Page 21 of Micah
“You don't wish to return to school?”
“For what?”he asked, looking at his father.“School is to get a job.I have a job.I work for you.Lady Bird, the mare, is going to foal soon.It is going to be hard for her.She is too old to still bear foals.The caretaker failed her allowing the stallion to get in her corral.My job, I work for you.”
“You work for me?”
“When you travel, I protect you,” Angel said.“When at home, I take care of the animals.”
“Will you miss yourAbuelain Argentina?”
“No, I don't like her.She thinks I'm stupid,” Angel said.“She talks to me like I am stupid.I'm not stupid.”
“No, you're not,” Eduardo said, taking a breather.“Do you feel like I treat you any differently that my other children?”
“Yes,” Angel said.“You give hugs and kisses to Isabella and Catarina.I don't get hugs and kisses.”
“You're my son.”
“I still need hugs and kisses,” Angel said, “especially when I do good.I like that.Mama gives me hugs and kisses all the time.I like it.I feel warm in my tummy when she gives me hugs.She gives kisses to Micah too, but he pretends like he doesn't like it.He does.”
Eduardo mentally chastised himself for his next question.“Does Micah give kisses to Alita too?'
“Eww, no,” Angel said.“I think he wants to though.A boy at our school said something mean about Alita, and Micah, I dunno Papa, he was mad.Micah is hardly ever mad, but that dude was gonna get a stomp from my brother.”
The bus came to a stop, and they unloaded in Tucunduba.They would take a charter plane into Medellin; from there, Eduardo would fly his helicopter to Las Tierras.It made for an extremely long travel day, but Angel kept him occupied.Seldom did he get this much time with his youngest son, and he began to think having the boys closer by might not be a bad idea.
“Angel, did you enjoy the wedding?”
“It was boring,” Angel said.“Yuñior's wedding was fun.Diadra looked so pretty and she danced with me.Tio Carlos's wife didn't dance with me.She looked at me funny.I know she wasn't trying to make fun of me with that extra finger hanging on her hand like a little baby wee-wee.”
“Angel!”
“What Papa?It looked like a little penis,” he said.“It kept wiggling.I wanted to take my knife and slice it off and say fixed it!”
“Mary, Mother of Jesus, save me from my children,” Eduardo mumbled as they reached the airfield.
Once they had loaded onto the plane, Angel sat next to him, preparing to take a nap.Eduardo wasn't worried since he and Angel were the only two on the plane, but it didn't bode well for his personal guard to be asleep.He sighed loudly.
“I'm not asleep, Papa; just resting my eyes,” Angel said.
Eduardo paused and said, “Since we have a minute, Andres's engagement is this coming weekend.Plus, I have matches coming for Micah.Do you want me to start looking for matches for you?”
Angel popped up in the seat.“Me?Are you mad at me, Papa?”
“No.Why would you think I was mad at you?”
“You're trying to get me a wife.I don't want to get married!What if she has a wee-wee finger like Tio Carlos' wife?Or wait, are you going to find me a woman who has Down's Syndrome too?I don't want that,” Angel said.“I'm going to be single forever and love the ladies.”
“What?”
“Yeah, the girls at the school thought I was retarded,” Angel said.“One of them pulled me into a closet with her friend.They were going to make fun of me and get my wee-wee all hard.”
“Dear God,” Eduardo said, “what happened?”
“They found out I had a big one and knew how to use it,” Angel said.“I knew how to use my fingers too.They came out of the closet happy.”
“Heaven help me,” Eduardo said lowering his head.
“I'm a lover.I can't help myself.So no, no wife for me,” Angel said.“Papa, you know that same girl kept trying to get me back in the closet with her every week.She wasthe stalker.I had to say bitch, back up off my junk.I don’t like to use that word for women, but sometimes, you know.Women.No.No wife for me.”
