2. Chapter 2
Ten years old
I frown when Mr. and Mrs. Catarino’s backs turn to carry some boxes into their house.
Just going off first impressions, I already don’t like Mary’s mom. How she looks down her nose at Mary while wearing her sky-high heels, skinny jeans, and fancy-looking shirt. Not to mention her gaudy jewelry, of which she wears a lot of. Mr. Catarino is dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. He seems pretty cool and laid back so far.
My frown deepens when it sinks in that their clothes are so much nicer and newer than Mary’s. Why doesn’t she have nice clothes like theirs? Her gray t-shirt is so thin that we can almost perfectly see the white tank top underneath it.
Mary seems sweet with her heart-shaped face, bright blue eyes, long black curly hair and cute as heck black frame glasses. She did act sort of shy, but I don’t know if that’s how she normally is or if it’s from moving to some place new. Yeah, she’s a bit on the bigger side, but I’m guessing she took after her dad more. The guy looks like he could fill in for the Jolly Green Giant or would be an awesome basketball player if I hadn’t seen him tripping over air a couple of times.
A tug on my t-shirt has me turning around and both Brady and Alli nod toward Alli’s house. Both of them look concerned about something and I’m wondering if we are all thinking along the same lines. With one last look at Mary’s house, all three of us cross the street again.
“Okay, I don’t care what you two think, but I am making Mary one of my best friends. Based on her mom, I think she might need all the girl power she can get. I know we just met her, but I already don’t like her mom,” Alli says as she wrinkles her nose and crosses her arms. She juts her chin out at us, daring us to disagree with her.
I can’t help my grin, but before I can say anything, Brady does.
“Agreed. She looks like she could use all the help in the world. Her dad seems cool, but her mom seems mean,” he says as he shakes his head.
“Same. Besides how she talked about Mary, something just seems wrong with her. I mean, why wouldn’t she want to let her daughter pick out her own room if this really is the first time she’s been able to? Unless she’s one of those self-centered spoiled moms like all the rich kids’ moms at school.”
They both nod in agreement.
“And if her mom’s this unhappy with just a room decision, what else is she putting poor Mary through?” Alli asks as she looks over her shoulder, a worried expression on her face.
That thought has my gut twisting and the urge to protect her increases. Glancing over at Brady, I know he’s feeling the same when he turns and gives me a look.
Brady and I have always been close. So close that if you didn’t know he was my cousin, most people assume we’re brothers. Heck, once someone even asked if we were twins since we always seem to know what the other is thinking and the fact that we look so much alike.
I’m about to say something when the door to Alli’s house opens. Turning around, a smile forms when I see her mom, Meghan, coming out with a tray holding three lemonades and a plate of cookies.
“Here you go, kids. Let me know if you need any more to drink. It’s going to be a scorcher today and I don’t want any of you to get dehydrated,” she tells us as she shoots a pointed look my way.
I squirm under her gaze because I’d done just that a month ago, though I hadn’t done it on purpose, of course.
“Mom, can we get another glass and a few more cookies? I invited the new neighbor girl, Mary, over to play with us.”
Meghan looks behind us toward the street and nods, but then frowns. “I’ll be right back,” she says quietly and I turn slightly, looking over my shoulder.
Mary’s walking toward us, but her shoulders are slightly hunched, and it seems like she’s curled in on herself some.
Alli bounds over to her, sliding her arm through Mary’s. She looks up in shock, but then gives Alli a small smile.
“Mom just brought out some lemonade and cookies. Would you like some?” Alli asks her.
Mary chews on her lip nervously, looks over her shoulder, and then it’s like she comes to some sort of decision. Turning back toward us, she nods, giving us a shy smile. “Yes, please.”
Meghan comes out at that point with another glass of lemonade and a second plate of cookies. She sets them down and stands, smiling at Mary.
“Hello and welcome to the neighborhood. I’m Alli’s mom, Meghan Thatcher.”
Mary gives her a shy wave. “Hello and thank you. I’m Mary Catarino.”
“Have some lemonade and some cookies, dear. Let me know if you want more to drink. Like I was just telling the others, it’s supposed to be a scorcher today and I don’t want any of you to get dehydrated on me.”
“T-thank you,” Mary replies as she shyly reaches for a glass.
Not wanting her to feel like all the attention is focused on her, I reach for a glass, too, taking a large gulp of it. I sigh, feeling relief from the cool liquid as I set down my glass and pick up a cookie. The sound of a giggle has me turning toward Mary. She points to her lip, and then a few seconds later, Alli’s giggling along with her.
I wipe my mouth, feeling lemonade on the top of my lip, and can’t help my grin.
Their giggles seem to bring a light to Mary’s eyes, which has a part of me angry that it wasn’t there before. I’m surprised I’m feeling so protective of Mary after just meeting her, but then again, she does remind me a lot of Alli, both in personality and size. Though, Mary is a little bigger than Alli, not that that matters to any of us. However, in the past, both Brady and I have stood up to bullies on Alli’s behalf. They had been bullying her because she was bigger than other girls our age.
A commotion and raised voices from across the street draw my attention, but I’m thankful Mary doesn’t turn around or take notice of them. Instead, she grabs a cookie as she and Alli start talking.
I listen to my friends and cousin with half an ear but focus on watching Mr. and Mrs. Catarino across the street out of the corner of my eye. Mrs. Catarino is fuming as she hastily grabs things out of their car, stomping around in her insanely high heels and wildly gesturing with her free hand as they argue. I can’t hear everything but from the sounds of it, Mr. Catarino is really angry about how Mrs. Catarino has been treating Mary and forcing an unhealthy diet on her in the hopes that she’ll lose weight.
That has my anger rising. Chancing a look at Brady, I know he heard the same things I did, judging by the fierce look on his face.
Both my dad and Alli’s dad work at the hospital in town. We’ve heard countless stories about accidents, patients they’ve saved, scenarios they’ve seen, and things like that. Though they don’t mention anyone’s name. My guess is for privacy or something.
However, there were a couple of their topics that always made me mad on the patient’s behalf. Those that forced other people into doing what they want, like the parents of one of dad’s patient—a kid who had developed an eating disorder because of comments the parents made about her weight.
Or another similar scenario where the patient’s mother denied her food because in her mother’s eye, she was too fat and she didn’t need to eat as often as everyone else in the house did. The mother did it so much that her daughter’s organs started shutting down and she eventually died. I heard from Uncle Sam that her mom was arrested shortly after the girl was admitted to the hospital. The dad had no idea what had been happening since he worked long hours, and I feel for him. Losing a child like that and that it was caused by someone he loved had to have done a pretty nasty number on him.
Another is where someone close to the patient was physically abusing them and had the patient lie about how they were hurt. Brady’s dad, my uncle Sam, also had input on that from the law side since he’s a cop. He’s seen the abuse happen firsthand a number of times, as well as other things that send shivers down my spine.
Some may say our parents shouldn’t be talking about such things with us, but all of our parents want us to be aware of our surroundings as well as the good, the bad, and the ugly that’s in the world. There is no ‘sweeping things under the carpet’ in any of our households because it might be a hard or uncomfortable conversation. While all of our parents have taught us to accept ourselves for who we are, it was really our moms that drove that way of thinking and acceptance home. That no matter what color a person’s skin is, what gender a person identifies as, who someone loves, what someone’s size is, all will be accepted as guests into our home and as friends.
Our moms all work at the school here in town. Pre-k through seniors are all in one very large and multi-floored building. Alli and Brady’s moms are teachers, and my mom is a counselor. Some may think that having a parent as a teacher or counselor can be awkward, and they are right, but it’s kind of cool in a way as well. It also helps when we get stuck on a homework problem and they have a way of walking you through it to help you understand how to solve it. My mom loves to help kids discover what they’re passionate about and give them a safe place if they are having trouble with something in their lives.
However, a side effect of having so many adult conversations with our parents means that we don’t exactly act or think like many other kids our age sometimes. It’s made it harder for us to relate to other kids and it keeps us somewhat separated from them at school. That and we talk and think about things differently than the other kids do. We notice more about what’s going on around us because of what our parents have told us about in the past.
I shake off those thoughts and refocus on my friends and cousin.
“So, what kind of books do you like to read?
“Some of my favorites are Black Beauty , the Black Stallion series, Little House on the Prairie , the Babysitter Club series, and Charlotte’s Web .”
“Oh, those are some of my favorites, too!” Alli darn near squeals as she bounces up and down on her toes in excitement, her face lit up with a huge smile. I can see them both curling up together and reading in the near future.
“You both need to read Goosebumps and Captain Underpants ,” Brady tells them, rolling his eyes.
This has the girls giggling more, but then Mary nods. “I have, but I wasn’t going to list all the types of books I like, and I didn’t know if you and Luke read or not.”
I nod along with Brady. “We do, but probably not as much as you girls. Though we both have a fair amount of comic books.”
Alli squeals and hops up and down. “When you’re all moved in, can I see what all books you have?”
Mary’s cheeks heat, but she nods. “Yeah, as long as I get to see yours, too.”
“Of course! What else do you like to do for fun?” Alli asks her.
Mary’s cheeks heat a little more. Is she embarrassed? Or has someone made her embarrassed of her hobbies before?
“I like to draw and sing. Do puzzles and paint my nails. Things like that. What about you guys?”
“Luke and I love playing soccer, reading comic books, and playing video games.”
“I’m more like you. Reading, puzzles, painting my nails. Sometimes I’ll kick the ball around with the guys or play video games with them, but I’m usually sitting on the swing reading while they play,” Alli says as she points to the large porch swing behind her.
Over the next couple of hours, we play, talk, and get to know each other better. We find out that Mary’s in our grade, fifth grade, and that she’s in the same class as all of us.
“You’ll like Mrs. Eddington. She’s really nice and hardly ever raises her voice,” Alli says and Mary’s shoulders relax, almost like a weight has been lifted off of her shoulders.
“I’m so relieved you guys are going to be in the same class as me. I was so worried I’d be the new kid, again, with no friends and immediately shunned by everyone.”
I’m about to say something when I hear someone coming up behind me. Turning around, I see Mary’s parents.
“ Kορ?τσι μου (My girl), care to introduce us to your new friends, her dad asks.
Huh. I wonder what those words mean? And what language is it?
Mary turns around in surprise and then scrambles to her feet, rushing to hug her dad.
“ Πατ?ρα? (Dad)! Guess what? Allison, but you can call her Alli, Brady, and Luke are all in the same class as me this year,” she tells him excitedly as she points each of us out.
His smile widens, but for some reason, her mom’s lips thin even more. “That’s wonderful, κορ?τσι μου (my girl)! Nice to meet you kids. I’m Nikolaos Catarino, but you can call me Nikos, and this is my wife, Eileen.”
Mary’s smile fades some. “Is it suppertime already? I want to hang out with my new friends some more.”
Somehow, Nikos’s smile grows even bigger. “Actually, while you were playing, Brett and Stephanie invited us over to their house for a barbeque to welcome us to the neighborhood.”
I grin at that and the girls cheer before they start talking excitedly. I’m glad that my parents invited them over. Brady’s parents, my Uncle Sam and Aunt Ellie, will be there along with Alli’s parents, Curtis and Meghan Thatcher. Hopefully, all of our parents will be able to get along, because then we’ll be able to hang out with Mary more.