Summer of '83

It was the Summer of ‘83 that I considered as one of the best years I have ever experienced.

The five of us just completed our treehouse, and now sat in a circle inside the house on a nice, blue, checkered rug finishing the touch.

We all sat in silence as we looked around the room, amazed we did most of what we were looking at. Kids who ranged in age from ten to thirteen years of age.

My name is James, and I just turned twelve years old when the treehouse was finished so this felt like a birthday present.

Everyone in this group loved to have me around for I was the tallest of them all, performing some work on the treehouse none of the others could do. But, I hated the height for I looked like a walking stick as I practically grew two feet without gaining any weight. To hide my thinness I wore baggy clothes so I looked a little larger. 

I looked at the others in the treehouse, seeing they all had excited looks on their faces.

To my left is Kevin, who I call my bodyguard. He was the opposite of me, being short and stocky. His jutting jaw intimidated many who came into his presence. Not having the best family life toughened him up too. His mother was sickly, his dad a drunk, and two older brothers bullied him all of the time. There are times I would meet him, seeing bruises on his arms or his face. I wouldn’t say anything, knowing it would upset him if I asked questions. I just know he takes out his frustrations on other bullies.

The next one beside Kevin is Henry. One of the few black kids that lived in the neighborhood. For the most part, he was ignored the first days living here, and bullied as the days progressed so we took him in.

I still remember the day we visited his parents for the first time, and they were so grateful to us for making Henry our friend. I didn’t know what the big deal was until later in life when I experienced racism, ignorance, and plain old stupidity over one's skin.

Henry was the one who helped create the treehouse for the most part. I could see him as one who would be designing skyscrapers when he is an adult.  He didn’t say much unless you were talking about constructing something or it was about comics. He collected countless comics of whatever he could get his hands on.

Next to Henry is Nancy, who I can say is one you did not mess with. It would be quite the fight if Kevin and Nancy went at it, but thank God it never happened.

Nancy almost looked like the female version of Kevin, both of them having red hair, and plenty of freckles. They were almost the same height, Nancy a little taller than Kevin.

When it comes to most people she stayed away from them, thinking they were walking zombies. We were the few that she considered as having intellect. We are the few who have witnessed that she does have emotions when her favorite grandma passed away.

The last one to my right is Eugene. He had a large mop of black, curly hair, and glasses that were large and thick.

He is the one that we call the clown of the group. Eugene loved to joke around all the time and make unusual noises. We figured when he became older he would be superb at performing sound effects for movies. He could imitate countless sounds you hear every day or hear in the movies he watches. He was mainly a sci-fi or fantasy watcher so you heard alien sounds quite a bit.

Many would call us the misfits, but to be honest I can care less. If you looked into everyone's lives there is a good chance we are all misfits since we live in a fallen world.

So, here we are looking around the treehouse, looking at what we did. Behind me is a bottom hatch that led to the outside, down fifteen steps to the ground. On the north and south side of the house, we have hatches that open up so we could get fresh air into the treehouse. All over the walls are posters of movies, and at one point a woman in a bikini, but that was taken down by the objections of Nancy. It was disappointing, but we were a group that needed to work together so anything causing disruption had to go.

As soon as we got over the scanning of our creation we looked at each other.

“We did a damn good job,” said Kevin with a wide grin.  

Unusual when it comes to his face. When it comes to profanity he was quite good at it. Myself, I was one of those churchgoers where I would face dire consequences if I said a word of profanity. But once in a while, there will be a slip.

I looked over at Nancy, not a churchgoer, but frowned upon ones who cussed a lot.

“People who cuss a lot sound like idiots,” she said one time.

“Next thing we need to do is bring some board games,” said Eugene. “Life, Monopoly, Risk, Stratego, and a few others.”

“I prefer Dungeon and Dragons,” I told them.

“I would like that one,” remarked Henry.

“I hate it,” said Kevin, which doesn’t surprise me since he lacked any kind of imagination.

“Before we bring anything into this treehouse we need to get a lock for the door hatch,” said Nancy.

“Good idea,” I said. “You have that dirtball down the street, Steve.”

“And there is Nick and Norris too,” said Eugene.

There were others on the list, but those three were on top at the moment.

“I believe I can find a lock,” said Kevin. “My dad has a bunch of them.”

Kevin’s dad had a bunch of locks because he was paranoid everyone was taking his stuff when in fact he lost it when he was drunk.

“We will start bringing stuff tomorrow,” I told them. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m just enjoying the moment. My first creation is complete.”

Now, I know how God felt.

I stand here, twenty years later, looking up at the treehouse. Soon, we will all join together once again after fifteen years to check out the treehouse.

“I can’t believe this treehouse is still intact,” I thought.

This treehouse, built by kids, is better built than homes nowadays.

I looked around, seeing I was the first one here. No surprise since it has always been that way.

“Hey James!” a voice called out.

I turned around and saw Henry walking toward me in a business suit.

“Great to see you!” I called out, last seeing him in person ten years ago.

It was no surprise he became a contractor, moving to the city, and going to the top.

“I see you are the first one here as usual,” he said shaking my hand then we hugged.

“We can’t change protocol,” I said with a laugh.

A few minutes later, Nancy showed up. For me, she is the biggest surprise since she moved away five years after we built the treehouse. My mouth dropped as I looked at her who once looked like a tomboy now blossom into a beautiful woman. One I could see on posters in the treehouse.

“Hello stork,” she said coming up to me and hugging me.

“Hello Tommy boy,” I replied.

Nicknames we called each other at one time.

“Running your own fitness center,” I told her. “I’m impressed.”

“And I heard you are the top cartoonist in the local newspaper,” she said.

“Yes indeed,” I said. “But starting to look at different avenues with tech ramping up big time.”

“You will succeed no matter what.”

A couple of minutes later Eugene showed up. He had a bald head and wore contacts now.

“We reunite once again!” he cried out.

“Way too long to do it,” said Henry.

We all hugged, and Eugene talked about his advancement in the biggest technology company in the country. A big turn around from his younger days of joking.

“You will be in charge one day,” I joked.

We chatted for a bit before we looked around for the last person, Kevin.

Half an hour later he showed up. You didn’t want to mess with him now. He went to the gym every day, and you could see it. Most of his other time is spent dispatching for a large trucking company.

“Last as usual!” called out Nancy.

“I can’t say ugly as usual!” he called back and started chuckling.

We all hugged then looked up at the treehouse. Kevin went over and looked up at the hatch.

“Lock is still there,” he said and pulled a key out of his pocket. “Let’s see if we still fit inside, and the treehouse doesn’t go down.”

He went up the steps, which held his weight, unlocked it, and pushed open the door.

“Still looks the same inside,” he said after poking his head in. “Let’s give it a try.”

We went up one by one until we were all inside in a circle. There were very little creaks as we looked around.

“It feels like the Summer of ‘83 again,” I said as we took in the moment again.

We sat in silence as good memories flooded our heads.