Like a lot of
people, Melody had a nickname. And like a lot of those with nicknames, hers was
based on her last name. And it seems that people with a last name beginning
with Mc or Mac always end up with one of the same three nicknames: Mick, Mickey
or Mack. And so it happened that two of the McDonald had names or nicknames Melody
was Mickie, and Mark’s middle name was Mack. Strangely enough, no one ever
called Mark, Mack, though.
What follows is an excerpt from Old McDonald Had a
Funny Farm; it’s a conversation between one of the newest neighborhood wannabe
bullies and Melody/Mickey. Mickey, in her own mind, saw herself as one of the
baseball world’s greats, someday in the future.1 Finding
Melody/Mickey’s left hand heading toward her mouth was her way of attempting to
not use it as the fist it resembled.
After assuring herself that the book was safely put
into the overnight bag that she would be taking onto the plane, Melody raced
out of the house to see if Blackie and Pink Ears had come back yet. She wasn’t
sure she would be going on the trip across America if they hadn’t come back by
the next afternoon. She’d been hoodwinked once, but it wasn’t going to happen a
second time, you could be sure of that. Not finding them there, she walked
disconsolately out into the front yard.
Wrapped up in her woe, she didn’t notice Juan sneak up
behind her until he shouted out in a sing-song voice, “Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse, here we have a little Mickey Mouse.”
Drawn out of her misery by the rascal’s taunting
words, an infuriated Melody swung around and shouted back at him, “Take that
back!” Her left fist crept threateningly towards her mouth.
Either not noticing or not recognizing the threat, the
boy continued his taunts. “Your name is Mickey, ain’t it? I heard ‘em call you
Mickey, so you’re Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse!”
“I am not Mickey Mouse; I’m Mickey Mantle! I’m gonna
play baseball for the Dodgers when I grow up and I’m gonna be just like Mickey
Mantle.”
The annoying boy gurgled with laughter. “You can’t
play baseball and be like Mickey Mantle; you’re just a dumb girl and girls
can’t play baseball like boys. Mickey Mouse, Mickey—“
Juanito lay gasping on the grass where Melody had just
wiped him out flat. The wiry little girl looked down at him, flexing her
muscles, and said, “I’m Mickey Mantle and if I want to play baseball, I will
‘cause I can do anything I decide I want to do.” With that, she walked calmly
away from the very red-faced, very embarrassed boy lying on the grass. As he
watched her go, the suffering bully muttered under his breath, “I’ll make you
pay for that, Mickey Mouse.”
Did you have a nickname as a child? Do they still call
you by that name? Melody has a cousin whose nickname is also Mickey. She is the
only person who still has permission to call her by that name.
1Old McDonald Had a Funny Farm, Mary (McDowell) Purpari, Amazon Kindle
Version, pg. 220-221. Copyright by Mary Purpari September 2009.
