Love in English by Maria E. Andreu

Author:Maria E. Andreu
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Published: 2020-11-25T00:00:00+00:00

Neo’s Glossary of Happiness

koselig: Norwegian, intimacy, warmth

cozy: ávεtoç

amata: Italian, loved

joy: Xapá

moxie: courage

sonrisa: sunrise?

esperanza: hope

on the bright side: ☺

An Afternoon Like Fire Chai

I imagined that Christmas would be a big deal in the US, from all the American movies I saw back home, but I wasn’t prepared for just how everywhere it would be. The day after Thanksgiving, a fire truck ripped through town at low speed with sirens blaring. I ran to my window to figure out what was going on, and, instead of an emergency, I saw Santa Claus on top, throwing candy at little kids squealing on the sidewalk. That set the tone. By the time we got back to school on Monday, Christmas had assaulted every surface of the school.

Of course we did Christmas back home, but nothing like this. My parents always used to grumble that when they were little, Christmas was barely a thing at all, and they got their presents on el día de los Reyes. That’s the sixth of January, the day on which, tradition says, the three kings brought baby Jesus their gifts of frankincense, myrrh, and gold. That had changed by the time I was little. We all got together on the twenty-fourth and, at midnight, would open some gifts after we were stuffed full of empanadas and asado.

But here it’s like a decoration store threw up all over everything. A few kids have wrapped their lockers in red-and-green candy-cane wrapping paper. There is a tree by the office. There are other decorations I haven’t seen before from other celebrations that also happen in December. But the true king seems to be Santa Claus, adorning classroom doors and a rollaway mural outside the gym. And it’s not just in the school, either. On my way to school that Monday, I saw the garbage truck guys hanging giant stars from every light post. On the walk home that night, after a movie with Neo, every star was lit up, as if they were showing me the way home.

It’s contagious, all this showy desire to celebrate.

Altagracia seems to have made a decision that her outfit and makeup will be a different holiday theme each day. Today she’s in what seems to be a nod to an elf costume, with tight brown corduroy pants, booties with flaps turned down, and all her hair piled on the top of her head and a little elf-hat hairpin in front of it. Her makeup is subtle, to let the outfit do the talking. I wonder how early she gets up every day to coordinate all this “fabulosity,” as she would say.

She’s giving me a rundown of her day. “So I got a great little sample bag from this indie organic makeup company—amazing, right?—and so I’m doing a sponsored post. ### ## #######. And . . .”

From the corner of my eye I see Harrison is sprinting, all legs and arms, in my direction. For a second I wonder if he’s going to tackle someone behind me, so I turn around.

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