So as I was walking home, I decided to stop by Mrs. Miller's house again, to see if she would answer the door.
I climbed up the porch steps, and I kind of peered into the porch window, and inside, I saw the shadow of a kid, he had his arms raised over his head, and I knew that if there was a kid in there, somebody must be home.
So I went up and knock on the door and looked through the glass. The boy ran into another room, and a few moments later, an older woman walked toward the front door.
She opened it and I asked if there was a Mrs. Miller there, and she said that that was her. I asked her if she remembered me, and she pulled my hood down and look at me. She said that I looked familiar, and asked me to give her a hint. I said, "Kindergarten?"
She said, "Well obviously kindergarten, something else."
So I said, "Lulu?"
Then she realized and started laughing.
She said that I looked completely different and that there were some people, that no matter how old they got, she could recognize them in a crowd, but there were others that when they got older, she couldn't recognize them. She asked me what grade I was in now, and where I went to school, and I told her that I was an 8th grader at Beverly Cleary.
I asked her if she remembered Parker, and she said yes. I told her that Parker and I were best friends, and when I told her that we regularly remind each other of when I spit on him she laughed.
She invited me inside, and I asked if she still had the book I made her, and she said that she didn't, although she wished she did. When she asked what the book looked like, I told her that it was about why you shouldn't spit on other kids. Then I told her that I made it because it was either make a book about why you shouldn't spit on other kids, or stay locked in the basement bathroom writing out "I will not spit on other kids," a hundred times in a notebook.
I followed her into the kitchen and she asked if I wanted a cookie. I told her, "Sure, I'm not one to turn down sugar."
They had chocolate kisses in the middle of them, and they were really good. Mrs. Miller introduced me to one of her friends who was there as well, and her friend asked if I had ever had one of these cookies before, and I said no. She told me that she was from Wisconsin and that making these cookies was normal there.
It turns out, the boy I saw in the window was Mrs. Millers' grandson. He was helping her make the cookies and was in charge of placing the Hershey's kisses on the cookies. And that boy was like a powerhouse of energy. He was running all over the place, and I for sure thought he was gonna break something.
I told Mrs. Miller about how my parents still have my suspension form, and how they framed it and hung it in the bathroom. She thought that was hilarious.
I then told her about when Parker and I were waiting inside before school a few weeks ago, and how he spit on me, and I knew that Mr. Ferraro was around the corner, and I shouted, "Mr. Ferraro! Parker spit on me! Suspend him!" and then I had told Parker, "Now you're gonna make me a book!"
Mrs. Miller thought that was so funny, she was laughing really hard. I told her how Parker and I remember the incident happening while she was reading a story to the class, but my mom remembers it happening while we were in line transferring to music, so I asked if she remembers what happened, but she said that she could only remember the incident, not when and where it occurred.
Then, her grandson said that he was tired of getting spit on by a kid named Owen in his class, and so I told him, "Next time he does that, tell the teacher, maybe you'll get him suspended!"
Mrs. Miller started laughing and she said, "Well, I know what's going to be happening tomorrow!"
Her grandson ran to the couch and found a pair of glass earrings that were Mrs. Millers, and he ran over and threw them onto the kitchen island. One stopped right by the edge, but the other flew off onto the floor and broke. Mrs. Miller kind of scolded him for a minute or two, but then turned back to me. She told me that she remembers me being an oddball and very eccentric, and she told me that the people who are like that when they're kids are the ones who turn into the most delightful adults. She told me to thank my parents for their parenting because they made me that way.
I told her that Parker didn't want to come because he said that it would be too awkward, so she told me to tell him that he should come around now that I'd broken the ice.
She commented on my shirt, which had the words 'North Hollywood' on it, and she said that when she saw that, she immediately thought of 'Hollyrood' which is the name of the building where the kindergartners are.
I told her that it was amazing having talked to her after all these years, and she said that she enjoyed talking with me.
I'm glad I stopped by today, I had a lot of fun talking with her.
