In the back yard, Tony, Jimmy, Doug, and Mr. Harper were gathered around a flat, brightly colored, square box. Eamon was leading Helen around the yard, stopping to pick up whatever caught his eye and handing it to her. As they walked, Helen would hold on to the gifts until her hands got too full, then she discretely emptied them behind her back. Eamon didn’t seem to mind, he was happy handing her things.
Jimmy saw Steven coming and yelled, “It’s a Slip and Slide! Dad bought a Slip and Slide!”
“Happy Birthday, Steven,” called Mr. Harper.
The boys shouted “Happy Birthday!” in a ragged chorus.
Helen scooped up Eamon and headed toward the house. “Hello, Steven. Happy Birthday! Are Aunt Agnes and your mom inside?”
He told her they were and she disappeared inside carrying Eamon, who was playing with her hair.
The Slip and Slide was easy to set up, but the ground preparation took a while. Mr. Harper supervised the boys who crawled in the grass, shoulder to shoulder, “policing the grounds.” Mr. Harper had served in Korea and Steven thought that he was enjoying this. Earlier that summer Mr. Harper has removed a peach tree from the center of the yard and the Slip and Slide’s path ran directly over the disturbed ground. Steven found two pieces of green glass in the disturbed soil, the edges rounded and worn smooth. He ran to the house and placed the pieces of glass by a railing post so he would see them when he was leaving and remember to take them home.
The boys were quiet, focused on their task. When they found a stone or piece of debris, they would flip it toward the low, chainlink fence. There was a steady series of pings as stones hit the fence and the occasional click of a stone that cleared the fence and bounced across the concrete alley.
When the boys finished, two tasks remained. Mr. Harper had noticed that the ground where the peach tree had stood had subsided. He sent Jimmy to get the shovel and toss a few shovelfuls of soil from the flower beds on the low spot. Doug was sent to get a rake and make a final pass over the path. Tony and Steven were held in reserve to stamp down the loose soil filling the low spot. When these tasks were completed and the tools put away, Mr. Harper reviewed the grounds and pronounced them satisfactory.
Jimmy tore open the box and pulled out the instructions. He held them in his hand and looked at his father, uncertain what to do with them. “Toss ‘em,” said Mr. Harper. “It’s a roll of plastic, for God’s sake.”
“Instructions?” muttered Steven to himself. “We don’t need no instructions.”
Jimmy joyously wadded up the instructions and ran to the trash can to toss them away. Helen was watching the scene through the screen door. She called over her shoulder to the women in the kitchen, “You’re right, Alice. They threw them away.”
Doug pulled the folded plastic sheet from the box. He held one end and Jimmy unrolled the heavy yellow plastic. Mr. Harper attached the hose and all that remained was to position the Slip and Slide. This took more debating than might appear necessary. It was finally decided that they all agreed it would point toward the house. The Harper’s yard, like most Olney yards, was narrow. The long, thin strip of plastic followed the length of the yard.
The difficult question was how close to the basketball court to place the slide. The boys wanted the longest possible room for the run up to gain maximum speed before hurling themselves onto the Slip and Slide. Mr. Harper argued for maximum room to stop before sliding onto the concrete basketball court. They compromised and placed the Slip and Slide equidistant from the back of the Williams garage that marked the end of the Harper’s property and the court. Now the boys were ready to go.
Steven was wearing Jimmy’s bathing suit from last year which was a little loose, but good enough. Tony had run home to change while the set up debate raged. Jimmy and Doug had changed within five minutes of their dad arriving home with the Slip and Slide under his arm. Mr. Harper went to turn on the water so the sliding could begin. Jimmy was carrying the box to the trash, when a slip of paper slid out. The women had finished carrying the food to the picnic table set up on the court. The paper drifted toward Mrs. Harper who picked it up, gave it a quick glance, and called to her husband to wait.
“OK, everybody gather round,” she called to the boys. The four boys, joined by Jeannie who had changed into her suit last and had just come running down the back steps, walked over to the Mrs. Harper. They burned their bare feet as they hurried across the hot concrete to the shaded area where food was laid out. TV trays and lawn chairs were scattered about. “First we eat,” she said, in voice that although friendly, made it clear that the decision was made.
Jimmy’s eagerness to try out the Slip and Slide overrode his common sense. “But mom, we can’t use the slide until an hour after we eat.”
“That’s swimming. It’s a piece of wet plastic, not a pool. Eat before you get wet and bones start breaking.”
Helen was watching the exchange closely. The unspoken messages between mother and son fascinated her. “And after we eat, politely, without wolfing down your food, we’ll have a look at this.” She held up the sheet of paper Jimmy had dropped. In three-inch bold print, it read “SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS.” Jimmy knew he was beaten and found a chair.
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