Kyle's room is actually quite tidy, his bed is made and all the books are straight on the shelf. He has a bomber pilot hat on his bedside pillow along with an old, dark brown bible. His walls have lots of war effort posters and old photos on them, it's fascinating. I spot a photo of Mrs.Balm, Kyle, Maddy, and a man about the age of twenty-two by the looks of the photo. I figure this is Jimmy.
Kyle Balm lives in an attic according to him. His room is at the very top of the house and you can see where the roof forms a triangle. I sneeze and he laughs. "It's very...dusty up here sorry Kat." I stare at him not believing he has already nicknamed me. He senses this and blushes. "Kate. Sorry, I just thought we were becoming friends." I understand Kyle. He is lonely, I mean he lives with two females. And, as far as I know he hasn't really made many friends yet. "Yes." I say smiling. "whaddya mean... Yes?" he asks, confused. "Yes. We can be friends." He grins and runs his fingers through is dark hair.
We go to the window and watch people walk down the sidewalk for a while until Kyle says, "What's that smell it smells like-" I cut him off. "Baby oil? It's my hair." He looks at me for a second obviously weirded out. I laugh. "It's supposed to make your hair softer or something." I pat my curls and he shakes his head. " I'm gonna have no friends! I'm siting up in my room talking about baby oil and how it makes hair softer with a girl." Kyle screams this disrupting our silence. He sits right down on the floor and puts his head in his hands.
It's Kyles fault I'm here. I knocked on the door looking for Maddy but she was out shopping with her mother. Before you could say "Cherry Pie." I was inside and given a tour of the house.
After his yelling, he stands up, grabs my arm and drags me down the stairs. "You have to introduce me to some guys." I jerk my arm away from his and put my hands on my hips. "Why? You haven't been treating me too swell." He sighs "I'm sorry Kate. Please?" I let him grab my arm again and we walk downstairs. "Just tell me. A couple days ago, what did you mean when you said I seem empty?" He looks down at his feet. "It doesn't matter, not right now anyways. I'll tell you someday." And with that I am being yanked through the door as we head to the park.
Before we even step of the front porch Mrs. Balm is running to us with a bag of groceries. Maddy is racing down the sidewalk after her and pretty soon we are all standing crowded up on the tiny porch. "Hello Kate! Glad to see Kyle is making friends." She reaches out and touches my hair. "Oh my! Your hair is so silky! What did you do?" Kyle grins "Mother, I bet it's baby oil, it makes hair softer." He can't say this without laughing I nod and Mrs. Balm touches her forehead. "Oh Kyle! You need to be around boys. I'm umm... worried about you. Go roll in some mud and throw rocks!" She walks into the house swiftly with Maddy behind.
YOU ARE READING
Strawberry Jam
Non-FictionGrowing up during the forties, Kate Anderson's life has been tough. She has always kept to herself. Until shes meets the Balms. An eccentric and interesting family. She decides that keeping to herslef might not always be that easy.
