Sweaters by Heaven Evette Creater (chromebook ebook reader TXT) 📕

“No, thank you.” I answered.

“Alright. I just took some aspirin, I’m gonna lie down for an hour or two.” He said pouring the coffee into the mug. “I have a huge headache. It should go away soon though.” He finished.

“Hmm, I wonder why.” I said sarcastically with a smile. He turned around and smiled back. He took his mug and walked past me giving me a playful look.

“Don’t miss me too much.” He said as he started walking up the stairs.

“Boy, aint nobody gon miss you.” I laughed.

“You will.” He laughed as he disappeared.

I decided to go for a walk to spend the time away. I went upstairs and took a shower and put on a sweater and some jeans. Maybe I’ll be back by 11:00. I looked out the sliding glass door onto the back patio. It’s not snowing now. And some of the snow melted a bit. Two dogs just ran up on the glass and started to bark. They surprised me so I ended up screaming. Miguel quickly ran down half the staircase.

“Tamar, are you alright?” he asked alarmed.

“I’m …ok….when did you get dogs?” I said with my heart beating fast and trying to catch my breath.

He started to laugh. I looked at him with a stare. “That’s not funny Miguel. They scared the hell out of me.” I said walking away from the glass.

“Don’t worry,” he said in the smoothness of his accent. “They don’t bite.”

“Yea well, they’d better not…I might bite back.” I retorted.

He shook his head and smiled. Then he went back upstairs, I followed behind him to my room. I put on my red coat and matching hat and scarf.

“You leaving?” he asked curiously.

“Just gonna take a walk,” I answered putting my gloves on.

“I’ll be back by 11:00.” I grabbed my purse and headed into the hall.

“Alright, I want to show you the studio later. Maybe before Secret’s visit starts?” he asked.

“Sure, See you later.” I said as I walked past him.

“Adios.” He said softly.

When I got outside, it felt like Jack Frost had just placed kisses on my face. I walked a couple blocks. I don’t know where I was walking to and I didn’t care. I just wanted to walk around. And that’s what I did…I just kept walking and walking. I then walked towards a playground. There were squeals, shrieks and screams throughout the area. They seemed to get louder the closer I got to it. Snowballs glided through the air like deformed doves. There were young kids everywhere, in different colors.

Different shades of blues, greens, yellows, reds and pinks. Smiling faces and innocent laughter followed behind each one of them closely. Even teenagers who looked like they were in their senior or junior year of highschool were having fun pushing and shoving each other in the snow. I walked closer and sat on a bench that overlooked the whole park. A little girl with wavy dark hair in a green worn out coat stood crying by a tree alone.

The coat had a few holes in it and so did her hat and gloves. She looked to be about five years old. No one could hear her over the screams but I was close enough. Maybe no one bothered to. She looked like she was maybe Asian or something and she had big beautiful brown eyes. I went towards her and she was crying really loud.

“Hi… what’s wrong” I asked her. Her crying went down to a whimper but she didn’t answer me. “Are you lost?”

I asked hoping for an answer. She nodded. “Where’s your mama?”

“I not know.” She answered before sobbing again.

“Where did you see her last?” I asked.

“In the street.” She answered.

“What happened?” I asked again.

“We walked down the street to see daddy. I was behind her. We walked by the toy store and I stopped to look. When I turned around, she was gone.” She whimpered.

"Oh, alright, alright don’t cry, I’ll help you look for her, ok?” I responded.

She nodded her head and took my hand. We walked around the park for a bit. She looked cold and tired so I gave her my scarf and hat and picked her up. After looking for her mama for a while with no results, I decided to take her to small restaurant. As we walked there, a hysterical young Hispanic man came towards. A woman followed behind him, maybe the girl’s mother.

They started speaking in Spanish and yelling. The little girl jumped down from my arms and ran towards them. They willingly embraced their little girl and then they looked at me. The Girl started to speak to them in a different language and their grimaces faded away. The man walked up to me. He had thick dark eyebrows along with a small mustache. They both looked young, maybe in their mid-20’s.

His coat and the woman’s also had holes in them and their shoes were a bit open at the top.

“Thank you so much for finding our little girl. We don’t know what we could have done without you.” He said as if he were about to cry.

“It’s no problem at al---.” I tried to say.

“Here, take it. It’s all we have.” He said handing out 20 dollars. I looked down at the money.

“No,” I said softly pushing it away. “I don’t want your money.”

“Please, there must be something you want. Please take it.” He pursued on.

“No, finding your little girl and bringing her back to you was all I wanted.” 

“Gracias, Thank you very much!” The father said with a smile.

“You’re welcome.” I smiled back. The little girl ran to me and hugged me.

“Susana.” She said with a grin. “Susana Garcia.”

“That’s a pretty name.” I replied.

I looked into her eyes, big and beautiful. The family was poor. I glanced at the mother. She kind of kept to herself and didn’t speak much. She was restless and had a twitch in her eye. She’s on drugs.

“Mr. Garcia…” I called out. I took a card out of my purse and handed it to him. “Here’s a card for a rehab center. They can help your family. I work there at nights. Here’s my number at the bottom. We help people and families find jobs and give them what they need. It helped me…so much, please take it.” I explained handing out the card. He looked at it and took it hesitantly. “I’m not working now but I will be next week. Is there any way you could contact me or may I contact you?” I asked hoping he would say yes.

“No, we don’t take charity.” He said softly returning the card and starting to walk away.

Susana looked at me and then her father. Disappointment filled her eyes.

“…Please…if not for yourself, do it for your daughter…” I said catching his attention again. He turned around and looked at the card again. “I did it for mine.” I said hopefully changing his mind.

He walked back towards me and looked at his little girl. Then, he took the card and thanked me.

“I am extremely grateful. I will contact you when I can. What’s your name?” he asked.

“Tamar, Tamar Reevis.” I answere as I shook his hand.

“Ok, Tamar, we’re staying at this shelter three blocks over called Helping Hands”. Do you have a pen and paper?” he asked.

“Yes.” I answered as I pulled one out and gave it to him. He wrote on the piece of paper. I kept looking at the mother. She  looked lost and was probably unaware of Susana when they were walking.

“Here...it’s the number to the shelter. If you call, ask for Jason and Carmen Garcia.” He said as he handed me the paper and pen back.

I thanked him and Susana came running to me with my hat and scarf.

“No, you keep it. I have more.” I said softly.

We said our goodbyes and I started to walk away, its 10:30.

“Tamar…Feliz Navidad!” Susana yelled as the family walked away.

I turned around and smiled at her “Merry Christmas!” As I walked away from the scene, a boy about 10 or 11 ran into me.

“Sorry lady, I’m the robber.” He said as he ran away.

Two other boys, about his age, chased after him with snowballs. They must be the cops. I retraced my steps and headed back to Miguel’s place. Unfortunately, I have a decent memory. I arrived at the house and rung the doorbell.

Miguel opened the door. He had on some blackish jeans and a black t-shirt that showed off his muscles and his hair was down.

“Hola.” He greeted as I walked in.

When I walked past him, a scent of cologne bounced off him and into my nose.

“You smell good.” I said as took off my coat and set it on the couch.

“Gracias, you do too.” He complimented.

“I remember who your perfume reminds me of now.”

“Oh yea, who?” I asked curiously leaning against the counter.

“My mother." he said flatly.

I just looked at him. "Sooo...you tryna call me old?" I asked not able to hold in my laugh.

He started to laugh himself and shook his head.

"You are something else Tamar."

"Yea, I'm alot of things..." I said softly as I looked at him.

I knew how Miguel felt about his parents, so I never really tried to bring them up.

"So, when do we go see your studio?" I asked trying to change the subject.

"Oh, we can leave in a few minutes. I just fed the dogs I just need to give them fresh water.” He explained.

I started thinking about the little girl again and my heart began to soften.

“Tamar, are you ok?” I snapped out of it and looked at him.

“What?” I asked.

“Are you alright?” he repeated.

“Oh, yea I was…just...thinking.” I said looking down.

“About?” he asked looking up as he set the bowl down on the floor for one of the dogs.

“Just this little girl I met at the park.” I said dismissively.

“What about her?” he asked. I didn’t respond right away.

“She was lost…and poor.” I said.

“Oh, that’s sad. Did you find her mama?” he asked curiously.

“Yea.” I said flatly.

“Then why the face, you should be glad.” He said petting the golden retriever.

“Because I saw her mother and I saw how I used to be.” I said softly as I looked down.

Miguel stopped petting the dog and looked up at me. “What do you mean?” he asked while continuing to pet the dog. I looked over at him.

“She’s on drugs.” Miguel didn’t say anything else. The dogs finished their food and came towards him. The smaller one, that he called Mixto, came over and brushed against my leg. I sat down on the floor next to Miguel to pet it. Miguel looked at me and smiled.

Daniel:

Everything looks the same. I spent the rest of the night here at home. Ain't no cops lurkin around and Sheila keeps callin my phone. I didn’t answer, I’m not going to. I took a shower and put on a white t-shirt and some jeans. Imma go visit my friend, Ziggy. He’s a couple years younger than me but he smart. By smart, I mean he thinks quick…sometimes. I just need some advice.

I walked past Secret’s room and looked inside, expecting her to be there and she wasn't. My stomached dropped and my heart sank. I usually take her with me, she likes him. I walked in and just looked around. I saw something, I think blonde hair, between her covers. I sat on the bed and picked it up. It was that doll I had given her. I hugged it close and then tossed it on the bed. I wonder if she thinking about me. I opened the door to leave, just in time to see Mrs. Jenkins standing there with her door open.

“Good morning.” I said softly.

She looked at me. After a few seconds of uncomfortable glaring I decided to walk away. I closed the door and started down the hall.

“You and that girl hittin on that baby?” she asked in a tone that sent chills down my spine.

It sounded more like a statement than a question.