Chapter 4 4

Later that day, my mom took me and my baby brother to the store. We didn't have a vehicle so we had to walk everywhere we went. I didn't mind too much because it got me out of the house. Sitting at home was so boring.

I helped my mom carry the stroller down the long steps of the overhead walkway that went over the road. We even stopped and looked at some things outside of different stores. We couldn't afford much so we only bought what we went for and left.

Back up a long thing of stairs we went. I held onto the stroller in the front and my mom held onto the handle that was in the back. She was skilled at walking up the stairs backwards without falling. I don't really know how she would do this without my help. I wonder who helped her when I was a baby.

We stood there and waited for the bus with other people. I'm glad my brother wasn't crying right now. That would've made my day bad and right now, I was in a good mood. Once the bus came, we paid our fare and found a seat together. I don't really know how my mom was able to fit the stroller, but she made it work.

A guy with a blue plaid shirt and blue jeans on, sat in front of us on a bench that was sideways, unlike ours. He had short curly black hair and a mustache with a little hair on his chin. He looked like he was in his early 20s. I looked up at him slowly because I wasn't expecting someone to sit in front of us and I was curious. He was watching me and winked at me once we made eye contact.

When I saw the man wink at me, I looked down in a hurry. I could feel him still staring at me.

The guy turned in his seat and directed his attention to my mother. "Excuse me, mami. Do you know if this bus stops on Delma?"

My mom looked out the window and then back at the man. "I don't think so, it's limited."

"Damn, man. Whose messing with the buses, what's up with that?" He acted like he was annoyed but I could see right through him. "Now I gotta go all the way to Sullen Blvd just to come back. But, oh well." There was a short pause as he looked my mother up and down. "Fixin' up the place?"

"Yeah," she smiled at him.

"Gotta make the home pretty, right? Home is everything. When I moved into my place, it took like two months to set it up. All my boys thought I was crazy. They were like 'what, you working for the landlord now?'I ain't care. You gotta live for the here and now, right?"

I looked up at him a few times as he continued to talk. My mom wasn't even looking at him anymore. He just kept talking and kept talking. What is he trying to do? He's probably trying to get my moms attention like all the men before him.

"Ever since my brother died . . . Yeah, my bro man, that was messed up." He looked down for a short moment before looking back up at my mom. "Man."

I could tell my mom was trying to avoid conversation with this guy, but he just wasn't giving up. She finally closed the magazine she was holding and looked at him. "What happened to him?" I could tell she was a little annoyed but didn't want to be rude.

"Motorcycle accident."

"Oh yeah?"

"When he bought that bike two years ago, I told him 'bro, you should've saved yourself the hassle and bought yourself a coffin'. I got this tattoo when he died." He showed my mom his tattoo. I didn't look because I didn't really care. "Te recuerdo siempre mi hermano." He held his arm up while he read what his tattoo said.

The guy noticed my mom smile just a little and he raised his eyebrow. "You speak spanish, yeah?"

My mom nodded her head.

"I knew that. I loved my brother a lot . . . but he didn't think . . . and in this city, if you don't think . . . It'll chew you up and spit you right out."

"That's true."

"That's why you gotta be smart, huh." He quit talking for a moment. I looked up to see if he finally left. He was still there, just staring at me again. After I looked away, he looked back at my mom. "Puerto Rican?"

My mom nodded while chewing bubble gum. "Yeah," she said softly with a smile.

"See, I knew that. Me too, I was born here." He pointed at his chest while he was talking.

"I came here as a kid."

The guy got up and moved closer to us. "What, you came here with your sister?"

"My sister?" My mom giggled at his compliment. "She's not my sister, she's my daughter."

"Your daughter?" He was acting shocked as he smiled at my mom.

"Yeah."

"Get out of here, for real?"

"Yeah." I didn't like the flirtatious scene in front of me but I just sat there and listened to their conversation anyway. I knew better than to get in the middle of it.

"I knew that. She could be your sister though." He tilted his head in my direction quickly as he continued talking to my mother.

"You think?"

"Sure."

Thankfully, the bus was pulling up to our stop so this conversation had come to an end. But, of course my mom gave him her number. I knew that was going to happen. It never fails. Some guy shows up out of nowhere and starts complimenting my mom and she immediately falls for it. None of the guys have ever been worth it and I doubt this one would either.