The Things We Didn't Know by Elba Iris Pérez

Author:Elba Iris Pérez
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 2024-02-06T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

When school started in the fall, I still went to my aunt’s house every day. I grew angry and conflicted. Our linoleum floor had a noticeable sheen, the entire house was spotless, our beds made up like hotel rooms, but she snapped at me and dug her knuckles into my head more often than she spoke. I understood the hardships she’d endured as a child, how her cooking helped her find a husband, but I missed playing with my brother and friends. I wanted to belong somewhere.

My aunt sent me home one evening in time to start dinner and I rushed to get a pot of rice on the stove.

Pablo came in, turned on the television, and sat at the kitchen table. “When are you going to stop seeing the witch?”

“She can be cruel, but she’s not a witch. She went through a really hard life when she was our age.”

“I don’t care why she turned out this way. She doesn’t have to treat you the way she does, Andrea. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I know. It’s just… I kinda feel sorry for her because sometimes she’s nice, but not all the time. When do you think Papá will let me stay home after school?”

“Stop feeling sorry for her. He didn’t say you had to go up there forever. Just stop.”

“What if he gets mad?”

“He won’t even notice. And if he gets mad, he’s not going to kill you, you know?” Pablo took his eyes off the television. “We played the bottle game yesterday.”

“What bottle game?”

“You spin a bottle, and whoever it lands on, that’s who you kiss.”

I placed a frying pan on the stove. “Can you give me the chicken? You mean you really kissed someone?”

“Yeah.” Pablo looked so proud of himself, and laughed almost in a whisper.

“Who? Where were you?”

“In Papá’s garage. All these kids you don’t know come down from Valley View Avenue and Laurel Road. It’s not kisses like you’re in love or something. It’s like a peck on the lips. But you can tell when someone likes you.”

“And does someone like you?”

Pablo laughed like he couldn’t believe what he’d just said. “Yeah.”

“What? Who? Tell me.”

“They all do.”

I was shocked. He looked confident.

He grabbed a container of chicken from the refrigerator and gave it to me. “I was scared the first time, but then it was a cinch. That’s why you should come with me. I want to show you all the normal teenager things I’m learning.”

“To kiss boys? I don’t—”

“Andrea, don’t be a sissy. Nobody’s going to do anything to you. And don’t forget, I’m with you. But you have to learn too. You go through the scary moment and then, all of a sudden, you turn into a big kid, and you realize it’s no big deal.”

Even though I wanted the same experiences as my brother, I couldn’t bring myself to disobey my father. But it was becoming clear to me that while I was locked up with my aunt, Pablo’s life was moving forward.

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