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Antonella:Yea.
Grazi:You’re gonna love it!
Antonella:Oh, fuck off Grazi! Give me a real tip!
Grazi:It’s a real tip.
Antonella:I hate you!
Grazi:One minute ago, you loved me!
Antonella:That was before I knew you were going to leave me languishing in curiosity for the next two days!
Grazi:So dramatic...
Grazi:Anyway, I have to go. My boss is complaining about cell phone use during my office hours.
Grazi:See you later. Love you.
Antonella:I tolerate you.
Grazi:hahaha.
I lock the phone screen and put it on the table again.I glance over the stack of résumés on my lap and rub my hands on my face, feeling anxious, worried.
“It’ll be okay. You will find the right person” Carmen says, and I raise my face, finding hers. Brown skin and straight, dark hair paint a beautiful, gentle face.
Carmen is almost in her sixties, but looking at her, no one would tell.Her slightly pulled eyes denounce her indigenous ancestry.When I first saw her, the first thing I thought was that if time passed for the cartoon characters, Pocahontas would probably, at this point, look a lot like Carmen.She sits next to me on the couch and slides her hand down my back in a gesture of comfort.
“I know, but it’s so hard to trust someone, Carmen. So hard” I whine. Her gentle smile says she understands me.
“You’re too young, Antonella. Too young. It’s normal to be afraid.”
“Aren’t older mothers afraid?”
She laughs, and I don’t understand why.
“All mothers are too young, no matter what their age, all mothers are afraid for their children.” I think about my mother.Not all…As if reading my thoughts, Carmen shakes her head up and down, nodding in agreement.
“But not all women who have children are mothers, Antonella.Some are just parents.”
“Parents” I repeat.
“Yes, tomorrow will be another day, my child.”
“What if I don’t find anyone, Carmen? Marcos—” I start, no matter how it sounds, but Carmen interrupts me.
“If you don’t find anyone, I’ll babysit Bella.”
“That wouldn’t be fair, Carmen.You’ve done a lot more than you should have done in the last week.That can’t happen all the time. It can’t…”
“Let’s do this, if you don’t find someone to stay with Bella, you stop looking for a babysitter and start looking for a cook, what do you think?”
I frown, is she serious?
“Would you do that? Really? I know how much you love to cook, Carmen.How jealous you are of this kitchen.”
“I love being helpful, I love taking care of this stubborn boy who’s been clinging to my skirts since he was a baby and now taking care of him means taking care of you and Bella too! That girl is sweet.It’s no trouble at all. Even to an old woman like me!”
