Page 59 of Townshipped
“Let’s go, boy. Time to do chores.”
The dog looks at me as if to say,This will be our little secret.
“Exactly,” I tell him. “No need for Aiden to know we’re obsessed with him.”
If dogs could roll their eyes, Granger would give me a doozie right now. He’s saying,speak for yourself, I’m just getting to know the man.
Once I’m downstairs I feel like less of an intruder. I’ll go back up to Aiden’s room later, but only to place the basket full of clean, folded clothes onto his bed and then I’ll promptly whisk my nosy self out of his personal space.
Laundry means music. Natalia always put a radio with Bomba music on in the laundry room when she worked. She said,Music makes the chore pleasant, mija. Why not dance and get work done at the same time?
Natalia? Natalia!
Gabriela’s mom.
Natalia’s round face, even rounder hips, beautiful skin and dark eyes fill my mind. She always had a smile for me while she cleaned, cooked, or did the wash. Mom let Natalia bring Gabriela with her most days.
Later, when we were in school, Gabriela came in the afternoons and stayed until Natalia finished her work. If we finished our homework with enough time to spare, we played in my yard or my room.
Now I recognize her. Gabriela was the woman across the pizza restaurant from me. I love her like the sister I never had.
I collapse onto one of the stools at the kitchen island as the memories fly at me like birds being chased from a barn. This isn’t one memory, it’s a flock. Our lives have been woven together until Gabriela knows me better than I know myself.
And then, as quickly and freely as the memories came, they stop coming. The coop is empty.
I don’t dare stand up, unsure I can trust my legs to hold me after that onslaught. I stare at the cell phone sitting neatly on the list of emergency numbers Aiden left me. I own a phone but have no one I know well enough to call. No one but Aiden.
Granger barks at something. I sit taking measured breaths until I feel more grounded in this kitchen.
Gabriela is somewhere. Why hasn’t she come looking for me? I would hunt for her until I either found her or took my last breath. Maybe I could search for her now. But where? How? And if I found her, then what?
I stand and grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator. After taking a long sip, I say, “Alexa, turn on Bomba music.”
The music feels so much like home, my heart could burst and collapse. The overlapping rhythms, chants, and Spanish lyrics keep pulling at me as I dance through the kitchen, putting away dishes from the dishwasher. The music continues to call me back in time as I move into the dining and living room to dust furniture. The same recalled images of Natalia and Gabriela come easily to me now, but nothing new returns.
I close my eyes, seeing Natalia spinning me. Her hips swaying as she sang along to the music. She only played it in the laundry room. If Mom were out at a committee meeting or luncheon, Natalia would play the music through the speaker system so it bounced off the tall ceilings and transformed the house. Then Gabriela and I danced and laughed while Natalia tended to her responsibilities, always swaying, sometimes singing.
Gabriela taught me moves.No, Mal, in merengue your one knee dips like you have a shorter leg, like this. Do what I do. I hear the voice of my childhood friend as if she were here with me. We danced with abandon, learning to twist and sway our hips to each beat until the Latin rhythms became our heartbeats and the movements became second nature.
Natalia filled an empty space in my heart and life. I can’t remember why, but she gave me a gift with her larger-than-life smile and the easy warmth behind it.
I’m dancing my way toward a hall closet to take out the vacuum when the sound of a car in the driveway draws me out of my reminiscences. I look out the window to see Shannon and Jayme walking up to the front of the house.
By the time they’re on the porch, I’ve shouted, “Alexa, turn off the music.” Granger and I are standing on the other side of the door, anticipating the knock. Granger barks once and then looks up at me as if to ask if he should bark more.
“Good boy,” I tell him. “That’s plenty.”
The knock comes and Granger woofs a rapid-fire string of barks and leans back on his hind haunches with his tail wagging as if he’s about to play a game of tug-of-war or chase.
I open the door and his tail wiggles in a blur at the sight of Jayme and Shannon.
“Oh!” Shannon says, bending to Granger’s level. “You must be the new dog. Aren’t you a cutie?”
Jayme looks at me. “I hope it’s okay we popped by without calling. Aiden left us messages that you were home alone, and we thought you might like some company.”
“Thanks. I’m actually cleaning up a little and doing laundry.”
“Oh, you do chores? You could move in with us next,” Shannon teases, straightening from her lovefest with Granger. “I bribed Jayme to leave her writing and come out since I have the morning off. I’m going into the salon this afternoon to do some pedicures, but Dad said he didn’t need me at the accounting office this morning, so I’m free as a bird. Have you been out to Bean There Done That yet?"
