|
blueberries
|
he let go of her hand as they reached the brick landing in front of the door.
"you look cute," he said, pulling the hoodie down over her eyes. she slapped him with the oversized sleeve and pouted. he laughed and knocked at the wooden door. a delicate bouganvillea made a perfect arch around it. a few of the paper-like flowers fluttered in the air when he brushed up against it and amarilla caught one. she examined it for a moment, marveling at the transperency, when the door opened.
it was a boy who appeared to be nearly twelve. he was half caucasian-half mexican, raven black hair and brown eyes, his skin the color of weak coffee.
"frAnk!" he cheered, and amarilla noticed his flash of bright, happy teeth. he exploded into his arms. their embrace was firm and tight. it made her feel a little more comfortable about the gardener. this was an obvious display of affection. the honesty of children could not be denied.
he introduced the boy to amarilla.
"this is juan," he said, and juan met her eyes for a moment and then shyly looked down.
"hi," she said, curling her toes.
suddenly, two younger girls appeared at the door. the older of the two looked similar to juan. she hugged frAnk, jumping into his arms. the younger one hopped on his back at the same time. she was fairer in complexion with lighter hair, but still had the dark eyes. she squealed and giggled as frAnk twirled them both around.
"this is ceaserea and cowie," he said, gently bringing cowie down to the bricks. "girls, this is my friend amarilla."
"you look funny in those clothes," cowie said, twisting a stray hair around her finger. juan put his hand over cowie's mouth and urged her to hush.
amarilla laughed.
"i know," she said, but it's all frAnk had."
somehow she knew she was going to like it here.
|
020213
|
