Uptown

If you stood on the edge of the lot, where the sidewalk should have been, and looked right, it was less than two blocks up the gentle slope of Church Street to Mill Street. The intersection of Mill and Main Street contained a store, a bank, a barbershop, a gas station and the Post Office. Main street also contained the white tumbled-down shack that passed as a restaurant. This was “Uptown” in all its glory. When Kim and Kevin got bored, the asked if we wanted to “go uptown.” “Let’s go uptown and get a Coke.” “You wanna ride bikes uptown? It made the dingy collection of buildings sound like something important.

Past Mill Street on South Church Street was the elementary school, a red brick cube with two stories and a basement that housed the cafeteria, principles office and the boiler room that doubled as the janitor’s apartment. On the outside of the building was a fire escape that looked like a giant tube. In the event of a fire, the students had to slide down it. I dreamed of the day I could use the fire escape. It was rumored that, as part of the periodic fire drill, students had to burst through the two small double doors in the library, and slide down the fire escape tube. But for me, it was not to be. Just before fifth grade, the old school was closed and we moved to the brand-new elementary school which, unfortunately, was only a one-story building.