he could remember velvet summer nights , the house quiet , oldest brother brett out with his girl , middle brother mike studying something , becky and their mother in the living room , watching something on the balky old tv ; and he would sit in the hall dressed in a pajama singlet and nothing else , ostensibly playing with his trucks , actually waiting for the moment when the silence would be broken by the door swinging open with a large bang , the bellow of his father 's welcome when he saw jacky was waiting , his own happy squeal in answer as this big man came down the hall , his pink scalp glowing beneath his crewcut in the glow of the hall light .