The world has changed

 I was a doorkey kid and a redheaded step child. I would spend all day at school day dreaming (thanks ADHD) about what I was going to do after school . I was the first to the bus everyday at 3pm (middle school in Balitmore MD) and I couldn't wait to get home. 

As soon as I got home I slammed the door shut, locked the door behind me and threw my one strap backpack into the closet not even looking for the 7 sheets of homework I had just been given that same day. I went to the dinning room and booted up our Dell computer opened up youtube and MySpace. Most kids my age were either already on or were getting on now.

First order of business adjust my top friends while Seether's "Fake It" played from my profile. Now that I had my knew friend Shane (that I just met at lunch today) to replace Nick (who didn't even know what yuhioh cards were) in my top friends it was time to get on Mafia Wars and attack some people I was 13-15 yrs old playing unsupervised with 30+ year olds pretending to be in an online organized MOB ie. The Irish Mafia after playing for a while I heard someone at the door unlocking it before whoever came in I closed Mafia Wars as to not get in trouble and I changed my status "out skating come find me" as if I was a famous skater.

I ran upstairs grabbed my iPod shuffle and my busted earbuds and I also grabbed 2 dollars in quarters ran back down the stairs and grabbed my skateboard out the closet and out the door I was. I lived in a one out of 4 neighborhoods surrounding a grocery store shopping center. The plan was to always meet behind the grocery store as soon as I'd get there I'd scope the place out "are my friends here?" "No." "Is security around" "Nah I'm good" soon one by one my friends would show up. Little Brandon on his skate board, Big Brandon on his bike, Chris on his skate board Nigel and Collin (brothers) on their boards speaking of brothers where's my brother Brandon asked I would shrug  because I was so excite I must have left him behind slowly we have the most of the posse together and then here comes my little bother skate board in one hand and the group of girls behind him of course he walked the girls here and the girls were Shaina, Jenna, Ner, Gabby, Ashley, Ashton and Kasey the group was huge now everyone is hanging out some people would skate whiles others took a break and entertained the girls and everything was perfect.

After a few hours of skate and rough housing we go into the grocery store and get a soda and chips. One can of Shasta soda was 21cents and a bag of chips were 33cents mind you I left with 2 dollars so I could cover my brother or any of my friends that didn't have money that day. And if they were all vover the grocery store had 1 dollar lockable (pizza ones were the best) after everyone paid we left as a group and would eat outside on the loading docks.

The sun would start to set and slowly people would start saying their goodbyes I was usually one of the last to leave I never wanted it to end I loved every second of it. After so long it was so dark behind the grocery store I could even see where I was going on my skateboard and I was hitting pebbles left and right and I'd decide to finally get home walked in the door dinner waiting for me in the microwave which I'd nibble at because I filled up on soda and lunchable and I'd take my shower and then get in bed mom came to the bedroom door and would turn out the light for me and said you got your homework done right I would always respond yup did it on the bus ride home. 🙃