“Hey, that’s my favorite!”
“See, I knew we had a connection.”
I blushed and glanced down at my notebook.
“Sit down?” he asked.
I bit my bottom lip and slowly lowered myself to the ground, sitting cross-legged, a few feet from him. “I have to go soon.”
He checked his watch. “What time is the class?”
“Seven.”
“Cool. We have approximately ten minutes to share our life stories.”
I snorted. “I can sum up mine in two.”
Ysrael absentmindedly ran the knuckles of his hand along his jaw. “Yeah, mine doesn’t seem all that complicated either. I mean, what’s there to say about work, work and more work. Right?” He grinned.
“Hey.” I mockingly tried to look hurt. “You don’t have glowing words about ironing shirts and pressing pants? Come on, you’re supposed to try and flatter the daughter of your boss.”
“More like try and get on the good side of your mom.”
I studied the books again.
“Sorry.” Ysrael leaned forward. “Sometimes my mouth says stuff before my brain kicks in. I mean, your mom isn’t that bad. She’s just really serious and—”
“Cruel,” I finished for him.
Ysrael shrugged.
I smiled. “My dad likes you, though, and that’s what counts.”
“I like your pops. He’s a good guy. Too bad about his back. Has it always been like that?”
“Yeah. It gets bad off and on.”
“Yeah, my brother-in-law threw out his back when he was working the grape fields in Napa.”
“Napa? Is that around here?”
He lowered his eyes, the black dust of his lashes a shadow against the brown of his cheeks. “It’s up near San Francisco. In this valley with all these hills and green trees. Man, it’s so beautiful up there. When the sun rises and hits the fields, the grapes start shining this soft dusty purple.” He drew up his knees. “And San Francisco looks like this city that just popped out of the ocean. It kind of hangs there on the edge.”
“Is that where you’re from?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nah, I just went up there to visit my sis. I’m moving up there at the end of the summer. As soon as I get my money together to find myself a place.”
“Can’t you stay with your sister?”
Ysrael studied the books in front of him again. “It’s not that easy. They move around a lot and there’s not that much room.”
I nodded as though I understood.
Ysrael checked his watch. “Shoot, I made you late. Damn, me and my mouth.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I didn’t want to go anyway. It’s useless, but my mom wanted me to try and raise my scores.”
“There’s nothing wrong with trying. I wish I had tried harder at school. You better get going. I’m taking off for the beach anyway.”
I pretended one of my legs had fallen asleep and pounded it with my fist. “You going to meet some friends at the beach?”
“Nah, I just go to practice my guitar. It’s nice to be near the waves.” He laughed. “That way the ocean can drown out my bad playing.” He stood up, stretching his legs, shaking one and then the other. I stood up with him, glancing at the book in his hand. Songwriting for Beginners. He saw my look and moved the book to his side.
“Have a good class,” Ysrael said, quickly meeting my eyes before he looked away.
“Thanks,” I answered. I turned around to leave, but then turned back.
“Can you tell Suna that I’ll be done at nine o’clock?”
“Suna’s here?” Ysrael asked.
I smiled. “Yeah, she’s hidden somewhere in one of these aisles.”
“No problem,” he said.
suna
SUNA SITS CROSS-LEGGED on the floor, an open book in her lap, her hands playing with the laces of her shoes as she reads. A shadow blocks her light. She looks up. Ysrael stands in front of her with a smile on his face, so much like the first time she saw him, but this time she smiles in return. His lips move in a soft hush as he crouches down next to her. She turns away from him, reaching quickly into the back pocket of her shorts and then up to her ear.
He watches her furtive movements with a wrinkled brow, the way she drops her chin and moves her hair aside, fitting a white contraption over her ear. With her fingers, she combs a section of her hair back over her ear.
She lifts her face and finds him studying her. The corners of his lips turned down ever so slightly. He gently reaches out and touches her hair, tucks it behind her ear, exposing the hard white contraption. His eyes grow wide in understanding. She shakes her head, smoothing her hair back over her ear.
Ysrael draws his knuckles along the length of his jaw, along the deep groove of his scar. He presses his thumb into the scar and looks away. Down the aisle. He returns his gaze to Suna, his eyes clouded and shiny.
Suna studies his face, wonders where he has gone. What memory called up the tenderness in his eyes.
Ysrael reaches for her hand and stands up. “Come on. Let’s go to the beach.”
mina
WHERE WAS SUNA? I was going to kill her. I checked my watch. The librarian behind me cleared her throat again.
“Could I just check upstairs before you close?”
She pushed her cart out from behind her desk and said, “Go ahead. I didn’t see anyone up there, though, when I checked. Are you sure she knew to wait for you here?”
I nodded, my anger starting to give way to fear. I ran up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time. Where could she be? I checked all the aisles again. Could someone have taken her? She wasn’t one to talk to strangers, but maybe someone from school? Her only real friend at school had moved away the past summer and her friend from church was over an hour away. I shook my head. There wasn’t
