Background
This book travels from the 50's to present day.
The play times that are remembered do not keep the bad stories away. But all childhood's hopefully have some good times.
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Most of the kid's are overly excited, many are ready to go home.
All can't stop talking.
This evening started out as most did for kids from all over the neighborhood.
The parents as usual gathered at one home, not this one.
Parents often gathered at some one else's home to socialize, sometimes they were gone for hours.
This little town being made up of huge families some with over 20 children, meant that when parents were gone the children usually became bored and like the parents ventured out seeking other entertainment.
Much of the time this meant the "Bateman" place.
In this family there were many kids ranging from teen to baby.
These children created many of the more dangerous games.
And because both mom and dad were often away they were always up for anything.
Usually the games went on for hours.
War was always a favorite.
Kids would run, and climb on everything from house roofs to trees. They jumped and leaped on each other from everywhere, using crude homemade weapons.
There were always scratches with minor cuts and bruises, this was the normal and did not even raise eyebrows.
Any home the kids chose could easily be demolished.
The kids in the "Bateman" family had learned to repair and put back as much as possible before their parents got home.
They always had a lookout, they had learned to avoid the wrath of their mom.
She must have laughed when she found kids pretending to be asleep, some snoring.
This evening the kids having played out their usual war games got tired and bored. They were hanging around looking for suggestions of what to do next.
The "Bateman" family had many girls and a few boys.
The oldest girl was gentle and took responsibility for others.
The next to oldest girl was a scrawny, wild haired kid in pig-tail's. She could run jump and fight at the top of the game. Boys twice her size stayed back, she was mean and would turn into a wild cat to protect her gang.
The kids after awhile ran out of suggestions.
Suddenly a small girl shouted, "play the kissing game!".
What a shock! How did this tiny girl know about this game?.
It was no surprise that the older boys had heard of it though.
The difference in this and usual nights was that a new kid, cute and a little older than most was there for the first time.
This new kid piped up immediately saying that he would kiss every girl in the yard. He pushed other boys to join in this quest. The boys joined in; easily kissing all the girls both big and small; until they had only one left to kiss.
This one was the angry scrawny one. All boys but the new one knew enough to back off. So they followed behind the new kid.
The chase was on.
The girls ran with her, giggling and having a great time.
"Run they shouted! This way!.
Up stairs, down stairs out front then out back she was chased, all the while she was snarling and warning the boy to stop.
Toward the end of the game with only the new boy determined to finish, the girls were trapped in the bathroom, the door was locked.
New kid came through the window-wild cat had stepped into the old claw foot tub, new boy advanced on her with the girls screaming and the boys watching from outside the window; it looked like the game was over with the boys winning as new kid reached to grab her, she grabbed a metal hanger hanging on the tub shower rod, then backed into the corner of tub but he kept coming , desperately she raked the sharp edge of the metal hanger down his arm, he screams, blood flows and he backed out the window.
Reports were he cried said he was going home to get a glass of milk, but would be back.
She was a champion for awhile.
