The summer before second grade was a very important time for Jeff. Several things happened during the summer of 1994 that would shape his entire life. The first of these events was his father leaving him and his mother. It happened a couple days after school had ended. Jeff had spent the day at his sitter's house, waiting for his mom to pick him up. When she finally did she drove him home and explained as best she could that his father was gone, and the two of them were going to be moving in a few days.

At first Jeff didn't grasp the finality of his mother's words. After all, this wasn't the first time his father had left them. He and Mom would have a fight and he would then leave for a few days. One time he was gone longer, over a whole week, before he finally came back. But he always returned to them.

When Jeff pointed this out his mom became angry, stating that his dad was not coming back this time. She then told Jeff to start packing up his things before she went to her room. Later on Jeff went to his mom's room to see when they were going to eat dinner. When he opened the door he was shocked to see his mom laying on the bed, sobbing into a pillow. It was at that moment that he finally believed her, and he knew his dad was gone for good this time.

That night Jeff lay awake in his bed, staring at the glow in the dark stars that were stuck to the ceiling. "Why did Dad leave us?" he said softly. He knew his dad didn't like to spend time with either of them. His dad would yell at him and his mom so often that Jeff assumed it was a terrifying trait fathers just had. And even when he wasn't yelling his dad never liked to spend time with him. When he came home from work his dad would go to the den to have a few glasses of his whisky, only emerging to silently eat dinner. So even when he was around it wasn't like his dad was really 'around'.

But even so, leaving forever had a different feeling than being around in his own fashion, and Jeff just couldn't understand why it had happened.

He scrunched his little face in shame as hot tears spilled out of him. After all, only babies and girls cry. (At least that's what his friend Alan said.) But once they started they didn't stop. He held onto his favorite stuffed animal as deep sadness overtook him.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

A few days later Jeff and his mother set off to stay with his aunt and uncle. Most of their stuff had been put in storage, and the rest was loaded into the car. Jeff sat in the back of the car, pushed up against several boxes, as they drove across town to a suburb called Riverside. As they drove through the neighborhood they went by many large houses, which were much bigger than the one he had previously lived in, and all of them had well-kept neat looking lawns. To Jeff they all looked very similar, and very boring.

Finally they pulled up to a large off-white house with a red door and red shutters. Jeff looked at it apprehensively as he got out of the car. While he had seen his aunt and uncle several times this was the first time he would be staying at their house (even though his mom told him he had been there once when he was two years old.)

"Hello," his aunt called out as she came out to greet them

"Hi Sheila," Doreen said as she hugged her sister. "Thank you again for letting us stay with you."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all. Brad!" she yelled out. "You want to get out here and help bring in some stuff!"

"I'll be out in a sec!" Jeff's uncle called out from the front door."

Sheila rolled her eyes before looking at her nephew. "Hi little man. I bet you're tired from your trip. Let's get you and your mom set up in the guest room and then I'll get you some cookies and chocolate milk."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"We shouldn't be here that long Sheila. A couple weeks at most, until I can find a place for us," Doreen said the next morning while the four of them ate breakfast.

"Nonsense," Sheila stated. "You're welcome to stay as long as you want. In fact, the basement has been converted into an apartment. Our last tenant moved out a few weeks ago, so there's no one there. You and Jeff are welcome to live there if you want."

"I thought we were trying to rent it to someone. Isn't that why we put that ad in the paper?" Brad said. He then quickly looked back at his newspaper as his wife glared at him.

"On no, I couldn't do that. You're already doing so much for us already. We'll be out of here in no time," Doreen said.

Sheila looked at Jeff, who was swirling the cheerios around in his bowl. "I'm sorry, we don't have any kid cereal here. If you tell me what you like I can have Brad pick up a box when he comes home from work."

"It's okay," Jeff said, not wanting to bother his aunt and uncle. He ate a few more spoonful's before asking his aunt, "Are there any kids around here to play with?"

"Kids?" she said thoughtfully. "I know Cornelius and Helen Hawthorne have a son named Pierce. He's a couple years older than you, but you could probably play with him. The Chang's at the end of the street have a son…but I don't want you playing with him," she said after some reflection. "He's always teasing people and barking at dogs when they go by his house. Let's see…Oh! I completely forgot. The Edison's behind us have a daughter about your age, Annie," Sheila said as she pointed out the window to the house directly adjacent to their back yard.

"I don't wanna play with a girl," Jeff declared.

"Boys will be boys," Brad said with a smile, before quickly looking back at his newspaper as his wife and sister-in-law gave him a withering look.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

After breakfast Jeff's mom and uncle left for work. Since Sheila was a teacher and had the summer off, she had offered to watch Jeff so he wouldn't have to be shipped back and forth between sitters. As she went around doing household chores Jeff played outside in the backyard, throwing a ball around. He liked to throw it high into the air and catch it. He wasn't the best at catching or throwing, but it was something to do.

After doing this several times he threw it particularly high into the air. He ran to try and catch it when it sailed into the yard behind him. "Darn it!" he yelled, before covering his mouth at having said a swear.

"Is this yours?"

Jeff looked over in the direction the voice had come from. It had come from behind the row of bushes along the end of the yard. He went over and made his way through the bushes, which hid a chain link fence separating his aunt and uncle's house from the one behind it. And on the other side of the fence was a girl holding his ball.

As the girl came towards him Jeff wasn't sure she was a real person. She looked like one of those dolls his grandmother had on her mantle. What's that word? Jeff thought. Por…por… .lain, he sounded out in his head. Unlike himself, who was covered in scrapes and scabs, she looked like she didn't have a single blemish or mark on her. Jeff didn't think it was possible for a kid not to have dirt or bruises on them. (At least that's how his mom talked every time she'd get him ready for his bath.) And her eyes were huge. They reminded him of characters on a cartoon he once saw where everyone spoke in a different language.

She was wearing a real frilly white dress which had no stains or dirt on it, and her long brown hair was in two neat pigtails and free of any dirt and leaves and such. Yup, she's a doll, he decided.

"Hi," she said a bit shyly. "My name's Annie. What's yours?"

"Jeff," he said, glancing down as he moved his sneakers around in the dirt. "That's my ball."

She looked at the red ball in her hands before suddenly going to the shed in her yard. Jeff watched as he heard general commotion from inside. Just as he was about to ask what she was doing she came out with a small stepladder. She set the ladder against the fence before carefully going up it and climbing over the fence. Jeff was afraid she'd get hurt, since she was smaller than him. But she made it over with no fuss and without even getting her outfit dirty.

They went out through the bushes before standing in front of one another in his aunt's backyard. "Did you just move here?" Annie asked.

"My mom and me are staying with my aunt and uncle for a while."

Annie nodded her before wiggling the ball in her hand. "Do you want to play catch?"

"Girls can't throw balls," Jeff declared.

"Says who?" she asked as she threw the ball in the air and caught it with more finesse than expected.

"My friend Alan," Jeff said, sticking his chin out.

"Alan's stupid."

"Well you're a doll."

"I'm not a doll!" Annie said in anger.

"Yeah you are. Dolly, dolly, dolly," Jeff said teasingly as he pointed at her.

"Well you're…you're…" Her cheeks reddened and puffed up with air as she tried to come up with something mean to say to him. "You've got a big forehead!"

"No I don't!" Jeff cried out as he touched his forehead. "Dolly!"

"Big Forehead!"

"Dolly!"

"Big Forehead!" Annie yelled as she pushed Jeff.

"DOLLY!" Jeff screamed as he pushed Annie right back. Annie forcefully stepped backwards from the impact of the shove before falling hard onto the grass. Jeff looked at Annie, horrified that he had pushed a girl (even if she had pushed him first.) For a moment he thought she really was a doll and he had just broken her, just like when he accidently broke one of his grandmother's display dolls. "Are you alright?" he asked in terror.

He breathed in deep relief as she got to her feet, before seeing that her eyes were shiny with tears. "My dress," she said, her voice thick with emotion as she held out the front of her dress, which now had a big grass stain on it. "My mommy's going to be so mad at me."

"I know what to do, come on." Jeff took Annie by her hand and the two of them ran into his house. He led her into the kitchen and opened up the cabinet, frantically looking through it. "My mom says vinegar gets out stains."

"It's that one," Annie said as she pointed to a bottle of red liquid where the second word started with a 'V'.

Jeff took the bottle and carefully sounded out the word, deciding it was indeed vinegar. He struggled with the cap before getting it to twist off. "Hold on." Jeff lifted the front of Annie's dress away from her and poured the liquid all over the stained area.

"It's not working. Now it's stained and all red," Annie cried.

"What's going on in here?"

The two children froze as Jeff's aunt came into the kitchen. "Hello?" she said as she took in the sight before her. "What in the world are you two doing?"

Annie and Jeff quickly looked at each other before they frantically started speaking at once.

"She's Annie!"

"I'm Annie!"

"We were playing outside!"

"He was making fun of me!"

"I pushed her!"

"He called me 'Dolly'!"

"I didn't mean to!"

"My dress got stained with grass!"

"I tried to get rid of the stain!"

"He tried to help but now it's worse!"

"OKAY!" Sheila said loudly, silencing the children as she took the vinegar from Jeff's hands. "Jeff, stay here. Annie, come with me."

She took Annie by the hand and brought her into the guest room Jeff and his mom were sleeping in. A few minutes later the two women came out of the room. Sheila was holding Annie's dress and Annie was wearing a pair of Jeff's shorts and one of his t-shirts. "Alright, you kids go watch TV while I take care of the dress."

"Can you fix it? My mom will be really mad if it's ruined," Annie said, having voiced her fears several times while she was being changed.

"It'll take some work, but I've saved worse off clothing then this. Though I will say you kids did a pretty good job on getting it nice and dirty." She smiled at Annie to let her know she wasn't mad before going off to clean the dress.

Annie followed Jeff into the den, standing back as Jeff went over and turned on the TV. "Come on, Eureeka's Castle is on," Jeff said excitedly as he frantically pressed the dial before it landed on Nickelodeon. He sat down on the floor before looking at Annie, who was still hanging back. "Haven't you ever seen this?" He looked at her in surprise as she shook her head. "Why not?"

"We don't have a TV."

"You don't have a TV?" Jeff yelled in shock. "Everyone has a TV!"

"Well we don't," Annie stated defensively with a hint of embarrassment.

Jeff wanted to make fun of her regarding this development, particularly after she had called him 'Big Forehead'. But instead he gestured for her to sit next to him on the floor. He waited until she tentatively sat beside him. "This is a TV," he said as he gestured to it. "It brings shows into people's homes. But the people on screen are not real people."

"I know what a TV is," she yelled.

Jeff scoffed before suddenly asking, "How old are you?"

"Six," she answered.

"I'm seven," he proudly stated.

"Well…I can read and I'm not even in first grade."

"No you can't. They don't teach you to read until elementary school," Jeff stated.

"Well I can," she angrily declared.

Jeff looked around before picking up a nearby magazine and pointed to the title. "What does this say?"

"Are…you…r…ready…for the…World…Cup?" Annie carefully read out loud.

Jeff looked at the cover and read the title himself, shocked to realize Annie was indeed right. "Wow…you can read. That's neat."

"Thanks," she said, happy he wasn't making fun of her.

He looked at the screen, seeing a bear puppet appear. "If a real bear was here, I wouldn't let him eat you," Jeff declared.

Annie smiled, thinking that was one of the nicest things she had ever heard. "I wouldn't let a bear eat you," she told him. "I'd give it honey and have him eat that."

The two of them talked while they watched the show, Annie paying more attention to the program then Jeff, when the phone rang. The two kids looked over as Sheila came into the kitchen and picked it up. "Hello…oh, hello Mariel…yes, Annie's right here." (The kids got up and went into the kitchen as Sheila talked to Annie's mom.) "She came over and she and Jeff have been playing. There was an incident where Annie's dress got dirty, but I'm washing it as we speak…okay, I get I should have called you. But I thought you knew she was here. I came downstairs and they were both inside…how is any of this my fault…well forgive me for not watching them every second, but it's not like you knew what your child was doing either…yeah, you do that. Goodbye!"

Sheila looked down, finally noticing Jeff and Annie looking up at her wide eyed. "Annie, that was your mother. She said she's coming to take you home."

"Is she mad at me because of my dress?" Annie asked.

"She's…she should be here soon," Sheila told her, side stepping the question.

Sure enough, a silver Toyota pulled up in front of the house within a few minutes. In no time the doorbell rang and Sheila opened the door, revealing a short unhappy looking woman whose hair was in a tight bun. "Hello Mariel, please come in," Sheila told her in a tight lipped tone.

"Thank you," Mariel responded in an equally clipped infliction. She went over to Annie, taking in the girl's appearance. "I told you not to get your clothes dirty. Now you're running around in borrowed boys clothes?"

"I'm sorry Mommy," Annie said, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Mariel, Annie's dress is fine," Sheila said. "I'm washing it now and it will be good as new. I'll bring it over as soon as it's ready."

"I should hope so," Mariel said as she turned her attention towards Sheila. "It's bad enough you didn't inform me that my daughter had come over here. It would be very unfortunate if her outfit is ruined because of your negligence."

"My negligence!" Sheila said in shock.

"Yes. Come along Annie," she said as she scooped up her daughter. Annie looked back at Jeff and Sheila mournfully before the two of them were out the door and heading to the car.

"That woman is infuriating!" Sheila yelled as she slammed the door. She then looked at Jeff, remembering he was there. "Sorry for yelling Jeff. I'm not mad at you."

Jeff nodded his head before asking, "Can I see Annie again?"

"We'll see," his aunt replied as she tousled his hair.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"I'm home," Doreen called out as she walked into the house.

"Mom!" Jeff yelled as he ran to his mom.

"Hi sweetie," she said as she kissed her son. "How was your day?"

"I made a friend," Jeff said excitedly. "And we fought because she said I have a big forehead, and I got her dress dirty, and we tried to clean it but it got worse, but then Aunt Sheila said she could fix it, and we watched TV, and Annie doesn't even have a TV, and she can read even though she's only six, and then her scary mom came over and-"

"Okay, slow down," she said as she tried to follow her son's story.

"I take it Jeff's telling you about his exciting afternoon," Sheila said as she came over to them, holding Annie's now clean dress.

"Yes he is, but I'm having trouble following. Maybe you can fill me in?"

Doreen listened as her sister explained what had happened while she was away. "Well, it sounds like Jeff found someone to play with."

"I don't know about that," Sheila said doubtfully. "Mariel Edison isn't the easiest person to deal with. And after what happened with her daughter's dress, I'm not sure she'll let the two of them see each other again." She sighed as she looked at the dress in her hand. "I have to go over there to give this back."

"Their house is the one right behind ours, right?" Doreen took the dress as her sister nodded her head. "How about I give this back to her and talk to her. Maybe I can change her mind mother to mother."

"It's worth a shot Dory," she said doubtfully. "And at least that means I only have to see her once today."

"Can I come?" Jeff asked his mom.

"Well…" She thought about it for a sec before telling her son he could come with her.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Mariel opened her door as she heard the doorbell ring, revealing a woman holding her daughter's dress. "Yes?" she said as she looked at the small boy behind her, recognizing him from earlier.

"Hello. I'm Doreen Winger. My son Jeff and I are staying with my sister for a few weeks. I understand your daughter Annie was over earlier."

"Yes, she was," Mariel said in a cool voice. "I see you brought my daughter's dress back." She took hold of the dress as she inspected it. "It seems to not have any stains or damage to it. If you'll wait a minute I'll get you the clothes my Annie was sent home in."

As she went to get them Annie appeared, looking at the two of them. "Hello, you must be Annie?" Doreen asked.

She nodded before looking at Jeff. "Hi," she said with a smile.

"Hi Annie," Jeff responded happily.

"Here you go," Mariel said as she appeared with Jeff's clothes in a clear plastic bag.

"Thank you," Doreen told her. She looked at the two children before an idea came to her. "I was going to take Jeff to the movies on Saturday to see The Lion King. I'd be happy to take Annie so the two of them can spend some time together."

"That's nice, but Annie's only six. I doubt she'll sit still in a movie theater for an entire-."

"Please Mom," Annie pleaded. "I'll be good, I promise."

"Please!" Jeff begged.

Mariel sighed deeply, not wanting to be the bad guy to two small children. "Oh, alright, fine."

"Super," Doreen replied. "I'll call you when I know what theater we're going to and such. What's your number?"

"We're in the phone book under Edison," Mariel said with a tone of finality in her tone.

"Okay," Doreen said, a little taken aback. "Well, I'll call you later on. Have a good day."

She took Jeff's hand as she led him to her car. As they left Jeff looked back over his shoulder, seeing that Annie was also watching him go.