to tell Mac for when he wrote his comic. “Awesome. Thank you.” he said smiling at Bill.

On the blanket, Mac had been telling Roe and Del about how he had met the person with the shoelaces that he thought Gina might like. Roe laughed, and pulled out shoelaces too, “I saw those and got some for Gina too!”. Del pulled some out of a back pocket, “Me too!” they all laughed. “Hey Gina!” Del called over to the adjacent blanket. Gina looked over. “We wanted to get you something today, but we all got you the same thing” said Mac, and “Roe held up the shoelaces and beads. Gina laughed, and pointed to her shoes, “Great idea!” she said, “I love them!” she had got herself a pair, and already laced them into her shoes. They all laughed. Mac, and Roe and Del looked at their shoelaces. “Want to trade colors?” Mac asked, and Del nodded. They all swapped, and Del began lacing the shoelaces into their skates. Roe began typing his into an elaborate zipper pull on his vest. Mac looked at the vest then remembered something, and dug around in his pockets. “Look at this! I thought you might like it!” He held out the patch. “For your vest.” “Thanks!” Roe said, putting it on the back of the vest to look at. “It looks awesome!” “Oh yeah, I asked Bill what that song was from when he painted that car, here, I wrote it down” Roe tore out a scrap of paper and handed it to Mac who put it in his pocket.

Cheese was sitting on the blanket that Gina and her friends were on, having extra treats, and head pats, wagging his tail. “Cheese!” Del called, “come here buddy!” He poked his head up from laying down and wagged his tail. Roe held out an offered treat and patted the blanket next to them. Cheese got up and walked over, giving each of them a lick. “Mac, look what we got Cheese!” Del said, and Roe attached the bowtie around his neck. Cheese looked at Mac and wagged happily. Mac laughed and gave him a big hug. “Ok, last surprise.” Del said, as techies brought out the few pieces of equipment before the music started. Del held out a button with a bat hanging upside down, holding a bowl of fruit right side up so it wouldn’t spill. Underneath it said “Fruit Salad!”. Del handed it to Roe. “For your vest.” He smiled a giant smile “Thanks!” he high fived Del. “Did you bring your sewing kit?” he asked Mac. “Yeah, it’s in the backpack.” Mac pointed toward an inner pocket. To Mac, Del handed a loudly colored and wildly pattered flip top pencil box, that had been at the table Theresa had been watching over. “I figured this would be cool on your desk to keep all your pens and markers and pencils and drawing stuff in.” Mac took it carefully and put the scrap of paper with the album written on it inside. “This…is awesome.” he whispered turning the box over, examining the colorful whirls and lines. Roe looked at it, as he took a bite of some crackers and handed one to Cheese. “That is gonna be so rad with your comic books stuff in it, those zig zags are cool!” Mac looked at Roe, “Can I see those paint books again? If your brother says it’s ok, do you think I can come with you to try that kind of painting?”. Roe handed him the painting books he’d gotten from Bill. “For sure! And when you come over, we can fix the wheel on your skateboard together too, you said it needed some work, we can borrow some tools again.” Mac smiled. “It’s gonna be so great”. Del nodded at that sentiment, tying their beaded shoelaces together to carry their skates home after the concert.

A crash of drums, and the strum of a guitar drew their attention away from the rummage sale finds. “YES!” Del hissed. “The music is starting!” they settled into listen on their blanket together. Cheese found some crumbs and the band crashed into a loud jam, and Cheese jumped in the air a little and snugged under the blanket. “I’m glad I saved enough to get their album!” Del said, bobbing their head, and absentmindedly patting Cheese, whose nose poked out. Del’s brother looked over at the things they had gotten. “Why’d you get guitar strings? You don’t have a guitar yet?” Del nodded over at Roe and Mac. “I was going to save those a while, and go with Mac to the library and see if I can find a book about guitars. Maybe we can just build one.” Roe’s brother looked over, “Yeah you probably could, but I’ll need to find a plane first.” Del looked at some of the tools he had picked up. “What’s a plane look like? I tried to look for one today.” Roe looked over too. “Can I have a page from your notebook?” his brother asked, and he handed him one. “I’s flat on the bottom, and it’s got a round handle, but there’s a part here that’s sharp that you can’t really see.” He handed Del and Roe the sketch. Roe shrugged, “That wasn’t what I thought it looked like at all.” and laughed. Del’s brother ate some crackers from a box they were all sharing. “Next thing I know you’ll be the one playing music too loud at the park.” he said to Del. Mac piped up, “My grandma told me they have Open Mic here sometimes.” Del’s brother groaned. “I could also just play loud at home, it’s not as far away. I’ll host concerts outside your bedroom door.” and laughed. Roe’s brother pointed to the sketch of the plane, “Be on the lookout for that cause you gotta build it first your first hallway concert.” And threw a cracker at his friend, laughing. Cheese poked his nose out again long enough to get the cracker, the drums slightly quieter now, and was rewarded with his ears getting pet by Mac. “Don’t worry Cheese.” and pet the top of his head as Cros for Bros started another song.