Young and Free

As I grew and matured into adolescence, I learned that rather than dwelling on my useless little sister, I could possibly make some friends instead. I never really had an issue with being out in my neighborhood, mainly due to the fact that I was fortunate enough to be blessed with growing up in the suburbs. No stray cats, no street ; I could practically stay out after dark and my mom would still have no worries.

I remember the first time my mom taught me to ride a bike. She balanced and pushed me forward to simulate training wheels, and then let go when I told her I thought I could do it by myself. I fell a lot more than I would like to admit, but in nearly no time, I was riding like a pro. Beaming in the confidence I had recently gained, I decided it was time to go find some other kids to play with.

I couldn't have pedaled more than halfway down my street when I noticed a group of kids running out from behind someone's garage. Two boys, both with bright blue eyes, curly blonde hair, and a look of pure mischief plastered among both of their faces. Two girls, one with a dark shade of skin and curly black hair, and another of fair skin, bright, wavy red hair, and sparkling green eyes. They all seemed to look at me with curiosity, and seemingly a likeness to something.

The two boys were quick to approach me, the new kid, and confidently declared their names as "Jonas" and "Adam" while the girls calmly followed behind them before announcing themselves as "Serena" and "Rachel."

In the next coming years as I approached my adolescence, I would spend the majority of my free time on the streets of my neighborhood, playing and getting into trouble with these four kids. They all were very kind, yet they didn't treat me like a baby, as opposed to my mother. I never really found myself looking down or up at any of them; they were always equal. Jonas quickly became my best friend, as opposed to his brother Adam, simply due to the fact that Adam had a really bad hitting problem at the time. Serena, although incredibly annoying at times due to her incessant singing, was a wonderful friend throughout our adventures, but one of them stood among the rest.

Rachel was pretty. When I say pretty, I mean it. She had these ridiculous eyes, like you were staring into two lush forests behind her irises, and her cheeks were just so perfectly full and bright. She had a bright mind, and a strong yearning for adventure. I was really too young to feel anything lustful, or arousing, yet I still felt an intense attraction to her out of sheer admiration of her beauty and personality. She seemed to enjoy my company for the most part, and I couldn't let our friendship get ruined by some failed attempt at a relationship, so I bottled up the feelings as best as I could while simultaneously building a friendship with her.

My sister was, thankfully, not nearly as prominent in my life for the first couple of years as she developed from an infant into a toddler. The only times I would really see her is when my mother would feed her at the dinner table and other various times she was taking care of her. Though, for the most part, Sara was a very calm, and very easy-going baby.

Her development was... odd... If I remember correctly, she learned the words "Ba" and "Mama" abnormally fast. "Mama Ba" quickly became her favorite combination of words. Straight from the tap or out of the bottle, Sara was getting her milk one way or another and she was adamant about it. The weird part is that she never cried for her milk, she never threw a tantrum. Every time she would just simply say, "Mama Ba" and mom would quickly let her drink from the nip or mix up some formula. She must've drank 10 bottles a day, regularly, and it only worsened as she got older.

Frankly, at the time it didn't really matter to me. I thought I was much too smart and mature to be hanging around with boring old Sara. Momma didn't have to worry about me... or rather... she chose not to I guess... At the time I viewed it more as her having confidence in her own son to handle himself on his own, but little did I know, my value to her was far superseded by someone else.