Troublemaker Next Door

Madenosa Girl

Since I was a little girl, I've always lived in Madenosa. Growing up, I enjoyed making friends with the kids in the neighborhood. I made about three in total: Derek, Faith, and Gavin. Gavin and I were 9 and Derek and Faith were 10. Sure, they were older by a year, but they never made us feel unincluded in anything we did.

We rode our bikes on the road together, (no cars would ever pass so it was safe) we would do lemonade or baked goods stands in our neighborhood, (so we could buy tickets to WackySack, the greatest circus) and we would constantly tell stories in the treehouse my dad made for us and just hang out together.

We would mostly tell stories of our lives. Derek would tell us how his dad, who was a lawyer, would carry a suitcase every morning and it would explode due to the many papers he stashed in it. Faith would tell us how her mom would sneak dollars under her pillow every time she lost a tooth. Gavin never really said much about his family. Or about himself for that matter. But we never pressured him.

We were an inseparable group. After 3 years, that all changed. Derek's family moved away due to Derek's allergy to pollen. It got worse especially during the summertime. It was because he grew older that it got worse. Shortly afterwards, about 2 years later, Faith left due to her parents divorcing. She went with her mom to live in the suburbs.

Gavin and I were left. But something changed in him. He started being more open. He would tell me about how he didn't have a mom or dad and how he lived with his aunt, who strangely enough, always raised him with love and cared about him like he was her own.

He would confide in me about how Faith and Derek would talk great things about their families and he could never really relate to them. At some point, they would stop asking him to come over to the treehouse (about a half a month before they left) because he wouldn't contribute anything to the group besides empty company. He was relieved when they left. It made him more comfortable. I was happy that he could finally be himself around me.

Everyday, from that point on, we hung out with each other. We rode our bikes together, made a fort in our treehouse, and watched the stars.

"So, tell me about your family. Like.. how would you have expected them to be?" I asked him as I rotate myself, laying on my back.

He sighs and watches the sky sitting up as he smiles. "I always dreamed that they were like me."

I sit up as he grabs some white paper and some crayons. He draws them as he continues imagining them. "They would have dark blue hair like me, green eyes like me, and they would be tall like me."

I laugh. "They can't be tall like you."

"Why not?"

"Because silly, you're just a kid and my mom says that parents are the ones that are tall."

I take the crayon and draw long legs on both of his ideal parents' bodies. He puts the picture aside. "I will take that home later."

"Put it on your wall."

"Thanks Mia."

He looks at the blank pages on the treehouse floor and smiles. "Wanna draw some pictures for the treehouse walls?"

"Sure!"

We begin drawing some pictures to put on our treehouse walls.

One drawing in particular that I enjoyed drawing was that of a blue monarch butterfly. Something about them was fascinating.

"What is that?" He says as he watches me grab the blue crayon.

"A blue monarch butterfly."

He raises an eyebrow. "They exist?"

"Well.. my dad says he saw one once when he went to Hawaii with my mom before they had me."

I color in the wings and smile.

"When I grow up, I'm going to go to Hawaii as well and see a blue monarch butterfly as well."

"Can I come?"

"Sure! Let's make that another promise."

We intertwine fingers again. He lets go of mine. "I have a better idea."

He grabs a blank paper and begins writing.

"Whatcha doing?" I say as I try to see over his arms that are covering his writing. He stops writing and gives me the paper.

"Just put your name on the line and that way, we can never forget our promises."

I nod and write my full name on the line. "There." I say as I hand it back to him.

"Hang on."

He takes another paper and begins writing on it too. "Now put your name here." I do so. "There. Now we each have a copy. Now we can never forget."

"Good call."

"Amelia!" My mom calls from inside.

"Uh oh, I gotta go. Let's hang out again tomorrow, deal?"

"Deal!"

We both climb down the built ladder and safely make it to the grassy ground. We then hug each other, say goodbye, and respectfully go to our own houses, him across the street from my house, and mine that was walking distance.

I shouldn't have made promises if I knew I wouldn't be able to keep them. I found out that same night that we would be moving to Glenhale. Wherever that was. My mom gave birth to my brother just last week and ultimately got laid off from her job for always being late.

My parents also ended up getting a divorce. My dad didn't want to deal with my mom anymore. He would come home every night and drink some strange liquid that smelled highly strong. They would fight constantly and it just kept getting worse.

During that time, I had isolated myself in my room. I didn't really see Gavin either. After a week, I finally did. I told him what was happening at home and he would always be there for me.

When we heard arguing, he would tell me everything would be alright and he would lay with me on my bed. If we were out in the treehouse and my mood was sour, he would cheer me up with funny faces or he would read to me.

Sometimes, he would even distract me by having us write things to each other. Stuff like secrets. We put these secrets in a box and promised never to open it or read it until we grew up and saw each other again.

When Austin, my baby brother, was with us, the atmosphere was the same. He would read or tell stories to him, draw pictures with him, or we would wear socks on our hands and make a puppet show. My time with Gavin was memorable. He never left my side and he was a true friend to my brother and I.

Finally, the dreaded day came when the divorce was finalized. Gavin barely came over because he knew what that meant as our friend Faith went through it. Our mom got custody over us as my dad was deemed "unfit to be a parent." Whatever that means.

I wished in that time Gavin was there. His comfort, his jokes, and his loving embrace was what I needed. There were moments where I did see him, but he chose to ignore me. We grew estranged. I was like a single leaf in the wind: being carried off to a distant place somewhere. Never to see those I used to know ever again.

On moving day, I went up to the treehouse to find our box. I grabbed some paper. I wrote something on it and threw it in. I grabbed the box and ran across the street to Gavin's house. I rang the doorbell and a lady opened it.

"Oh hello Amelia. How may I help you dear?" It was his aunt.

"Is Gavin here?"

"He is. He's watching cartoons. Do you want me to get him?"

Suddenly, I hear yelling from the other side of the street. "Mia dear! We gotta get going!"

Out of breath and frantic, I hand her the box and tell her to give it to him. With that, I wish her well and run back across the street.

After the last box is loaded into the moving truck, I jump in the car with mom and Austin and we drive off. I look back to see if Gavin was out on the sidewalk waving goodbye to me but I see nothing. In that moment, I knew.. Gavin hated me.. and he would never want to see me again.

My eyes swelled with tears as I watched my former life disappear. I was going to miss living in Madenosa. I was going to miss the memories I made here growing up. But most importantly, I was going to miss the one person who made it all worthwhile to be here. Gavin. I vowed from that day forward, I would find him again and apologize a hundred.. no.. a thousand times and explain what really happened that day.