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He wanted to run.
And that’s what he did.
He ran. Fast and hard. Down streets, across yards, over fences, and through gates. All the way down to the big field of grass behind the old warehouse.
The only place where he could be free from the restraints of his everyday life. He simply needed a place to occasionally get away from the demands of his over-obsessively traditional family. The Family, as he liked to call them. A dysfunctional brood of aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and what not, that had been trying, for the last fourteen years of his life, to groom him into their idea of a successful future business man. Not for his benefit, of course. The Family only cared about increasing their own wealth and power.
Grandmother, who had taken over as head of the family after Grandfather’s death, cared only about the Family’s reputation. Making him well known and successful was her way of getting rid of the Family’s scandal. Thirteen years earlier, the Family’s youngest daughter Susan had appeared on her mother’s front steps after having vanished for almost two years. She came with a one year old baby in tow and no husband in sight. A year later, she had disappeared again, this time leaving the two year old Andy behind. Grandmother had never forgiven her daughter for dumping such a scandal on the Family.
So, make the root of the scandal positively beneficial to the Family and the more the city will forget about it. His mother, Susan, was Grandmother’s youngest child and therefore was usually ignored. After all, what need was there for the youngest daughter when there was already a son, and some future son-in-laws, to take over the Family’s needs?
He remembered Mother’s stories about her attempts at attention seeking rebellions. The worst was when she had joined an all-girls biker gang. She had spent most of her high school days bullying younger kids, spraying graffiti on public property, and, occasionally, destroying a school window or two. She had even taken to sneaking drugs into the house to smoke in secret. Grandmother had never forgiven her for that to this very day.
He felt good, however, sitting in that empty and quiet field. Whenever he came here he could forget everything and just be a normal kid. Best of all, the Family didn’t know anything about it. They hated everything that wasn’t considered civilization. He sank into the strands of grass and watched the wind stroke them back and forth. He liked the fresh grasses here. The huge field was on the edge of the town and was taken care of by the folks who owned the warehouse. Somebody came by once a month like clockwork to cut it. You could keep cutting the grass as much as you liked but it would still keep on growing.
He had been so relieved to get away that he hadn’t noticed the man. And he was standing only a few feet way across the field. Now that he had finally noticed, he was struck silent by the incredibly intense blue eyes that stared at him. They stared at him from a face with roughly cut features that had a worn look matched by a short mass of slightly graying hair. The man was tall with a lean and tough physique.
“You came tearing in here so fast you nearly gave me a heart attack, kid!”
He blushed and just barely managed to stutter out “S . . . S . . . Sorry!”
The man peered at him. “What were ya in such a hurry for anyway? This place ain’t goin’ nowhere, you know.”
“I just like it here. Why do you care?” He squeaked indignantly.
The man stared at him with interest now. “Oh? Do you now? Didn’t know this place was bein’ used as a playground these days.”
“It’s not! It’s just . . . just me,” he ended feebly.
“Just you? Well hell, life’s too short to be wastin’ it on nothin’! Don’t you got friends or something?”
Inwardly, he cringed. “Friends” wasn’t something he wanted to talk about at the moment because the only ones he had were those that the Family believed were suitable for him. Which meant that he had none. People had learned long ago not to get too close to the Family.
“I have friends, just not the kind that would like a place like this,” he bluffed.
“Hmmm . . . I see. You come here often?”
He nodded. “Whenever I can, Mister.”
“There ain’t no reason to call me Mister. The name is Lenny, you hear?”
“Um, ok . . . Lenny. Do you come out here a lot, too?”
“Often enough,” Lenny said quietly. He stared off in the distance as if caught in a dream.
“How come I’ve never seen you here before?”
Lenny laughed softly. “This is the first time I’ve had the courage to come here since . . . well, I never thought I’d see this place again.” Lenny’s laugh didn’t seem to reach his eyes. They remained sober and, for the first time, he noticed traces of sadness in their depths. “Enough about me. If you don’t come here to hang out with your pals, then why do you come here at all?” Lenny inquired.
He turned his gaze away from Lenny’s penetrating one, unable to bring up the Family again. Lenny’s eyes narrowed sharply.
“Don’t wanna talk, huh?”
He said nothing. Most people tended to avoid him once they found out that he was one of them. And, frankly, he had grown to like sad old Lenny.
“How about this then?” Lenny probed. “For every question you answer, I’ll answer one of yours.”
He thought about it.
“Do we have a deal, kid?”
Learning about the Family was inevitable at this point. There wasn’t anyone in town who didn’t know something about them. Besides, it was just the opportunity he needed to find out exactly who Lenny was.
He nodded, “Deal.”
Lenny grinned, “You gonna answer my question, then?”
He resigned himself to the worst. “I come here occasionally to get away from my family.” Lenny said nothing, but, watched him with increasing interest. “Ok, my turn,” he went on. “How do you know about this place, Lenny?”
Lenny looked away. “Used to live round here. Why do ya need to escape from yer family so much?” he asked next. “Seems to me you should be lucky ya got a family, kid.”
“They’re not the . . . ” he paused, “Well, they’re not the easiest people to get along with.”
Lenny laughed a real laugh. “There are a lot of people in this world that ain’t easy to get along with! So don’t go thinkin’ you’re somethin’ special just cause of that!”
He glared at Lenny. “Then what about your family?”
That sobered him up right away. “Don’t have one,” he replied nonchalantly.
“What do you mean you . . . ”
“One question per turn,” Lenny interrupted. “That was our deal, remember?”
He opened his mouth once, twice, and then gave up. “Fine, ask already,” he snapped grumpily.
“Here it is kid, your last question of the day. Think it over carefully before ya answer.” There was no laughter in Lenny’s gaze now.
“Last? But . . . ” he sputtered.
“Do you hate your family?”
He paused. He’d never really thought about his family in terms of hating or loving. Truth be told, they were annoying, embarrassing, and suffocating to be around, but he couldn’t honestly say he hated them. Lenny watched him carefully.
“I don’t like them, but I don’t hate them, either. Does that make sense?”
Lenny smiled sadly. “That’s what family is kid. Ya may not always like’em but they’ll always be around even when ya don’t want’em to be. After all, family is meant to be there when ya need’em. Take my advice and accept the family ya got, cause it’s the only one you’ll ever have in this lifetime.” He looked up at the evening sky. “Well lookit that. It’s about time we got goin’, ain’t it?” He slowly started to walk away.
“But I’m not . . . !” He started.
Lenny suddenly stopped and turned around again. “Well, what do ya know! I forgot the most important question of all didn’t I, kid?”
He stopped short. “What?”
Lenny smiled. “What’s your name, kid?”
“Oh, ah it’s Andy.”
“Well, Andy. Meetin’ ya has made my day much more enjoyable,” Lenny chortled.
He didn’t want Lenny to leave yet. “Will you ever come back here again?”
Lenny said nothing for a while. “Tell ya what. Let’s promise ta meet up ten years from now on this same day, place, and time. When ya do, I’ll ask ya that last question one more time. Deal?”
Andy nodded. “Deal.”
“Good! I ain’t letting ya forget!” he called as he left the field.
Andy watched him go until he couldn’t see Lenny anymore and realized with a start that Lenny was the first adult that had ever treated him like an equal. He smiled and ran all the way home.