Roger and Mimi had a daughter named Kat. Shortly after they both passed away leaving their four-year-old daughter to Mark. This takes place ten years later, she is fourteen and Mark is thirty-four. Through some miracle, Kat does not have HIV/AIDS.
Kat looks like Joey King and her best friend Harley looks like Madeline Carroll.
Dedicated to my Uncle Mark.
Enjoy! xx.
Mark waved off his fourteen year old niece on the school bus from the kitchen window. Kat was going into ninth grade, she begged him for hours not to walk her down to the bus stop.
"Things are safer in Hoboken, Uncle Mark. It's not like Alphabet City. Besides, I'm a big girl and I can handle it myself." She told him.
Fourteen still seemed young to him, but he had to let her do it on her own. So instead he waited inside and, not wanting to break tradition, waved goodbye from inside the house.
He was anxiously awaiting her return home now, school had let out fifteen minutes ago. Mark puttered around the house, editing his films and trying to keep himself busy.
He didn't even hear the car pull into the driveway, but in his defense he was expecting a bus.
"Uncle Mark, I'm home!" Kat called, walking into the house.
"hey, I didn't hear you pull up." Mark said, walking over to greet her. Standing beside his short, young niece was a beautiful brunette who was more woman than girl.
She had pink streaks in her hair and was wearing lots of dark makeup. The first thing that popped into Mark's head was that she looked like someone Roger dated in high school, and the second was that there was no way this girl was only fourteen.
"Yeah, my engine's sort of quiet." She said, laughing. "I'm Harley, I drove Kat home."
"Uh, Kat's not allowed in cars with young drivers." He stuttered, sort of in shock.
"Uncle Mark! You've never said that before!" Kat exclaimed. "Seriously, Harley, he just made that up."
"I'm sorry," Harley said, biting her lip. "I can take you for a spin around the block if you want, to show you I'm a good driver. I've had my license for almost two years now."
"How old are you?" Mark asked.
"Eighteen, just turned. I'm a senior."
Great, Mark thought. Kat's first day of high school and she's already turning into Roger. In a way, though, he was sort of relieved. Kat never seemed to have any friends before, never brought anyone home from school or had playdates as a kid. He always figured it was because of the neighborhood they lived in-half of the community feared Kat and Mark, scorned them after Mimi and Roger passed away from AIDS.
"No, it's fine." Mark said, trying to think rationally. "I'm impressed, Kat. Your first day and you've already made a new friend."
"Yeah, Harley's great."
"do you guys want to help with dinner?" Mark said. "That is, if you're not needed at home, Harley."
"Yeah, I'd love to." Harley said. "My parents are on vacation, so I'm on my own for a while. I haven't had a good cooked meal in forever."
"Okay," Mark smiled. He found she was easy to talk to, easy to look at too. "Kat, give her a tour of the house and then we'll start on dinner."