Amber

Between the ages of three and five, the events in Amber’s life remain a blur. She can recall bits and pieces of memories long forgotten. Amber remembers packing and moving frequently from one place to another. It was as if she never had a true home to call her own. She spent most of her time with her siblings Kelly and Brian when they were not in school. She recalls spending time with both sets of her grandparents.
The summers were spent with Harold and Vicky at the lake. They had their own boat and would go out on the water fishing and waterskiing. The local beach near the lake had a small ice cream stand where they would sometimes get cones.
Amber had short visits with her other grandparents, Charlie and Birdie, on the farm. There she would play with her white rabbit in the back yard, help milk the cows in the big red barn, and watch the horses run free alongside the house. She also had paper dolls that she liked to play with which were stored in antique travel trunks. Her grandmother, Birdie would make her homemade playdough, that she would, at times, get caught eating. Charlie liked to sit in his rocking chair and read books to her. He had a voice similar to the Carvel ice cream man. Their house always smelled of sweet vanilla from the pipe he smoked.
The biggest impact on this child was when her mother married Michael, and he became her first stepfather. With Morgan’s marriage to Michael, the children acquired another set of grandparents named George and Edna. George had been a medic in the Army and Edna had been a baker. Due to a falling out that occurred between Morgan and both her and David’s parents, the children no longer visited Harold, Vicky, Charlie, and Birdie. At five years old, things started to become clearer for Amber.
As Amber and her siblings, grew older, Michael began to change. He was starting to show his true colors as the monster he really was. He became quick to anger and was a firm believer in children having chores and punishments. Those punishments became more frequent and unjust, tipping the scales into beatings. Kelly and Brian got punished more often than Amber. One of his favorite punishments was his belt across their backsides. He would have the children bend over and touch their toes. If they were not quick in this action, he would strike them across their lower backs. The children were to count out how many things they had done wrong and the lashings would equal the same amount. Most times, they would get an extra one for good measure. The children tried to avoid Michael’s rage by going outside all day or simply visiting George and Edna, who lived across the street.
While living with Michael, Amber had several accidents. No one ever took her to the hospital or a doctor after any of these accidents to check her for any internal damage or long-lasting effects. Michael was not a big fan of hospitals. Amber knew he feared the accusation; he was the one responsible for the bruises.
Michael owned the woods next to the house he was building. He had cleared a large portion of the land, and the rest was left undisturbed to keep some distance from the neighbors. In these woods, the children played in the rock formations and the old junk vehicles left behind.
During the winter months, they would sled ride down the hills, having to be careful of the tree stumps partially covered in snow. One winter, Amber hit her head twice on these stumps and was knocked unconscious. Other times, she fell out of the trees when climbing them with her brother, Brian.
The most unforeseen and dangerous incident occurred one day in the fall after the children had come home from school. The leaves were falling off the trees and an enormous amount of leaves had gathered in the exposed, unfinished, living room on the second floor. The children decided to clean them up by tossing them out the openings in the outer supporting walls.
Amber got a little too close to the edge and went down with the leaves as they fell to the ground. Amber was not frightened. She was distracted by the bird flying above her. It was as if they were one. The bird landed in the tree branches the same time Amber landed on her back, hitting her head, and scraping up one of her arms. She did not feel any pain immediately and began to cry only after she saw her arm.
Scared to death, her siblings told her, “Do not move!” They ran down their long driveway yelling for George’s help. George was in his front yard weeding his flower beds. He dropped everything when he heard their screams.
When he arrived where Amber was lying, he picked her up from the ground, carried her to his house, and told her, “You’ll be all right.” He then proceeded to clean the wounds, picking out the very small stones, and bandaged the arm. Afterward, he placed her on the couch with an ice pack where she had hit her head. Amber was in and out of consciousness for most of the night.
Later that summer, an interracial family moved into the neighborhood. This was the first time Amber had been introduced to a child who had a skin color different than hers. Amber took to Reggie instantly, and they became close friends.
One day they decided to play golf in their adjacent yards. Amber stood on the wrong side and got whacked in the face and head. Although she had some pain, they kept playing. When it was her turn, they switched sides and she accidentally hit him in the nose! Once again, George used his medical expertise to treat the children. They both had shiners for a couple of days.
Reggie’s father was in the Army, and it would soon be time for them to relocate. Amber was sad when it was time for her new friend to leave.