The Windmill: Andrew Buttons and J.J. (Finished)

Andrew Buttons was kind and he liked to hug me. He’d rub my head and say “Joe, are you hurt?” Whether I had just fallen or not. He was always there. I loved him. 

Something to know about Andrew is that he was my only friend all throughout elementary school up until he moved away at the end of summer when we were going into junior high. 

Andrew Buttons walks to and from elementary school everyday. He was a peculiar kid quite like me and I admired it but something I didn't know for a long time is that he existed. 

His name seemed fake but I truly believed he was real, even after he disappeared. 

Mr. Buttons and I were always picked last for sports teams. We were “in it together” as he used to say. *sighs* I miss him. 

He used to raise a finger and say he presumed today we were gonna be picked on and darn it all was he always right. “I’ll get the guy on the right, you'll get the girl on the left and afterwards we’ll meet up in the middle, sneak out and get some ice cream from Julio’s, deal?” He’d say and, *scoffs* who could say no to ice cream so of course, I was in!

That day the girl was relentless. She had a pair of scissors behind her back. I didn't know. She jabbed it into my shirt and started snipping like she was making a diy ‘rocker girl’ shirt. 

I finally got out, thank goodness. I pushed firmly on the cuts to stop them from bleeding. Anthony helped me off the ground and we ran off, holding each other's hands. “I love you, Joey,” Andrew said, huffing and puffing as we ran over the hill. I began to cry. 

Now, we were on the little streets where all the little stores were. We were almost to Julio’s for our shared banana split that Julio gave us for four coins instead of the original eight. He knew we were on a budget, and he also knew we only ever came in there when we were getting beaten up but escaped. It was our ritual to come during school hours. He had a tough childhood and he told us “you need to be in school,” but he knew my life. He knew what I was running away from, so he gave us the banana split and we went back to school. That was our deal from the very beginning. 

When we stopped running, I smiled at Andrew, hand still locked in his. I shook it gently. “I love you too, Buttons,”

Andrew giggled his little laugh he gives whenever I call him by his last name. 

I pushed the doors open and the bell rang. Julio sighed from the counter on the left. “My boys!” He exclaimed.