The girl

There she sat, fifteen and smoking a Marlboro. Not a care in the world. She was with her sister and they had come to Bella Vista park to enjoy the warm summer afternoon along with the chance to meet some young men. Most of the teenagers who could drive or who had friends old enough to, came to the park to meet the young twenty-somethings. 

The girl and her sister finished their cigarettes and put them out on the ground. The dirt around the picnic table was littered with butts. They had been sitting and chatting for nearly two hours. Thankfully, their parents had left along with big brother and little sister. Mother wanted them to all enjoy a picnic lunch and they had. Now, it was time for the girl and her sister to be teenagers.

As they soaked up the sun, a light breeze rattled the leaves of the looming oak and willow trees surrounding the park. It was a concave section of grass with a swimming pool to the east of the picnic tables. The stairs leading down to the baseball diamond west of them were currently vacant. Tables still held a few stragglers here and there. The pool was dominated with five to twelve year olds and their chatty parents.

Her sister lit another smoke and offered one to a friend that had walked over to say hi. She gladly accepted and inhaled with delight. Laughter and heavy foot steps were suddenly heard on the stairs. Two guys in their early twenties were headed to one of the diamonds. Each had his own mitt and baseball. The taller of the two was holding a heavily-used Louisville slugger.

The two groups noticed one another immediately.

The friend proceeded to introduce the two guys to the two girls. The tallest was her cousin who had moved to town three weeks earlier to work at the local steel mill. The shorter friend was a local kid who had graduated a couple years ago and was currently working at the steel mill as well.

The girl was noticed by the tall one and two were chitchatting in no time. The shorter one and her sister sat down on the bench and both lit yet another cigarette. The friend said goodbye and headed back home.