That was the start of a brand new heart for me, almost a two -sided heart. He notice me. It was also just the first month of school in the sixth grade with Miss Poster.
I managed to get through with the help of people like Peggy the cop, and some great neighbors. Peggy as I said before was beautiful. She was a redhead, freckles and the whitest teeth I ever saw as a kid. If she saw a kid looking sad, she'd cheer him or her up. Peggy wasn't just a crossing guard, she was a protector of kids, and anyone who crossed her would get a piece of her redheaded mind. As pretty and soft as she was, Peggy could scare the hell out of someone if she yelled, and that usually came if one of us kids were trying to cross against the light or sneak past Peggy. She wore her navy blue suit so tight, along with what looked like a regular cop hat, and those spike heels that she stopped traffic way before a red light did. Men on the street would talk about her as long as they could get away with it. What they didn't know was what Peggy looked like without her uniform on as in plain street clothes. I didn't see her like that until two years later.
People talked about school and what teachers' their kids had and that's how they learned about Miss Poster and how Mary put Poster in her place. Holidays were coming and kids were excited about Christmas. Sixth grade seemed better too as I got to see Mr. Vitalo just about every day and oh yeah, just about every day he yelled, Mac! and I woud say, yes Mr. Vitalo? in an innocent way, and he'd say, tuck that blouse in ! Yes, Mr. Vitalo I'd answer again. I aways walked away feeling important and smiling. Remember that movie where the girl said he had me at hello. For me it was, he had me at, MAC! tuck that blouse in! Yet in some ways I was still skeptical. I found out he was married, had children, was thirty-two years old and then even knew his shirt size.
Soon we found out our mother was having a baby. Another baby! That would make number eight and please Lord, not another boy. We already had five boys. Miss Poster even got in on that with comments again at Bobby( Mary's son) and I. She would say things like, imagine if you two got married and had a baby. Bobbys 'face turned purple, and me, I just stayed quiet and angry. But this time I wasn't going back to Bobby's mom and saying anything. He had enough just to bear Poster's comments about his good looks every day. He was good looking, but she was our teacher and about forty-three years old.
February arrives and on the first my baby brother Jimmy was born. I was allowed to give him his middle name which I felt really proud of, but little did I know how my happiness for a baby would change my life. Well that and a lot more. I started to babysit every day after school and sometimes before. My father told me I had more patience that my sister, and should consider it a compliment. I would rather carry laundry twice a day instead. My mother was home so I never got why I had to do what I was assigned to do for the next eleven, almost twelve years. Mr. Vitalo even noticed. He didn't miss a thing. He noticed so much that one day he did what I never thought anyone had the guts to do, ever.
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