Black Alley
Page 22
Your eyes followed your cousin as he trotted away like a soccer player. Despite the heat, a shiver went down your spine. You felt excluded, disoriented, crushed. Why, why? Suddenly your name rang out, your mother was calling you. In the kitchen, you sat down in front of a plate laid out with little fried empanadas. You let your mother know you weren’t hungry. What do you mean, Marcelo? Have you started eating junk between meals again? No, Mom, and you told her what you’d just witnessed. ¡Madre mía! she shouted, covering her mouth with the towel she used to dry the dishes. What could you say about such a thing? In any case, she’d seen it coming. ¡Pobre niñito!
You went into the living room, dropped down in the chair and put on the TV while you waited for Enrique’s call. An episode of The Flintstones was just finishing. During the first set of commercials, even though you were making an effort to think of other things, you remembered the day of Cléo’s birthday, when Carole had spoken to you in Spanish. Remember how it had surprised you. She’d immediately won your confidence. You spent a good part of the afternoon channel surfing, then you finally called Enrique yourself, but he’d gone to help out Toño at the video store. A headache was starting to make your temples pound when the phone rang: it was Paulina! It was the first time she’d called since you’d given her your number. Did you have any plans for today? And, happy she’d asked, you answered, no, not really. Did she have anything in mind? And she said, what did you think about going to the pool? Why not, you said with some hesitation in your voice, because you were happy she’d called and everything, although you didn’t really feel like going swimming. Really, do you want to? she insisted. Yes, really, you reassured her, torn between the dark thoughts that were worrying you and your burning desire to see her. Gladys, her sister, was there already. In five minutes in front of your building? Okay, see you there.
You stuffed a bathing suit and towel any old way into your backpack, you went downstairs and sat down on the top step to wait, as the sun beat javelins down on you. When she arrived, you were breathing like a chicken on a rotisserie. You kissed each other on both cheeks and you walked side by side as the dense humidity made your joints swell. On the corner of Kent, you stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and confided to her that you really weren’t feeling very well at all. She asked you about it, arching her eyebrows, and you explained what was wrong. She cried out in astonishment and then it was her turn to keep apologizing. She suggested you go to the park and you agreed, though your voice felt strangled. You walked silently over to a bench. After you told her all the details you knew of Cléo’s mother, you felt the sadness slowly leaving you, like a spirit that was tired of living in you. She looked at you and occasionally brushed a hand across your hands, your knees, your cheeks: she was glad you’d told her. You felt better when you talked to her. You now had a friend for life, she assured you. She took your hands without embarrassment and squeezed them, and, for a moment, clearheaded, you wondered if you loved her. You didn’t really know, you only knew you couldn’t do without her anymore, even if you had to settle for just having her as a friend. She asked you what you wanted to do and, with a weak smile, you said, we can go to the pool now if you want.
Copyright © Mauricio Segura, 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Segura, Mauricio, 1969-
[Côte-des-Nègres. English]
Black alley / Mauricio Segura ; translated by Dawn Cornelio.
Translation of: Côte-des-Nègres.
eISBN : 978-1-926-84511-1
I. Cornelio, Dawn M II. Title III.°Title:°Côte-des-Nègres. English.
PS8587.E384C6713 2010 C843’.54 C2010-900982-7
Edited by Stephen Henighan and Daniel Wells
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the National Translation Program for Book Publishing, for our translation activities.
PRINTED AND BOUND IN CANADA