Unknown Victim by Kay Hadashi (classic books for 11 year olds .TXT) 📕

“Pretty tough thing to see, for any of us.” Gina was curious about the details of Clara’s mother’s death, but didn’t want to open that can of worms. “I’ll never forget the first time I saw one. My sister and I were visiting relatives in New York with our mother. I was in high school, and Ana was still in junior high. We went for a walk one day, and there was a big commotion at the far end of the block. While we walked there to see what was going on, a car went speeding past us in the other direction, at least until some taxis got in its way.”

“What happened?” Clara asked.

“A crowd was already there, people were talking about someone getting shot, and Ana and I pushed through to see a dead guy on the ground with blood on his shirt. All we could figure was that the guy in the car had shot the guy on the sidewalk. When the police showed up, the guy in the car was long gone, and they told us to get lost.”

“That must’ve been terrible.”

“It was. But that was the day when both Ana and I decided…well, Ana knew she wanted to be a cop just like our dad when she grew up. But you know what we also learned that day?”

Clara shook her head.

“I think we were blessed to learn one of life’s biggest secrets. Even though that poor fellow didn’t survive, we did. We were given another day, and another, and another after that. That’s always been the important thing to remember, that we’re lucky enough to have all these days, and that we need to do something with them.”

“Like, what can I do? I’m pregnant.”

“Pretty soon, you’ll be a mother, and from what I’ve seen, that’s one of the biggest jobs someone can have. Anyway, aren’t you the one responsible for fixing us a lunch right about now?”

“Oh, yeah! I completely forgot!”

Gina stood and helped Clara up to her feet. “Come on. I’ll give you a hand. Let’s get these guys fed before they start a hunger riot.”

***

After a lunch of cheese sandwiches and lemonade, Gina took over the job of labeling plants that needed to be salvaged with green tape, and labeling plants that could be removed with orange tape in the area of the pond and Japanese garden. Once that was done, she had Felix go through and double check what she had labeled, that she wasn’t getting rid of a family heirloom plants or a precious bonsai that had become overgrown.

“Okay, I’ve never worked with a Japanese garden before,” she told Felix. He’d been working in the house most of the day, nailing up wood paneling on walls. “I’m not exactly sure what’s supposed to be an ornamental tree and which are just overgrown weeds.”

“I don’t know nothing about them, either,” he said, while swigging water from a bottle.

“Doesn’t help me much, Felix.”

“Maybe you should label everything that isn’t a weed, and figure out the rest later. Once everything has been cleared to the ground, it’ll be easier to see what’s left.”

“Are there any Japanese gardens in town I can visit?”

“In Honolulu? Lots of them!” He pointed off at the far corner of the property next to the stream. “One right over there. I think that one and the old estate one used to be all one big garden. But the university gardeners maintain theirs.”

“Should I match what they’ve done?”

“Might be a good idea. I wouldn’t put Flor on that job, though.”

“Why?” she asked.

“He’s a farmer. Everything needs to be pruned to make fruit. If it doesn’t make fruit, it’s a weed and gets chopped out.”

“Thanks for the heads-up. Is there anybody else that might be able to help me with the Japanese garden?”

Felix shook his head. “They’re farmers. If it doesn’t make food…”

“It gets pulled out like a weed?” she asked, finishing his sentence.

“You’re a fast learner, Boss.”

“I hope so. Hey, is there any way that you guys could call me Gina instead of Boss?”

He smiled again. “No.”

Eventually, one by one, her crew returned to the trucks and cars, stowing their tools in the back. Clara left the house and met with Flor and Florinda, her ride home. Gina waved as the last of them left across the bridge.

One of the tools Felix and Flor had brought back from their buying spree at the hardware store was a gas-powered industrial-sized weed whacker, and with it a can of fuel. Using a weed whacker had been one of Gina’s favorite things to learn in the last year or so. Firing it up, she went to one side of the house and started chopping down weeds.

Half an hour later, she got from the back door to near the front porch. Taking her finger off the trigger, she looked at her progress. Already the place was looking more lived in.

“Gonna have to figure out what to do with all those weeds.”

It was late afternoon by the time she was done with the one side of the house, and she went in for a drink of water. Going through the living room, she saw something on the folded painter’s tarp in the corner of the room.

“What are you doing in here?” Gina stomped her feet on the floor as she walked toward the cat that had been licking its fur. Clapping her hands finally got the cat up and on its feet. Gina pointed toward the front door. “Go on, git!”

Gina stepped back quickly while watching the black cat trot out of the house. Once it was gone, she latched the front screen door.

“Just what I need, a black cat as a roommate.”

After her water, Gina finished weed whacking the other side of the house, right up to the front porch. In a way, it felt good to chop down the grass. It was almost as if she was cleaning up the mess of the