Writings

Nicholas💓

i turned seventeen years old the day i met the the second love of my life. he was hairy and wrinkly, but my grandma just cooed at him.

he was a baby. and that baby was my son.

the dad wasn't around, oh, no. i'd already messed up his life by keeping "it."

my grandma was my only support. I was a senior in high school, starting out the first day of school receiving a message from her that my two week old son had had his first blowout.

i was so lost in my phone and looking at pictures of my baby boy that I hadn't realized I bumped into someone.

"oh!" a deep voice murmured. books went flying everywhere and so did my phone.

"i'm so sorry!" i murmured an apology but he sighed and flashed a smile my way as we cleaned up the mess that was sprawled across the school tile.

"what's your name?" the boy asked.
he moved a strand of curly brown hair way from his face. i looked into his eyes and gasped.

it was him. nicholas. my neighbor from when I was seven.

you see, my grandma got custody of me and raised me after my dad went to prison for beating on my mom. mom was a heavy drinker and they fought a lot.

dad left us before i turned seven. he didn't want me anymore, mama would say. then she'd go back to her room and crack open another beer.

grandma lived too far away at the time for me to stay with her.

the only time i'd get peace and quiet to myself was when id go to the neighborhood playground.

that's where i met nicholas. a boy with bright blue eyes and curly brown hair. when he smiled, two dimples would pop up on either side of his mouth. his nose was splattered with freckles.

"hi, i'm nicholas. what's your name?"

I was stuck on the monkey bars. tears were running down my face as my hands held onto the bars for dear life. my life was flashing before my eyes and this boy wanted to know my name?

i closed my eyes and murmured a prayer. i'd never gone to church but i heard about God from the Bible cartoons on television.

Dear God, please help me. i know you watch over me but please help me! i'm too young to die. i really want to start second grade next week.

that's when i slipped. I let out a scream, knowing surely i'd met my demise and was headed to the pearly gates, but a pair of warm arms held me.

nicholas. he'd saved me from an awful death. only then did i notice that he had flickers of brown in his eyes. his eyes had me mesmerized. he had a nice face.

he smiled and put me down gently onto the grass.

"I asked what your name is," he laughed.

"uh- it's amy. amy marie anderson."

he stuck out his hand. "nicholas peter corrigan. how old are you?"

"seven," I said. "what 'bout you, nicholas peter corrigan?"

"seven too. what street you live on?"

oh no! was this admittedly handsome boy going to kidnap me? maybe he'd take me to an ice cream truck. I'd never be seen again.

"why do ya you wanna know that?" i sighed.

"'cause i saw you playing in your front yard yesterday after school. you were playing dolls."

my cheeks flushed and i smiled. "so you're the new kid everybody was talkin' about in school! my new neighbor!"

from that day on, nicholas and i were inseparable. until the day he got taken by cps. I watched from my bedroom window as he was walked to a red car in his pjs. I could faintly make out the black eye and busted lip on his face. my heart broke and tears welled up in my eyes.