I'll Ask You Three Times, Are You OK? by Naomi Shihab Nye

Author:Naomi Shihab Nye
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2009-09-27T04:00:00+00:00

Sightseeing

AT SEVEN A.M. IN SAN ANTONIO, A SHORT-HAIRED white cat sits straight up on the hood of a dusty green car in the parking lot of the Sanitary Tortilla Factory.

A man stands near the car staring at the cat, smiling.

In my bicycle basket a brown paper bag of thin corn tortillas lies steaming hot. It costs sixty cents. There’s nothing better than fresh corn tortillas with scrambled eggs and a few fried onions and peppers.

I can’t resist circling in the parking lot to look more closely at the cat. He has an incredibly observant gaze. He is staring at sparrows hopping around on the pavement.

“Good morning,” I call out to the man. “Say, what are you two doing?”

Pointing at the cat, the man says, “He likes to ride around. Get a different view. He’s just looking.”

The cat seems to be sniffing, too.

“Is he your cat?”

“My wife’s cat. We ride around every day. I park, and he gets out and takes a look. He likes it.”

There’s a green Dumpster with a wide mouth. A red hand-lettered HELP WANTED sign on the door of the factory. An old stone church ringing its bell across the street. This is the oldest tortilla factory still operating in the city.

“How many places do you go every day?”

“Oh, four or five each morning. I vary the routine. He likes some places more than others.”

“How did you figure out that he wanted to do this?”

“He always sat on the front porch step and stared very sadly at me and the car when I drove off without him. So one day I let him come with me and we started our tradition.”

The man makes a little click with his tongue, and the cat gracefully steps over the car mirror and hops through the open window back onto the passenger seat.

The man smiles at me and shrugs. “Now we’ll go somewhere else.”

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