Rockaway

It looked like Saturday, August 10 would be a beautiful day for a trip to the beach. Although it had been somewhat overcast with some light showers the day before, the forecast called for cloudless skies, temperatures near 80°, and virtually no possibility of rain. It promised to be a perfect day at the ocean. 

That morning at 6:00 a.m., knowing they were going to the beach, a place they knew only from brightly illustrated storybooks, Angel and Eddy appeared with great anticipation at Julia’s bedside. They were fully dressed in brand-new bathing suits, bright T-shirts, baseball caps and sunglasses.

“Mommy, wake up . . . Mommy, wake up!” they repeatedly chanted as she opened her eyes.

Because Julia had once again overindulged with special apple juice the night before, she felt somewhat hungover and suffered a mild headache, but nonetheless quickly rose to get herself together, to give the boys some cereal for breakfast, and to prepare Amanda for the expected arrival of Mrs. Thompson, who had told her she’d be there at seven to pick up the baby.  When Mrs. Thompson arrived as scheduled they all left together and headed toward Montrose Avenue and their planned meeting spot at the top of the stairs leading down into the LL train station. Those who knew simply called that line of the subway “the Double L.”    

Mrs. Thompson insisted on walking with them all the way there.  “Drina, it’s not necessary for you to go out of the way like that” Julia pleaded a few times as they walked. 

As they neared the station entrance, Mrs. Thompson announced with a slightly mischievous tone, “there’s been a change in plans.” Her words also sounded very gleeful.

“I told the others to meet you in front of the Stella Di Sicilia Bakery near the station on Montrose, because I’m gonna treat you all to some Italian pastries. If Pop can buy you hot dogs for lunch, then certainly I can treat you to a little something special before you get on the train!”

When they arrived at the bakery, Sylvia and Tyrone were already there, sitting together on a decorative wrought-iron bench near the shop’s entrance. They rose from the bench and told the boys to be seated there instead. After Sylvia warmly embraced Julia, she began to fuss over Amanda, who remained quiet and strapped into her baby carriage.

Tyrone went into the bakery with his mother as Julia’s attention focused on her two apparently very impatient little boys sitting on the bench, both were rapidly swinging their legs back and forth.

“When are we going to the beach?” Angel asked, his voice clearly revealing his disappointment with the turn of events.

Julia frowned slightly and held her right index finger to her lips, silently warning him not to embarrass her and to be quiet.

Within minutes, Mrs. Thompson and Tyrone emerged from the bakery. She had in her hands a white pastry box tied with string. Tyrone carried a cardboard tray holding three steaming paper coffee cups and two small cartons of cold orange juice.

As they all remained in place in front of the bakery, Mrs. Thompson released the string and opened the box with excitement. Looking at the boys with great enthusiasm and wide, smiling eyes, she rocked slightly back and forth, almost as if doing a little dance.

“You boys are gonna love these treats!” she proclaimed.

She handed each of them a gigantic pignoli cookie and said there were still two more cookies in the box for them. She handed the box off to Sylvia, revealing to her and Julia the three large cannoli she had gotten for the “three older kids,” as she called them that morning. The boys were given the orange juices and the others the coffees.

As soon as everyone had received the treats she bought, Mrs. Thompson bid them all a sweet farewell and took hold of the handles of the baby carriage. Pushing it, she made her way down Montrose Avenue toward home, but not before telling them to have a wonderful day and not to forget how much she loved them all.

They remained in front of the bakery for another ten minutes. Then, after all the pastries were eaten and the orange juice and coffee were gone, they gathered up their beach bags and headed up the street a few yards to the entrance to the subway.

As Angel took Tyrone’s right hand with his left for the walk to the station, he shouted as if singing, “Hip hip hooray . . . hip hip hooray!”

Eddy, holding Angel’s right hand, joined the chorus. “Hip hip hooray!” he cheered as well.

As they walked, with the boys chanting in the background, Julia asked Tyrone why Monica wasn’t there.

“Oh, she’s coming,” he said. He explained that they thought it would be much easier for her to take the J train closer to where she lived in Bed-Stuy. She would then, like them, get off at Eastern Parkway, meet up with the group, and they could all transfer together to the A train for the second leg of their journey to the beach.

“Oh, that makes a lot of sense,” Julia responded.

Entering the Double L station, they climbed down a first set of steps to the mezzanine level, then arrived at the token booth. Mr. Thompson had given Sylvia the task of holding the wallet for the day. In those days, the price of a token good for a one-way subway ride to just about any possible destination within the system, was thirty-five cents. 

A thirty-cent fare had risen to thirty-five cents just two years earlier, and many New Yorkers had been outraged at the price hike. There was already talk the fare might have to be raised again in the near future, giving many straphangers yet another reason to complain about the Transit Authority.

Sylvia reminded Julia that “kids under six ride free,” then added, “But even though Angel’s already six, he’s so little I don’t think we need to get tokens for him either, right?”

Julia told Sylvia she normally never got tokens for the boys. “I always tell them to walk under the turnstile and wait for me right there on the other side,” she added.

Sylvia calculated how many tokens they would need for the whole day.

Let’s see. The boys don’t have to pay. The three of us each need four tokens for the whole round trip because of that extra fare they rob from us for going out to the Rockaways. That makes twelve. Then I need another four for Monica when she joins us at Eastern Parkway. I gotta make sure I remember to give her an extra token to replace the one she used to get on the J at Kosciuszko Street. This is all gonna cost five dollars and sixty cents.

She told the token clerk she needed sixteen tokens and pushed six one-dollar bills through the slot at the base of the booth’s window.

The clerk quickly gathered the six bills and placed them in the cash drawer, then counted out sixteen tokens and forty cents in change. He dropped the tokens into the slot’s metal tray, each one clanging against its metal base, followed by the change. Sylvia gathered everything up and handed one token each to Tyrone and Julia. She would hold on to those remaining and distribute them when needed.

After the “older kids” had passed through the clanking turnstile, the boys, who were quite accustomed to the routines of the station, ran ahead and excitedly hopped down the stairway leading to the platform used for Canarsie-bound trains. Julia, clumsily holding onto her two beach bags filled with towels and other supplies, quickly followed them.

Once they arrived at their chosen spot on the platform, they began to wait. And they waited, and waited, and waited.

After a long time in silence, during which the mysterious sounds of dripping water somewhere in the station only seemed to get louder with each passing moment, Angel dolefully asked, “I guess we’re never gonna make it to the beach, are we, Mommy?”

“Don’t fret, sweetheart,” she answered. “The train will be here before we know it.”

Soon after those reassuring words, the whistling and rattling of an approaching train could be heard from somewhere within the darkness of the tunnel at the end of the platform.

“Hip hip hooray!” Angel cheered with joyful anticipation of the soon-to-appear Double L train.

Once on the train, and sensing the boys’ impatient anticipation of things to come, Tyrone started to quiz them about the scratchy, often-inaudible announcements heard from the speakers as the doors closed at each station and the train continued on.

“CANARSIE . . . [inaudible] . . . DOUBLE L . . . [inaudible] . . . NEXT STOP . . . [inaudible].”

“What station is next?” he asked after each announcement as the train pulled away.

The boys, having been on the Double L many times with their mom, guessed the name of each station correctly. They first passed Morgan, then Jefferson, then DeKalb, then Myrtle–Wyckoff, then Halsey, and then Wilson.

To keep their attention as they identified the name of each approaching station, Tyrone tried to say something about each of the neighborhoods they were passing. If he couldn’t think of anything, he just made it up.

“Did you know there used to be a huge chocolate factory next to the DeKalb Street station, and they would give away free candy to little kids, but only on Fridays after they got out of school? The factory closed a long time ago, but everybody still remembers it.”

Of course, Sylvia and Julia understood the fibs, but they simply smiled and lovingly glanced toward Tyrone each time, maintaining their roles as silent co-conspirators.

“What’s really creepy about the station at Wilson Avenue?” he asked them.

Both boys quickly answered in unison, “The cemetery!”

“You are right,” Tyrone responded. “And do you know, on Halloween they say you can see ghosts walking around there when you pass by on the train at nighttime?”

The boys’ eyes grew wide with wonder, and perhaps a little bit of terror, as they looked through the windows and saw the cemetery below.

They then passed through Bushwick–Aberdeen before arriving at their stop at Eastern Parkway only twenty minutes after they departed Montrose Avenue.

After exiting the Double L at Eastern Parkway, they made their way through a labyrinth of hallways and long stairways. The huge station complex served as a junction point for several lines. Because the “older kids” had made this transfer many times before, they managed the confusing route with little difficulty. The boys were simply amazed by the adventure as they were carefully led through the sprawling expanse of passageways and onto the next platform. They soon met Monica waiting near the end of the Broadway–East New York A line platform as planned.

Now all together, they waited again, this time for the A train. It would carry them out to Broad Channel, where they would have to transfer to the E Rockaway shuttle train for the final leg of their journey to Beach 98th Street–Playland.

Fortunately, the A train arrived only a few minutes after they joined Monica.

“Hip hip hooray!” Angel shouted once again as the doors opened and they stepped aboard.

As they boarded the train, luck was on their side because they immediately found seats together on the benches along the windows on either side of the car. That was precisely why they had agreed to meet and wait near the very end of the Broadway–East New York platform. Depending on the train line and the location of station exits, there were often fewer people and more available seats in the cars at either end of a long subway train.

Everything seemed to be going as planned!

The Broadway–East New York A platform was underground, but on the way to Broad Channel the train would eventually emerge from its tunnels. Until then, signal lights inexplicably flashed here and there through the darkness, while to the passengers the windows seemed much like cloudy mirrors.

Finally, after passing through a number of underground stations, and then the one at Grant Avenue, the train emerged from the darkness and burst into daylight as it climbed onto the elevated structure above Liberty Avenue.

Making stops at several more uninspiring and rather ordinary stations along the line, the train made one more at Howard Beach. As it pulled out of the station, Tyrone suggested the boys turn around, kneel on the bench, and face the window.

“Pretty soon, you’re gonna love what you see out there, I promise,” he said with great excitement, giving a hint of his own eager anticipation.

The boys did as he said, not sure, of course, why he wanted them to do it. But if Tyrone wanted them to do something, they would never hesitate to follow his lead.

As the train progressed, the urban landscape surrounding it began to gradually change. Then, almost without warning, the train was out over the waters of Jamaica Bay, traveling across a long railroad trestle with seemingly endless stretches of water surrounding them. To the boys, it seemed as if the train was now magically floating on air above the open water below.

The morning sun was already high in the eastern sky, its light dancing and sparkling across the waters of Jamaica Bay.

“Wow!” Angel cried out with guileless delight. He had never seen anything so incredibly wonderful, nor could he remember ever feeling so delighted as he did while gazing upon the seemingly endless body of water stretching before him.

Julia watched with a feeling of utter happiness as her two boys pressed their faces against the train window and eagerly took in the sights before them.

Their adventure across the bay before the train would make its next stop, and their final transfer point, lasted about seven minutes, an unusually long amount of time between New York subway stations. They had plenty of time to explore the wonders before them.

Flocks of seagulls gracefully danced together in the sky above, and occasionally one could be seen diving quickly into the water. Tyrone explained they were catching fish, “because they have to eat breakfast too.”

Scattered here and there were small boats. Some moved quickly from one point to another, while others seemed simply to be resting peacefully in place. On the distant horizon were small islands covered with stunted trees and tall grasses.

“Does anybody live over there?” Angel asked Tyrone with tremendous curiosity.

“No,” he said, “just the birds and some wild animals. They say it’s a special place just for them, and people aren’t allowed to bother them.”

“Wow, they’re so lucky!” he exclaimed, trying to fully understand Tyrone’s explanation.

Monica gazed warmly at Tyrone as he spoke to Angel and Eddy. Her heart fluttered as she thought about how much she loved him. Sylvia and Julia sat quietly, thoroughly enjoying the father-like tenderness Tyrone displayed as he lovingly answered every question the two boys had about the glorious Jamaica Bay.

“Okay, kids, we’re almost at the Broad Channel station where we have to get the next train. You guys haven’t seen anything yet.”

During the roughly five-minute trip from Broad Channel, Sylvia handed both Tyrone and Monica an additional token. The three “older kids” would each need to slip one into the turnstile when departing the station at that morning’s final stop.

It had been a long subway journey, nearly two hours from Williamsburg to the beach, so as they exited the station and made their way down to the street at Beach 98th, they all felt relieved and very excited.

Wonder filled Angel’s eyes as he gazed upward at the complicated woodwork and strange twists of the roller coaster’s skeleton looming nearby in the Rockaways’ Playland amusement park. Suddenly, a small train of cars rattled and screeched as it whipped around at the top of the ride and its occupants screamed with both delight and terror.

Angel grabbed Tyrone’s hand tightly and begged him to explain the commotion above

“No worries, buddy. They’re all having lots of fun,” he said reassuringly. “Later today we’re coming back this way, and we’re gonna show you more about all that. But for now, we gotta get to the beach.”

Sylvia and Monica, beach bags in hand, led the procession down Beach 98th Street toward the ocean. Julia with the straps of her own bag slung uncomfortably over her left shoulder, held Eddy’s left hand with her right, and Angel and Tyrone followed. Soon, they would reach the final stop on an already adventure-filled morning.

“Come on, buddy,” Tyrone had to say several times as Angel kept stopping and looking back with awe toward the amusement park. “I promise, we’ll be there later,” he assured him.

It was 10:00 a.m.

They reached the end of Beach 98th Street where it met Shore Front Parkway, then crossed over to the steps leading up to the boardwalk. Somewhere ahead of them came the mysterious, continuous roar of ocean waves crashing against the shore.

As they reached the top of the steps, the vast dimensions of the boardwalk came clearly into view. Seemingly stretching as far as the eye could see, it ran along the length of the beach, elevated above and parallel to the street they had just crossed. On the beach side, a metal railing about two-and-a-half feet high served as a protective barrier between the boardwalk and the sand below.

At least thirty feet wide, the boardwalk hosted a busy and animated life of its own. A festive mass of people moved about, some standing in cheerful groups, others calmly walking in both directions toward their various destinations, a few dashing to and fro, and still others sitting on park-like benches, seemingly content just to take it all in. At one spot, an open-air shower drew a line of people clad in bathing suits waiting their turn to rinse themselves. Various concessions lined the boardwalk. Some had open-air counters selling food and drinks, while others offered souvenirs and beach supplies.

It was a marvelous sight!

As soon as Angel and Eddy reached the boardwalk, they gleefully ran ahead of the “older kids,” rushed through the crowds, and headed for the railing at its edge. They climbed upon it and gazed longingly toward the wonders before them, bouncing excitedly up and down as they tried to take everything in.

Before them lay the brilliant golden sand of the beach and the surf stretching into the distance. Countless people were everywhere: some reading books as they sat in beach chairs, some holding strings of kites that sailed above, some apparently sleeping while lying on blankets under the sun, others sitting together engrossed in conversation, others standing still at the water’s edge and gazing out toward the sea, still others in the water bouncing up and down or floating freely with the rise and fall of the ocean’s waves, and others, mostly children, digging holes and building little fortresses and castles made of sand.

Closest to the boardwalk, away from most of the other activity, two teenage boys stood a short distance from each other and spiritedly played catch with a football. The beach was dotted with hundreds of large, colorful umbrellas, blankets, chairs and towels.

All kinds of music coming from countless boom boxes sounded from every direction. Loud, gleeful conversation and laughter blended together almost like a symphony of pure happiness. The joyful cries of children frolicking in the sand and surf filled the air.

In the clear blue sky, flocks of seagulls fluttered and glided overhead, crying loudly and distinctly as they moved about, sometimes landing on the sand and sometimes diving purposefully into the sea before soaring upward again.

The relentless waves of the ocean continued to pound the shore, almost as if in anger.

They had arrived at the beach!

Knowing this was her first chance ever to experience such a day, and with her boys too, a few tears of joy slipped from Julia’s eyes as she gazed about.

The amusement park forgotten, and enthused by the boardwalk prelude, Angel and Eddy now turned their attention entirely to the beach, all the wonderful activity unfolding around them, and beyond it all, the seemingly endless waters of the sea.

The “older kids” and the boys descended the seven or eight wide steps leading from the boardwalk down to the beach and soon found a spot to spread out their blankets and towels among the multitudes of other beachgoers who had already done the same.

Tyrone then announced he was going back to the umbrella rental man they had passed near the edge boardwalk. Sylvia gave him three dollars and said it would probably be enough to get one for the day.

It wasn’t long before Tyrone returned with a teenage boy who quickly dug a hole in the sand and planted the heavy wooden pole of a large rental umbrella, brightly striped in yellow and green, at their chosen spot on the beach.

Having established their place there, with their blankets, towels, other beach supplies, and the imposing rental umbrella clearly marking their spot, it was finally time for the “older kids” to get comfortable in the bathing suits they had, up until that moment, worn beneath their outer clothing. The boys had been openly wearing their suits all morning, so they were already ahead of the game!

Tyrone took off his sneakers and socks, his shirt, and his blue jeans to reveal flashy red-and-white nylon trunks that fit comfortably around his muscular frame.

Monica, Sylvia and Julia had all been wearing sandals and similar skirts and blouses, which they easily removed to reveal bathing suits of different colors and styles. Monica and Sylvia each wore a lovely two-piece bikini with its own distinctive floral pattern, mostly blue on Monica’s and mostly orange on Sylvia’s.

Julia wore a very modest, solid-purple one-piece suit that looked quite charming on her. She noted it had been a gift from Doña María years earlier, but until that day she had never worn it.

They took some time to smear plenty of suntan lotion on themselves and the boys.

“We gotta be careful out here not to get sunburned,” Sylvia reminded them. She had learned from her previous visits to the beach and didn’t want anyone to suffer afterward as she had in the past.

“It’s especially important to protect the little ones,” she added confidently.

Now they and their encampment were perfectly set for the day ahead.

The young women immediately settled into a little circle under the umbrella. They faced each other on a blanket positioned to maximize the umbrella’s shadow under the hot sun. They grinned and laughed out loud as they recalled some of the humorous moments of the morning’s journey.

Monica asked, “Remember that strangely dressed man who walked through the A train after he got on at Euclid Avenue? He thought we’d believe he was actually Frank Sinatra, even though his singing was worse than a howling dog. Then he asked everybody for money before heading to the next car. He sure meant it when he sang ‘I did it my way.’”

They shared a few more of their fresh memories, all in good fun.

Tyrone, not wanting to be part of their reminiscing and eager to entertain the boys, proclaimed to them with his own brand of childlike enthusiasm, “Come on, my boys, let’s hit the water!”

They very willingly went with Tyrone to the very edge of the surf, where they stood with him for a few moments, simply taking it all in. Angel and Eddy looked excited and somewhat fearful, but cautiously followed Tyrone as he slowly began to inch them farther into the water. A few times they stepped, and even ran, backward in fear, but Tyrone kept reaching for their hands, comforting them and coaxing them a little farther out. He did so with utter confidence.

To their amazement and delight, the cold remnants of crashing waves swept unpredictably over their tiny feet. With each new surge, the seawater rushed farther up their legs, splashing about and drenching the lower portions of their bathing suits.

Tyrone then told them they were going to have to be a little more courageous. “You guys want to go just a little bit farther out, but not too far?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll hold your hands the whole time,” he assured them.

Meanwhile, back under the umbrella, the young women stopped talking. They turned their attention to the surf and watched as Tyrone and the boys moved step by step a little farther out into the sea.

“Let’s go join them,” Sylvia proclaimed.

“Oh, I’m not sure,” Julia responded. “I think Tyrone is doing a great job without us,” she added with a hint of uneasiness.

“Why don’t you guys go out there and I’ll stay here and watch our things,” Julia at last suggested, as if she had heroically solved some logistical problem.

“Okay,” Sylvia responded, “but I’m pretty sure nobody wants any of our worthless stuff.

Monica and Sylvia were soon beside Tyrone and the boys, and together they all moved closer and closer to deeper water, but never too far out. For the time being, the three “older kids” understood responsibility had fallen upon them to keep the boys safely under their watch.

It wasn’t long before Angel and Eddy were frolicking fearlessly in the waves at the water’s edge. They laughed and cheered gleefully as wave after wave crashed around them and the retreating water tugged at their legs, seeming to pull them farther out, always under the care of Tyrone, Sylvia and Monica. The three “older kids” remained close by, enjoying the rush of each approaching wave as much as the boys now did.

Julia kept watch from a distance and secretly longed to be with them, but she was overwhelmingly fearful. Frankly, the waters of the ocean frightened her in a way she hadn’t expected. She began to think she’d be most content spending the whole day on the beach beneath the shade of the umbrella, a safe distance from the crashing waves. Still, she remained vigilant as she watched her sons from afar. It was the most she could do, at least at first.

“Mommy, why didn’t you come into the water with us?” Eddy cried as they all returned to the safety of the blankets and umbrella. He lunged into his mother’s embrace, drenching her with his diminutive wet body.

“We had so much fun!” he innocently exclaimed.

“Maybe next time,” she answered the little five-year-old, not so sure of her own answer.

But for the moment, they would all settle down to rest, some beneath the shade of the umbrella and others stretched out on towels under the blazing sun.

It was 11:15 a.m.

Tyrone announced it was time to get some lunch. He told everyone he was going in search of those hot dogs Pop had promised them. Sylvia gave him a crisp twenty-dollar bill, hoping it would be enough for everything he planned to bring back.

He returned a short time later with a brown paper bag filled with ten hot dogs tightly wrapped in aluminum foil. He also had a bunch of napkins, a big bag of potato chips, and a six-pack of Pepsi-Cola, one can for each of them, along with some straws. He had also brought back a brightly colored beach ball and a couple of colorful toy buckets and shovels he had picked up at one of the concession stands along the boardwalk.

“As soon as I saw the toys, I knew I had to get them for Angel and Eddy,” he announced with great satisfaction. The boys’ eyes lit up with gleeful excitement as they imagined all the fun they could have with them.

“I hope everybody’s okay with mustard, ketchup and sweet relish. They put it on all the dogs,” he said as he handed them out to the “kids” and the boys.

No one complained.

As soon as all the food was eaten, the boys grabbed the shovels and buckets and began to play in the sand next to the blankets. Digging holes and filling and emptying their buckets with sand, they did so without any particular purpose, but obviously enjoyed the whole adventure. Tyrone sat on a towel nearby, watching them with a sense of utter satisfaction.

After some time had passed, and as if “no” were not an option, Sylvia announced, “Come on, Julia. Me and Monica are going to get you into the water. We can leave Tyrone and the boys here. They all seem really happy. Now it’s our turn to hit the surf together.”

With great and fearful reluctance, Julia walked to the water’s edge with the other two. Once there, she emphatically told them she didn’t have enough courage to go any farther.

“I’ve never, ever been this close to the ocean. It’s really scary to me,” she cried. “I don’t know how to swim, and I might fall and drown, or maybe get bitten by crabs or fish. I don’t think I can do it.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll never leave your side, and it’s not as bad as you imagine,” Monica responded confidently.

Sylvia and Monica stood on either side of Julia and each took one of her hands. For a few moments, the three simply stood there together.

Then, without hesitation, Monica gently suggested, “Let’s just see if we can go far enough for you to get your feet wet.”

Together, the three inched a little closer, and suddenly the fading remnants of a wave rushed over their feet.

“No, no, no!” Julia screamed in a high-pitched voice. “I’m too afraid.”

Then they backed up a short distance and once more stood quietly together. After a pause, Sylvia spoke softly.

“Julia, we would never want you to do anything dangerous or cause you any distress. But I promise, if you trust us, you won’t regret it. Look at all these people around us having such a great time. Even the boys loved it. Trust us, and all those fears are gonna vanish in a flash. Let’s do this together. You won’t regret it.”

“Okay, okay, okay,” Julia responded unconvincingly. She still remained in place, but only for a short while.

“Okay, I’m ready,” she finally proclaimed. “But can I keep my eyes closed when you guys walk me in a little farther?”

“Of course,” they both firmly answered in unison, with absolute certainty.

The three moved slowly into the surf again. This time Julia hesitated only slightly. Her closed eyes and the tight grip of her friends’ hands gave her unexpected confidence.

They moved even farther out, with waves splashing against their waists. Julia’s fears subsided a bit, but she continued to keep her eyes closed as she relied completely on the guidance of the friends at her side.

Then came a surprise.

A larger-than-usual wave suddenly appeared and crashed right upon them. They all fell backward together but remained firmly joined at the hands. In an instant, they went from standing to sitting together, totally drenched in the shallow but forceful water. Another, but smaller wave, washed over them again.

Then came the greater surprise.

Julia laughed with delight.

A short while later, Tyrone told the boys to look out toward the sea, where their mother was joyfully wading with the others and bouncing in the surf as wave after wave swept under and over them. It looked as though they were having a most enjoyable time together out there.

The boys stopped playing in the sand and begged Tyrone to take them back to the water so they could join in the fun. They rushed together toward the surf, but not before Tyrone grabbed the beach ball, jovially tossed it high into the air and skillfully caught it, then tucked it under his arm to take along.

“Mommy, Mommy, I want to come out that far with you!” Eddy cried as they reached the shoreline.

It wasn’t long before the whole group was together out there in the surf. Tyrone carried Eddy on his back as they moved farther out than before, bringing him closer to his mom and allowing him to share her excitement now that she too had discovered the water’s captivating power.

Nearby, and under Tyrone’s careful watch, Angel clung to the beach ball and floated with it atop the rolling waves. He hooted with delight as the rolling water carried him and the ball upward, bringing the vast ocean horizon clearly into view, then lowered them again until it nearly disappeared.

Sylvia and Monica remained close to Julia as the three continued to join hands and ride the waves. They all cheered, laughed, cried out with joy, and encouraged one another as they relished their wonderful time together in the sea.

For a long while out there in the water, they seemed to absorb into their very bodies the thrill and exhilaration of it all. Time in the ocean was lost, but not a moment of it was wasted on that glorious day.

Suddenly, it was 3:30 p.m.

After their long and joyful adventure in the waves, they all returned together to their umbrellaed beach encampment. The shade of the umbrella, for the boys at least, provided a much-needed escape from the burning rays of the sun. Not only were they all soaked with saltwater, but the hours beneath the blazing sun had noticeably changed the color of their faces and arms. The “older kids” had become handsomely darker, while the boys had turned a somewhat worrisome shade of red.

Sylvia had an idea. “Let’s keep the boys in the shade for a while. In the meantime, we can stretch out in the sun for as long as it takes our bathing suits to dry,” she wisely suggested.

The boys lay next to each other on the blanket, safely out of the sun’s reach, and quickly fell asleep. Still stretched out beneath the blazing afternoon sky, the “older kids” did the same, but only after treating themselves to another generous smearing of suntan lotion.

“Hey, everybody, wake up! It’s four-fifteen, and we gotta get moving,” Tyrone said, almost as if it were a case of emergency.

The “older kids” all sat up quickly and started getting themselves together. They dressed again in their street clothes, then threw themselves into the task of gathering towels, toys and blankets. The boys weren’t so quick to respond. Groggy from their brief naps, and even more so from their earlier time in the water and under the blazing sun, they didn’t want to move.

“But Mommy, why can’t we go back in the water, at least one more time?” cried Eddy as he stood and she brushed off the sand still clinging to his body.

“I wish we could too,” chimed in a disappointed Angel.

“Come on, kids. Uncle Tyrone has something else in mind, and I know we’re all gonna love it.” She added, “Trust me!”

All were fully packed and ready to go. Tyrone closed the umbrella, pulled its pole from the sand and said, “Wait here for just a few. I promised the umbrella man I’d return it when we’re finished.”

He returned a short time later and announced with excitement, as if making a subway announcement, only this time crystal clear:

“ALL ABOARD THE ROCKAWAY EXPRESS!

 

NEXT STOP, THE RIDES AT PLAYLAND!”

Hearing Tyrone’s declaration, Angel’s memory took him back to that morning and how, when they passed by, he had been awestruck by the sights and sounds of the nearby amusement park. In fact, throughout their day at the beach, those same sounds, still only a short distance away, had repeatedly reached his ears and kept his curiosity alive.

“Oh boy, I can’t wait!” he cried as he jumped with excitement.

The group left the beach behind, crossed the boardwalk, descended the steps to Shore Front Parkway, and crossed the roadway before making their way with tremendous excitement up Beach 98th Street.

Once again, and with renewed fascination, Angel gazed upward in amazement at the enormity of the park’s roller coaster, the venerable Atom Smasher.

“We’ll be inside the park soon,” Tyrone assured him with glee.

Once inside the park, and after navigating the crowds along its enticing, noisy, colorful and magical Midway, they found a park bench in the thick of it all. There they placed their bags and the beach ball, sat for a short while, and took it all in.

Angel gazed up again at the roller coaster and at yet another train of cars. This one, too, rattled raucously and was filled with patrons holding their hands high in the air, screaming with excitement as the train plunged down a steep incline before disappearing from sight.

“Okay boys, it’s time to join in on some of the fun!” Tyrone exclaimed.  Monica and Sylvia agreed to hold their spot on the bench, and then he and Julia took Angel and Eddy over to a section of the park where the kiddie rides were clustered together. 

“I know you guys are fascinated with that big old roller coaster, but guess what? They have a special one just for kids, and I think you’re going to love it!”

Tyrone took the boys’ hands and marched with them and Julia right to the entrance of the park’s kiddie roller coaster. He gave the attendant the necessary ride tickets, then helped the boys climb into a seat together.

They were overjoyed with anticipation. As the little train slowly started moving along its somewhat uneven tracks, scraping and rattling as it went, they laughed with utter bliss. It traveled around its circular framework, rising and falling along the way, slow enough to remain safe but fast enough to produce wonderful thrills for its little occupants.

Tyrone and Julia stood close by and relished every second of the boys’ exciting journey on a ride perfectly built for just such a purpose.

Before returning to Sylvia and Monica, the boys were treated to a few more children’s rides. Their second favorite, after the kiddie roller coaster, was one featuring tiny automobiles. With deadly seriousness, they gripped the little steering wheels, actually believing they were in control and driving on their own.

Their happiness on those rides gave Julia more joy than she had ever imagined possible. She recalled Mr. Thompson’s enthusiastic words: “I’ll pay the kiddie rides for the boys at Playland!” Her thoughts filled with deep appreciation. We’re so lucky and so highly blessed!

“Okay, boys, now I think it’s time to give the ladies their turn. Let’s go see if we can talk them into trying that big, scary roller coaster.”

Fortunately, the boys were immediately eager to go along with Tyrone’s idea.

Upon returning to the bench, they found Sylvia and Monica sharing a large, fluffy mound of pink cotton candy piled high on a paper cone.

“You got back just in time to have some with us,” Sylvia said as she pushed the confection toward the boys.

Without a second’s hesitation, both boys reached out and pulled off generous wads of the popular but very sticky amusement park treat.

“We probably should get some real food now that we’re all back together,” Sylvia added. “Who says you can’t eat dessert first?” she said with a chuckle.

Julia and the boys took Sylvia and Monica’s places on the bench while they and Tyrone went in search of something to eat. Truth was, they were all hungry by then. After all, it was already six-thirty, and those lunchtime hot dogs were ancient history by then.

It wasn’t long before they returned with a large box of freshly made cheese pizza, a stack of napkins, flimsy paper plates, and a cardboard tray containing six paper cups filled with ice-cold soda.

The pizza was cut into eight unevenly sized slices, allowing one for each of them and two extras. It was decided that Tyrone would get an extra slice because he was “a growing boy,” and the last slice was divided into a bunch of smaller pieces for the others to share.

Rockaways’ Playland carried on beautifully all around them as they ate together right there in the center of its remarkable Midway.

When they finished eating, Tyrone gathered up the trash and, as best he could, placed it on top of the other rubbish in an already overflowing garbage bin. He leaned the pizza box against the side of the bin, but almost as soon as he walked away, a large seagull swooped down, attacked the box and eagerly plucked at its otherwise insignificant remaining contents.

“Okay, boys, now it’s your turn to watch us ‘older kids’ get on a ride.”

He told them that he, Monica and their mom were going to take a ride on the huge roller coaster that had so clearly mesmerized them. They knew they were too little to ride it themselves, but they loved the idea of seeing their mom, Tyrone and Monica way up there at the top of that monstrous structure.

Sylvia volunteered to stay with the boys. “After all,” she said, “I was here just a few weeks ago and rode the Atom Smasher back then. It’s your turn now. We’ll be looking for you when you’re up there. Make sure you wave to us if you can.”

The three left Sylvia and the boys at the bench, then headed to join a very long line that started in the Midway but eventually passed through the ride’s entrance gate and ticket booth before disappearing somewhere beneath the structure itself. It was a very long wait.

“Are they up there yet?” Eddy kept asking Sylvia, long before they could possibly have made it through the entire length of the line.

“Not yet,” she repeated each time, wondering herself how long it might be before they would catch sight of them in one of the many trains that passed at regular intervals.

With determined eyes, Angel kept searching for them on every part of the ride visible from where they were sitting on the bench below, but he didn’t bother Sylvia with questions. Eddy was doing enough of that for him.

“There’s another one. Are they on it?” Sylvia finally asked the boys herself.

Another train of cars came into view as it made its way upward on tracks leading to the very top of the ride. It was very close to the same spot where, that morning, the sight of a similar train had first captured Angel’s fascination.

Then he saw them.

Angel noticed his mother first. On that very train, she was sitting alone in the second car. He immediately recognized her bright red blouse with blue dots, her “favorite,” she always said. Julia had told Angel earlier that she wore it that day because it was a “special occasion.” And now, for him at least, the blouse lived up to the honored status she had given it. It called to him for attention.

Then he realized Tyrone and Monica were seated in the very first car, right in front of her.

He pointed toward them and shouted, “That’s them!” with the joyful and carefree satisfaction one might expect from such an excited six-year-old.

Both he and Eddy jumped up and stood on the bench, frantically waving their hands and arms toward the train.

“I hope they can see us!” Sylvia shouted at the top of her lungs.

Then, with great yearning, Eddy proclaimed, “I think Mommy waved back!”

But none of them were really sure.

They rounded a corner high above. Then, as suddenly as a clap of thunder and a bolt of lightning, the train crossed the threshold at the top of a steep drop.

It plunged rapidly downward.

Its passengers screamed piercingly, some seemingly in terror and others in sheer delight. The train appeared to accelerate faster and faster as it fell.

Then it vanished into the complexity of the ride’s immense wooden skeleton.

Moments later, the three arrived back at the bench and were heartily greeted by cheers from the boys.

“We saw you, Mommy! We saw you!” Eddy proclaimed with absolute satisfaction.

“Well, this day has been totally wonderful,” Tyrone said as he momentarily sat on the bench to fight off the vertigo he experienced after the ride. “But, as Pop always says, ‘All good things must come to an end,’ so it’s time to call it a day and head home. Let’s hope we can come back again someday soon!”

As the group made their way out of the park, Tyrone stopped at a souvenir stand and bought two colorful helium-filled balloons, one navy blue and the other scarlet red. They were inflated by the mouth of a mechanical clown face and cost fifty cents each. The balloons were imprinted with the words “Rockaways’ Playland.” He handed each boy a balloon and firmly warned them to hold tight and not let go of the strings tethering them. They were elated.

They soon found themselves back on the train platform, and Sylvia once again handed out tokens. This time, each of the “older kids” had to insert two tokens into the turnstile to enter the station.

“Crooks,” Sylvia muttered under her breath.

Within minutes, they were back on the Rockaway Shuttle, this time heading home. It was eight o’clock.

After they boarded the A train for the second leg of their long journey back to Brooklyn, they settled into seats on the subway car’s benches. Angel held the beach ball firmly against his chest with both hands as he snuggled close to his mom. He rested his head against her side and soon fell asleep.

Julia, by then guardian of the navy-blue balloon, which she held tightly, looked about and contemplatively studied the different people riding the train at that hour. Over and over, she thought about Mr. Thompson’s words the previous Sunday: “We’re going to have to do something about that.” Her heart was filled with wonder and deep, deep gratitude.

Eddy sat to his brother’s left, and as he clung tightly to Tyrone’s arm, he too drifted into a peaceful sleep. Tyrone gazed through the window of the train and imagined the kinds of stories he might have invented about the various stations along the way. The scarlet-red balloon, tied to the strap of one of Julia’s beach bags, bounced back and forth in the space above the window. For a long time, he smiled broadly.

Monica and Sylvia, seated on the opposite bench, quietly talked about all of the day’s events. As they paused to contemplate the sleeping boys, the sight of it all filled them with inexplicable joy.

Arriving back in Williamsburg very late, Julia and the boys bid farewell to Tyrone and Sylvia, but not before giving each a very tight and affectionate hug. They had done the same with Monica when she bid them goodbye at the Eastern Parkway station.

“Don’t worry about Amanda,” Sylvia said. “I know you know she’s in good hands for the night with my mom, and with us too.”

That had always been part of the plan for the day, and Julia was glad to have one less thing to worry about at that late hour.

Once back home, the boys quickly went to bed and fell asleep. They had experienced one of the best days of their young lives. The beach ball lay between them in the bed they shared. The two balloons, each tied to the footboard, gently swayed in the draft of air above them.

Julia sat on the couch in the living room.

She thought long and hard about many things.

Then she poured some special apple juice into a glass on the small table beside her . . .