I could feel her staring at me. She sat at the end of my driveway watching me untangle the jumbled mess of my fishing poles as I stood in my garage. She was cute as a button. Blonde hair in pigtails, sitting on her barbie doll bike with the training wheels keeping her upright. Her name is Elsie and I think she is four years old. But it was the first week of summer vacation and I have every intention of getting some fishing done.
My name is Jason Ramsey. I'm twenty-seven years old, a college graduate and the 8th grade teacher at the parochial school that I'm an alumni of. I'm also the girls' basketball coach, not that I know anything about basketball. I moved back home with mom and dad early this year when my nasty divorce wiped me out financially. Thankfully, I have no children. Elsie is the daughter of my childhood friend Andrea, who just moved back home last month with her mom and dad after her husband supposedly beat her up. Andrea and I have not really spoken to each other since high school, when we kind of went our separate ways. She is two years younger than I am. We live on a dead end street, and when we were Elsie's age, this neighborhood had plenty of kids to play with. Now, it's an old folks' neighborhood. All of us grew up and are or were trying to start families of our own elsewhere.
Elsie still watched me from the street, occasionally making a little circle on her bike only to stop in the same place and watch me again. Andrea moved to the big city after high school and got married. I never met her husband. Hearing the training wheels make their little circle again, I smiled to myself. I was taken back to a time when I was playing cops and robbers with my buddy Troy. We were both 5.
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Andrea sat on her bike in the street and watched us play. I was Jon, he was Ponch. Andrea's blonde hair was in pigtails, her training wheels keeping her bike upright. After a day of watching us, Troy-- I mean Ponch, decided she could be the robber and we'd chase after her on our bikes-- I mean motorcycles.
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Okay, so maybe I took a little longer to untangle my fishing poles. It was kind of cute having her watch me, and me taking a trip down memory lane. That act of allowing Andrea to play with us opened up the whole neighborhood of kids playing together. Some days we played cops and robbers, some days it was baseball or football, and some days it was house. Andrea was always my play wife. And then we grew up. And then we moved away. And then two of us moved back, and there was only Elsie, the only kid in the neighborhood.
"Hey Elsie." I shouted to her as she made another circle. "Can you come here a minute? I need some help." As I held up my untangled --- I mean tangled fishing poles. Elsie stopped in her tracks and looked at me wide eyed. Then, as fast as her little legs could pedal, she high-tailed it back to her house. I shook my head and chuckled to myself almost certain I scared her away for the summer. Within five minutes, I heard the training wheels again. This time, they stopped at the end of her driveway as I took my fishing poles and tackle box to my car.
"Hey Mister." Elsie shouted. "How do you know my name?"
"Well Elsie..." I replied. ..."I know your mother. Her and I used to be good friends."
"Momma says I shouldn't talk to strangers." Elsie stated.
"That's good advice Elsie. You should always listen to your mother." I replied. "My name is Mr. Ramsey. Your mother calls me Jason."
"Where are you going Mr. Ramsey?" Elsie inquired.
"Fishing." I replied.
"Okay."Elsie shouted and waved. "Bye Mr. Ramsey."
I got in my car and went fishing. While drowning some worms, I thought about all those times during the summer when all of us kids got together and played. I felt bad for Elsie not having anyone to play with, but why am I so enamored with that little cutie pie right now? Maybe it's because I once considered her mom, Andrea, as the one who got away. We were best friends, planning on doing all sorts of things when I turned sixteen and got my driver's license. Those were big plans that never came to fruition. By the time Andrea got to high school, I was way too cool to be hanging out with a freshman. Four years later at her graduation party when she was 18 and I was 20, home from college, we drunkenly made out on the couch in her parents basement. I got my hand up her shirt and she got her hand down my pants. She got me off in my underwear but wouldn't let me go any further. Macho as I was, I ended up passing out and haven't spoken to her since. My fishing day ended up just being a day to drown worms, and I packed up my stuff and went home. I didn't see Elsie the rest of the day.
The next morning I was in the garage getting ready to cut the grass. I had the lawn mower fueled up and was checking the oil when I heard the training wheels stop at the end of the driveway. I looked up, smiled and gave Elsie a wave.
"Good Morning Mr. Ramsey" Elsie shouted. "Are you going fishing today?"
"Good Morning Elsie." I shouted back. "Not today. I have to cut the grass and change oil in my car." Elsie looked at me as if she was about to cry. Then, as fast as her little legs could pedal, she rushed back to her house and left me wondering what I said wrong. As I cut the lawn, I spotted Elsie again on her bike, but she wouldn't venture out into the street. She rode up and down her driveway and didn't pay any attention to what I was doing. When I got done, so did she and she went back into the house. I began to change the oil in my car and I heard the tell-tale signs of the training wheels on the pavement crossing the street. I peered out from underneath the car and saw her bike stop at the end of my driveway.
"Hey Elsie." I shouted. "Is that you?"
"Yes Mr. Ramsey." Elsie replied.
