Built

July 4th, 1994

I laugh as Ben chases me through the empty room, across clean wooden floors. He finally catches me and scoops me up in his arms, giving me kisses on the cheek. He sets me down and I squeal, running away again.
"Hey! Watch where you're going Dakota!" My mom scolds. "And Benjamin, baby, please. We need you to help us carry the boxes in."
"Mom, I was just trying to keep Kota entertained,"
"I know, sweetheart, but you guys are just getting in the way when your dad and I are moving furniture and stuff." He sighs and grabs my hand, leading my downstairs to his room. The only things on the floor are his big bean bag chair, a couple pillows, and a blanket. He'd been using it as a bed while our stuff was being moved from Carson. He sets me on the chair and wraps the blanket around me, then kneels in front of me.
"I'm gonna go help Mom and Dad carry stuff in the house. You stay right here and we can play when we're done, okay?" I smiled and nodded. "I'll be done soon." I threw my little arms around his neck and hugged him before he could get up.
"Love you Benny!"
"Love you too, sissy," he said before untangling my arms from around him.

I jumped up from the couch and ran into the kitchen. My mom smiled and handed me a cup of Kool-aid. My tiny hands took and drank all that she allowed before taking it away for fear I'd choke.
"Baby girl," she said laughing. "You got a Kool-aid mustache." She wet down a paper towel and began to scrub my upper lip. She laughed again after a couple minutes. "It's not working." She threw the towel away and called Ben. She handed him a small box. "Take Dakota outside and use some of these with her."
"Okay," Ben said, then looked at me. "Come on, Kota. Let's go play." He picked me up and walked outside to our front yard. He set me down on the sidewalk and started opening the box.
"What's that, Benny?" I asked, stepping closer to him.
"Poppers," he said simply, then threw one at the ground. It made a small explosion and the sound delighted me. I squealed.
"I wanna try Benny!" I shouted at him and reached for the small white bags.
"Okay, but throw them away from you and me." He gave me a few and I took feet fun in throwing them at the sidewalk. They were all gone in a few minutes. Mommy and Daddy came out soon after holding a bunch of sticks. Mommy held them out and Daddy lot them. They produced light and sparks, tiny versions of the big explosions in the sky. You could hold them in your hand, your own private fireworks show.
"Benny! What are those ones?" I asked with a gasp.
"Sparklers," he said. Mommy handed us each one and she and Daddy twirled their own around. I had fun, giggling and squealing at how pretty it looked glowing in the dark like that. It was like my own personal sun, it was so warm. My small mind wondered how it would feel if I were to touch it, and so I did. My tiny finger reached up and touched the gold sparks. I immediately screamed, throwing the thing to the ground and starting to cry.
"Oh, Jesus Christ baby girl," Daddy said running over and picking me up. "Let me see." Ben stomped on my sparkler as Daddy looked at my hand and Mommy came running over. He sighed in relief. "It's not so bad, Dakota. You'll be okay."