Quite often you could find Katti, sitting across the street from her month-inlaw Donna's
house, just watching. Sometimes she would smile, sometimes cry at what see viewed.
Yet she would go there, sit on the edge of the curb and just watch. Never tempting to
walk across the street or get any closer. Heather would come home from her half day
of school, were she attended kindergarder. Katti would watch as the bus pulled up out
from the the house and Heather's little legs would exit. Today, something was making
Heather upset. The way she jerked herself off the bus and not turning around like
she always did, to say good-bye to the kids and bus driver.

Heather was huffing and puffing when she pulled up front of her house. She could just
kick that snot Billy. Heather swore right then and there that she would hate him for the
rest of her life. Heather's entering of the back door, "Nana" she screamed. Oh! Donna
knew something was wrong with the tone in her granddaughters voice, and most likely it
Had something to do with Billy Holiday. Waiting for Heather to come into the laundry
room to tell her all about it, Donna continued to fold cloths looking out the window at
Katti sitting across the street.

Donna had known Katti was there sitting day after day on the little park bench. For the
life of her she couldn't understand why Katti just wouldn't come over. She was watching
Katti when little Heather entered the room. "Nana, I swear to god I am never talking to
that Billy again" Heather cried.

"Ahhhhhh my sweet baby, what has that mean Billy done today to my big girl."

"He called me a wannabe" Heather put her little hands on her hips and stood with
her legs slightly apart. "Can you believe that Nana me a wannabe"

Donna smiled with her reply, "A wannabe what?" she asked.

Heather looked so serious at Nana not understanding why Nana asked such silly
questions. "Nana, it doesn't matter what, it matters that he said it. I don't wanna be
anything especially his wannabe girlfriend. He goes around telling all the kids I am
his wannabe girlfriend, and I don't even like him. And further more now! I hate him.
He makes me sick."

Donna had to laugh a little, in looking at Heather she knew that her granddaughter
was so serious. "Hate is a strong word for you to be using, would you like a snack
before you watch t.v.?" asked Nana.

"No Nana, I just want to be by myself. Can I go across the street to play on the swings"

"Sure you can, but don't you leave my sight"

"I won't" Heather gave Nana a big hug then headed out the back door again to the
park across the street. Heather thought how lucky she was to live right across the
street from a park. Most kids had to be brought to the park to play, but she just
had to go out her back door and across one small street. Heather noted, when
she grew up and had kids she was going to live across the street from a park to,
maybe even right here in Nana's house. Heather loved living in the big old house.
It was where her father grew up. In fact she got to sleep in the same room her
father slept in when he was a boy. It didn't look the same of course after she was
a girl and girl's had to have really nice and cool stuff, like stuffed animals, and
their own doll's lined up along the wall. And she didn't want the football wallpaper
no she wanted the little ballerinas in pink tights on her wall. Yet sleeping there,
she felt somehow comforted, maybe her daddy was looking down from Heaven
and saw her sleeping in his room. She use to think maybe he would be mad,
but Nana told her that her daddy would have changed it all himself just for her.

Heather never knew her father, he died before she was born, but she heard all
the stories about him and how nice he was and how smart and how handsome
he was. Heather kept a nice picture of him in her room. There use to be pictures
of her father and her mother together, but late one night Heather snuck them all
out and put in one of only her daddy. After all why did she want to look at
a mother that didn't want her. Yes, Heather knew that, she heard talking in the
night. And her so called mother use to make Nana cry. Anyone that can make
her sweet Nana cry, Heather didn't want anything to do with them.

Looking both ways, making sure no cars were coming, Heather looked back
to Nana waving her forward in the window. Her little legs flew across the
street. "Crissyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy she screamed" running to her friend that was
already there. Crissy was her best friend and lived just on the other side of
the park. Crissy went to private school, but that didn't stop the friendship.
When ever they were in the part they played together and laughed and hung
out until supper time. When ever one had to go the other usually followed.

"Who's that lady?" Crissy asked when they were there for quite a while.
"What lady?"
"That one there she keeps watching us, do you think she is a kidnapper?"
For the first time Heather looked over and noticed the lady smiling at them.
Bending over the swing so her face couldn't be seen she whispered.

"I don't know, lets run to my house it's closest."

The girls took each others hand and started running for the street squealing as they
hit the pavement of the street. Not watching for the traffic and not thinking they
darted out into the street. A car screeching its tires, a woman's screamed froze
both girls in their tracks. The woman in the park ran forward and grabbed both
girls and ran with them across the street. Heather frightened, but not totally uncon
catious of what was going on around her. Started demanding the lady to put them
down.

"let  us go" she demanded.

"Let go before my Nana calls the police you kidnapper you"

The lady released the girls. Nana was already there picking up Heather in her arms
and holding the other little girl close to her hips. "Ohhhh my god, what possessed you
to run out into the traffic like that Heather? You know better than that."

Heather looked at the lady and was about to tell Nana about the kidnapper lady when
she saw Nana hugging the lady, both of them crying. Nana was trying to get the lady
to come in for coffee, but the lady said no and hurried away. {Strange} Heather felt
very strange so decided to keep the kidnapping quiet.

Crissy came in to play a while until her mother came for her. Nana said the girls
had about 30 minutes before Crissy would have to leave. So they hit the stairs of
the old house and was up in a jiffy.

"Wow, this is such a cool room" Crissy said. "I wish I lived here. How did you
get to live with your grandparents anyway."

"My daddy is dead he died in a car accident and my mom doesn't want me"

There were no tears or sadness in Heather's voice, it was just a matter of fact. Some
thing she grew up with. "You mom really doesn't want you?" Crissy questioned.
All the time she played with Heather she never knew this. {Wow she really
must be Heather's best friend to know this.} and putting it aside they continued to
play.