It was summer. The day was hot and humid. The sun hung heavy in the sky. The air was almost thick enough to wear. Marcus and Eddie were layed back on the front steps of Marcus’ house. There was absolutely nothing to do. A car slowly cruised down the street with the windows rolled down. A guy in his early twenties was driving, with a girl about the same age sitting next to him, and a younger girl in the back seat. The guy had his “lean” on, and “I Know That I’m In Love” by Chee-Chee and Peppy was blaring from the car speakers. They both looked at the car as it passed by. The girl in the back seat smiled at them as the car rolled by. “My future wife.” Marcus said, referring to the girl in the back seat.” Yeah, right.” Eddie replied. “In your dreams.”
It was summer. A slow lazy kind of day. The kind of day where you really didn’t want to do anything but chill. Marcus was thinking they should walk over to 4th Avenue and get some pop and chips from the store. He was thinking about it, but so far, he hadn’t moved. “Man, I need a real job.” He said out loud. He had a little lawn mowing business, and a few regular customers in the neighborhood, but he was tired of cutting people’s lawns, plus having to cut his own lawn also. “Get you a paper route like me.” Eddie said. “They’re always looking for people. I know I’m saving my money to get a car.” Marcus shot him a look. “You can’t buy no car at 13!” “I know that.” Eddie said, annoyed. “By the time I’m sixteen though, I should have enough money saved up.”
Down the street they heard the faint rattle of bike chains. Jeffy, and Ricky came riding up, with Bobby jogging along behind them. His bike had been stolen down at Phelps Park a week ago. He knew who had taken it, but, you know…
“You dopes just sitting’ here?” Jeffy asked, letting his bike fall on the grass, and sitting down on the steps. “Nothing else to do.” Marcus replied. “Man, you missed all of the action.” Jeffy said. Ricky and Bobby nodded their heads in agreement. “All what action?” Eddie asked. “Down at the park. We just came from there.” Bobby responded. “Yeah, it was crazy.” Ricky piped in. “Real crazy.” He continued, shaking his head. “Well what happened?” Marcus asked, getting a little annoyed.
Roland and Crystal were both 16. Crystal was going into her junior year in high school, and Roland had dropped out. They had been going together for about six months. Now everyone knew that Roland was a little crazy. If you weren’t one of his little group, you’d usually steer clear of him. Well, earlier in the week, Roland and Crystal got into a big argument, and Roland pushed Crystal, and she fell to the ground. Now Crystal’s older brother had been looking for Roland, and caught up with him at the park. Well, he went after Roland, but Roland took off running down the street, to everyone’s surprise. Five minutes later though, he came running back to the park with his father’s shotgun in hand.
“And we all broke camp!” Jeffy said. “And Crystal’s brother was leading the way” Now, Roland didn’t try to shoot him, or anything. There were no shots fired. He was just trying to scare him, and maybe save face for running away.
“There’s always something.” Marcus said, shaking his head. “Roland better be careful. He’s gonna get ‘sent up’ again.” Eddie added.
The five of them settled on the steps. No one was in much of a hurry to do anything. It was summer, but summer was nearing its end, and they were trying to take full advantage of the time they had left. Football practice at King Park was starting the next week, so summer would be just about over. They had a real good team the previous year, and this year they figured to be unstoppable.
Eddie suggested they go over to Central High, and watch their football practice. They had just started on Monday, and were in two-a-day practices. They were all looking forward to the day when they got to high school and could play on Central’s football team. They all thought that going over to Central was a good idea, but as the sun beat down on them, no one moved.
“Remember a couple of years ago when we built that ramp out of plywood?” Marcus asked. Jeffy smirked. “Yeah, and you tried to jump off it on your bike and went flying right over the handle bars.” “Man, that ramp was crooked.” Marcus protested. “Crooked or not,” Jeffy laughed, ” you sure did wipe out.”
Their laughter carried down the block. Off in the distance came the sound of sirens. Marcus shook his head. What Now? Lately he had been doing a lot of thinking about what kind of place their neighborhood was. At the barber shop, an old man once described it as being a not all bad place, and a not all good place. It was a place that held dignity, and sometimes bad experiences. Yeah, that was a good description. Dignity and sometimes bad experiences.
“Man, I’m hungry. Let’s go to the store.” Jeffy said. So it was off to the store they all went, and soon they all came back with pop, chips, and other various snacks. Eddie had a Mickey’s Banana Flip, which he took great joy in eating, savoring every bite.
It was summer. They sat there laughing and joking. Talking about what they were going to do once football started, which girls they liked, and who did what to who. Afternoon turned into evening. Marcus’ dad had come home from work, and Marcus could smell the dinner his mom was cooking on the stove. Somewhere down the street “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye was playing over someone’s speakers. Some little kids were playing across the street. The Simmons twins, Connie and Vicky came walking by, and all the guys playfully flirted with them. They had all known each other since Kindergarten days. The girls just laughed and continued on their way.
The State Fair was starting in a few weeks, and school would be starting right after Labor Day, but right now, it was summer. “You know,” Marcus started out. “One day we’re gonna look back on all of this and think about them as the good old days.”
A car horn honked off in the distance. Some kids across the street were racing down the sidewalk. Marcus’ mom came to the door to tell him it was time to come in for dinner. All of the guys greeted her. “Catch up with y’all later.” Marcus said, as everyone disbursed.
Marcus slipped inside, with the screen door creaking shut behind him. The others drifted off down the sidewalk, their voices fading into the sounds of the neighborhood, their shadows lengthening with the glowing sun slowly set in the sky. The air was still heavy with summer heat. Years later, they would all remember days like this-ordinary, unremarkable, yet somehow the kind of moments that never leave you. Summer days, back when summers days were golden.