The Madrona Heroes Register: Echoes of the Past

Chapter 4 - The Girl from Across the Street

Binny hadn’t had many encounters with the girl from across the street so far, but the ones she’d had were enough to let her know that this girl was definitely not friend material. On one occasion Binny was walking by the girl’s yard only to find her stacking rocks. The girl started with big flat ones, then laid progressively smaller stones on top to make several decently sized piles. Binny’s mistake was to stare a little too long as she walked by only to have the girl offer “They’re sculptures, you know.”

Penny Yang was sitting cross-legged and barefoot, wearing long army shorts and an over-sized plaid flannel shirt over a tie-dyed t-shirt. Her super straight black hair was of medium length but looked like she’d cut it herself. The girl’s glasses weren’t much cleaner than her feet. 

But Binny didn’t care much about how the girl looked. It was the ‘lecturey’ tone in the girl’s voice that set Binny off. It was a tone you would expect from a teacher or a parent. And it put Binny on the defensive right from the start.

 “Oh.” Binny responded, not quite sure what to say next.

The girl continued, even though Binny hadn’t asked for further explanation, “They’re totems.”

“Oh.” Binny responded again. A totem? She was starting to feel stupid. She hadn’t asked what the girl was doing. She’d just been walking along. She hadn’t even said anything to the girl, but now she was stuck in a conversation with her. And what the heck was a totem anyway? Binny suspected the girl was using this fancy word to make Binny feel dumb.

“My Mom says that the totems will keep us safe and happy in our new home.” The girl added.

Now this unwanted conversation felt definitely distinctly like a lecture. And a lecture was the last thing Binny was interested in, especially from this girl.

“I’ve got to go.” was all Binny could think to say.

“I’m Penny. Nice to meet you.” the girl offered and went back to her stone stacking. 

She hadn’t even waited for Binny to respond before she’d turned back to her “sculptures” or “totems” or whatever it was she insisted on calling them. Binny had never seen sculptures like these. Were they supposed to be stacks of fat misshapen pancakes? Ugly alien accordions? Honestly, what they resembled most were piles of rocks. And Binny was quite certain that forming a stack of rocks out of a stack of rocks did not quite qualify as “sculpture”. But instead of sharing her art critique, Binny just said, “Uh. Nice to meet you too. I’m Binny.”

Penny responded with a quick smile and went back to her arranging. The girl’s smile seemed smug to Binny. Just Binny’s luck – a girl Binny’s age did move into the neighborhood, but the girl might as well have been from another planet.

After encountering the girl a couple more times with equally unsatisfying results, Binny made every effort to avoid passing in front of the gray house. She had considered her makeshift skate park to be a good enough distance from the house since it was all the way across the street. Quite clear of the usual spots the girl hung out.

Maybe the voice from above was someone else’s? Maybe a new new girl had moved into the neighborhood. Binny put her palms by her sides and lifted herself up. Sure enough, there was that crazy haircut, a bespectacled face with, and a smug smile. The girl’s eyes were wide and expectant as if she expected Binny to be happy she was there. Ugh. 

What was she doing over here? Where had she come from? Binny was quite sure she had been completely alone when she’d arranged her obstacle course. There was no doubt the girl had snuck up on her. This girl was so stealthy she must have practiced her lurking on a daily basis.