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“I’m not doing anything wrong, am I?” Triss asks me as she catches me staring.
“No,” I reply quickly before transferring my gaze to my plate.
Where are my manners?
“You’re doing great. Really, you’re a natural.”
“Thanks.” She sounds genuinely pleased, like a little girl who’s just been given an award for making a nice drawing. “I know babies require so much work they drive people crazy, but it’s not like they do it on purpose, right? I mean, I’d be fussy and cranky, too, if I couldn’t feed myself or clean myself up or talk to anyone about how I felt. They don’t mean to cause any trouble. They’re just innocent, adorable little people who…”
I hear a thud so I lift my head. Lara is looking up at Triss, who now has carrot on her face. Lara must have grabbed her bowl and caused its contents to splash on Triss. Bits of the orange goo cling to the tip of her nose, the corner of her mouth, her chin and even to some strands of her hair.
For a moment, she doesn’t move. Then she lifts her hand to wipe the corner of her mouth. As she stares at her fingers, I worry that she might break into tears or lose her temper, so I get out of my seat to take Lara from her. I’ve barely taken a step when to my surprise, she brings her fingers to her lips. After tasting the carrot, she grimaces.
“That’s disgusting.”
What?
Suddenly, Lara starts laughing. My eyes grow wide. Even Triss looks so surprised that she goes still again. Then she, too, laughs. The next thing I know, I’m laughing with them, so loud that I have to clutch my chest to keep it from caving in, that tears brim in my eyes and my vision blurs.
When was the last time I laughed like this? I can’t remember.
Finally, I manage to stop. Triss seems like she can’t laugh anymore either. She wipes the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand while Lara keeps going with soft chuckles.
“She’s never laughed before,” Triss says when she finds her voice after drawing a deep breath. “I can’t believe she’s still doing it.”
“That’s because you’re funny,” I tell her.
She turns Lara around and tickles her. “You think I’m funny, do you? You splattered that carrot on me on purpose, didn’t you?”
Lara giggles.
“I thought you said babies don’t do anything on purpose.”
“I bet she did,” Triss answers. “You’re smart, aren’t you?”
Triss tickles her harder and she laughs louder in response. I could watch them forever in this precious mother and daughter moment which I almost feel I’m intruding on, but I worry that Lara’s stomach might start to ache again. Besides, Triss still needs to clean up.
“You still have carrot on your face, you know,” I point out.
That makes Triss stop. I take Lara from her.
“Go on. I’ll watch her.”
“Okay.”
Triss leaves the room. I realize that Lara’s hands are also still dirty so I bring her to the sink to wash them. That’s when I realize that she’s wearing a bracelet made of pink beads.
Rose quartz.
Out of nowhere, a memory hits me – that of a quartz marble between a girl’s fingers. I can’t see her face, just dark hair and lips that curve into a smile before they part to whisper my name.
“Antonio?” Triss’s voice breaks into my flashback.
In the next moment, she’s beside me turning off the faucet and looking at me with creased eyebrows.
“Are you alright?”
I hand Lara back to her. “Sorry. I just have to do something.”
Before Triss can say more, I walk away. I have to write the memory down while it’s still fresh in my mind. I have to make sure I don’t forget it again.
As soon as I’m in my bedroom, I grab my journal and scribble down my thoughts. Afterwards, I close my eyes and relive the memory once more. It still doesn’t make any sense, but I have a feeling it’s important. That girl is important.
Who is she?
Chapter Five
Triss
What happened to Antonio?
One moment he was laughing with Lara and me. I can still hear the sound of his laughter echoing inside my head like a deep rumble of thunder. The next he was in a hurry to leave the kitchen. And he never came back. I covered his unfinished plate of curry and left it on the dining table for him in case he got hungry only to find it untouched this morning, Antonio already gone. Sally said he left early to visit someone at the hospital.
Why didn’t Antonio tell me? Why did he lock himself up in his room for the rest of the day and refuse to talk to me? I even knocked on his door to ask him if everything was alright but he didn’t open it. Why? Is he mad at me? What did I do? Did I say something wrong again?
