Mamacita

Somehow, I have become the most popular blanco mujer on my block. It happened gradually. First, I made friends with Aivlis (pronounced "Avis"), the seven year old Mexican girl who lives next door to me. We bonded over her cat Diego, who has since disappeared (died?). Then, I met her cousins: Stephanie, Melanie, Christian, Memo and others. One day, I invited Avis into my house to meet Ernesto and Emma. Then Melanie (who is about 3) wanted to pet Emma, though she's a little scared of cats, so I found myself sitting on the front steps with Emma, surrounded by children. Melanie is very cute. I said to her, Beso el gato, and she kissed Emma on the tail. When I say I have to go in, she frequently says, No! Please...(it's one word of English that she seems to know. She typically talks to me in Spanish and I pretend to understand or ask Avis what she has said). After Diego the gato disappeared, Avis' family bought a little boy fuzzy black dog named Moxe. They keep him tied up in the back. He has a swimming pool to play in, but the mom told me that they can't walk him because he hasn't had his shots. I put a chair outside near the wall so that I can peek over and pet him. Now, I've started to buy the dog things--toys and bones--mostly to keep him from barking, which he does incessentantly if not otherwise occupied. Today, Liz took me to Target and I found myself browsing through the dog section. I bought Moxe a bone for $2.99 and gave it to Avis when I got home (she was outside playing when Liz dropped me off). Then I ran to the corner store (also Mexican) and on my way back, I saw that the Mom was the front step. She smiled and said, Thank you. I said, Oh, I always think of the el perro when I'm at the store. Que quiere? She laughed. Is it wrong to be generous because I want them to like me and because I think they'll look after me? Tell the truth.