Chapter 11: Restlessness

Are You There, Judy Blume? It's Me, Henriette

Do you remember the first time you flirted? I do.

“One hot September day, I missed him so much I hopped the streetcar to where we met on our first date. There was a basketball court near his house where he played after school. Seth was undoubtedly more of an academic than an athlete. Curious, I needed to confirm his athleticism was real and not some urban legend.

Oh, who was I kidding? I wanted to see him in shorts.

Kids swarmed the asphalt. I spotted his dark hair in the middle of the pack, running the court. I hung onto the chain-link fence for a while, watching him move. Fit and focused, he sprinted as swiftly as any other player. He doesn’t know I’m watching. I bit my lip, mesmerized. The edge this gave me was thrilling.

The game broke with a couple of slaps. Seth wiped his brow and looked around. I like him so much. I waved, puffed by a growing confidence. We locked eyes and his widened with surprise. A smile played on his lips as he walked toward me.

“Hi!” I said. He grabbed onto the fence.

God.

“Hi!” He glowed, sweaty in his bright blue t-shirt. I titled my head. Was that stubble?

“I was in the neighborhood…” Not at all. He must have known not at all.

“I won’t be very long…”

“Oh, that’s okay. I have to get home.”

Was that fair? To show up and then leave? He smiled, disappointed, but not unhappy. He knew this stop was out of my way. He knew I had come just to look at him.

And it had been worth it to see my power reflected in his eyes.

Are you there, Judy Blume? It’s Me, Henriette. When Davey’s father died in Tiger Eyes, she left her boyfriend behind for months when her family went to Arizona to heal. Although she still cared about him, she only sent him one postcard. Maybe she forgot how to connect? Or maybe she needed to feel in control?

Like Davey and her family, we didn’t talk about Daddy much. There had been nowhere for me to heal, inside or out, so I took the pain of Daddy’s death with me everywhere.

And the fear of being abandoned again.”

Are You There, Judy Blume? It’s Me, Henriette will be available end of Summer 2025.