Page 14 of Not Looking
“Whoa, kiddo,” I laughed. “I didn’t catch any of that… other than white and chicken.”
She turned to Jessie, who chuckled.
“She said a black and white one was making a lot of noise.”
“Ah,” I replied with a nod. “She’s probably about to lay. They get loud then.”
“Ok,” Michelle replied. “Tio Randy?”
“Yes?”
She clasped her hands together while turning her toes in. “Sorry for using Spanish.”
I laughed. “It’s my fault for not understanding it. You know two languages. That’s more than me. It’s something to be proud of, not apologize for.”
She nodded. “Sometimes people get mad at me.”
“They’re just jealous that you can do something they can’t. Ok?”
“Ok.”
Silence filled the room for a beat, and I decided some light distraction was in order. “Today’s egg-stand day. Do you want to help with the last few cartons and go down with me?”
“Ok!” Both kids replied.
“Wash your hands and take a seat while I get everything.”
Jessie stood and squeezed my shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”
I nodded as Michelle and Marco took turns washing their hands, then sat at the table.
“Michelle,” I started. “You’re really good about making sure the stickers are on good. So you do that.”
“Ok!”
“Marco?”
“Yes, Tio Randy?”
“I want you to tell me how many eggs go in each carton, ok?”
“I can count to thirty now!” he declared.
I laughed. “None of them holds more than twelve, so you won’t have to count that high. But I’m counting on you to give me the right number.”
“Ok!”
I eyeballed the eggs sitting in the “sell” basket on the counter and grabbed a small stack of egg cartons from my stash. I set them in front of Michelle so she could sticker them, then placed the basket beside me as I sat across from them at the table.
“One, two, tres, quatro…” Marco said aloud as his sister passed over the carton. He looked up with a grin. “Doce!”
“Twelve?” I asked.
He thought for a moment. “Si! Twelve!”
“Good job!” I praised as I accepted the carton and added eggs to it.
“Six!” he said as he passed over the next.
