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| Darwin and his mango-stained smile |
Sunday afternoons are a day of semi-rest for me. Usually girlfriend comes over after church, the other occupants of the house head to the river and we stay behind listening to music, drinking coffee and cleaning...we're both OCD freaks and for us this is fun. This past Sunday we were half-way through cleaning the house when two of Marta's youngest boys showed up at my door, well-dressed as though they were headed into town. I asked if the needed anything and the older of the two, Elvin, plainly stated that they had come to visit. I was taken aback by his grown-up manner and had to stiffle a chuckle. Not wanting to be a bad host I invited them on to the porch offered them a drink and mentioned that girlfriend might have some books she could read them. She more than jumped at the chance to stop dusting my soup cans and grabbed her favorites off the book shelf. Two Curious George and three dinosaur books later the kids were getting ansty so they decided to play hide-and-go-seek with Cesar the neighbor boy. I discovered that they're not the most intelligent children, their ideas of what constituted well-placed hiding spots were beyond absurd; a blind horse could have found them out. Each round last apporximately 2 minutes and 25 seconds, all the child had to do was stop counting, open his eyes and look about in plain day, there were the other two tucked under a long-legged table or standing behind a rocking chair. This gaming of theirs baffled me but I let it carry on because it kept them occupied and allowed me to clean. When they had had enough of the games they let it be known that they were getting hungry, again not wanting to be rude I offered them a mango which they devoured and forthwith laid down on my porch floor to nap. I was beginning to think that perhaps the boys had come to stay for good but I was wrong. When it began to get late Elvin announced that it was time to be heading home, he took Darwin's hand in his and headed down the hill; as they were walking away he yelled that they would be back tomorrow. They were.
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