Steven walked me all the way home, gave me a quick kiss, and waved goodbye. Floating into the house on Cloud Nine, I was about to get knocked off of it by a very angry and worried Nan. "Where have you been, young lady?" The kiss had preoccupied my mind for so long that I had forgotten to prepare a story! Uh oh!
"Um...just hanging out with my friends." Well, I wasn't totally lying. I shuffled my feet back and forth on the ground and squirmed uncomfortably. I wasn't sure why it was that big of a deal. I would often stop at my great grandparents and/or the playground on the way home but I usually showed up a lot sooner. I had no idea what time it was.
I would get an ear bashing like no other because not only was I very late, two hours to be exact, but Sister had followed through on her promise to call. "How could you talk to Father like that? What is wrong with you? Do you know how embarrassing that was for me? What in God's name would possess you to do such a thing?"
All these questions were fired at me so quickly that I never had a chance to respond so I stood there feeling helpless. "I mean, really, Tammy, sometimes I don't know about you. Are you going to answer me? I don't know why I am being punished like this. What did I do that was so wrong, God, to deserve this? Tell me." When Italians get wicked mad, their hands do a lot of talking, too, and hers were flying all over the place! I looked around the room, half-expecting God to be there, and say something like, "Well, Rita, you may want to sit down. This may take a while..."
So when Richie came bounding through the door, I was relieved. He had been in another fight and suddenly my Nan had something else to deal with. Normally I would hang around and be nosey, but I knew an opportunity when I saw one so I took advantage and escaped. She didn't even notice. As I ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time, I heard my grandmother start cursing in Italian.
I tossed my schoolbag on my bed and dragged my toy box over to the closet. Standing on tippy toes, I felt around on the top shelf until I found what I was looking for. Launching myself onto the bed, deliriously happy, I wrote, "Dear Diary, you won't even believe what happened to me today..."
Showing posts with label kiss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kiss. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
The Meeting
The dismissal bell screeched me back to reality. I hadn't really heard any of my afternoon classes; I was still sulking over confession. Confused by my own behavior, I found myself trying to understand it all and make some sense of it. Hours later and I wasn't any closer to figuring it out.
Like a zombie I filed into line and, somewhat in a fog, shuffled out of the school building, quiet and pensive. My teacher gave me an odd glance but was probably relieved she didn't have to deal with me for the day. "Hey!" I almost kept walking, forgetting my meeting.
"Oh hi!" I said without much enthusiasm. Steven searched my face for a moment but whatever he thought he saw he never let on. He grabbed my schoolbag and shoved my lunchbox into it, swung it over his other shoulder, and took my hand. The next thing I knew we were running down the street away from my house. Laughing I managed a "Where are we going? I live that way!" reaching back to point in the direction of my home.
"I know. I wanna take you somewhere." We ran all the way to Hoffman Park, a local hangout that I had never been without adult supervision before. My uncle and I would often come here with Puddles who bit at rocks in the creek...such a strange dog. The trellis extended over the water, and Richie would make me walk across it. He never did, though. He would always make me do the craziest, most adventurous things, but it just dawned on me, he never participated. Interesting.
Steven came to an abrupt halt with me almost running into him. "You wanna cross over to the other side?" I had done it easily before, skipping across the tops of rocks, without any trouble at all so I nodded. The playground was on this side of the creek; the other side was definitely quieter. It was like being in the woods and because you had to cross the creek to get there, not many people would venture over. This time, though, would present a challenge I wasn't expecting. My patent leather school shoes were not conducive to hopping from rock to rock, and I found myself slipping all over the place. All I could think was how I would explain coming home soaking wet to my grandmother. Luckily, I wouldn't have to.
Hand outstretched Steven helped me jump the rest of the way to land. We climbed up to the top of the bank and sat silently for a time. He shot me a concerned glance. "You aren't going to get in trouble, are you?"
"Probably." I answered. "But it'll be okay. You?"
"Nah. My parents are both working. No one is there when I get home."
"Oh.' I whispered thinking that was sad. My parents were never home during the work week, which could be perceived as a good thing, but at least my Nan was there for me.
We chatted about most everything: skating, school, classmates but both of us steered clear of talking about our families like it was some unwritten agreement. Just as I was thinking, I had better be getting home before my grandmom had a search party out looking for me, he kissed me. Not just a peck on the cheek kind of kiss, but my first real kiss, a long one on the lips! Whoa! Staring into my eyes, he said, "I better get you home before I'm never allowed to see you again." I was, for once in my life, at a loss for words. Did this mean I officially had a boyfriend?
Like a zombie I filed into line and, somewhat in a fog, shuffled out of the school building, quiet and pensive. My teacher gave me an odd glance but was probably relieved she didn't have to deal with me for the day. "Hey!" I almost kept walking, forgetting my meeting.
"Oh hi!" I said without much enthusiasm. Steven searched my face for a moment but whatever he thought he saw he never let on. He grabbed my schoolbag and shoved my lunchbox into it, swung it over his other shoulder, and took my hand. The next thing I knew we were running down the street away from my house. Laughing I managed a "Where are we going? I live that way!" reaching back to point in the direction of my home.
"I know. I wanna take you somewhere." We ran all the way to Hoffman Park, a local hangout that I had never been without adult supervision before. My uncle and I would often come here with Puddles who bit at rocks in the creek...such a strange dog. The trellis extended over the water, and Richie would make me walk across it. He never did, though. He would always make me do the craziest, most adventurous things, but it just dawned on me, he never participated. Interesting.
Steven came to an abrupt halt with me almost running into him. "You wanna cross over to the other side?" I had done it easily before, skipping across the tops of rocks, without any trouble at all so I nodded. The playground was on this side of the creek; the other side was definitely quieter. It was like being in the woods and because you had to cross the creek to get there, not many people would venture over. This time, though, would present a challenge I wasn't expecting. My patent leather school shoes were not conducive to hopping from rock to rock, and I found myself slipping all over the place. All I could think was how I would explain coming home soaking wet to my grandmother. Luckily, I wouldn't have to.
Hand outstretched Steven helped me jump the rest of the way to land. We climbed up to the top of the bank and sat silently for a time. He shot me a concerned glance. "You aren't going to get in trouble, are you?"
"Probably." I answered. "But it'll be okay. You?"
"Nah. My parents are both working. No one is there when I get home."
"Oh.' I whispered thinking that was sad. My parents were never home during the work week, which could be perceived as a good thing, but at least my Nan was there for me.
We chatted about most everything: skating, school, classmates but both of us steered clear of talking about our families like it was some unwritten agreement. Just as I was thinking, I had better be getting home before my grandmom had a search party out looking for me, he kissed me. Not just a peck on the cheek kind of kiss, but my first real kiss, a long one on the lips! Whoa! Staring into my eyes, he said, "I better get you home before I'm never allowed to see you again." I was, for once in my life, at a loss for words. Did this mean I officially had a boyfriend?
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