'Round Midnight by Laura McBride

Author:Laura McBride
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Touchstone

21

A woman had moved into the house at the top of the cul-de-sac, but Coral had been unable to say hello. She often heard her neighbor drive in, because she braked and then revved again as she managed the slight incline to her garage, but the woman kept her door shut and picked up her mail quickly, without looking to see who else might be on the street. Finally Coral left a plant and a note at her new neighbor’s door. The gift was gone the next morning, but nobody stopped to acknowledge it.

It was another week before Coral realized the woman had a child.

On Saturday, Coral saw her pushing an elaborate stroller toward the park. She watched her go by, and when she noticed her returning, she stepped out the front door and said hello.

“Hello,” the woman replied. She didn’t look directly at Coral.

“My name’s Coral. Welcome to the neighborhood.”

“Thank you.”

She looked down, uneasy. Coral thought she must be shy.

“May I see your baby?”

The woman looked up and flashed a small smile.

“Her name’s Malaya.”

“What a lovely name.” Coral walked to the stroller, and looked at the little girl. She was asleep, her cheek flushed, and one curl, moist with sweat, was pasted to her small pink ear.

“Oh, she’s beautiful.”

At this, her new neighbor smiled fully, and her face, which had seemed still and severe, was suddenly open and pleased. She reached out to move the brightly woven blanket off her daughter’s shoulder, and as she did so, her fingers lightly caressed the infant’s soft skin.

“Did you make her blanket? It’s so intricate.”

“My mother made it. In Pilipinas. Where I’m from, we make this cloth.”

“It’s wonderful.”

The woman didn’t speak, but she also didn’t move away. She stood there, gazing at her baby, and Coral shifted awkwardly. It was sweet, the way this mother looked at her baby, but intimate too, as if Coral should not be standing right next to her. She started to step away from the stroller, and the woman spoke.

“My name’s Honorata. I move here from the Philippines.”

“Well, welcome, Honorata. I hope you like it.”

“Have you lived here long?”

“On this street? Nearly three years. But I grew up not far from here. I’m a native.”

Coral was used to people commenting on this fact, but, of course, Honorata was too new to know that native Las Vegans were rare.

“So you choose this neighborhood because it’s a good one?”

“Well, I like it. And it’s close to the school where I work. I’m a teacher. I teach music.”

“At a Catholic school?” Honorata asked.

“No. At a public school. Just a few blocks that way.”

“I’m going to send Malaya to Catholic school.”

The baby stirred then, and made a little noise, like the bleat of a calf. Honorata stroked the child’s cheek, and made a shushing noise with her lips slightly parted. Coral turned to go back inside.

“It was nice to meet you. Let me know if I can do anything. Just knock.”

Honorata looked at Coral.

“Do you like that house there?”

“That one? With the dead grass?”

“Yes.

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