The front door slammed shut, and Pop’s heavy footsteps sounded through the house.

“Hendrixxx! Where you at?”

Swallowing a mouthful of half-chewed Lucky Charms, I called back, “In the kitchen.”

More footsteps and then he appeared. Wrinkled grey shirt, shaggy black hair, and unshaven face. “You see the moving truck parked next door?”

“Nah. I haven’t been outside yet.” I took another bite of the soggy cereal and watched Pop as he walked to the other side of the kitchen and leaned against the countertop. “You know who’s moving in?”

Pop grumbled something under his breath before nodding once. “The Davis family.” Picking up the empty coffee pot, he scowled over his shoulder at me. “You didn’t make any coffee?”

Fear gripped my heart. “No.” I dropped my spoon and pushed my chair away from the rickety table. “I didn’t know what time you’d be home.”

Pop shook his head. “Stupid fucking kid.” Flipping open the lid on the coffee maker, he dumped in one scoop of crushed grounds. “Every morning, before you eat breakfast, you need to make my coffee. You understand?”

I nodded. “Yeah, Pop, I understand.”

He didn’t reply as he walked over to the window above the sink and peered out. “Look at this asshole,” he said, pointing next door, “standing on his front porch, looking around the neighborhood like he owns the entire street.”

I stood and took my bowl to the sink. Dumping the uneaten cereal and milk down the drain, I turned on the faucet and flipped on the garbage disposal. Pop flinched and covered his ears. “Damn, boy! You can’t be making that much noise this early in the morning.” Panicked, I turned off the switch. How could I be so stupid? Pop was still hung over. He wouldn’t be able to handle much noise for another hour or two. “That noise kills me!”

 “Sorry, Pop.”

“Yeah,” he said, running a hand down the side of his face.

Still glaring out the window, he mumbled something I couldn’t understand under his breath.

Curious, I followed his line of sight. “Who’s that guy?” I asked, pointing at the happy looking, blond-haired man next door. I’d never seen him before.

“Keith Davis. Asshole just transferred from one of the stations over in Garrison. He’s Station 41’s new captain,” Pop hissed, a large vein bulging on the side of his forehead.

I stood on my tiptoes and leaned closer to the window. Squinting my eyes, I looked to see if anyone else was outside. Didn’t see anyone though. “He got any kids?”

Reaching into the cabinet, Pop pulled down a liquor bottle and twisted off the cap. He poured the brown liquid into a clean coffee mug before adding freshly brewed coffee. 

Disgusting. 

“Got one.” He took a sip. “About your age, I think.”

I smiled. Heck yeah! “You know his name?”

Pop shook his head. “No.” He looked down at me. “Why don’t you go over there and find out?”

I didn’t need him telling me twice. Turning on my heel, I ran out of the kitchen and into the foyer. When I was three feet away from the front door, Pop hollered my name. “Hendrix!”

I skidded to a stop. “Yeah?”

“Don’t do anything to embarrass me. You do, and I’ll beat you black and blue. Got it?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

Shaking my head, I took off running again. Bolting out the front door, I jumped across the narrow front porch and bounded down the small steps. Crossing the forty-foot patch of grass that separated my house from the one next door, I kept moving until both of my feet landed on the neighbor’s concrete driveway.

Then I stopped.

The blond man from before was the first person to see me. He waved before smiling in my direction. “Hey, kid,” he said, not giving me a chance to address him first.

I reached up and squeezed the brim of my ball cap between my fingers. “Hey, Mister.” I hooked my thumb over my shoulder and pointed towards my house. “I live in the blue house next door.”

The man nodded once and looked me over. “You’re James Cole’s kid?”

Unfortunately. “Yeah, sir, James is my pop.”

His expression darkened at my answer. Huh. “What’s your name?”

“Hendrix,” I said, shifting my weight between my two feet. I never could stand still. “Hendrix Cole.”

“Nice to meet you, Hendrix. I’m Keith Davis.”

“Good to meet you too. Pop said you were the new fire captain.” And he didn’t sound happy about it either, I thought.

“I am. Just transferred from Station 32 in Garrison.”

“That’s cool.” I looked around, feeling out of place and not knowing what else to say. I wasn’t good at talking to people. “Uh, my pop said you had a kid. One about my age.”

Keith looked towards his new house before bringing his eyes back to me. “How old are you?”

“Eight.”

He swatted at a bumblebee that flew around his head. “Y’all are close in age then. My girl’s seven. She’ll be eight next May.”

I straightened my spine. “Yeah?” He nodded once. “Good because there aren’t a lot of kids in this neighborhood. It’s mostly old people…” Wait. His girl? He has a daughter and not a son? Ah, heck! “She’s a girl?” I blurted out, spit flying from my mouth.

Arms hanging at his sides, Keith smirked. “Yeah, Maddie is definitely a girl.”

Dang it, man! Just when I thought— “Oh.” I hung my head forward. “I thought she was a boy.” Blowing out a breath, I shoved my hands into my front pockets. “That’s the whole reason I came over here. I thought we could be friends or something.”

Keith crossed his arms over his chest. “You can’t be friends with a girl?” he asked, a confused look on his face.

I shrugged. “I wouldn’t know what to do with a girl.” Not unless… “Does she happen to play basketball or like riding dirt bikes?”

Keith tossed his head back and laughed. “Maddie? On a dirt bike? Not in this lifetime.”

“Why the heck not?”

Still laughing, he rubbed both of his eyes with the back of his hands. “Kid, Maddie isn’t going to do anything that would risk getting one of her dresses dirty.”

Ohhhhhhh! So, she was one of those girls.

Dang it!

Frustrated, I blew out a breath and pulled my hands out of my pockets. “Alright, well, I guess I should be getting back home then.” I waved once. “It was nice meeting you, Mr. Davis.”

Not waiting for a response, I turned and walked down the driveway.

Until…

“Daddy!” a girl’s high-pitched voice called out.

Immediately, I stopped moving.

“Who’s that boy?” There was something about her voice that reminded me of a cartoon character. I’d never heard anything like it before in real life, and I didn’t know why, but I wanted to hear more.

“He lives next door,” Keith answered.

“What’s his name?” She spoke so quickly I barely understood her.

“Hendrix Cole.”

I could see her shadow flitting across the ground as she came closer.

“Hi, Hendrix,” she said from what sounded like two or three feet away. “Well?  Aren’t ya gonna turn around and say hi to me?”

She giggled, and my pulse kicked into overdrive. Why I didn’t know.

More than curious, I turned around.

The world around me slowed as I came face to face with her for the first time.

Shiny brown hair. Huge green eyes. Freckles. Cotton candy stained lips.

“Hi, Hendrix.” Hands twisting in the skirt of her glittery pink dress, she tilted her head to the side and smiled. “My name is Maddie. I’m your new neighbor.”

It was the moment that changed everything.

Forever.