Catching Kisses

  "Ruby!" I stopped scuffling with the boy and looked up at Ms. Wickle standing over me, furious. "Is that how a young lady acts? You're eight years old already! And you're dirtying your pretty face! Get off of him!"

"Yes, ma'am," I said, "but I wasn't the first one to antagonize. He pushed me. I was jus' actin' out of self defense."

"Ms. Wickle?" My best friend, Alexandra, walked up to us. "Someone clogged up the toilet on the second floor. It's very nasty."

Ms. Wickle let out an exasperated sigh and quickly ran back inside the mansion. Alexandra giggled and turned to me.

"I lied! She's gon' be mad, don't you think?" Alexandra's voice was soft and her accent sounded so much prettier than mine.

"Well, what's she gon' do 'bout it? Kick you out? No way! You don't got no one! This is the only home we got."

What I had said was the whole truth. Ms. Wickle took in orphans and abandoned children into her mansion. She taught us and let us play in the backyard. At the time, there were about eight of us. Alexandra was the oldest, she was nine. All the other kids are younger with the oldest having been eight and the youngest six. I was the second oldest at eight and a half, and it paid off. I got treated with respect by the other kids, and I got second helpings of food since I was growing. The mansion had two stories, and more than enough rooms to hold everyone. Ms. Wickle was the richest woman I knew, even if I didn't know a lot of women. She was strict but kind.

"Exactly. She can't do nothin'. Why were you fightin' Rocky?" Alexandra twirled her golden hair with her finger, and stared at me with her bright, hazel eyes.

"He said my hair looks like corkscrews. He meant it as an insult."

"I like your hair," she giggled, "I think it does look like corkscrews, it's super curly and pretty."

"It's ginger. D'ya know how many times people say I have no soul?" I frowned.

"So? Don't listen to 'em. It's fantastic, Ruby. Fits your name alright."

Ms. Wickle came back outside and rang her loud cowbell to let everyone know to come inside. Alexandra turned to me and blew a kiss and I pretended to catch it. It was our tradition. I don't remember exactly when it started, but we had been doing it for as long as I could remember, which doesn't really go back that many years. It was our way of showing that we care.

I walked in a straight line to the dining room with everyone else. Some kids were excited for lunch while others were just bored. Alexandra was at the front of the line while I was in the back. She would shut up the kids up front while I would threaten the kids in the back. It's just how we did things.

"Sit down, everyone!" Ms. Wickle announced loudly, "I don't want any funny business!"

Alexandra and I sat right next to each other while two twin boys named John and Joe sat across from us. We all liked to discuss what we wanted to do when we're older and out in the real world. Alexandra wanted to become a veterinarian, John wanted to be an actor and Joe wanted to film movies. I didn't know what I wanted to be, so I always said something different every time.

"I think I'll be a housewife," I said, "I think that sounds best."

"Who'd ya marry?" John tilted his head.

Alexandra gasped. "You can marry me! I'll do the work and you can take care of the kids."

At that moment, Ms. Wickle walked over furiously and barked, "I am absolutely disgusted! I'll have you two know that two girls will never make a pair! They can't even have children together!"