“Charlotte, Chase, your mama and I have a big announcement.” Oh no I thought. What could it be this time? All big announcements are made at the dinner table and you know it is gonna be big news when Papa calls me by my full name; most of the time they just call me Charlie. These were the same words my Papa said to me before he told me we were gonna go to Disney World for vacation, but these were also the same words he said to me before he told me I was going to have a little brother; so this could be either really good news or really bad news. They looked at each other, smiled, then back at my brother and I. “We are moving!” they said in union. I swallowed my mac n’ cheese hard and began to choke.

“What? Where?” I said gasping for breath.

“What’s moving?” asked my little brother Chase.

“It means we aren’t gonna be living here anymore,” I replied cynically.

“Where are we goin’ to sleep?” asked Chase.

“In an apartment. We are movin’ to New York City!” yelled Mama.
“Isn’t that excitin’? We’ll be livin’ in the Big Apple,” said Papa.

“We are gonna live in an apple?” said Chase.

“No silly goose. We bought an apartment on the Upper East Side and you guys will be goin’ to a new school, and are goin’ to meet lots of new friends,” replied Mama. My brother looked confused. He’s only five so it makes sense he doesn’t understand. Me, on the other hand, being nine years old, I understood completely. I get a huge lump in my throat. New York. That’s a long way from South Carolina. That’s all the way up North. “We were afraid you’d be upset, but listen, honey; everythin’ is going to be ok. Your father’s was offered a huge promotion. It was an offer we couldn’t refuse. Oh don’t be sad sweetie. Change can be a good thing,”

“May I be excused, please” I still had a half a plate of mac and cheese and pile of peas on my plate, but I could feel the tears fill my eyes, I wasn’t hungry anymore, and I wanted to be alone.

“Yes, you may,” said Papa. I ran up straight to my room. I sulked for a long time. I am not sure for how long, but I cried until I couldn’t cry no more.

? ??

Movin’ day. The day I had been dreading for weeks. My parents were busy running around like two chickens with their heads cut off.

“Charlie, can you help your mama carry some of these smaller boxes out to the truck, they have all my shoes in them,” cried mama already carrying a stack of boxes outside.

“Yes ma’am,” I replied. I walked out the front door to find a monstrous moving van parked in front of my house. I looked inside the back of the truck to find it packed with stuff. TVs, couches, chairs, beds, clothes, kitchen appliances; everything in my house was all packed up.

“Is our new home gonna big enough for all this?” I asked Mama.

“We’ll find away to make it fit. Don’t worry,” replied Mama. I stared back at my house. It was so pretty. It was blue like the sky. It was two stories high. My mama’s garden up front had never looked more beautiful. I wandered into my house for one last tour. All of the furniture had been packed up into boxes and ready to be hauled off to New York. My footsteps echoed as I walked through the entry way. It didn’t even look like my home anymore. I felt as hollow as the house.

“Come on kids get in the car. It’s time to go,” yelled Papa. I slowly walked out the front door, and made my way to the car. I turned around as we drove away to take one look at my home and watch it get smaller and smaller until we were out of the neighborhood.

“Bye, bye house,” cried Chase.



? ??

Eighteen hours later.

“Wake up sleepy heads. We are here,” whispered Mama. Chase groaned and through himself back and forth in his car seat. I rubbed my eyes to find ourselves in front of a tall skinny apartment building. The moving van had already started to unpack. “Go on up. See what you think of it. We are room 206; second floor and third one on the right”. I got out of the car and helped Chase get out of his car seat. I held his hand, which I did not often like to do, but I probably needed his hand more than he needed mine.

“Watch out!” yelled a man carrying our living room coach. I pulled Chase close to me to let the two men pass us by. We followed the two men up, one step at a time mainly because Chase’s legs were not quite long enough to clear them without help. There it is. 206. The apartment was all white. When you first walk in there is a little hallway that leads to the kitchen, the family room, and dining room all at once. There were hardly any walls or doors separating the rooms. We went in search for some bedrooms. There were three. The big I assumed would be for my parents, a medium sized room, and another smaller room. Chase and I bickered who would get the big one when Papa came in to settle the debacle.

“Now Chase. Your sister is older than you, and it is only fair she gets the bigger room,” said Papa.

“I don’t think that’s fair,” replied Chase.

“Don’t argue with me young man, you get the smaller room and that’s final”. Chase pouted for a few minutes, but eventually was distracted by the sound of a siren passing by the apartment complex.

“Don’t you love it Charlie?” asked Papa.

“Well it a lot smaller, and a lot whiter,” I replied.

“It will just take some gettin’ use to. That’s all. Don’t worry, said Papa. Don’t worry? My friends are in South Carolina, my house is in South Carolina, and I am in New York, how am I not supposed to worry?

? ??


Today is my first day at my new school. It’s mid-October and people have already cemented their friendships and I am the new weird kid. I have butterflies in my stomach, not the good kind either, the violent kind that makes you want to be sick. The car ride there did not help either. The traffic was horrific. It was stop and go all the way. Chase is starting kindergarten; lucky him. When you are five, everyone is your friend, it does not matter what you look like, how you sound, as long as you have a pulse someone will play with you.

“Walk your brother to class, please Charlie,” asked Mama.

“Yes ma’am,” I said reluctantly. Now I am going to be the new weird kid with a five year old attached to their leg. Even though my brother had nothing to be worried about, he still looked nervous. I have to remember this is all new to him too. I held his hand as we walked up the steps to the school. I dropped him off at his class, where the teacher had already started playing a game with the class and welcomed Chase to join. He gave me a quick hug and ran over to spot next to a little boy and a little girl who were eager to play with Chase. I hope things are that easy for me, but it’s unrealistic of me to hope for such things.

The bell rang. I jumped and was suddenly swarmed by hundred of kids. I tried to find which of them looked like fourth graders. My mother had given me a paper with my teacher’s name on it. Mrs. Abington. I looked like a tourist. Fortunately, her room was the first door on the left. I guess it was arranged alphabetically. All the students rushed to their assigned seats, laughing, and chatting with their friends. I didn’t want to steal someone’s seat. I panic. I didn’t know where to go or what to do. Thankfully my teacher noticed me shaking in the corner and came over to me.

“Are you Charlotte?” asked Mrs. Abington.

“Yes ma’am. Most people call me Charlie though,” I replied shyly.

“Alright then Charlie, I’m Mrs. Abington. I’ll introduce to the class. My heart started to pound. I just wanted to get through this day without drawing attention to myself, but Mrs. Abington insisted. “Class, this Charlie. She has just moved from,”

“Charlie? That’s a boy’s name,” shouted a girl in the very front row. The class laughed at her comment.

“Olivia we do not make fun of people’s names,” scolded Mrs. Abington. “As I was saying Charlie has moved from…umm. Where are you from again sweet heart?” My throat closed. I couldn’t breathe. I stood there like a statue. She asked again.
“Charlie, where are you from?” I took a deep breath afraid of what would come next.

“South Carolina.” I said sheepishly. The class broke out into a roar of laughter.

“You have a funny voice,” called out a boy in the back.

“That is enough from all of you. You will treat Charlie with respect. She is new here and you will all be kind to her. Understood?”

“Yes Mrs, Abington,” said the class.
Lunch wasn’t any better. When the lunch lady asked if I wanted any vegetables, I said yes ma’am and the kids behind me laughed at me. They asked if I was raised on a barn. I ate by myself. I just wanted to go home.

? ??


Finally, the bell rang ending that horrific first day. I picked up my brother from his class room. He didn’t want to leave, but I told him we had to go. I didn’t say home because it wasn’t our home. Mama said we had to walk back from school by ourselves because she had a job interview at the same time pick up was. We were on our own in the big city. We only lived a few blocks away, but I was still scared. The people here walk so much fast like they are always in a rush. They look straight ahead not even acknowledge anyone else’s existence. No one smiles either. I don’t hear “Yes ma’am, no ma’am, yes sir, no sir”. Everything is so different.

We are only a two blocks away from our apartment building when I see a man curled up in a vital position leaning against the brick wall of the building. He looks dirty and has a long straggly beard. I get nervous as we approach the man. No one looks at the dirty man as they walk by. He holds up a can but his face remains hidden in his knees. Chase squeezes my hand. We have never seen a homeless person before. We get closer, my heart is racing; I am scared, yet I just stare at the man. I can’t look away. I try to walk faster as we past him still my eyes are fixed on him. I hit something. I collide with a business men talking on his cell phone knocking both me and my brother over. The man keeps walking. He doesn’t even say sorry. From the corner of my eye, I notice the homeless man look up and in a deep gruff voice ask if my brother and I are ok. I stare at the man. His eyes were glassy and tired. He looks really cold.

“Yes sir, thank you.” I replied and we run home.



? ??


“So how were your days?” asked Mama. Chase goes on about all the fun he had at school. My mind was still on the homeless man. How come he is homeless? How does he eat? Where does he sleep? Thinking about all his problems made my problems seem real distant.

“Charlie how was your day?” asked Mama.

“Fine,” I replied.



? ??


I went to school the next day. I tried hard not to draw any attention to myself. No one made fun of my voice that day but that’s because I did not say a word. At lunch I sat down at an empty table and began to eat when I girl from my class came over to me.

“Hi,” she said. I was surprised by her smile and her greeting it took me a second to reply.

“Hi,”

“Do you want to sit with me and my friends over there? She points to a full table of fourth grade girls.

“Sure, thank you.” I sit down with the girls and they all smile and start asking me questions about South Carolina and what it’s like down there. It was actually really nice.

They bell rang and my new friends all waved goodbye to me. Maybe this place won’t be that bad after all.


? ??

It’s been about five months since we moved in. I can officially call New York my home. I have amazing friends and I could not be happier. My parents decided to take Chase and I out for dinner. We ate at this fancy Italian restaurant. Naturally, Chase and I got our favorite mac and cheese. It was a wonderful evening. We left the restaurant laughing and smiling. As we were working our way back to our car, I see bright light at the end of an alley way outside the restaurant. A bus boy was taking out the trash. The face looked familiar to me. I took a closer look and realized it was the homeless man I saw five months ago. I smiled and gave him a little wave. He smiled and waved back. It’s amazing how things can change.