Wild Girl (11 page)

He was still smiling, watching my face and nodding.
“Ai
, Paulo was right.”

“Difficult,” I said, smiling back.

“I never saw anyone ride like you.”

I leaned into him as I threw the rest of the crackers to the gulls and wiped my eyes.

Pai was off looking at saddles at a tack shop, and Rafael was upstairs banging things around, whistling.

I was in the kitchen, longing for one of Titia Luisa’s dinners, my mouth watering. At least, that was in the front of my mind. In back was what Pai was going to say when he found out what I’d done now.

I was humming anyway, doing some banging of my own.
Ai
, this kitchen!

In the refrigerator were only a few dark green leaves, four strips of bacon, and a pair of soft oranges. I’d used the last of the tuna fish an hour ago.

Rafael clumped downstairs again, out the kitchen door, and came back with a ladder.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Secret stuff. What are you doing?”

“Taking my turn for the cooking. About time, I guess.”

“It depends on how well the meal turns out.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “After all, Pai and I are gourmet cooks,” he said as he went back upstairs.

I rattled through the cabinets and came up with a box of rice, a can of white beans, and another of stewed tomatoes. Holding one can in each hand, I weighed them in my mind.

You can make a meal out of anything
, Titia Luisa would say. I thought of her clay
panelas
, those pots that she lined with rice and fresh cabbage and a dusting of spices. What could I do with these three things?

Then I had it.

In a little while, the tomatoes and beans were covered with bacon and bubbling in the oven. The rice was almost ready. The table was set, and the shredded salad greens and orange quarters, tossed in oil and vinegar, were in a bowl.

At six, I heard the front door open, and Pai came down the hall. Rafael was in back of him, his hands covered in what looked like putty or paint.

“Secret stuff,” Rafael said again as he washed his hands at the sink.

We sat down to eat; the rice tasted like Titia Luisa’s, and the invented bean recipe was fine. I watched as they both had seconds.

“Now,” I said, and they both looked up. “You see I can cook.”

“I see that,” Pai said.

“So I will take my turn from now on.”

“Do you think we’d argue about that?” Rafael said.

“So.” I took the last forkful of beans, and they waited while I chewed.

“This is not a proper home,” I told them. “Not the right kind of food.”

They were looking at each other. “There’s the fruit store, and the grocery,” Rafael said. “Don’t worry, we can—”

“But worse,” I said, “the chairs in the living room are lined up so it seems we’re waiting for the dentist to pull out our teeth.”

“Is that why the living room door is closed today?” Rafael asked; then Pai said, “It’s not so much of a thing to move the furniture.”

I nodded. “There’s more.”

“Ai,”
he said.

I pushed the salad bowl toward him. “I moved the horses in the stalls this afternoon. I put Wild Girl and Love You across from each other. They can look over their doors and say hello.” I raised my shoulders. “Or whatever horses do.”

“Whatever,” Pai said, his finger on his upper lip. I could see he was hiding a smile.

“It didn’t work with the cat, but I know Wild Girl needs a friend to make her happy.”

“Like Billy, the pony who always traveled with Whirlaway,” Rafael said.

“Exactly, yes,” I said.

Pai piled the salad on his plate. “We do know a few things.”

“I suppose that’s what you were trying to do with the cat,” Rafael said.

“But do you ever ask before you do anything?” Pai said.

“I’m asking now….”

Pai tilted his head. “All right, it’s fine.”

“But I’m asking about something else.” I hesitated, trying to think of how to say it. “In Jales, we had a canary, and a cat, and a dog.” I spread my hands. “The bird sang in the kitchen, and sometimes the dog slept in my room.”

Pai smiled a little. “You want a canary.”

I took a breath and let it out. “I want a cat to begin with.”

Pai’s fingers went to his lip again. “What would we do with a cat?”

“I’ll take care of her, feed her. A cat’s not much work, you know.”

“Why not?” Rafael said. “We can go down to the pet store….”

I bit my lip. “She’s in the living room, waiting.”

Then we were laughing, and Pai, finished eating, stood up. On his way to put the dishes in the sink, he bent down and kissed the top of my head. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said gruffly.

Rafael piled my dishes up with his. “A family,” he said.

Pai laughed. “With a difficult girl, and who knows what will be next!”

In the living room, I scooped up the orange cat from the puffiest chair. Already she’d left a few marks with all those claws. I put her face up to mine. She smelled a little like the tuna fish I’d given her. “Her name is Whirlaway,” I called back to the kitchen.

I carried her up to my bedroom and nearly fell over the ladder in the doorway. Inside, the walls were coral, the color of the shirt I’d worn the day I’d come. The Minnie Mouse rug was gone.

“Don’t ask me where the rug went,” Rafael said, coming up the stairs.

Opposite my bed, Snow White and her dwarfs were hidden behind tissue-paper sketches. “I’ll transfer them to the wall later,” he said.

“Oh, Rafael.” I hugged the cat and leaned forward to see what he’d drawn. There was a field of horses with their riders. At the very end was the blur of the starting gate, and beyond that a mass of carnations.

One horse with her jockey had paused to look at the carnations.

“Will she win the race?”

“Certainly.”

“And the rider?” I asked.

“Ai
, what do you think, Lidie?”

I knew it would be me.

“Perfect,” I breathed.

At my desk, I sat answering the questions in my math book, the cat curled up beside me, as Rafael began to work on the wall.

I found the essay I’d written and ripped it into tiny pieces, watching Whirlaway dart after them. There was nothing left to wish for.

The hay in the filly’s stall was fresh and piled up around the edges; it had the smell of a field. She raised one hoof and then the other, enjoying the feel of it underneath her
.

She’d eaten, the warm mash steaming, and had her fill of cool water
.

She was tired now after her long run, but still she put her head out the half door, curious to see what was happening outside
.

Everything was quiet, the light dim, a creature asleep near the door. Across from her was the mare, watching her, ears pricked forward
.

The mare whinnied, a soft sound, a good sound
.

The filly whinnied back, contented, and then she slept
.