Ms. Unlucky & The List

Chapter Four

Chapter Four: A Ride In The Park

I had spent two entire days watching videos of my parents and reading over some of the letters my mother left me before I had decided I'd had enough of a stroll down memory lane and had packed everything up. I would read the rest of the letters some other time. I had the rest of the summer to watch all those other videos later as well. The ones I had watched had been of my early years, what I couldn't remember for myself, like when I first started eating real food and crawling and even me on the potty.

My mother's other letters weren't so life changing as the first one. It was mostly about what I had done in that week and how she was excited for me to start talking and hoping I said her name first. It was all starting to sink in, though, and I wasn't sure how I could handle it. I walked past the room that had my boxes of things and smiled as my eyes landed on my skateboard.

I knew just what to do to take my mind off of my thoughts. Maybe putting off my grieving wasn't the best idea but it was the only idea I had right now and I would willingly take it. My mom and dad were finally together again after five long years and I didn't want to muddle their memory by spending my summer in sorrow, tears, and self-pity. It wasn't like I was the only orphan in the world and wallowing about it wouldn't bring them back. I was sure that my tears would pour out eventually but for now they would have to wait.

I picked up my skateboard and walked to my room next door and put up my things. I set everything on the desk and put on my shoes and a hat to keep down my wild hair. I knew it was a bit chilly outside what with the coming storm and so I pulled on a light sweater as well. I put my cellphone in my front pocket and grabbed my iPod. I wasn't going to skate without my tunes.

I made my way to the front door, calling out to the Pierces that I would be back in about an hour or two and that I had my phone on me if they wanted to get a hold of me. I didn't wait for a reply as I closed the door behind myself. I walked to the gate and watched as it opened for me. I threw down my skateboard and hopped on, going off in a random direction. I wasn't sure where I was but I knew I would enjoy the ride anyway.

Twenty minutes later, I arrived at a large park and smiled to myself. I hadn't been to a park since my mother had passed away. I let the musings of 30 Seconds To Mars fill my ears as I skated through the nearly empty park.

I would have been enjoying myself to the fullest had I not been suddenly knocked down by a flying object. I groaned as I sat up and looked over at the wretched thing that had just assaulted my noggin. I glared at the baseball and was sorely tempted to toss it in the lake nearby but a troop of voices calling out to me drew my attention away from the horrid thing.

"Are you alright, dude," a guy called as he hung his arms over the fence. He was tan, lean, and handsome but I was starting to learn that most boys in California were good looking. It was a change of pace from New York, or maybe it was just the rich neighborhood. I nodded my head, dumbly.

"Well, can you toss it back to me," he asked, indicating the stupid white ball on the ground next to me. I sighed.

I hadn't tossed around a baseball since before my dad was put in the hospital. He was a huge Yankees fan and he wanted me to be the first girl to join the team. I was sad to disappoint him in that sense but baseball just wasn't my thing. I was a tomboy, you could say, being that I knew how to throw a baseball properly and even a football and I knew as much as I could tolerate about sports of most kinds. Also being an avid skater was a big indicator, along with the occasional mistaken gender, but I just couldn't force myself to get dirty with a team of boys for any sport.

I picked up the ball and stood up straight. I knew my dad would be looking down on me, so I took up my stance and reminisced on his teachings. I smiled as I reared back my torso, pulling my left leg up slight as I went for the proper toss. I released the ball with all my might and threw it towards the baseball field. I wanted to laugh as the guy that had been talking to me stared at the ball as it flew over his head and towards the home plate.