March 2018
“So Toby had to have his appendix taken out a couple days ago,” David Ingram said to his friend, Levi Cranston, over the phone. “How’s he doing with that?” Levi asked. “Seems to be in good spirits. He told me that he started feeling some weird pain around his belly button early that morning, and he also felt very nauseous. He attempted to go to one of his classes, and his professor actually told him to leave since he looked pretty sick. When the pain moved toward where his appendix was, he decided to go to the ER.” “That also happened to me. Except I didn’t go to class at all that day.” “Get this, though. Toby is currently at home recovering from the surgery. He actually has to get another surgery in a few weeks to fix an undetected hernia an inch or so above his belly button. He also told me that this morning, he tried to locate the hernia, and he felt a small bump where they found it. He had no idea he had a hernia until he got his appendix removed,” David said. “His appendix didn’t burst, did it?” Levi asked. “No, it didn’t.” “Good. When I had my appendix removed, they told me that, if I had waited another five minutes to get to the ER, my appendix probably would have burst.” “You remember that Brody also had his appendix taken out a while ago, right?” “Oh yeah, that’s right.” “Brody’s situation was pretty similar to yours. If we had waited even a few more minutes to get to the hospital, his appendix would have burst.”
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April 2024
“I wish David Savino could come with us to Boston,” David Ingram said on the phone to his friend, Levi Cranston. “Yeah, poor nutjob is down with a bad cold,” Levi replied. “I know he and his roommates are all sick with a cold, and they hung out together in the common area and watched TV for the whole day.” “Didn’t you and your brothers do that once?” “Oh my god, yes. This was when Brett was a junior in high school, I was a sophomore, Brody was a freshman, and Toby was in fifth grade, I believe. Fortunately, Dawson was on his own by then, so he didn’t have to deal with whatever germs we may have had,” David said. “Yes, I remember that. You all had a bonding day in your common area by watching TV the whole day,” Levi said. “Yeah, it was actually not a bad day, given the fact that we were all sick. We were all in the common area, wrapped in our own blankets. We watched TV and played video games. Then we also ordered pizza for dinner.” “We’ve done similar when we were sick.” “I remember it actually worked out quite well, since my parents were celebrating their anniversary that day. We called ourselves the Sick Boys Club. Just because we all happened to be sick.” “Oh my god. You all crack me up.” Summer 2006
“My throat is on fire,” Matthew Rhodes (Rhody) Bacaluso-Leyman said to his older sister, Jayne, who was in his room with him at the moment. “How long has it been since you had your tonsils out?” Jayne asked. “I don’t even remember, like a few days ago, I think. I’ve just been playing video games for most of the time, though.” “Did you want ice cream or something? Dad wanted me to ask you.” “No thank you,” Rhody replied. “Okay, Dad and I are going out for a few hours. Mom is here if you need her,” Jayne said. “Ok. Thanks, Jayne.” “Levi said he’s free to come over if you want.” “I’ll think about it. I’m really not feeling too well.” “Alright. See you in a few hours.” June 2016
“So, unfortunately, David can’t join us for tennis this afternoon,” Brody Ingram said on the phone. “Oh, sorry to hear that. He alright?” Levi Cranston responded on the other end. “Yeah, he’s fine. We’re worried that Toby might have a sinus infection. It started off as a cold, but he started feeling intense pressure in his nose, around where your sinuses are. And he’s been in bed all day today. David is gonna stay home with him and keep him company.” “He’s a good brother.” “I wish he could play tennis with us, but I think he and Toby will have enough fun playing video games,” Brody replied. “Yes, he will,” Levi said. “I don’t remember Toby being this down in a while. I had a small sinus infection a few years ago, and it knocked me down for at least a week or so.” “Yeah, a few years ago, my sister Vicky and I both had it, and it ruined our summers.” “It’s not fun. For me, it started off as a cold, and then it turned into that.” April 2017
“I love Toby to death, but boy oh boy, can he be a real dufus at times,” David Ingram said over the phone to one of his best friends, Levi Cranston. “Oh geez, what happened now?” Levi asked over the phone. “So Toby and his friend, Sav, were home from college this weekend. And Dawson and Toby were supposed to go to our grandma’s birthday dinner last night. Dawson and his wife, Daniela, came out and showed up on time. Toby, however, lost track of time, since he was out skateboarding with Sav and a couple other friends. And he showed up late of course, and then he really embarrassed himself at the restaurant.” “He can be a bit of a space cadet, is that right?” “Toby is by far one of the smartest people I know. All five of us boys are highly intelligent, but he has single-handedly challenged me on certain ideas that I would never have thought of, coming from my younger brother. But he has a tendency to be very absent-minded,” David replied. “That used to be me all the time as a kid, but then I changed my ways,” Levi said. “That’s all of us, to be honest. Our grandma requested that they all dress a little nicer since it was her birthday. I think Toby forgot to set his alarm to the time that he was supposed to get ready for the dinner. He spent too much time skateboarding with his friends that Dawson called him and asked him where he was. Then, Toby panicked and had Sav drive him to the restaurant. He showed up to the restaurant dripping in sweat and exhausted. He also had his skateboard with him, and our grandma called him out in front of everyone.” “I’m sorry that he had to deal with that. Happened to me a lot as a kid, so I can relate.” “Everything is fine now between Toby and our grandma. She can be a bit unreasonable at times. But in the end, she wants what’s best for us, and she wants us to be happy. But Toby did tell me that he felt so bad that he wanted to crawl into a hole at the dinner.” “Why weren’t you at the dinner?” “Oh for god’s sake. Brody and I are now in San Francisco, and Brett is in Brooklyn.” Summer 2014
David and Brody Ingram sat on the sofa, not saying a word. They knew how their mom was going to respond to their all-nighter. Not that she would at all be mad. However, she knows how they are when it comes to sleep. And these boys need all the sleep they can get. Their mom sat in the dining room with a cup of tea in one hand and a business journal in another. David and Brody peered over to see that she was there. She had a great appearance; her hair was neat for long and wavy light brown hair, given the fact that she is only four years older than her husband, who is fifty-eight. She wore a blue sweater and blue jeans. Mrs. Ingram was definitely ready for the day. “Did we play video games all night long?” Brody asked. “I think we did,” David replied. “I think we stayed up longer last night than we did at school.” “Oh, when you and your friends would stay up and play video games on Friday nights?” “Yeah, but last night we didn’t order Chinese or anything,” Brody pointed out. “We did have baklava, though,” David remarked, trying to lighten the mood. “Oh yeah. I almost forgot.” “Do we have anything that we have to do today?” “I hope not.” “I hope not either.” David and Brody definitely could feel their eyelids getting heavy. So, with this in mind, they wanted to say “good morning” to their mom and then head off to bed. They could not remember if they had anything going to today or not. It was Saturday, so no one had to be anywhere today. Which was probably a good thing, given the boys’ circumstance, er….all-nighter. When the two boys seated themselves at the dining room table, they had an idea that their mom knew they were up to something. Nothing bad, but nothing saintly either. Just the fact that all four boys had basically spent the whole night playing their favorite video games. And that they would have to pay the consequences today. Unless David and Brody headed toward their futons now and slept in until at least one o’clock this afternoon. “Good morning, boys,” Mrs. Ingram said as she still sat at the dining room table. She still had with her a cup of tea. “Morning,” David replied. “Morning,” Brody responded. “You guys are still up,” Mrs. Ingram stated. “We pulled an all-nighter,” David remarked. “Why?” “We couldn’t stop playing video games, I guess.” “We were planning to go to your dad’s parents’ house today.” “Oh. Whoops.” “You should go to bed now since we were planning to go over at four o’clock.” David and Brody headed toward their bedroom. When climbing the stairs, they could feel their weight being brought down by gravity. In their minds, they couldn’t decide whether this meant that they were truly tired, or if they were truly lazy. The two boys couldn’t possibly be lazy. They just wanted their bed, and their bed just wanted them. David and Brody finally made it up to their bedroom, and then to their futons. In a matter of minutes, David was out like a lamp. Brody, however, could not go to sleep so quickly. As a matter of fact, it was his pounding heartbeat that was keeping him up. For some very odd reason. Brody walked back downstairs to his mom because he was feeling scared. “I can’t sleep,” Brody said sleepily. “No?” Mrs. Ingram asked. “I feel like my heart’s going to pop out of my chest.” “I believe you’re really slap happy.” “I’m so scared,” Brody remarked as he folded his arms over his chest. “Your heart’s not going to pop out of your chest,” Mrs. Ingram pointed out. “I hope not.” “Believe me. It won’t.” “Will you make sure?” “Okay.” Mrs. Ingram smiled and laughed to herself and put her hand on her son’s chest, so that she could clearly feel his snappy heartbeat. Brody put one of his hand over her hand so that he could have the reassuring feeling that his heart was not actually going to pop out of his chest. To Mrs. Ingram, this was pretty ridiculous. She was wondering why the boys had stayed up so late. She wondering why the boys would do that to themselves, since they are not morning people to begin with. “Is my heart going to pop out of my chest?” Brody asked, even more sleepily than before. “No, Brody,” Mrs. Ingram replied, quite amused. “Are you sure?” “I could feel your heartbeat, so I’m not worried about it.” “What should I do?” Brody asked. He was completely out of it. “I think you should try to get some sleep. I am not completely for all-nighters,” his mom stated. “Why? All-nighters can be fun.” “Your sleep schedule is destroyed, and you’re not a morning person to begin with.” “Oh yeah. Right.” “So, get some sleep!” Summer 2022
David Ingram and his girlfriend, Mia Charisse Boyer, were chilling at David’s San Francisco apartment for the evening. Brody, David’s younger brother, Brody’s girlfriend, Julia Jaconetti, Brody’s best friend, Andrew McCalsky, and David’s best friend, Adam Levistad, were out on the town for the evening. David and Mia were watching some goofy cartoons, and Mia got too into the moment. She wrapped herself around David’s torso and put her ear on his chest. David’s left arm was wrapped around her. His hand was already on his chest, most likely feeling for his heartbeat. “Hey David?” Mia got her boyfriend’s attention. “Yeah, Mia?” David answered. “I had no idea that anyone’s heart could beat this fast.” “Apparently mine can.” “I think you like me,” Mia said in a cutesy tone. “I think I do,” David replied, drawing in a deep breath. “Can you actually feel your heart pounding in your chest?” “Mhm.” Fall 2018
“What are you up to this weekend?” David Ingram asked his friend, Levi Cranston, over the phone. “Honestly not much. Just likely gonna play video games with everyone. What about you?” Levi replied. “Our parents are flying in to San Francisco to celebrate our birthdays with us.” “Oh nice.” “Yeah, it will be nice to see them,” David replied. “What is the rest of your family doing?” Levi asked. “Not much with Dawson, I don’t think. I think he and everyone else is just staying home. Brett’s got a gig. And then Toby is going down to Evansville this weekend with some friends to surprise one of his high school friends for his 21st birthday. He goes to college there.” “Didn’t you and Brody go there once?” “Yes, once. We enjoyed what we could of it, but it’s not one of those cities where I could spend more than a day or so there.” “If I remember correctly, I think we went there once to look at a college. Rhody almost went to college there.” “Yeah, that’s right.” April 2024
“I wish David Savino could come with us to Boston,” David Ingram said on the phone to his friend, Levi Cranston. “Yeah, poor nutjob is down with a bad cold,” Levi replied. “I know he and his roommates are all sick with a cold, and they hung out together in the common area and watched TV for the whole day.” “Didn’t you and your brothers do that once?” “Oh my god, yes. This was when Brett was a junior in high school, I was a sophomore, Brody was a freshman, and Toby was in fifth grade, I believe. Fortunately, Dawson was on his own by then, so he didn’t have to deal with whatever germs we may have had,” David said. “Yes, I remember that. You all had a bonding day in your common area by watching TV the whole day,” Levi said. “Yeah, it was actually not a bad day, given the fact that we were all sick. We were all in the common area, wrapped in our own blankets. We watched TV and played video games. Then we also ordered pizza for dinner.” “We’ve done similar when we were sick.” “I remember it actually worked out quite well, since my parents were celebrating their anniversary that day. We called ourselves the Sick Boys Club. Just because we all happened to be sick.” “Oh my god. You all crack me up.” Summer 2014
It was just one of those summer days. One of those summer days that could be considered lazy. One of those summer days that could be considered sultry. One of those summer days that could be considered not so motivating. And, one of those summer days that a lot of college students might want to sleep in. Of course, David Ingram had that luxury because his full-time job didn’t start until tomorrow. His younger brother Brody, however, had to be up bright and early because he was going back to his internship today. It was seven o’clock in the morning, a time when both David and Brody would normally be sleeping on a weekend and in the summer. Their dad came into their room just to wake up Brody, since he knew he needed to be up by now. David was let off the hook. Well, at least for now. He could celebrate his last free day with wine and baklava if he so chose. Brody would have to celebrate later. Toby was already awake, and most likely playing video games in the common area. David and Brody looked very comfortable when they were sleeping. David was, as normal, sleeping on his side. His comforter was lying on the floor, and his head was buried under one pillow. His left arm was wrapped around another pillow. Brody, as normal, was sleeping on his stomach. His comforter was also lying on the floor, and their dad found this somewhat humorous. Their dad realized that he needed to do something in order to get Brody out of bed. “Wake up, Brody,” Mr. Ingram announced in a sing-song voice. “No,” Brody replied in his pillow. “Guess what today is?” “Time for you to get a watch.” “Now, you don’t get sassy with me, B-Rodes,” their dad remarked humorously. “Just let me sleep,” Brody said, his voice muffled by his most comfortable pillow. He moved over on his right side, and he also buried his head under a pillow. “Today’s your first day back at your internship.” “Dammit.” “Would you like another thirty minutes to sleep?” Brody nodded in his pillow. “Okay. But when thirty minutes are up, you’re up. Got it?” Brody nodded in his pillow again. Their dad smiled and left. He shook his head because he has always known that David and Brody have never been morning people. Since the two boys were little, their parents knew that the struggle to wake them up would be real. When Brody was very little, try four years old, he would always pull the funniest gag ever. When he was really sleepy, he would literally fall asleep on the bottom stair and wait for one of their parents to pick him up and carry him to his bed. A few weeks ago, on a weekend when Brody was home from college, he was very tired. He tried pulling the same gag that he did when he was four years old. The boy fell asleep and waited for their mom and dad to pick him up and carry him. However, their mom and dad would not let him get away with it this time around. |
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