Chapter 14
Within a month of arriving in Brockton, Massachusetts, Joana found work at a dry cleaner, Flora was working for Della after school at the daycare she and her mother ran from their apartment, and Manny got a job at a gas station. It wasn’t what he was hoping for, but it was better in some ways than he’d expected. He enjoyed the lively atmosphere inside the gas station’s convenience store, where people came to buy coffee or snacks. Already, he’d learned the names of the regulars. He also enjoyed the fact that the money he earned helped them to get a one-bedroom apartment of their own, so he could sleep on a couch instead of on Della’s kitchen floor.
He had seen Della every day since she’d picked them up at the airport, which pleased both their mothers. She dropped in every evening to get a sandwich from the store and made a habit of sitting behind the counter with him while she ate.
“How were the daycare kids today?” he asked her one Tuesday evening, expecting to hear another escapade about a girl who flushed a whole roll of toilet paper down the toilet or a boy who ate the red circle out of the watercolor pallet.
“We acted out the Taming of the Shrew. It was fun.”
He widened his eyes. “Shakespeare?” He’d enjoyed reading the bard in college, but most of the other students had complained about it, and he doubted that a bunch of preschoolers could appreciate it any more than his former schoolmates. But that was the way Della was—always saying things he didn’t expect.
Della combed her fingers through her hair, sending her dangling earring for a swing. “It turned out much differently than the real play, but it was a nice way to review for my English literature test. Sometimes being around kids all day is a little—what’s the word?”
“Draining?” Manny offered. He’d felt the same way about teaching adolescents. Though he enjoyed his job, it did take all his energy. Right now, though, he’d give anything to feel that kind of drain again. Of course, it would also mean a few years of schooling here.
“Yes, draining.”
“You like Shakespeare?” he asked, keeping an eye on the customers.
“A little. I like Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing, but my favorite English author is Mark Twain. What about you? Which authors do you like?”
He had just begun to formulate an answer when Flora and her friends stepped through the door. This was the first time they’d visited the store, and he was glad to finally meet the people who’d made Flora feel so welcome in her new school. The two girls with her seemed nice, average American girls with their overloaded backpacks, pastel T-shirts, and worn-out sneakers. The three boys looked a little more menacing with thick chains hanging around their necks and from their pockets, but that was the way of most teenage boys. They had to prove their strength in one way or another.
Manny raised a hand to them, and Flora returned a wave, following her friends to the back of the store where they kept the candy. He expected she’d introduce them once they came to the counter.
He rang up a few customers’ purchases before he could return to Della’s question. “My favorite authors? Does fantasy count?”
“Of course it counts.” She was watching Flora at the back corner of the store. Probably, after spending so many hours working with her at the daycare, she was curious about her friends too.
“I like Tolkien.”
Instead of responding, Della grew quiet. She tilted her head sideways toward Flora and her friends. “I think those kids might be shoplifting.”
Manny sighed. “Not Flora?” She was heading to the door now.
“Yes, Flora. Look. She has something in her backpack.”
It was a whole case of beer, the box sticking out the top of the backpack their mom had bought her last week.
Manny rushed out from around the counter, meeting her at the door. “Please don’t do this, Flora,” he whispered. “It’s not worth it.”
She placed a hand on her hip. “You have plenty of beer here, Manny. Can’t you just look the other way?”
“That beer doesn’t belong to you. It doesn’t matter that we have a lot of it. Taking it without paying is stealing.” He’d heard that this was a common problem for poor kids coming to America. They’d never seen so much abundance and couldn’t understand why they couldn’t have some of it. It was a thought that had occurred to him too. He’d never seen so much money as he’d seen in his cashier’s drawer, and at times, it seemed unfair that he couldn’t take a little extra. They were barely getting by in America. Between him and his mother, they made just enough for rent, the electric bill, and a little food. They had almost nothing for extras, certainly not enough to buy the kinds of things people bought at the convenience store. “If you want to have a successful life in America—a safe life—you’re going to have to live honestly. Earn the money and pay for the things you want.”
“But we can’t pay for it,” one of the boys beside Flora said. “You won’t let us.”
That was a definite hole in his last argument. The law prohibited teenagers from buying alcohol.
“Because you’re too young,” Della said. “Alcohol will stunt your brain development. Why don’t you guys go over to the Boys and Girls Club? There are video games and pool tables over there. I’ve even heard there’s a music studio.”
Manny placed a hand on Flora’s shoulder. “She’s right. You all can find better ways to have fun. There are a ton of things to do here in the city.”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head at her friends. “I told you he was the worst brother ever.” The girls beside her covered their mouths to keep from laughing. The boys were already outside, sauntering across the parking lot.
“Anywhere else, they would have already called the police on you,” Della said from beside him as she stared daggers at Flora’s amused friends.
Manny pulled the box from her pack. “I want you to have a good life here, Flora, and it’s not going to happen if you break the law.”
She wiggled her neck from side to side as she opened the door to leave. “I am so tired of you acting all high and mighty. You’re my brother, not my dad.”
“Mom would say the same thing. She’s not going to be happy when she finds out about this.”
“Well, then, I’ll make things easy for you and for Mom. I’ll leave for good. That ought to make both of you a lot happier.”
He’d grown used to Flora’s exaggerations over the last couple years. Many times, she hadn’t followed through with them. But there was determination in the set of her jaw, and the fact that she’d spoken in front of her friends made him fear that she meant to do as she said.
“You know how much that would upset Mama and me, Flora.”
She was already walking across the parking lot, and he had to shout the last few words to her. She didn’t turn to acknowledge him at all.
Later, when he arrived home a little after midnight, he wiped both hands over his face and let out a soft groan. His mother sat beside the empty bed she shared with Flora.