My entry into the Hello Hello Group Activity
My name is Damien and I met Jenny on the first day of junior school. I was strange and introverted on my first day – she wasn’t. She walked right up to me and said, “Hello my name is Jenny. I want to be your friend. My mom says I should make friends.” - And that was that, I had a new friend. This was different though, I had never had a girl friend before. She had freckles. I hated freckles; but on her they had a certain allure – enough to invite her to be part of the gang.
I was the leader of the “Alpha Gang” – named after our street. We defended our territory from other street gangs. We patrolled daily on our BMX bikes. You needed one to be a part of the Alpha’s. Jenny had one – but it was pink. My group members were appalled by decision to allow Jenny into the group with a pink bike. Pink grossed us out. Mark, my right hand man, was adamant that she should not be allowed to join. As all matters of this nature we eventually resolved it with a fist fight. I got my way and he got a shiner.
Jenny was a tomboy; she could climb as well as any boy in the group. Punch harder than most - and half the boys would rather avoid meeting her venomous left hook. She soon climbed up the ranks of the Alpha’s, to become my “right hand man,” by merit. Jenny and I spend more time together planning group strategies, of course; much to the irritation of the rest of the group who felt more and more left out.
Soon we changed our seating arrangement so that we sat next to each other in class. Here I could see how pretty her freckles were. I could smell the sweet mix of body lotion and hair cream and orange tartrazine covered cheesy snacks. We shared lunches. We giggled at the teacher, our own personal jokes. Sometimes I would pull her pig tails; and I would have to avoid the revenge attacks all day! Sometimes we jointly orchestrated pranks on our class mates. The gang soon disbanded through my lack of interest.
I saw Jenny change before my very eyes; how the two new front teeth fill the empty gap that had become trademark Jenny. I saw the most perfect skew teeth ever, before she got braces to straighten them. I was the first one she showed her braces to – I laughed so long and so hard she wouldn’t speak to me for two whole weeks. When we declared a truce, I became her defender; and would whip the ass of anyone who would dared comment on her braces.
I saw her swop her denim dungarees for cute floral dresses. She became softer and rounder and always fresh - she dropped cheesy snacks from her diet.
Now in secondary level schooling, we continued to walk home together but our talk changed to strategies about how to ace the next test or exam. I loved how ambitious and how intelligent she was. She had long since traded her BMX for reading novels. We threw in general knowledge quizzes about the latest pop sensations for balance.
I remember the day it all ended abruptly. Jenny was upset and crying when she came over to my house. The words that ended it all were, “My dad has accepted a new job up North, we leaving tomorrow.” Then she cried some more. I had never seen her so angry. She told me how she hated her mom and dad, as she continued in her bitter sobs. I was stunned and powerless.
The next day we sat on the sidewalk as we watch the removal truck fill up ever so quickly; until it was time. Her dad walked up to us and said, “Jenny it’s time to go. Damien, take care young man!” then he walked off the car and waited. We vowed to stay in contact and we did for the first month or two. Then it all faded. When I tried contacting her again a few years later, their contact details had changed and I never heard from her again.
Now many years on, I am happily married; except every now and then I think of Jenny, and wonder if she thinks about me too...
