Bad Kid

She’s certain to be reminded when she returns for a visit what an awful child she was to raise the kid who brought home report cards of all A’s winning nearly every award each year on the last day of school in May keeping her symptoms a secret when she was sick so as not to ruin her record of perfect attendance who didn’t drink or do drugs never needing to be bailed out of jail spending most of her time alone in her room reading books and not bothering anybody sacrificing her seat in the school band for a job at the age of fifteen so she could afford her own car before that rarely asking for a ride anywhere as she possessed two perfectly good feet to take her where she needed or wanted to go regardless of rain or snow though she was ten minutes late once arriving home from a friend’s house in fifth grade She didn’t tell them as she sat there in silent tears at the kitchen table as she was scolded that she had been offered a cigarette and said no She didn’t want her only friend to be considered a bad kid like me