The little girl was the first one to notice him approaching. When he saw that she was looking at him, his body deflated. Then, pasty, white lips appeared in front of John. He met the eyes of the owner of those lips and surprisingly, they weren't much taller than him. "What are you looking at," he asked, not sparing John a glaring eye. The youngest one behind stared at him unimpressed as he choked down a large ball of spit. "My apologies," John said to them, "Welcome to the Biyora Farm. Nice to meet you all. If you folks wanna come inside and rest for a bit, I don't think Ma or Pa would mind your company."
Squealing and laughter alerted everyone to the front yard as Willa, Aida, and Jo-Ann came running around the house completely oblivious of their guest. "Who might those gals be," asked the older brother. John followed his gaze to the three girls as they ran around each other in circles "They're my sisters."
"Which one is the oldest?" A brief, awkward silence ascended in the air. Both parents' eyes widened from embarrassment.
Before John could tell him that Jo-Ann was the fourteen year-old, the mother of the boys finally interrupted. "Henry! How rude. Please, you'll have to excuse him. His manners aren't the best when it involves young ladies." A defensive heat erupted in John's chest. "I see," he said heavily, "Come this way." He turned around and started marching. When the man was sure John couldn't see or hear them, he gave his eldest son a hard slap on the back of his head. "What the hell is wrong with you, boy? You swore to me and your mother that you'd leave this foolishness behind, did you not?" Tch. Henry rubbed his head and looked away from his father with disgust.
John approached his dad who was sitting in the rocking chair next to the front door holding a newspaper and a pipe in his mouth. "Pa, our neighbors are here." Perry swiped the pipe from his mouth, stood up, and stared at the family down hill. "Good eye, Boy. Uh, welcome, welcome to the Farm! How you folks doing this evening?" He greeted the father first, giving him a sturdy jerk or two of the hand. He then picked up the mother's hand and gave it a gentle but quick kiss on the knuckles. "Evening, sir. I'm Xavier Finch and this here is my wife Darla. This is my little girl Ava and these two boys are mine, Gilbert and Henry. Say hi, everyone." Soft hellos barely reached Perry's ears. "Well, come on in. Can't have you standing out here on account of this hot weather." John stood aside as the family followed his father to their home. The youngest Finch, Ava looked at John until she caught his attention and only then did she give him a friendly smile. John waved at her from his side.
After the Finches walk into the house, Perry showed them the dining room. Their eyes went huge at the sight of all the food. "Please make yourselves comfortable. I should go and tell my wife that you all are here," he said as he walked behind the row of chairs and into to the side door that led to the kitchen.
Wilma returned with Perry helping her untangle herself from her apron. "Oh, you all made it safe. Nice to meet you all. I'm Wilma." She took up everyone's hand and gave them a firm handshake. "You folks must be tired and hungry. Food is ready, so everyone take your seats."
Just then, Ruth-Ann tried to sneak by, but was pulled to the center by her shoulders. "And this is my older sister, Rutherford Ann Rittlestein. But we call her Ruth-Ann." She gave a slight nod to all of them and gestured to her sister to let her go. Wilma dropped her hands to the side, her eyes apologetic, and motioned for the Finch Family to take their seats at the table.
With the whole family and guests gathered all together, everyone exchanged brief introductions, but the longer it was drawn out, the more anxious Wilma became. "May we bless this food?" Wilma plastered a smile on her face and looked at everyone at the table, as if she hadn't just interrupted quality time. They all stopped and stared at each other. "Of course, honey," Perry chimed. Everyone followed the person next to them and bowed their heads.
The meal was served in silence. No one opened a mouth and only the sounds of forks hitting ceramic and chewing and swallowing affected the tense atmosphere. After a few moments, Perry wiped his mouth and then proceeded to pour himself another glass of wine, its sound ringing through the air. As he took a sip, he and Wilma locked eyes, both confirming that conversation between the two families would be needed in order to break the tension. He cleared his throat. "Xavier, me and my wife, hell, the whole family wanna know where your from. Would you so kindly tell us?" Xavier swallowed his food and looked over at his wife. "Well, we're from California. Because of the Depression, I couldn't find a job out there. It was either stay homeless or take a chance, pack our belongings and go... somewhere, but along the way through Illinois I saw a list of properties at a gas station within the next 100 miles that were being repossessed by banks and I saw that that house was the closest one on our way," he said pointing towards the window at the house across the street, "but I have not the work to do. I sent a letter to the property manager and he replied saying that I can talk to Mr. Biyora, here, and see if he could help me and my boys find some work. He said that you get paid well enough through the CCC, that it's enough to keep clothes on your family's backs and food in their stomachs. I couldn't do that myself even though I got three of 'em. I just hope that you folks are as kind as your seem. We sure could use the hospitality around these days." Gilbert and Henry rolled their eyes as John smirked behind a chicken leg. The city boys would have to do hard labor.
"Say, Xavier?" Perry leaned forward in his seat. Mr. Finch lured his gaze at him. "Will your children attend school?" Xavier looked unsure. "Surely enough. Soon, I hope. But I'm not sure if we could send them this month. Maybe the next."
"Oh, no need for next month. These days, tuition is just another penny sitting in your pocket. I'll take you to the job office tomorrow, I swear." Perry glanced out of the window behind him. "That house, huh. It's been empty since I moved back into this house with my wife. We'll get your family back on proper wheels." Xavier stood up and extended his arm out across the table. "My family and I much obliged, sir. We will not let you down," he said shaking Perry's hand.
After dessert, Wilma and Perry suggested that John and his brothers take their younger guests out and show them around the farm. The first destination was the pig pen. There, John explained what to do and how he and his brother's tend to the sloppy animals. "First, what we do is get to whistling at them so that you can have their attention. Once they face you, give a good rub on the nape of their neck to lure them in to the feeding pen. Next, give them some of that slop that's in that bucket and---" While John trailed on, his three sisters led Ava to the rose garden that was across the yard from the boys.
Henry lured his attention to the girls. He was just smiling at the playful manner of them all, until he locked eyes with Jo-ann. She lifted from her bent-over position and finger-waved at him. He returned the "hello" with a subtle wink as she focused her attention back onto the girls. Henry continued to gaze at Jo-ann as she placed a flower behind her ear.
John stood in front of him. James and William froze in their spots and Gilbert clinched his fists. "Not a damn thing for you to see here." Henry locked his eyes on him and scrunched his face. "Not a soul here looking," he said through gritted teeth.
"If I were you, I'd take my eyes off of my sister or so help me, I'll break a foot off in your ass." James and William face-planted. They knew John could sometimes be a hothead. If anything came across as a danger or concern dealing with his sisters, or their constant teasing it would almost always tick him off.
They were prepared to do nothing until Henry stepped up to John's toes and they bumped chests. At the point of contact, James barged in. "Fellas! Let's just go visit the horses," he said. The two positioned themselves back over to the two older Biyora boys. "John, why don't you go back into the house and help Ma clean?" John stared at James as Gilbert and Henry snickered at him. John eyed his brother even more, hoping for a sign that would let him know that he should stay, but, out of defeat and humiliation, he huffed and puffed all the way back to the porch swing.
Jo-ann knelt by the edge of the rose and explained to Ava that a rose can out live a daisy by four months. She noticed the enchantment in Ava's eyes as she held up a fully bloomed rose. "This ones a Rosa 'American beauty'. They only grow in the summer." She let Ava hold the stunning flower. After seeing how much she adored the thing, she pushed it more towards her chest. "Would you like to have this one, Ava," asked Willa as she walked around to her sister's side. She had stolen the words right out of her mouth. Ava violently bobbed her head. With a clipper in her hand, Jo-ann cut the stem of a rose and pushed Ava's hair aside, setting the wax-felt flower on her ear. The beauty of her image fooled no one. It was like she belonged in a garden, Mother Nature herself.
"If anybody would like some more pie come inside now," announced Ruth-Ann, though she said it more threateningly than intended. Everybody looked up simultaneously and ran for the door. Even though John was right there by the entrance, he was last to get inside. Everyone kept bumping and pushing past him, not even allowing him to take a step from his seat. The last person was Henry and he shoved John onto the ground then snickered as he walked over his body.
John got up and escorted himself inside, dusting the dirt from the porch off of him. When he got there everyone was eating pie. He walked over to the blackened pan that held the fruity pastry, but was met with disappointment. There was nothing but berry residue and crumbs inside. Wilma walked up behind him. "I didn't realize that you didn't get any," she said as she rubbed his shoulders. John drooped his head and nudged himself from her grasp. "It's okay, Mama. I wasn't hungry for more anyway." He turned around and hugged her waist. "I'm going to bed. Good night." She kissed his forehead as he about-faced and walked away. Suddenly, a small voice reached out to him. "You can have some of mine." John looked over his shoulder at Ava standing in the threshold as she held out her plate with a half eaten slice of a fruit pie. "I think I'll pass. Thank you," he said. Ava scrunched her eyebrows. "Are you sure? I don't mind sharing at all. In fact, I share with my brothers all of the time. It's no trouble, honest." John still declined her offer. "Well then, good night. I hope you sleep well," she responded. John smiled before he returned to the left hallway where his and his brother's room resided.
As John laid in his bed, now with his faded pajamas on, he began to think about Ava. He didn't understand why, but every time he thought about her, his breath slowed and his heart raced, skipped a beat, did something almost unnatural. He pushed his dark hair out of his eyes and rolled over to his side. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping to fall asleep quicker this way, but suddenly the image of his sister putting the flower behind Ava's ear while they were in the garden kept replaying over his vision. It seemed magical, like a ripple of water had washed over her and replaced it with a distorted image of something... beautiful. In that moment, he thought why he understood why his elder sister liked roses so much. He supposed he had a liking of them, too, now.