Davey stood in the center of the family room, his arms down at his side, waiting patiently for the full attention of his brothers.
Don and Dennis laid their sticks on the pool table, then plopped down hard on the sofa, making Doug bounce just a little. Doug shifted his weight, but remained focused on his magazine. Dennis elbowed Doug, who grumbled “wait a minute” and continued reading the Sports Illustrated article until he reached the end of the page. Then he dropped the magazine to the floor.
All eyes were now on Davey. “Okay, go ahead little man,” Don said. Davey cleared his throat, smiled nervously and started to sing. “My-y-y-y country ...”
When he finished singing, he said “thank you” and took an exaggerated bow. All three of his brothers politely applauded Davey’s rendition of “My Country Tis of Thee,” even though he sang it too fast, mumbled many of the words and was mostly off-key.
“Good job,” Don said. “Yeah, good job,” Dennis echoed. “Excellent,” Doug chimed in.
Davey stood there, a smile stretching across his little face. “It’s a good song, huh guys, a real good song.” Davey felt so proud. “It’s all about America. We learnt it in school. Ms. Nancy, she taught it to us. She’s our music teacher.” He leaned forward like he was about to divulge a big secret. “Y’know what? Her first name is Nancy. She’s got a real long last name. That’s because she got married; so now she’s got two last names and it’s really, really long. It’s like this long,” he said, extending his arms to illustrate his point. “So that’s why she lets us call her Ms. Nancy. She’s real nice. And pretty too. She’s not our regular teacher, just music. It’s lots of fun. Sometimes when the whole class is singing, she starts flinging her arms all over the place; she calls it conducting.”
Doug hooted. “Oh yeah, like this,” he said, moving his arms around like a conductor. “Yeah, just like that,” Davey said. “And y’know what else guys, when she’s doing her conducting, sometimes she raises her arms so high, you can see the slip that’s under her dress. Yesterday she had the leopard slip on again. She wears that one a lot. It’s cool. It’s got leopard spots on it just like the leopards at the zoo.”
The three brothers eyed each other. “Leopard slip,” Don said in a half-whisper.
“Sounds like little Davey‘s getting himself quite an education,” Dennis said with a sinister laugh, turning to high-five Doug on his left, then Don on his right. Doug let out a hoot and Don and Dennis joined in, getting a good laugh going.
“Yeah, that’s pretty funny, huh guys,” Davey said, even though he didn’t see what was so funny about Ms. Nancy’s slip showing. But he figured it must be funny if his brothers were laughing, so he laughed too.
“Okay, show’s over,” Don announced, jumping up from the sofa. “C’mon bro’,” he said, motioning Dennis to follow him over to the pool table. “The couch is all yours Dougster,” Don said. Doug fidgeted to get himself back into a comfortable reading position.
Davey, still standing in the center of the room, waited patiently for Don to take his shot and then said: “Hey Don, I got a question. What does ‘tisafee’ mean?” Don turned around, the pool stick still in his hand. “Huh? Say what?”
“Y’know, ‘tisafee,’ from the song, ‘My Country Tisafee’,” Davey said. Dennis made a face and walked around the pool table so that he was standing right next to Don. “What did he say?” Dennis asked. Doug set down his Sports Illustrated and sat up straight. All eyes were on Davey.
Davey was exasperated. “So, what’s a tisafee? Is that what they called America back in George Washington’s time? Or is it like a happy feeling or something else?"
Don and Dennis eyed each other. “Tisafee don’t mean squat,” Dennis snorted. Doug slapped at his knee. “Oh boy!” he shouted. Don shook his head. “You little dope, it’s not tisafee, it’s tis of thee. Tisafee isn’t even a word!”
Davey got defensive, throwing his arms back. “Well it sure sounded like a word when Ms. Nancy was teaching it to us. And that’s how it sounded when the whole class sung it at school!”
Don, now leaning on his pool stick, shook his head. “No, what she was saying was tis of thee. It’s three words dummy, tis of thee.”
“Tisa three?” Davey whispered.
“No! Not three!” Don shouted. “The word is thee!” Davey’s eyes blinked rapidly.
“Didn’t mean to yell,” Don said in a normal-volume voice. “It’s tis of thee,” he said, stretching out the words. “Tis of thee, got it?”
Davey scowled, scratched at his head, then said “oh” as if he understood. But he didn’t understand. Tis of thee didn’t make any more sense to him than tisafee. He knew “of” was a word, but he never heard anyone say “tis” or “thee.” But at least his brothers had stopped laughing. Then Doug had to go and open his big mouth.
“Oh boy, tisafee, that’s a good one,” Doug hooted. “We gotta tell Mom and Dad that one, they’ll ll get a big kick out of it.” Again, Doug slapped at his knee, hooting with laughter and egging Don and Dennis to join in, which they did.
Davey looked down at his shoes. They were all laughing at him. He was so embarrassed he felt like crying. So he pressed his lips together real hard so he wouldn’t cry. And it worked. He didn’t dare ask them anything else. They had laughed about tisafee, so he knew they’d laugh even more if he said he still didn’t know what tis of thee meant. So he kept his mouth shut. He wasn’t about to let his brothers make him feel stupid twice on the same day.
Don and Dennis laid their sticks on the pool table, then plopped down hard on the sofa, making Doug bounce just a little. Doug shifted his weight, but remained focused on his magazine. Dennis elbowed Doug, who grumbled “wait a minute” and continued reading the Sports Illustrated article until he reached the end of the page. Then he dropped the magazine to the floor.
All eyes were now on Davey. “Okay, go ahead little man,” Don said. Davey cleared his throat, smiled nervously and started to sing. “My-y-y-y country ...”
When he finished singing, he said “thank you” and took an exaggerated bow. All three of his brothers politely applauded Davey’s rendition of “My Country Tis of Thee,” even though he sang it too fast, mumbled many of the words and was mostly off-key.
“Good job,” Don said. “Yeah, good job,” Dennis echoed. “Excellent,” Doug chimed in.
Davey stood there, a smile stretching across his little face. “It’s a good song, huh guys, a real good song.” Davey felt so proud. “It’s all about America. We learnt it in school. Ms. Nancy, she taught it to us. She’s our music teacher.” He leaned forward like he was about to divulge a big secret. “Y’know what? Her first name is Nancy. She’s got a real long last name. That’s because she got married; so now she’s got two last names and it’s really, really long. It’s like this long,” he said, extending his arms to illustrate his point. “So that’s why she lets us call her Ms. Nancy. She’s real nice. And pretty too. She’s not our regular teacher, just music. It’s lots of fun. Sometimes when the whole class is singing, she starts flinging her arms all over the place; she calls it conducting.”
Doug hooted. “Oh yeah, like this,” he said, moving his arms around like a conductor. “Yeah, just like that,” Davey said. “And y’know what else guys, when she’s doing her conducting, sometimes she raises her arms so high, you can see the slip that’s under her dress. Yesterday she had the leopard slip on again. She wears that one a lot. It’s cool. It’s got leopard spots on it just like the leopards at the zoo.”
The three brothers eyed each other. “Leopard slip,” Don said in a half-whisper.
“Sounds like little Davey‘s getting himself quite an education,” Dennis said with a sinister laugh, turning to high-five Doug on his left, then Don on his right. Doug let out a hoot and Don and Dennis joined in, getting a good laugh going.
“Yeah, that’s pretty funny, huh guys,” Davey said, even though he didn’t see what was so funny about Ms. Nancy’s slip showing. But he figured it must be funny if his brothers were laughing, so he laughed too.
“Okay, show’s over,” Don announced, jumping up from the sofa. “C’mon bro’,” he said, motioning Dennis to follow him over to the pool table. “The couch is all yours Dougster,” Don said. Doug fidgeted to get himself back into a comfortable reading position.
Davey, still standing in the center of the room, waited patiently for Don to take his shot and then said: “Hey Don, I got a question. What does ‘tisafee’ mean?” Don turned around, the pool stick still in his hand. “Huh? Say what?”
“Y’know, ‘tisafee,’ from the song, ‘My Country Tisafee’,” Davey said. Dennis made a face and walked around the pool table so that he was standing right next to Don. “What did he say?” Dennis asked. Doug set down his Sports Illustrated and sat up straight. All eyes were on Davey.
Davey was exasperated. “So, what’s a tisafee? Is that what they called America back in George Washington’s time? Or is it like a happy feeling or something else?"
Don and Dennis eyed each other. “Tisafee don’t mean squat,” Dennis snorted. Doug slapped at his knee. “Oh boy!” he shouted. Don shook his head. “You little dope, it’s not tisafee, it’s tis of thee. Tisafee isn’t even a word!”
Davey got defensive, throwing his arms back. “Well it sure sounded like a word when Ms. Nancy was teaching it to us. And that’s how it sounded when the whole class sung it at school!”
Don, now leaning on his pool stick, shook his head. “No, what she was saying was tis of thee. It’s three words dummy, tis of thee.”
“Tisa three?” Davey whispered.
“No! Not three!” Don shouted. “The word is thee!” Davey’s eyes blinked rapidly.
“Didn’t mean to yell,” Don said in a normal-volume voice. “It’s tis of thee,” he said, stretching out the words. “Tis of thee, got it?”
Davey scowled, scratched at his head, then said “oh” as if he understood. But he didn’t understand. Tis of thee didn’t make any more sense to him than tisafee. He knew “of” was a word, but he never heard anyone say “tis” or “thee.” But at least his brothers had stopped laughing. Then Doug had to go and open his big mouth.
“Oh boy, tisafee, that’s a good one,” Doug hooted. “We gotta tell Mom and Dad that one, they’ll ll get a big kick out of it.” Again, Doug slapped at his knee, hooting with laughter and egging Don and Dennis to join in, which they did.
Davey looked down at his shoes. They were all laughing at him. He was so embarrassed he felt like crying. So he pressed his lips together real hard so he wouldn’t cry. And it worked. He didn’t dare ask them anything else. They had laughed about tisafee, so he knew they’d laugh even more if he said he still didn’t know what tis of thee meant. So he kept his mouth shut. He wasn’t about to let his brothers make him feel stupid twice on the same day.
