🚆 Grandma's train
Part 3 : Meeting Danny
⚠️ This is a work of fiction
⚠️ Reproduction and distribution prohibited
After taking a few steps in the already crowded train car, we find my seat. Dad had reserved a seat in a four-seat compartment. So it's two facing seats with two other seats where I will be. Already, of these four seats, two are already taken. There is a lady and a boy younger than me.
"Hello," then my mom said to the lady, indicating for me to sit down.
"Hello," she replied. "Are you sitting here? Are you also taking this train?"
"It's only my son who is taking the trip. He is joining his grandparents."
"Would you like me to watch over him during the journey?"
"I admit I would be more reassured. I was actually going to ask you. Would that be okay?"
"That's absolutely not a problem. I can imagine, as a mother, that I would also like someone to watch over my son."
"I want to inform you that my son is hearing impaired," said my mom, looking at me. "If you speak softly, and directly in front of him, he can lip-read. If you are not able to understand each other in that way, don't worry, he can communicate using his phone, he can write and show you. And if there were any problem, my phone number is saved."
"I'm convinced that there will be no problem. My son Danny is younger, but they will certainly find ways to entertain themselves."
"Oh, that's funny," mom replied, looking at Danny, "my son's name is Dan. Those are not common names."
Mom and the lady continued to talk a little more, and it seemed that a voice from the train's speakers called for attendants to disembark.
With my suitcase still at my feet, mom began trying to lift it to put it in the overhead compartment, but a kind man offered to help.
And then it was time for us to part, the moment I had been dreading since the decision to have me take the train alone was made. I got up from my seat and hugged mom tightly. I know I will see her again in 15 days and have a good holiday, but it is always difficult for a child to leave his mom, isn't it?
"Everything will be fine," mom signed with her hands after moving away slightly so I could see her.
"I know, yes," I sign back. I can see that Danny and his mom are watching us, probably a bit intrigued by our way of communicating.
"I have to go now."
I feel my stomach tighten as I watch mom walk away after giving me a kiss on the forehead. She is now outside, and I can't see her for a few seconds. She reappears on the platform, behind the train's large window. She waves to me, and I wave back. I feel the tears starting to come, and I wipe away the first, and then a second tear. I see that it makes mom sad, but I can't help but be emotional. She signs with her hands that she loves me. I barely have time to wave goodbye to her as the train starts moving. A few seconds later, the train is moving as fast as mom walks on the platform. Three seconds later, I can no longer see her.
"It'll be okay," I manage to read on the lips of Danny's mom once I look at her.
I am still standing in front of the train window, so I decide to sit back down in my seat. Across from me, Danny is looking at me, not saying anything. I can't stop thinking about mom, about not even having had the time or reflex to tell her that I love her too. Another tear wells up in my eyes, and I wipe it away. Danny's mom then gets up from her seat, comes to sit next to me, and offers to hug me with her arms wide open. Without hesitation, I accept and lean into her so her arms can wrap around my back. She smells good. Her perfume, unless it's just the smell of her laundry on her long white dress, fills my nostrils. Mom usually wears perfume.
We stay like that for long seconds, and it feels good. Nothing needs to be said, a mom is great, even if she's not yours.
"Feeling better?" she asks me, looking at me after maybe two minutes of being embraced.
I just manage a small smile and nod my head. Psychologically, I do feel better, but my stomach still hurts.
"By the way, my name is Christine," she says clearly. "Don't hesitate to ask if you need something, okay?"
"Yes," I reply with a nod.
"How old are you?" she then asks.
"9 years old," I say, showing 9 fingers with my hands.
"Danny is younger than you, he's only 6 years old, but maybe you two can find a game you both enjoy."
I'm not sure I understood everything she said because she spoke a little faster this time, but I see Danny then stand up, turn to his seat, and rummage through a bag. He takes out several things and puts them aside: a deck of cards, colored pencils, five dice.
But what catches my eye is not so much what Danny pulls out of his bag, but rather what's sticking out of his sweatpants. Indeed, a white, slightly greenish strip is visible across the entire width of his back.
It clearly doesn't look like underwear because there are wrinkles. I really have the feeling that it's a diaper. I didn't think that at the age of 6 one would still wear diapers.
"I put a diaper on Danny for the train journey," his mom says, noticing that I was observing.
She says all this clearly, after I turned to her, without yelling like some people. So I understand everything.
"He still wets the bed," she adds, "and wears diapers at night. Today, it's because I'm afraid he will fall asleep on the train."
At 6 years old, I know it's still quite common to wet the bed. We talked about it in class to break the taboo, as my teacher said. There was even a girl who had the courage to admit that she wore diapers at night. I thought it was very brave of her, I don't think I would have dared to say it if I were in her place. And that day, I think she made new friends because at recess, she was with girls who aren't usually in her friend group.
I gaze out the window and watch the landscape pass by quickly. I see a pond, which reminds me that I still have a little urge to pee. I also think about mom, whom I left on the platform. My stomach tightens again.
Christine, Danny's mom, taps my shoulder to get my attention.
"Is something wrong?" she asks.
"My stomach hurts," I say, moving my lips and swirling my hand in front of my stomach while bending over slightly.
"Poor thing. Do you need to go to the bathroom?"
"No," I say, shaking my head from side to side several times.
It's not really a need to go number 2, just my sadness and anxiety being without my parents, especially without mom.
Danny and I start playing cards on the small table between us. We play war, a simple game we both know. It's a game that rarely has an ending but remains fun because there are twists and turns. He stole an ace and a king from me, while I took a joker from him.
While playing, I observe the people in our train car. There is a large family, with two parents and what would be their children. Watching them, I feel like it's a blended family going on vacation. There's a girl around 16 years old and two boys aged 12 or 13, and another boy about my age. There is also a baby who is crying a lot. The mom is actually changing his diaper, and the smell indicates that it was necessary.
It reminds me that I will also be a big brother in a few months. When my parents told me that, I can't say I was thrilled. I think I was afraid of being replaced. It's true that things won't be the same, I won't be the only child anymore. My parents reassured me as best they could by saying that I will have a real role to play, that of the big brother, the role model. Thinking about all this brings me back to reality, the one where I am now, the one where I am without mom because ultimately, if she's not there when I need her, it's because of my future little brother who isn't even here yet and already changing my daily life.
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