Chapter 4: Emmett and the first kiss
Across town, that same day
Emmett lifted his hard hat from his head and ran his fingers through his hair, lost in thought. He'd never realized this job was so close to the exact spot where his childhood ended. In the contract, the street had been referred to by its honorary name, for a fire chief who had lived here his entire career.
The building, this project was just two doors down from the intersection.
One of the crew had a radio playing, the music only audible in bits and pieces over the sounds of the power tools. The music was more of an irritant than a pleasant companion. Emmett looked up the street. Suddenly, he was in sixth grade again, walking home with Malcolm, his next-door neighbor.
They'd been discussing the girls in their class. School would be out in a few weeks, and he'd heard some of them talking about swimming lessons. Emmett scoffed a bit as his neighbor had confessed he was thinking of signing up, so he could see the brown haired girl over the summer.
He'd advised him to sign up for baseball too; sometimes the girls would be at the park and watch the games. Well, at least they had last summer, anyway. At the corner, they'd met her and one of her classmates.
Emmett ended up with Mary's backpack because Malcolm had taken hers and walked ahead with her toward her house. He remembered watching him hand Bella the backpack and her looking down. Then Emmett had turned to answer a question from Mary. When he again looked in their direction, he'd seen Malcolm kissing Bella – right in front of her house, in daylight. Holy cow!
Emmett had walked Mary across the street to her house, handed her backpack to her and sprinted back over to where his friend still stood. He'd punched him in the shoulder. Malcolm had smiled and had said simply, "Boy can she kiss."
In his mind it was that Saturday afternoon, and they had been playing kickball in the street with a few other kids. They were so into their game that no one heard the car coming so fast around the corner.
Emmett had left for school early that Tuesday, even though his parent's had told him he didn't have to go to class for a few days. Bella hadn't been home that weekend, "Maybe she was at the Girl Scout camp-out?" He'd thought. He had to go; he wanted to be the one to tell her first, before they announced it to the class.
This restoration was in a triplex, just like the one Bella had lived in. Here, the goal was to update the baths and kitchens, repair the back porches, and build a new garage. He'd have to be on this site for at least a month, maybe not every day, but often. He'd be here with his memories.
How do you tell a girl her first kiss is now gone, gone forever?
He remembered how she'd looked really nice that morning; she'd worn a pink dress and no sweater because it was already warm for the beginning of June. He'd held her hand as he told her about Malcolm, and walked her to the principal's office when they'd gotten to school because he couldn't bear to let her walk into the classroom with all those tears streaming down her face.
He remembered ending up sitting behind her in the church, where the class had sung for the funeral. That was the last time he'd seen her. His family had moved that summer, and she'd left school early to visit her father.
He still remembered her thank-you after all these years
"Thanks, Emmett. You're a real friend and a gentleman to come to tell me. About ... Mal ... him yourself."