My Boy Hood

Lala’s mom drove us to the concert and it was like a fair there. “Well, I guess it is a fair,” Lala’s mother said, “They have rides and booths. Since the concert doesn’t start till later, I’m going to leave you two be.”

That was the last we heard from her all night. We walked around and it didn’t take long to find Blake, Penny, and Summer. We hung out, Blake constantly challenging me to the booths. We saw Sake with a few girls and Lala’s two friends came. It was a couple who stayed to their selves. I never saw them before, so I wasn’t all that bothered about them.

Jason and his sister came too, and she clung to me the whole time, even when her three girlfriends came. We had a crowd with us, but it was fun. For a while, we didn’t see Jeremy, and for a minute I thought he was still with that girl, Lucy. The later afternoon came and Dakota and her friends ran off, even Lala’s two friends disappeared. Jeremy appeared then, without a word about where he’s been. He even had Sam with him.

“Hey, guys! What took your asses so long?” Blake asked.

“Jer waited until my job was done so he could bring me here.” Sam explained, sitting at the booth.

I could see some oil stains on his hands, “Unfortunately I didn’t have the time to clean myself off.”

“Don’t you work as a part-time mechanic?” Penny asked.

He blinked at her question, “No, usually I pump gas but some guys made me help them change oil on the car. Only they didn’t tell me how bad it was.”

He held up his hands to show the aftermath. “Why don’t we find a bathroom to get you cleaned up?” Lala said.

“Do you know where one is?” Jeremy asked.

“Yeah, the park restroom is about a ten minute walk from here.” Jason said, pointing.

“I’ll head there now.”

“Summer and I’ll tag along too, so you don’t get lost.” Penny said, grabbing her friend’s hand.

“Hey, Jay, why don’t we go get some snacks?” Lala asked, “You hungry?”

“Yeah! Let’s go!”

Just like that, they were gone and Jeremy and I were left alone. I sat down on the bench next to Jeremy, “I guess we’re the rendez-vous spot.”

Jeremy sighed, “I guess… hey, sorry about earlier.”

“About the girl? Don’t worry about it.” I said, resting my head on the back of the bench.

“It’s not that. She has her own pace of doing things. She doesn’t have much contact with the outside world so she’s a little fast when it comes to making friends.”

“It’s okay, seriously. Actually, I want to become friends with her.” I said, “She said you were her only friend, right? It wouldn’t hurt to have another. Plus, it seems your always responsible for her, since she’s always clinging to you.”

I smiled at Jeremy, and a relief expression came over his face, “Gosh, for a while I thought you were forcing yourself.”

“Tell me something.” I started.

“What?”

“That chick charm she had, was that part of a necklace?” I asked.

He leaned forward so he could face me some, “That? Oh, yeah. The first time she was granted out of the hospital I took her to an arcade.” His eyes went distant and had a small smile, “She spent over half the money her dad gave her just to get it. I stepped in and asked her if she wanted me to get it for her, but she resisted. She spent all of her money trying to get it.

“When she ran out of money, she was about to cry. I haven’t even started spending mine yet, so I placed two quarters in, and I managed to get it on my first try.” He looked at me and grinned, “It was funny really. She started crying really bad and ran off outside. I managed to find her…”

He looked around, “Now that I’m thinking about it, it was here on this bench where I found her.”

We were sitting at the same bench he was speaking about. He was quiet for a minute, and when I thought he was actually done, he continued, “Well, when I found her, she was still crying. I said some things at the time and ended up giving the necklace to her.” His face scrunched up, “I think it was after then that she fell in love with me. That was in sixth grade though. She wore that necklace for the next two years. When I noticed she wasn’t wearing it anymore, she said it broke and threw it away.

“I didn’t really care either way. I haven’t seen it since so I guess when you picked it up, it made me realize how petty the thing was.”

I shook my head, “I feel sorry for her.”

“Why?”

“An unrequited love is one of the worst ones.” Was all I said to him.

He just sighed, “I figured as long as I stayed close to her she’d feel satisfied. She has this horrible deal of overthinking things though. I can’t date her though.”

“Why not?” I asked, leaning back at the bench again.

“It’s just that I have no feelings for her no matter how I look at it. Every time I see her, it’s the same feeling I have toward you or the others.”

“Have you ever liked a girl before?” I asked him.

He just went silent for a few moments, “Well, remember at our first game how I said I seen Ronda Johnson’s daughter?”

My heart jumped and it made me lean forward, “What about her?”

“I doubt it means I liked her, but I remembered when I first saw her, I couldn’t help but think that she was the prettiest girl that I’ve seen.”

He looked at me, “I wonder what I would think if I saw her again.”

What was this? I broke eye contact and stared the other direction. I leaned my head on my hand and couldn’t help but say, “You’re a romantic and you don’t even know it.”

I stood and walked in front of him, pointing a finger, “But what would you think, Mr. Romantic? Would you spout nonsense and scare her away or would you get down on one knee, kiss her hand, and say what a fine princess she is?”

I know, I was rambling. I was doing it to hide my own embarrassment. I stuck my hands in my pockets, “What would you do if she was standing right in front of you and you didn’t know it?”

He crossed his arms and leaned back, “What the hell are you rambling about?”

I laughed, and that was when Lala and Jason came back with their arms filled with candy and snacks. I was far from embarrassed now, because it was replaced with a good mood. It made me happy though, as a girl, that a sweet guy as Jeremy thought like that as a kid.