Home Again
by Ann Douglas
(Preview)
A.C. Delaney stared up at the tree that had been the bane of his
teenage years. Not many blocks in this part of Brooklyn had trees like
this, so a lot of activities had circulated around it. It was home base
for playing hide and seek. It was the place you all hung out under on a
hot summer day. Most importantly, it was the site of "the dare". Ten
years ago at the age of twelve, that had been the focus of the most
terrifying moment of his young life. That was the day he'd completed one
of the neighborhood rites of passage and had climbed to the top of the old
oak tree.
Funny, the tree didn't seem so imposing now. Then again, the last
decade had seen him go from a skinny 110 pound teenager to a six foot 190
pound adult. He'd discovered a passion for baseball in high school and
long hours practicing with his father had transformed him into a starting
first baseman both in high school then later at State .
Sports had only been a means to an end however, a way out of the old
neighborhood. The degree in business he'd earned last year had been his
highest priority. For a while it looked like it was going to be a hard
decision turning down the offer to turn pro, but a leg injury his senior
year took that decision out of his hands. In a way he was glad that fate
had intervened, it meant he'd never have to look back with regret.
A group of teenagers were playing stickball, using the manhole covers as
bases. It seemed like a hundred years since he'd played that game.
"Hey mister, the ball!" one of the kids yelled as the rubber ball
bounced in front of him.
In a quick motion he caught the ball on the first hop and tossed it back
to the batter. The action had been instinctive. A smile came to his lips
as he thought some things you never forgot.
Watching the game for another ten minutes, A.C. was glad he decided to
spend an extra day here. After he came home for his father's funeral over
a year ago, he decided that there was never going to be a reason to again
walk these streets. But Arthur Charles Delaney Sr. had been buried over
sixteen months before and it was only now that the lawyers had finally
settled his estate. He'd come all the way up from Florida just to close on
the sale of his families house. He could've just left it all to the
lawyers, but he felt it was something he owed to his dad to see done
personally.
The block held so many memories. His own house was down on the corner.
On the other end of the block was Jerry Wilson's house. He and Jerry had
gone off to State together. A grin filled his face as he looked at a
second floor window across the street from the tree and remembered when it
was Jenny Wilson's bedroom.
How long ago was that night he and Josh Austin were using Josh's new
telescope to look at the moon. They accidentally turned it right into
Jenny's room - just when she was getting dressed for bed. They couldn't
have been more than 13 or 14 at the time. Jenny had been one of the first
neighborhood girls to develop breasts and that had been the first time A.C.
had seen a topless girl in anything other than a magazine. He laughed
softly as he remembered how angry Josh had been cause he waited so long to
give him a turn that Josh only got a brief glimpse.
A few years later A.C. got repeated opportunities to examine those
breasts more closely. He dated Jenny all through high school as his own
body developed into that of an athlete. She was the first girl who ever
gave him a blow job and on the night of the senior prom they traded
cherries. Things went downhill between them after that when they went to
separate school. Last he heard, she was married and already had two kids.
Thinking of Jenny made him think of her older sister Karen, or as most
of the boys thought of her "Kleenex Karen." Two years older than Jenny, she
was nowhere near as developed as her little sister. In fact, she really
never passed an A cup. Talk about mixed genes.
Anyway, Karen's solution was to stuff an oversized bra with tissues.
Not the most original of solutions but one that was time honored. The
problem was that she wasn't satisfied with just giving herself a slight
improvement. No, she had to be as well endowed as Jenny. It became a big
joke among everyone in school as she always denied it. Finally someone
decided to settle the matter..
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