Bullpen's Moments (EDD)

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“Granda, what’s a tooth fairy?”, I asked him as I rushed into his bullpen. Like Ma, Granda’s office has a mountain of paper files on the table but with computer chips and electronic boards.

“Tooth Fairy is someone who visits kids who had their loose tooth removed. If you place your baby tooth beneath your pillow when you sleep, the fairy will exchange it for a tooth fee. Like money.”

“So it’s real then?”

“Ah..”, he trailed off. “Why don't you ask your mom?"

“But Ma said she didn’t know.”

Granda was saying something but I didn’t pay attention and roamed around. Then I found candied almonds in his drawer. It was tightly packed and I couldn’t tear it, so I waved it to Granda.

“Can I have this?” I asked.

“Did the dentist tell you to eat soft foods only? You can’t chew that yet.”

“But it looks tasty. Can I have one? Please? Please?”, I nagged incessantly until he finally opened the contents. I immediately swallowed a piece, and all of a sudden, a sharp sting hit me.

Granda paled. “Didn’t I tell you not to chew it? It’ll open your wounds and your Ma will get mad at me.”

“Granda, it hurts.”, I cried.

“Boys don’t cry, so don’t you ever shed a tear, okay? If you continue to think about that pain, it’ll hurt more, and tooth fairies won’t like that.”

“But my tooth – ”

Granda helped me spit out the almond. “Don’t think about your tooth anymore, because Granda will be your tooth fairy.”, he said as he soothed me, “And since you’re brave enough not to cry, you’ll have a tooth fee.”

Ma arrived moments later to fetch me, but she has something to discuss with Granda, so Uncle McNab used it as an excuse to drag me outside and play with some of his toys.

“Granda’s the best tooth fairy in the world!”, I told him.

“And why is that?”

“He gave me five as my tooth fee – higher than Aunt Peabody!”

“Well then, how about this.”, Uncle Mcnab pulled some credits in his pocket, “If I give you seven as your tooth fee, who will be the best of all?”

Afterward, Callendar called and secretly gave me a double to become my ‘best Tooth Fairy’ then Paul a twenty to steal the title, that almost everybody in EDD became my tooth fairies. Ma misinterpreted the commotion, so she scolded Uncle who was innocent about the bids.

Ma and I returned to her office. She was in the office bathroom when Uncle Webster entered.

“Whoa, I never though Roarke’s junior is visiting Mommy.”

“My name’s not Junior.”, I frowned. Why didn’t they call me by my first name?

He only chuckled and sat beside me. When he asked about Ma's whereabouts, I immediately pointed the bathroom.

“Hey, can I have your Mommy for a while? Or if you don’t want to, I’ll bring her to Olympus with Aunt Darcia.”

That sounds so wrong, so wrong that I got scared. I don’t want Ma to go with anybody and leave. So I went to the bathroom – almost ran with Ma – and immediately hugged her.

“Ma is mine!”, I said as I glared accusingly at Uncle Webster. “Ma’s mine!”

“God Dallas, your kid might have gotten your temperament, but he has his father’s possessiveness.”, he said between laughs. “I kinda like to tease them both.”

“Give me one solid reason not to kick you out here, Webster.”, Ma said as she returned to her swiveling chair and let me sat in her lap. “He had his tooth extraction today, and I won’t think twice to give you some retribution.”

Uncle Webster gulped then raised both of his hands. “I have no desire whatsoever to have my jaw dislocated.”

Ma and Uncle Webster were discussing something that I couldn’t comprehend. It made me feel sleepy listening to their voices so I closed my eyes and napped while clinging to Ma.

When I woke up, Uncle Webster was not there anymore.

Ma and I were lying on her couch now, and similarly, she was also sleeping. We both have disturbed periods of sleep last night as I couldn’t settle due to pains and Ma was doing her best to ease it.

Ma must have felt it when I shifted to remove her jacket that she wrapped in me. “Sleep for a while, buddy. I have to arrange some things then we’ll get your loose tooth.”, she whispered as she rose up and went back to her desk.

There was a soft knock on the door. It was Granma, and even though I felt groggy, I ran towards her.

“How’s your day, little man? I’ve heard that you went to the dentist today.”

“Uh-huh, and Mr. Smith took my tooth! Look!”, I said as I opened my mouth. Then I rubbed my cheek when I felt a sting.

Granma checked my gums and asked for my medication, in which Ma handed it to her immediately. She told me that the anesthesia was draining, and to have my wounds to heal faster, I have to take my medicine.

“They taste horrible.”, I told Granma when I shoved it away. She frowned like how Poppy frowned every time I refused to take vitamins, or just like last night, pain relievers.

Ma took over and handed me a chocolate shake. “I feel you, but you need to take it. If you won’t get well soon, you’ll miss playing with your friends. You can’t even eat some of your favorite foods. Or go back to Dublin this school break.”

“Said by a person who has the same issue.”, Granma snickered.

I finally took the medicine, cringed, and drowned it with my chocolate shake. Granma’s a doctor like Auntie Louise, so when she said that it will ease the throbbing pain, it will. And it did.

Urgh, I just hate medicines.

When I heard a familiar voice outside, I peeked at the bullpen and saw Uncle Bax and Uncle Trueheart, so I immediately rushed towards them.

“Why is it that nobody told me that my best buddy is in the house?”, Uncle Bax asked.

“Because you’re on the field with Trueheart.”, Aunt Peabody jeered then added, “He had his tooth extraction with the dentist today, so handle him with care.”

“I did not cry when Mr. Smith took my tooth!”, I bragged. I like Uncle Bax because he was goofy and Uncle Trueheart because he knows everything.

“That’s a bravery!”, Trueheart praised. I grinned.

“Oh yeah, speaking of bravery, did you know that this guy toppled three big bullies? Hey, how did you do that?”

I motioned a jab in the air and some cops applauded. Then Jekinson held both of his palms as my punching guide.

“Now, let Uncle Bax teach you the proper way of blocking.”, Uncle Bax said, then jerked a finger to Uncle Trueheart. “Boy, give me a punch.”

“You’re giving me permission now?”

“This will be your only chance, boy. So better use it.”

Uncle Trueheart rolled his shoulders and gave a long arm, only to be deflected by Uncle Bax, but unable to do on the uppercut. It was so funny how my two Uncles sprawled on the floor, wrestled while all the cops in the division circled and cheered.

I almost forgot my throbbing gums and my cold sundae from Aunt Peabody and enjoyed the scenario of cops rambles. I remembered how they used to visit us at home when we were on cribs with some treats like doughnuts, then Poppy would catch us eating the whole box and suffered from stomachaches afterward.

Da said that they were Ma’s second family, similar to Da’s in Clare, and if we call them in need, they will definitely come.

As Ma arrived fuming, pinching the ears of Uncle Bax and Uncle Trueheart, and then scolding all the cops who immediately scrammed and returned to their desks, I just realized how lucky to have Uncles and Aunties like them – or maybe my older siblings, because Ma was their mom.

Ma and I dropped by to the clinic again to get my loose tooth then went home.

That night, I pulled all the money credits I received from my tooth fairies that I placed in an evidence bag I took from Ma’s field kit. My sibling and I used to compete feeding our piggy banks with it, and whoever has the heaviest piggy, Poppy will bake the winner’s favorite pastry.

Though it always ends with a draw.

I took my small loose tooth from the petri dish, laid it gently beneath my pillows, and dreamed of raining credits. I hope this time, I will be declared as the sole winner.

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