"That Anderson girl," was something I heard over and over again growing up. From parents, teachers, other kids, my siblings, etc. They were all talking about Kerry Anderson, the oldest of a family of five children. She was a redhead with a red-hot temper. A tomboy who was better than a lot of the boys at sports and someone who could beat most of them up. The latter of which she seemed to do a lot of. She was constantly getting suspended, reprimanded, and punished at school. And, the thing was she was smart as whip. Sometimes too smart with her mouth. Needless to say with five kids, the Andersons had their hands full already, but Kerry complicated things.
My parents became friends with the Andersons when they were both childless. While my parents had my brother, my sister, and me, the Andersons pumped out Kerry, three more girls, and then finally a boy, much to Mr. Anderson's delight. Kerry and I were the same age and knew each other from a young age. We were somewhat friends, though it could hard to be friend with someone whose temperament was volatile, though Kerry always stood up for me if some bigger kid tried to pick on me. Kerry became the first girl of our age group to develop, which only made her meaner. If she caught a boy or girl starting at her boobs, she would flatten them. If Peppermint Patty from the Peanuts comic strip were cute, that would be Kerry. Though, Kerry was way smarter than Peppermint Patty. I mean Peppermint Patty got a degree from a dog obedience school and didn't realize it. Okay, I've totally gotten distracted, which happens often to me when it comes to talking about Kerry.
When we were about 12-years old, the FBI came to town and took Mr. Anderson away. Apparently, he had been running some kind of Ponzi scheme. Mrs. Anderson immediately filed for divorced, took her five kids, and moved away. She told my Mom that she was humiliated and embarrassed, and was completely naive when it came to her husband's business. She knew she couldn't live in town anymore. It was tough enough listening to people criticizing her parenting of Kerry, but then to have to deal with this huge scandal was just too much for her. Before they moved, Kerry came over one day to say goodbye. I was standing in the backyard when she approached me.
"We're moving. My Mom said I had to come say goodbye. So, goodbye," and then she gave me one of those limb-numbing punches to my arm, and walked away.
I shouted after her "Goodbye," and she suddenly stopped. She was about 30 feet away from me when she turned around and started running hard toward me. I thought, oh, shit...she's gonna kill me She ran right up to me, grabbed me by the arms and kissed me on the lips..
"Goodbye, Sammy," she said, as teared started flowing from her amazing green eyes and she turned and ran away. And, then she was gone. I touched my fingers to my lips, not quite sure what to make of what had just happened. I turned towards the house and saw my parents quickly ducking away from the kitchen window.
My parents had no idea where the Andersons moved, and being this was shortly before the internet became a staple in everyone's homes, there was no way to find out. With no fear of reprisals from Kerry, some of the tougher kids now felt free to shoot their mouths off, and pick on other kids. One of the biggest jerks was Frank Lucas. Everyone, but Kerry, was scared of him. He'd pick on anyone he wanted. Shortly after the Andersons left, Frank decided he was going to target me.
"Hey Miller, where's your bodyguard to protect you? Oh, wait that's right she had to move away 'cause her Dad's a crook and in jail. What's the matter Miller, you miss your girlfriend. Oh, look at him guys, he's gonna cry."
"He looks like he's going to piss his pants," his friend Hank Wilson chimed in. Lucas loved that one and was laughing his ass off.
"Maybe, he'll even shit 'em," Lucas said. "Do you want a diaper little baby? Yeah, let me see if you wearing a diaper. Let's see it..."
Lucas never finished his sentence; my fist hit him square in the nose and I could hear it break. He fell flat on the ground and was out cold. Wilson said, "Fuck," and ran away. I sat there stunned for a minute, full of rage...like I had been possessed by Kerry's spirit. I finally ran home and burst into tears when I saw my Mom. I felt so proud and so scared at the same time. She calmed me down and took care of the bruises on my knuckles.
My parents took care of Lucas' medical bills, but no kid messed with me again after that. In fact, I became Kerry's successor without the rage. I watched out for the kids who got picked on. I was no bully, and I wasn't going to let any of these wannabe bullies give anyone a rash of shit. Because of my one punch knockout, no one gave me any trouble, and I just had to give a certain determined look to make them leave a kid alone. The weird thing is that within a couple of years, Frank and I became friends. He wasn't an asshole anymore and was almost glad I kicked his ass.
By high school, I had a growth spurt and was 5'8" as a freshman. It continued that way until I was 6' as a senior. I became a three-sport letterman and had a few different girlfriends over that time. During that time, I still wondered what happened to the Andersons, especially Kerry. By senior high, the internet was all the rage and a bunch of search engines existed. Despite the new technology, I still couldn't find anything about Kerry. The only thing I ever read about was Mr. Anderson's criminal deeds and that he was still going to be in jail for a long time.
I finally gave up and went off to college. I found the web and computers really fascinating and figured I could make good money in that field. In my sophomore year, I decided to minor in finance too and was taking a economics class. It was a bear, but some of the hottest women were in the class too. I figured if I didn't do well at least maybe I'll get laid. There was one coed in particular that got my attention, Lara Perry. She was drop-dead gorgeous. She was nearly as tall as me with long raven hair, a killer body, and a beautiful smile...though she hardly ever showed it. She was also very intelligent; she seemed to always have the answer to anything Professor Michaelson asked. I figured she was out of my league, but one day we got an assignment for a project that had to be done in teams. People were milling about in the lecture hall in an attempt to set up partnerships. I noticed no one was approaching her. I thought the guys must be intimidated and maybe the women were jealous of her looks.
"Hey, Sam. Do you..." this guy Dave started to ask me.
I put my index finger up and said, "One second, Dave." I decided I was going for it. If nothing else, she truly could help me in the class. She was picking up on the concepts and theories quicker than I was. I took a deep breath and walked up the few rows to where she was sitting. She clearly looked uncomfortable with being ignored.
"Hi, it's Lara, right?" I started. She looked up at me and a small smile crept across her face.
"Yes...you're Sam?"
"Right. Um, would you like to work on the assignment together?" I totally expected her to say, "No thank you."
"Sure, yes." Her smile got wider and I matched it with mine. Over the next few weeks, we worked together several times a week. Sometimes in her dorm room, sometimes in mine, or the library, or at burger joint. We got to know each other more and more over time. She grew up not too far from the college and was an only child. Her mom was a teacher and her dad owned an auto repair shop. She was so easy to talk to you. Sometimes, I found myself just lost in her eyes or staring at her lips while she spoke. I was definitely falling for her, but was reticent to ask her out since I didn't want to hurt our budding friendship. Thankfully, she showed no such reluctance.
We working on our paper one Friday afternoon when Lara asked, "Would you like to hang out tomorrow night?"
"Sure. What did you have in mind?"
"How's a movie and someone to eat afterwards sound?"
"What?" I said, almost stammering.
"How's a movie and something to eat afterwards sound?"
"Oh...that's sounds great. Sorry, I thought you said something else."
