Jessica slept in the bathtub of the smaller main bathroom. Their dad had a makeshift room in the attic. Their mother slept in the master bedroom. It was 1985 and we lived in the Kings Village house in the Tri-cities. Jessica’s sister was much older than us and was already in H.S. She was perfect.
Their dad was very strange and seemed to spend most of his time in the attic he was the epitome of what I understood a nerdy scientist type to be. He was not someone I liked to be around; He had no warmth or calmness about him. Their mother was strange in a very different way. She was pretty and curvy and often her boobs would fall out of her silky day robe. It was all very casual for her. I think there was a brother, but I barely can remember him. Jessica was 2 years younger than me.
Kings Village was connected to a golf course. In the winter it would snow several feet so that all the kids could tunnel in the snow and make an underground world. Our dog Mitzi would get snow clumps on her legs so bad that she would become disabled after a few hours. In the summer there were so many grasshoppers that we could run around the course and watch the sky come alive as we moved forward.
Jessica’s older sister would babysit us, occasionally. I didn’t feel close to her ~ I idolized her. She spent her days scheming about boys and trying on outfits and going out. She would tan naked on the deck with her perfect friend, enclosed in a makeshift privacy tent that we could peek into. One night she came over with a sandwich bag full of candy for herself. She explained that her doctor had told her she needed to gain weight.
Just before we moved from that house I was next door. Jessica’s sister was upset about a skirt that had gotten dried and had shrunk too much. She was walking by me and turned “do you want this?” I was in 1st grade. I couldn’t believe my luck; It was baby pink and curvy and it was something she would wear.
Before we moved I stuffed a few scriptures in a vase and buried it in the yard because Catholicism and all. A treasure, an inspiration, for a future person to find.
I wore the skirt for the first time two years later at Westgate Elementary in Edmonds when I was in 3rd grade. I knew it was a big fucking deal. I knew I looked so good. I was made fun of for wearing it. I really didn’t care though, they didn’t know Jessica’s sister and the wisdoms she’d imparted upon me.
This is the only image I can be certain is from this time due to the outfit I'm wearing. HA!
