MARIA AND GEI sit on the tiny love seat in the living room, while I'm in the kitchen cooking lasagna.
Meg and Daisy have other family members in California. A little girl named Diana and her mother. They're a nice family and they come over every week to pick up the girls to live there for a while and to drop them off. I pass out the plates of lasagna around.
Maria takes a bite. "Damn, this is good."
"Don't talk with your mouth open," Meg says crossing her arms. "Luran would've given us ice cream for dessert."
"Then we can go to the store and get some ice cream. Hey Felix, could you--"
"No! She would've given us sundaes with sprinkles from her freezer that she prepared for us at the start of the day!"
"Well, we can't rewind time. What else would Lulu do?" Donnie says taking a drag off of Maria's cigarette.
"Her name is Luran and she would let us play outside until 4:30 then she'd make mac and cheese for lunch, then she would let us take turns, me and her son, Natan. She has a daughter with the best styles ever and a son with cool waves. He's black and for his thirteenth birthday he got a four-wheeler and he lets me go on rides with him and his sister lets me play games on her phone sometimes!"
"That sounds like fun. How about we go on a ride in my truck around the city."
"With David, because Luran has Blake, that's her new fioncé's name, with her when we go to the pool every summer!"
"Sure, if you want him to come?"
"Okay!" She says digging into her lasagna. "When?"
"Tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay! Night!"
"Don't forget to brush your teeth!" Maria calls from upstairs.
"I will after my bath because Luran tells us to go to bed and take a bath every night before and set out your pajamas and outfit for the next day!"
"Yeah then--then do that, yeah!"
"Okay! Night love you!"
"Love you, too," Maria says as Meg slams her door.
"Wow, she's a lot. At least she brushes her teeth," Ade says darting his statement towards Donnie.
"Yo, I brushed my teeth. I did it before dinner."
"Ew."
"What? You brush your teeth before breakfast or whatever-the-shit, it's the same for dinner."
"No, it's not," I chime in eating the rest of her dinner.
"It is for me."
I give Maria a beer after she puts Daisy on her rocking horse we got from the dumpster dive last April. I remember hopping fences, tires, broken swing sets, and trampolines at the junkyard on the other side of town for a used rocking horse for Daisy.
"Do you like your rocking horse?" Maria asks.
"I love him." She hugs it. "I named him Rider because he is a horse."
"Cool. Do you want to go to bed?" Maria asks.
"No. Can I have a drink, please?"
"What of beer?"
She nods.
"No!" Maria laughs. "No beer for you."
"Why?"
"Because you're too young."
"Okay. Can I at least have juice?"
"Yeah."
"I'll get it," I say opening the cabinet as I accidentally knock down an old oatmeal box and a whole bunch of money flies out. "Shit! How much is this?"
"Oh! That's savings. M-my uh savings for the light bill, the car, and water bill," she stammers on her words.
"I'd put this in a bank deposit." I put the money spread out all over the floor into the box with both Maria's and Daisy's help. "I-I mean anyone can rob this place and take the money. Smart for hiding it in an oatmeal box, though."
"Thanks. We'll go to the bank first thing in the morning before going to the arcade with Megdylan to make her feel like she's at Diana's house, okay?"
"Okay. I'll teach you."
She laughs, "My little is cousin teaching me how to run a bank deposit, wow."
I laugh as she nudges me, "Alright, I'm going to bed."
"Take Daisy with you!"
"Okay, come one Daisy."
"Okay," she says as she gets off of her rocking horse and turns off the tv.
"Night," I say.
"Night."
"Night, night," Daisy says hugging her stuffed bunny.
I brush my teeth, Daisy, right beside me. I leave her room door a crack open. Just the way she likes it. She has her own room, Meg and Gei share a room, and we three boys get the biggest room. I go to sleep on my bed with the pitiful sounds of police sirens and rain slpattering on the window.