*
My story begins when I was six years old. We lived in a big house in Detroit. There was my mom, dad, and my two older sisters. Elementary school was only a few blocks away but my mom walked me there and back each day.
On my first day, I met my new classmates. We each gave our name and then said where we lived. One girl said her name was Amelia, but everyone called her Amy. Come to find out she only lived two doors down from me.
After school I told my mom and we stopped by her house. She came to the door with her mom and I asked her if she wanted to walk to school with me.
“My name is Mary Jones. My son and your daughter are in the same class.”
“Hi, I’m Janice Dillon. Nice to meet you.”
Our mothers visited for a good twenty minutes while Amy and I talked. Our mothers decided that they would take turns each week taking us to school. I was at their door first thing in the morning and Mrs. Dillon walked us to school.
Amy and I became best friends. She would come over and we’d play catch. She wasn’t very good at first but learned really fast. We both had bicycles and road up and down the sidewalks. Over time, we did everything together. If my parents took me anywhere, there was a good chance Amy came along. By the third grade, our moms didn’t walk with us anymore. We went to school by ourselves.
When it was time to go into the seventh grade and to middle school, Amy told me her dad said they were moving to the suburbs. When they moved, I had tears in my eyes. I was losing my best friend. My dad said we could go see them now and then but we never did.
As I got older, I became somewhat of a jock. Baseball was my favorite. I learned to play every position. I was one of the few left-handed pitchers. I wasn’t into football—it just wasn’t my sport. When I got into high school the coach kept trying to get me to join the team, but I refused.
The school I went to often had troubles so I took body building classes and even self-protection courses instead of gym. I got in a few fights because someone always wanted to test me. I tried to talk them out of it at first but it didn’t always work. I usually had the baseball team behind me because I was their star player. I even made all state my junior year.
In the summer before my senior year, my dad said he bought a house in the suburbs and I would be finishing high school there. It was always hard starting a new school but I was glad to leave the inner city. It might have been my senior year but I was glad to transfer.
I was a smart kid but the school tested me in a few classes so I could join the other seniors. I passed with flying colors. The school had a great shop course and I loved working with my hands, especially welding. And I figured business courses could help me if I started my own some day.
On the first day, I sat in the lunchroom with a couple of other guys who said they were new there, too. Their parents were military and they moved around a lot. About the third day a lanky senior and another stocky guy who I found out was also a senior came to our table during lunch. They looked at me and one said he heard I came from an inner city school. He wanted to know if I was as tough as the school was.
“Look, I don’t want any trouble. I survived the city school by minding my own business and I suggest you do the same.”
“Watch your mouth or me and Butch here will see how tough you really are.”
It was easy to tell he was trying to act like a big shot. Butch showed his muscles and grinned. How stupid were these two guys, I wondered.
I looked at them and said, “If that’s what you want we can go outside but I want you to know I fight dirty as hell. I’ll pick up a board and smack you across the face. I’ll gouge your eyes and kick your gonads as far up your ass as I can. I have a knife I’ll use if I need to. It’s up to you. Do we go outside or sit here and finish our lunch?”
Butch looked worried. He and his buddy got up and left the table. I never had a problem with either of them again.
It was my fourth day of school when I looked up and saw Amy enter the cafeteria. I had no idea she attended this school. She was with a good-looking guy and a group of other students. I was stunned when I saw her. I never knew what school she went to and it totally caught me by surprise.
My new friends saw who I was looking at and told me that she was a senior like all of her group and they sort of ran the school. The guy Amy was with was the principal’s son and the football quarterback. Amy and all the other girls were cheerleaders.
Amy saw me and her mouth flew open but she made no effort to come and say hi. My friends and I finished our lunch and left the cafeteria. I glanced over at Amy as I walked out. She stared at me as if she wanted to say something.
When I left school that day Amy was waiting for me around the corner of the school building. Even though I hadn’t seen her for years I knew I still cared for her. I could never forget my best friend even though we had just been kids back then.
“Amy, what are you doing here? Where’s your boyfriend? He probably wouldn’t be too happy with you talking to me. I hear he’s rather jealous.”
“Jerry, I just had to see you. It’s been so long. I would like to talk with you but I don’t have the time right now. Here’s my home number and address. Call me and maybe we can get together and talk. I have to get back to cheerleader practice. I’m really happy to see you again though.”
I was glad to see her. I could feel it inside my chest but at the same time, I felt mad at her. Was she embarrassed to come and say hello to me? Was she afraid her boyfriend would get mad? I waited a few minutes then I walked over to the football practice field and sat in the stands. The players came out and started their practice. Then the cheerleaders came out. They were a good-looking group of girls. When they took a break, a couple of them came over to talk to me. I recognized them from one of my classes.
I talked to them for a few minutes before they went back to practice. It seemed like they were talking about me because they kept looking at me. Amy looked aggravated but I just smiled. That evening I went to her house. She came to the door.
“You were supposed to call first.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Well, Ray comes over after school once in awhile.”
“So what? We’re just old friends talking. Is he that insecure?”
She changed the subject without answering.
“Why did you go to the practice field?”
“I just wanted to watch you. Amy, you are one beautiful girl.”
I guess she didn’t know how to answer that.
“My girlfriends think you’re cute and want to go out with you. I told them I knew you from our old neighborhood where we grew up but that I hadn’t seen you for a number of years.”
I was surprised she even mentioned it. She had a porch swing and we sat and talked about old times when we were kids.