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My Real Life Peach Creek Estates

How my middle school neighborhood felt like the setting of Ed, Edd, n Eddy

By C.R. HughesPublished 3 years ago 11 min read
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When you're a kid and you can't drive and nearly every important place in your life is within a three mile radius of one another, your perspective of the world is very small. That's how the shows I watched as a kid were able to convince me that big elaborate adventures were happening in unreasonably small spaces, like the backyard in The Backyardigans or the sandbox in the Rugrats or my personal favorite, Peach Creek Estates in Ed, Edd, n Eddy.

From the middle of seventh grade to the end of eighth grade, I lived in an apartment complex that had all of the mischief and familiarity of the Eds' neighborhood. And for me, much like the kids in Ed, Edd, n Eddy, my hometown of Kansas City, Missouri seemed to really only consist of those few square blocks. And when I think of my time spent in Kansas City, my old apartment complex and the friends I made there are always the highlight.

Map of apartment complex

The People

Just like the cartoon, our complex was full of interesting characters. There was Javier who lived on the second floor of my building and was our version of Kevin. He was a year older than me and insanely cool (by middle school standards); all of the girls at school liked him, he smoked cigarettes, and he took his mom's car for joyrides sometimes. Then there was Messiah and TJ, a brother and sister who lived in the building next to mine. Though their relationship was better than Ed and Sarah's on the show, they had their similarities. TJ was the younger sister who always wanted to go where her brother went and Messiah was forced to take her with him.

In the building across the road from mine lived Gabby and Aliyah. Gabby was like Nazz: free-spirited, liked by everyone, and very kind. Aliyah was definitely the Eddy of the group. Whenever something interesting went on, she always seemed to be at the center of it. And then we had Francisco. He was the Jimmy of our group. A second grader who we took under our wing from time to time because of how innocent and naive he was. We all secretly felt protective of him.

And who was I? As embarrassing as it is to admit, I was definitely Double D. Always wanting to do the responsible thing and scared of getting in trouble. But honestly, someone had to be the voice of reason, although just like Double D, I allowed myself to be dragged into my friends' shenanigans more often than not.

Our Cul-de-sac

Just like Peach Creek Estates had its cul-de-sac, my apartment complex also had a social hub. This was the place where the neighborhood kids congregated and this was where everything seemed to go down: the basketball court. Located at the bottom of the hill leading from the parking lot in front of my building, the basketball court by right was open to anyone who lived in the complex, but by practice it was only open to those who were deemed worthy. Which meant little kids and our anti-social peers never stepped foot on it (with the exception of Francisco, but only sometimes).

The basketball court was the natural place for us to make into our social center. Besides basketball being a team sport and therefore the perfect outdoor activity for friends, the basketball court was also the only reliable amenity in the complex.

Right next to the basketball court was a pool that was more for decoration than anything else because it seemed to be perpetually closed. If we were lucky, we would get a few weeks in the summer where the pool was open and then half the inhabitants of the complex would flock to it. But the summer fun would always be cut short by a broken filtration system or something. This meant that for most of the year, the pool was either filled with dirty water or it was emptied out so it was just a rectangular hole in the ground collecting dirt and leaves.

Then there was the tennis court. It sat farther back from the pool with a row of trees on one side and a deep drainage ditch on the other. The court itself was surrounded by a chain link fence and besides the reddish brown clay ground and the faded white paint outlining the perimeter, it didn't look much like a tennis court. There was no net, just two poles on opposite sides of the court where a net should have been attached and the ground was cracked in most places, with weeds poking through them.

In recent years, the tennis court has been replaced by a playground. R.I.P.

With no net, it was useless as a tennis court so it was mostly used as a space for kids to ride their bikes, scooters, or skateboards. But considering that you only need one ball and some basic hand-eye coordination to play basketball unlike with riding things with wheels, the basketball court served its purpose as our cul-de-sac by default.

From being the place that we played pick-up games, to being the place that we would sit on the grass or pavement and talk about the latest school drama, to being the place where people would flirt and develop childish romances, it was the heart of our complex.

Our Trailer Park

The Park n' Flush Trailer Park in Ed, Edd, n Eddy

Like the Trailer Park of Ed, Edd, n Eddy, outside of our apartment complex we had a surrounding area that we associated with from time to time but it didn't have the best reputation. Among most people who lived in the area, it was known as "Ghetto Meadows." The Meadows were an apartment complex a few blocks from us that gained its nickname due to its reputation for violence and being overcrowded. But if I'm being honest, it wasn't much worse than ours, it just had more people and had been around long enough to gain a reputation.

The kids from the Meadows were our version of the Kanker sisters. Unlike the show, they were our classmates and our friends, but much like the show, there seemed to be a social divide between us. Not a big one, I'll admit, but enough that we took notice of it.

The Meadows

Because their complex didn't have a basketball court, they would often ride their bikes or walk to our complex to use ours. The only two times when the police were called to our apartments that I can remember, the kids from the Meadows were involved.

The first time I wasn't present for but I witnessed the aftermath. It was a weekend and I was coming back from my sister's house. When we pulled into the parking lot in front of our building, three cop cars were parked with their lights on in front of the dumpster.

I couldn't get a good look because my sister was rushing me inside the apartment, but from where I was I could see several people at the bottom of the hill at the basketball court. On Monday, I wasted no time to ask one of the boys from the Meadows if he knew what was going on. In vivid detail, he described the fight that broke out and as he described it, I couldn't help but think how they had broken at least two of our unspoken rules when it comes to fights (because fights weren't unheard of).

1) Always do it on the tennis court. It's more conspicuous because of the trees and it's farther away from the street.

2) All fights should be one v. one.

Apparently, the kids from the Meadows had invited other people and things got rowdy leading to a fight on the basketball court, which is right next to the road that people turn onto to get into the complex and is in full view of at least two buildings. And on top of that, they started to jump one boy. So the cops were called.

The second time the cops were called, I was present. Three kids from the Meadows came to the basketball court while I was shooting hoops to prepare for school basketball tryouts. I had only seen these particular kids a few times so I was just being cordial. One of them pulled out a lighter and some hairspray and started using it as a flamethrower on the blacktop. They got a lot of kicks out of it, but I just wanted to go back to playing. Eventually they left and I stuck around, but a few minutes after they left, a cop car pulled up.

The cop looked around before approaching me.

"Did you see anyone lighting fires around here?" he asked.

"No, sir," I lied. "I just got here."

I may not have known much about police brutality and the reputation that the KCPD had with that sort of thing at the time, but I did know one thing that my sisters had drilled into my head when I was little: snitches get stitches.

The cop accepted my answer and drove around the block a few times before leaving completely. After that, I no longer wanted to shoot hoops so I picked my ball up and went home.

I can't really say why there seemed to be a behavioral difference in us and the kids from the Meadows. Maybe it was because it was our own apartment complex so we took a little bit more pride in it. Whatever the reason, I have to admit, just like the Kanker Sisters in Ed, Edd, n Eddy, the kids from the Meadows made our lives a lot more interesting.

Our Candy Store

Besides the cul-de-sac, one of the most iconic places in Ed, Edd, n Eddy was the candy store. I remember watching with awe and envy as the boys would emerge from the store with their cheeks stuffed with jawbreakers the size of their heads (and then being very disappointed when I found out real jawbreakers aren't that big).

For us, our candy store was up on the hill behind our complex. At the top of the hill was a long wooden fence that divided our apartment complex from the shopping center behind it. Once or twice a week we would all beg our parents for a few dollars and then meet up in the parking lot behind my building or the green electrical box between my building and TJ and Messiah's and count up how much we were able to scavenge. Then we would all walk up the hill until we reached the part of the fence where a board was missing and shimmy through the hole, emerging in the promised land on the other side.

If you hung out on this as a kid, your childhood was probably dope.

At the time, there were multiple stores in that shopping center. To our left was a giant K-Mart and straight ahead was a row of businesses, including a grocery store, an H&R Block, and our candy store… Dollar Tree.

As an adult having been to multiple Dollar Trees in my life, I can imagine it probably smelled stale and cheap, but as a middle schooler, it smelled like warmth and freedom.

My friends and I would wander around the store for a half hour or so picking up and playing with toys and knick knacks that we had no intention of buying or debating whether to get Flamin' hot Cheetos or Flamin' hot fries (which was a very big decision). Then we would dump all of our goodies on the conveyor belt at the cash register and clumsily count out the dollar bills to pay for it all.

Whenever we arrived back at our apartments loaded down with bags of chips, candy, and soda (or as we called it, "pop") we felt like the coolest people around. Little kids would come to us begging for a few malt balls or hot Cheetos. And just like our role models Ed, Edd, and Eddy we would use it as leverage to get them to do whatever we wanted.

"I'll give you some of my chips if you ding dong ditch the Johnsons' apartment," we would say.

Or...

"I'll let you have some of my Sour Patch Kids if you give me your basketball."

And having the power of sugar and salt on our side, we almost always got what we wanted.

How we felt after a trip to Dollar Tree

Places like a basketball court, a neighboring apartment complex, a green electrical box, or a dollar store may not be the most exciting places of my hometown, but they are what made it feel like home, not just a town I was living in. That's the same reason why so many of us loved Peach Creek and Ed, Edd, n Eddy growing up. It wasn't really special, but it felt familiar and comfortable. It felt like home. And whenever I look back at my life in Kansas City, those are the people and the places I think of with a fondness in my heart. And as far as I'm concerned, being able to find joy and love in the most humble of places is what makes Kansas City special.

If you enjoyed this story, feel free to leave a like and/or tip and check out some of my other stories. Also, follow me on Instagram @c.r.hughes

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About the Creator

C.R. Hughes

I write things sometimes. Tips are always appreciated.

https://crhughes.carrd.co/

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