Firefly Summer by Pura Belpré

Author:Pura Belpré
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arte Público Press
Published: 1996-01-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

SHOPPING TRIP

Teresa, Ramón and Mercedes were out in the shed when Grandmother came with the long shears to work in her garden. Ramón picked up the pail of water and Teresa the watering can, and all three followed her.

The garden was on the south side of the house. It was a daily chore for Grandmother, taking hours of her time. Every summer Teresa had been her constant helper, but since Mercedes had come, Grandmother had been unable to enlist Teresa’s help, for the two girls spent much of their free time walking about the finca. It had been Doña Anita who had solved the problem, by suggesting a definite day of the week to devote to the garden. That had saved arguments and time, and had given Grandmother three helpers instead of one.

“Look at those poor plants,” Grandmother said, “What with the caterpillars, lizards and ants, it’s a wonder there are any left. Start pulling those weeds, Teresa. Get Mercedes to help you. Ramón and I must start working on the other side.”

As Grandmother approached a patch of flowering plants, she said, “Who would have thought that these geraniums would live, eh, Ramón? There are lots of new shoots up; I believe they are safe now.” She turned over the earth about the plants.

Ramón tied the stalks of tuberoses which the wind had blown apart. The blooms were partly open, and the pungent scent filled the air. The carnation plants were full of buds. Some were beginning to open, showing their pink, white and deep red petals to the sun.

Grandmother’s pride was a bed of pansies. It was a small one, but the plants yielded large saucyfaced pansies, soft and velvety to the touch. Butterflies as varied in hues as the pansies themselves hovered over the bed constantly.

“The sun has dried almost completely the border of alhabaca,” said Teresa. “The stalks look like straw.”

“Pick up the leaves then,” said Grandmother. “They are just right to be used in the bay rum bottle.”

Grandmother’s bay rum bottle was a household possession. Into it went petals of roses and scented leaves from her garden.

The bottle had many uses. Sometimes it helped relieve Grandmother’s aching back or stiff fingers or Doña Anita’s headaches. On extremely hot days, there was nothing more soothing than to mop one’s forehead with a handkerchief soaked in the fragrant bay rum. Even Don Rodrigo used it on his face, like an after-shaving lotion, and said he preferred it to the lotions he bought at the drug store.

Close to some of the geranium plants, Ramón noticed a tiny sensitive plant. He touched it and watched the leaves fold up and close.

“Shall I pull it out, Grandmother? What good is a sensitive plant here?”

“No, let the moriviví be,” she answered. “It will only grow up again.”

The girls collected the dried leaves of the geranium and added them to the alhabaca. When Ramón brought the roses he had cut, they stuffed everything into the empty water can and then sat down to rest.

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