15 for 15 (June 2012)

June 6 – Frog

“Little girl, you shouldn’t touch frogs. They could make you sick.”

Samuel ignored the stranger. If the man couldn’t be bothered to figure out he was a boy – no matter that Aunt Maria refused to cut his hair –what could he possibly know about frogs?

“Shouldn’t you be in school right now?”

The stranger took a step closer. That was it for the frog. It hopped back towards the neighbor’s fence. From there, it’d probably make its way back to the pond and freedom. Samuel wanted to do the same. Hop away until he reached Brooklyn, where all his friends. Instead he was here, while his mother went away to “find herself.”

Momma was always doing something to mess up his life. Just thinking about it made mad enough to hit something. But hitting always got him in trouble. “It’s summer.”

“Oh, you’re a boy! With those ringlets, I couldn’t tell.” The man squatted down beside him so the two of them were eye-level. “I’m looking for Maria Forman. Do you know her?”

He hated dealing with adults. And not only because his mother was one. Like every old person he’d ever met, this stranger thought Samuel was stupid just because he was six. Why else would he ask if Samuel knew his own aunt when they were standing her backyard?

“She’s inside. You should go around the front and knock.” For good measure, Samuel stood up and pointed.  “That way.”

“Do you live here?”

Why was this man pestering him with questions? “Mister, I’m not supposed to talk to strangers. Go around front and ring the door.” Maybe it was rude, but it was true. He shouldn’t have told the man as much as he had. Aunt Maria would sigh loudly and call him “incorrigible”. Samuel hated that word, even if he didn’t know what it meant. It was bad, and always said with disappointment.

“Samuel, who are you talking to back there?” Great, now he’d really be in trouble. The man next to him stood up and took a few steps towards the back door.

“A man says he’s looking for you. I told him to go around front but he wouldn’t listen.”

She stuck her head out the kitchen window. When she saw the stranger, she gasped and dropped the wooden spoon she was holding. It landed in the grass with a soft plop. “Derek? Derek Mason, is that you? Oh my god, we thought you’d died! Where have you been all this time?!”

It looked like he wasn’t in trouble. But who was this Derek Mason fellow? He gave the stranger a good once-over. He didn’t look like anything special. Certainly not worth stopping pancakes for. Except maybe for his eyes. Samuel squinted, putting his hand over his face to block the sun. Yup. They were grey-brown. Only eyes Samuel had ever seen like that were in a mirror.