*Okay. So this is random, short, and something that doesn't really need to be contemplated about…but yeah. I hope you think it's okay. I know it's not great, but I wanted to upload something.*
One day, I was walking with my mommy. It was a really nice day; everybody seemed to be outside and having fun like us. Even the people that my mommy didn't know or like were out having fun, but she said their idea of fun wasn't like ours. Mommy gave those kids a mean look whenever they passed. I always ask her why she does, but she snaps at me to not be so observant.
Why does she do that?
But then, my mommy was talking to her friend, Cynthia. Her daughter Dorothy kept trying to play with me. She baby-sits me sometimes. I don't like Dorothy-she can be really mean. And she acts like I'm three instead of seven. I've been seven for two weeks, she needs to learn to do math. We're adding right now in first grade; I hope Dorothy learned to do that. Because my baby sister is three, and there's a big difference between me and her. I'm a big girl.
Mommy gave Dorothy some money and told her to walk with me to the grocery store and get a candy bar because the grown-ups needed to talk about grown-up things. Dorothy was seventeen, anyway.
I wonder what grown-ups talk about?
We walked down the sidewalk for a few minutes, and then we saw two boys not like us. They were the kind that my mommy gives dirty looks at, even though they haven't done anything to her. Unless it's wrong to walk with your friends, and I'm pretty sure it's not. They weren't like us also because they were walking on their hands instead of their feet! This one boy with really long sideburns like our paper boy kept doing flips too, and his blond friend who wouldn't stop smiling would laugh at him and keep walking on his hands. He had a really pretty smile.
It was like the circus! I went one time last year when I was six with my daddy, because my mommy doesn't like to watch "freaks" and my baby sister was too young to go. People did all kinds of crazy stuff there like that. I used to want to be in a circus; it sounded like so much fun! I want to make people happy too. The circus made me happy. I wonder if those boys are in the circus? People don't normally do stuff like that down the sidewalk, but it would be really cool if they did.
A bunch of people were looking at the boys all funny, and some were trying not to laugh. Lots of kids like me were watching them and wishing that they could do flips and walk on their hands too. Then, the boys passed us. Dorothy was staring at the blond one.
I wanted to walk on my hands too, with them! We'd be the circus trio, and get our faces on lunch boxes and stuff! "That looks like fun!" I said before Dorothy could stop me. My mommy always told me not to talk to strangers. But I always did. I like to make friends. I even talked to this hitchhiker. I asked Mommy if we could take him home with us, and she said no, because he's dirty and he'll kill us. She said that right in front of him where he could hear us, too!
My mommy's really mean. And I don't know why.
Sideburns boy was getting ready to do another flip, and the blond one got up to walk on his feet for a minute. His face was really red. Maybe he was blushing. He looked at me. He had pretty eyes. "It sure is!" he answered.
The other one started singing along with what was coming out of a radio outside a man's store. "Shalalalalala live for today!" he sang. He wasn't as good as Paul McCartney, though. My big brother likes The Beatles. He said one day he's gonna get a guitar and be like John. John's a good singer. This boy wasn't, though.
Right after he sang that line, a police car drove up. It was like they were waiting for the right time to come up. "That's enough, boys! Get in the car!" he growled in a mean voice.
"What for?" Sideburns asked.
"Disturbing the peace of the public," the police officer answered, getting out of his car.
Sideburns cocked an eyebrow. "Well, sir, this little blond chick right here seems to be amused. I sense no disturbance in her peace." I smiled up at him.
"Can it, Mathews, I've had enough of your mouth from previous occurrences." The policeman told him. Dorothy was just looking on in awe from our place on the road now. Everyone was just staring.
I didn't understand why they were being taken away. They didn't do anything wrong. My daddy says that the police only arrest people when they're being mean to other people, and these boys weren't doing anything to anybody. "Bye!" I called, waving.
Sideburns waved back. "Live for today, kid!" he yelled as he got into the car. It drove away.
What did he mean? My mommy says songs don't mean anything, and he got that from a song. But what does that mean?
Dorothy tugged on my hand. "C'mon, Ruthie. Your mom won't want you talking to greasers." We kept walking to the grocery store, and everyone went back to what they were doing and forgot about the boys.
What's a greaser?
*I really don't know why I wrote it or how to describe it…but yeah…*