Mimicry:
Chapter 2/3
I CAN NOT RECALL arriving to my grandparents. After a 12 hour trip I was out of it and did not wake until late afternoon. I woke to find myself alone in dark small room for the blinds were drawn: there was only enough room for the queen sized bed and one oversized dresser. I went downstairs to find my Grandmother in the kitchen starting dinner, and Grandfather still at work. When she saw me her face lit up and she crossed the room to embrace me in one of her overly long hugs. She stepped back and said like she always did “My, how you look like your mother, it’s like I have my little girl home again!” She told me that I should go wash up and took me upstairs to get me a towel so I could take a shower. After I was washed and dressed I went downstairs and Grandmother asked me if I wanted to go shopping with her; I said “sure!” so we left.
When we arrived at the mall I found myself in aw at all the different stores and the diversity in people. After being there for a while we ran into her new neighbor Mrs. Rodriguez, she and her family of six just moved here from Mexico and you could tell this because of her broken English. She seemed very nice and Grandmother introduced us, telling her that I would be living with them. Mrs. Rodriguez was very excited by that news for she told me that she had a son my age and she was happy that he would have someone to talk to. The two women talked for a while but I excused myself and started to explore the different stores. I found myself entranced with the flashing lights and brilliant colors of many different stores that flew by as I walked down the different corridors.
Later that night Grandmother took me over to the Rodriguez’s to meet the rest of the family. As we rang the doorbell we could hear the children running around yelling at each other in their broken English, “You stop kick’n my!” “My did’n do it!” The door then opened and standing in its frame was a tall handsome boy about my age with short black hair, large brown eyes and tan skin. He smiled when he saw us standing there and opened the door wider, exposing a dark gloomy room with three little kids sitting on the floor. When we walked in, after he shut the door the boy turned around and looked at my Grandmother, “He Mrs. Man-o-loo-kas” Then he looked at me, “He my nam tis Diego, you name?” I replied “Hi, my name is Stephanie. It’s very nice to meet you”. He smiled then looked toward his siblings and said something in Spanish; they all immediately stood up and walked forward, all with huge smiles on their faces. “Dis tis Steponie” pointing towards me “and dis tis Mia” pointing to the smallest girl around the age of four, her jet black hair was in pigtails and her smile was missing two front teeth. “Dis tis Alberto” pointing to the youngest boy who was around the age of ten, he had hair just the same as the others, but much longer than his older brothers. “An dis tis Elena” pointing to the eldest girl who was probably thirteen, she was gorgeous and not like other girls her age, her skin was flawless which was framed with her long hair. I smiled and nodded at each of them who were all staring intently. Just then Mrs. Rodriguez walked in from the kitchen, we handed her the food that we brought, she took it with gratitude and said “Mooch good, mooch thanks! My bery sad to say dat we don’t hab mooch to eat, we been habin trouble findin jobs.”
Right after the introductions were given Diego grabbed my arm and took me outside; he started running towards the fields, which were directly behind the house. He sat down on a dry spot as did I. He pointed to me and said “Steponie” then he pointed to himself and said “Diego” he then started to point to random things saying their names in Spanish; I quickly caught on and said their names in English which he repeated. “Sun”… “sun” “sky”… “sky” “grass”… “grass” He was a very quick learner and I was very intrigued by his eagerness to learn. We staid there until the setting sun gave an orange cast on the fields around us, I was sad to see the day ending for I enjoyed being with my new friend. We both had an understanding of each other because we were both new to a strange place and it was nice to have a friend.
Soon we heard a mans voice calling “Diego, Diego!” I then realized that it was Mr. Rodriguez who must have just gotten home. We both rose and ran to the house where Grandmother and Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez were standing by the front door. When we reached them Diego hugged his father and introduced me, “this is Stephanie!” By this time I had gotten him to at least say my name correctly. Mr. Rodriguez, although he smiled, he looked very sad, his eyes were sunken in and they almost looked dead. He said “Te-e-ach, te-e-ach my Diego!”
I CAN NOT RECALL arriving to my grandparents. After a 12 hour trip I was out of it and did not wake until late afternoon. I woke to find myself alone in dark small room for the blinds were drawn: there was only enough room for the queen sized bed and one oversized dresser. I went downstairs to find my Grandmother in the kitchen starting dinner, and Grandfather still at work. When she saw me her face lit up and she crossed the room to embrace me in one of her overly long hugs. She stepped back and said like she always did “My, how you look like your mother, it’s like I have my little girl home again!” She told me that I should go wash up and took me upstairs to get me a towel so I could take a shower. After I was washed and dressed I went downstairs and Grandmother asked me if I wanted to go shopping with her; I said “sure!” so we left.
When we arrived at the mall I found myself in aw at all the different stores and the diversity in people. After being there for a while we ran into her new neighbor Mrs. Rodriguez, she and her family of six just moved here from Mexico and you could tell this because of her broken English. She seemed very nice and Grandmother introduced us, telling her that I would be living with them. Mrs. Rodriguez was very excited by that news for she told me that she had a son my age and she was happy that he would have someone to talk to. The two women talked for a while but I excused myself and started to explore the different stores. I found myself entranced with the flashing lights and brilliant colors of many different stores that flew by as I walked down the different corridors.
Later that night Grandmother took me over to the Rodriguez’s to meet the rest of the family. As we rang the doorbell we could hear the children running around yelling at each other in their broken English, “You stop kick’n my!” “My did’n do it!” The door then opened and standing in its frame was a tall handsome boy about my age with short black hair, large brown eyes and tan skin. He smiled when he saw us standing there and opened the door wider, exposing a dark gloomy room with three little kids sitting on the floor. When we walked in, after he shut the door the boy turned around and looked at my Grandmother, “He Mrs. Man-o-loo-kas” Then he looked at me, “He my nam tis Diego, you name?” I replied “Hi, my name is Stephanie. It’s very nice to meet you”. He smiled then looked toward his siblings and said something in Spanish; they all immediately stood up and walked forward, all with huge smiles on their faces. “Dis tis Steponie” pointing towards me “and dis tis Mia” pointing to the smallest girl around the age of four, her jet black hair was in pigtails and her smile was missing two front teeth. “Dis tis Alberto” pointing to the youngest boy who was around the age of ten, he had hair just the same as the others, but much longer than his older brothers. “An dis tis Elena” pointing to the eldest girl who was probably thirteen, she was gorgeous and not like other girls her age, her skin was flawless which was framed with her long hair. I smiled and nodded at each of them who were all staring intently. Just then Mrs. Rodriguez walked in from the kitchen, we handed her the food that we brought, she took it with gratitude and said “Mooch good, mooch thanks! My bery sad to say dat we don’t hab mooch to eat, we been habin trouble findin jobs.”
Right after the introductions were given Diego grabbed my arm and took me outside; he started running towards the fields, which were directly behind the house. He sat down on a dry spot as did I. He pointed to me and said “Steponie” then he pointed to himself and said “Diego” he then started to point to random things saying their names in Spanish; I quickly caught on and said their names in English which he repeated. “Sun”… “sun” “sky”… “sky” “grass”… “grass” He was a very quick learner and I was very intrigued by his eagerness to learn. We staid there until the setting sun gave an orange cast on the fields around us, I was sad to see the day ending for I enjoyed being with my new friend. We both had an understanding of each other because we were both new to a strange place and it was nice to have a friend.
Soon we heard a mans voice calling “Diego, Diego!” I then realized that it was Mr. Rodriguez who must have just gotten home. We both rose and ran to the house where Grandmother and Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez were standing by the front door. When we reached them Diego hugged his father and introduced me, “this is Stephanie!” By this time I had gotten him to at least say my name correctly. Mr. Rodriguez, although he smiled, he looked very sad, his eyes were sunken in and they almost looked dead. He said “Te-e-ach, te-e-ach my Diego!”
No comments:
Post a Comment