Written by Elfen Sciuridae
– Back To New York –
A new day begins with the same routine. But as Rachel sits to eat her breakfast, there was a knock on the door. Grandma steps out of the kitchen to answer it. It was their mother, arriving from New York City. A yellow taxi cab-minivan waits for her outside, the driver a friend of hers who took her there.
[Translated from Spanish]
“Where are my boys?”, Mother asks of Grandma.
“Jorge is taking a shower. Fernando is still sleeping, having one of those weeklong headaches again. “, Grandma explains.
“I see.”, as Mother looks about the house, seeing a staircase gong upstairs to the bedrooms. Jorge walks out of his room after taking a shower and getting dressed. Rachel was wearing little more than a t-shirt and panties.
Jorge sees his mother and runs to her, hugging and holding her, “MOMMY!!!”
She holds him in return, “How’s my boy doing?”
“Terrible.”, Grandma tells her.
“I was talking to him.”, Mother says.
“I don’t like it here.”, Jorge says. “Fernando and Rachel share a room, they get all the money and attention, and I keep telling Grandma that he’s fucking her but she whips me instead!”
“THAT’S NOT TRUE!”, Rachel yells from the dining area.
With a light shove, Mother pushes Jorge away and walks over to the dining area where Rachel was having her breakfast. She takes the empty chair next to her. “Is that so? Tell me, who should I believe, my own son or the daughter of a drug abusing whore?”
“We saved that girl from a fate worse than hell.”, Grandma explains.
“Oh, I know that. But I also seem to remember this little bitch whoring as well. Selling her little pussy- for what? You did drugs too?”, Mother taunts them.
“Rachel was drug free according to the doctors. And she was not whoring, she was begging for food.”, Grandma stated.
“OH, but the doctor also stated that she was no virgin either, so that tells me that she was selling her pussy.”, Mother says aloud.
“I WAS NOT SELLING MY PUSSY! I WAS RAPED!!!”, Rachel says before she begins to cry.
“Say what you want, I don’t believe the words from a little preteen whore.”, Mother tells her.
“ENOUGH!”, Grandma yells at her. “THIS IS MY HOUSE AND DAUGHTER OR NOT, YOU WILL NOT COME IN HERE TO DISRESPECT IT AND THE PEOPLE INSIDE! NOW GET OUT BEFORE I CALL THE POLICE!”
“I cant do that.”, Mother says as she takes out three health information papers. “Its time for them to go see their doctor for their immunizations and check ups, and most importantly, find out why Fernando is getting those headaches again.”
“He gets it from your father’s side of the family. They were a sickly bunch.”, Grandma tells her.
“Apparently you went to bed with him to have me, and I came out just fine.”, Mother mocks her. “Now. Lets get the children together for their appointment.”, she says as she looks at Rachel. “Eating breakfast will mess up your blood tests.”
“By the time we get there, she will be fine for the blood test.”, Grandma tells her. “Rachel. Go get dressed and get Fernando ready as well.”
Rachel looks at her blankly, holding back tears from a few minutes ago. Then she nods at Grandma and runs up stairs. Mother looks at her, seeing what little she had on.
“Explain why Jorge is fully dressed and that mangy little rag-a-muffin is practically naked?”, Mother asks in demand for an answer.
“Jorge always leaves early to hang out with his friends. Rachel stays behind to take care of Fernando- something Jorge should be doing but does not.”, Grandma tells her.
“Fernando should be taking care of himself, not letting some little whore wait on him hand and foot.”, Mother says.
“What did I tell you about disrespecting this house hold?”, Grandma sneers at her. Mother gets up and starts walking to the stairs. “And where are you going?”, Grandma asks.
“I’m going to see my eldest son. You have something against that?”, Mother tells her. Grandma could only follow her going up the stairs.
Meanwhile in their room, Rachel sits on the bed next to Fernando. He was sitting up with his eyes closed, rubbing his temples with his fingers.
“Mom is here. She is taking us to New York to see the doctor.”, Rachel explains.
“All of us or just me?”, Fernando says.
“All of us. To get our shots and things.”, Rachel says.
Fernando could only sigh. He points to the nightstand, where his glasses and cane were. Rachel goes to retrieve them, picking them up as the door opens. Mother walks inside with Grandma not far behind her. Rachel sits on the bed, handing him his cane, and puts on his glasses. Mother walks over to the bed, pushing Rachel out of the way to sit next to her boy.
“Is everything alright, son?”, Mother says as she put a hand under his chin, trying to make him look at her.
“No its not. I got another headache, day 5 so far.”, Fernando explains.
“Well, go get dressed. We got an appointment with the doctor to see what is going on.”, Mother explain.
“Its OK mom, I don’t need to see a doctor.”, Fernando tells her.
“We don’t know what you have. It could be a pinched nerve that could paralyze you, or a swelled up artery that could burst into an aneurism and kill you.” Mother tells him.
“Then I would rather die.”, Fernando says as he goes back to the pillow. Mother looks at Grandma for a moment, then at Rachel who was getting dressed.
“Where does she sleep?”, Mother asks. Grandma points to the bunk bed above Fernando. “Jorge don’t sleep in here with him?”,
“Jorge constantly fights him, and each fight gets more and more expensive as they start to break things. It is better to have them separated.”, Grandma explains.
“And why does she sleep in the same room with him?”, Mother asks.
“She takes care of him and lets me know how he is doing.”, Grandma tells her.
“Yet, she’s strutting around in the room in her underwear like some floozy slut.”, Mother says.
“You used to strut around the house in your underwear in front of your brothers. And you still do in front of grown men.”, Grandma tells her.
“HMPH…”, Mother was only able to say.
“Rachel has been a very good girl, helping me about the house and helping when Fernando gets sick which has been these past few days. I would dare say that they love each other like real brother and sister, which is more than what I can say for Jorge.”, Grandma tells her.
“They are brothers, they are supposed to fight like boys do.”, Mother explains to her.
“I had you, Nora, Wilfred, Sam, Lisabeth, Albert, Francisco, Joanna and Luis-Miguel. None of the boys dare fight, and none did at home. It was you girls that fought all the time, and you were in all the fights. You can not tell me that its normal for boys to fight because my boys- your brothers- did not fight at all.”, Grandma tells her.
“They did not dare fight at home, but they did fight everywhere else.”, Mother tells her.
“Then they fought elsewhere, meaning they did not bring their problems home. But Jorge on the other hand, is very disrespectful of Fernando and challenging of his older brother’s authority. At times he wont listen to me unless I give him the belt.”, Grandma tells her. “With Fernando being weak and sick, I’m afraid Jorge might hurt him. And Fernando being blind, Jorge has an advantage over him.”
“Funny how you would bring his blindness as an excuse. Fernando seemed to have defended himself quite well against the street gangs in New York.”, Mother tells her. “Between the martial arts classes I sent the two of them to, and me teaching him how to use a gun, there is no way someone is going to sneak up to him and dare hit him without being hit back.”
“Sooner or later somebody is going to kill one of your boys. Look at what they did to Lucine’s bunny boy- two shots to the head and that was all they wrote in the newspapers. I am not going to have my grandchild become a newspaper headline.”, Grandma explains with some authority in her voice.
During their argument, Rachel had gotten herself dressed and had picked out a set of clothes for Fernando to put on. Having them neatly folded, she takes them to the bed and places them between Fernando and Mother. Mother gives her a mean scowl that makes her go away behind Grandma. “She does this all the time for him?”, Mother asks.
“She only does it when he needs help. And you being in the boy’s way is not helping him to get dressed.”, Grandma explained. Mother starts taking off his t-shirt. “You can’t get him dressed, he hasn’t taken a shower yet!” Grandma almost yells at her. Rachel runs to the dresser and takes out a towel and some fresh change of underwear, waiting by Grandma’s side.
After a brief moment of silence, Mother slides down on the bed to give Fernando some space for him to get out of the bed from. He gets up from the bed, and is met by Rachel who handed him the towel and other things, taking him by the arm to escort him to the bathroom.
“Oh no she don’t!”, Mother stated out loud as they stopped at the door. “She’s not going to take him to the bathroom!”
“Oh shut up and let them be. She’s just taking him there, its not like they are going to shower together.”, Grandma tells her. Mother gives them a scowl. “Go ahead Rachel. Take him there and come back.”
The two women argued about what was going on. Rachel stops by the bathroom door.
“I know I shouldn’t ask but you going to be OK in there?”, Rachel asks.
“I’ll be fine.”, Fernando tells her as he takes the door knob in his hand. With a slight twist the door opens.
Rachel leans over to him and gives him a kiss on the lips, a small one that lasts less than a couple of seconds. She then returns to the room as he steps into the bathroom. “You see. She only took him there and came back.”
“I still don’t trust her.”, Mother says.
“You don’t trust anyone unless he can give you a good roll in bed and put some money in your pocket.”, Grandma tells her.
“You calling me a whore?”, Mother asks.
“You are what you sow and reap. Anyways, you don’t like her because you think she’s a freeloading waif I found. In actuality, that is farther then the whole truth for she has been very helpful to me and him ever since she came here. You should open your eyes every once in a while to see who is willing to help you and is willing to fuck you over. I know you have plenty of so called friends who have fucked you over, but this little girl has done her best to help you with his needs. Do you get my meaning?!!”, Grandma basically tells off Mother.
Mother does not answer.
“Rachel, go downstairs and wait for us in the living room. If Jorge says or does anything, ignore him.”, Grandma tells her.
“OK Grandma.”, Rachel says before leaving the room.
“Anything more you have to say before I give you a lesson with the belt, Missy?” Grandma tells Mother.
“I am too old to be beaten by the likes of you.”, Mother tells her.
“Don’t you ever forget, that as long as I live, I am your mother and you are my child, and as such if you need a good whipping by the belt, it will be I who gives it to you. Don’t you ever forget that!”, Grandma forget that.
Mother gulps, realizing the truthful meaning of the words Grandma had said.
Fernando walks into the room, trying to dry himself off with the towel. The two women look at him as he goes the bed and takes the pile of clothes Rachel has set for him.
“Lets go so the boy can get dressed.”, Grandma tells her daughter.
“But I’m his mother…”, Mother stated.
“And I’m your mother and his grandmother, and I said let’s go and we will wait for him downstairs.”, Grandma almost growls at her.
Mother slowly gets up off the bed and walks out the room. Grandma waits for a moment before leaving. “I’ll send Rachel up in a few to check on you.”, Grandma tells him before closing the door.
Fernando looks at his clothes on the bed and quickly puts them on. It only takes him a couple of minutes to put everything on.
He was already out the room heading to the stairs when Grandma sends Rachel to go check up on him. They met somewhere between midway up the stairs for her and at the top of the staircase for him.
“You’ll be fine?”, Rachel asks.
“The fog has lifted.”, Fernando tell her.
Rachel nods and starts to walk down the stairs with Fernando after her. Once together they go out to Mother’s friend’s minivan-taxi cab. They climb into the vehicle with little to say. Fernando took the rear seat bench with Rachel. Jorge took the middle single seat with Grandma in the other middle single seat. Mother takes the front passenger seat and tells her friend to go.
The drive was 90 minutes at speeds past legal limits. Soon they were passing their old neighborhood, on the way to the hospital: New York General. The five of them walk into the pediatrics ward for their check up. With Jorge and Rachel, it was the basics: Blood drawn; height, weight and vital statistics taken and recorded; and their immunizations given.
Fernando was another story. Despite given the basic physical exam, Fernando’s records show a preexisting condition that warranted further examination. He sat on the examination table with the doctor and his mother in the room, being asked more questions than he would have wanted to answer.
Some of the answers to the questions asked raised concerns. The length and severity of his headaches, let along the description of the pain, and its location made the doctors decide to take more tests. First the MRI. Fernando never liked going through the MRI or the PET Scan as both are very confining and claustrophobic to some. For Fernando having his head sent into the machine was uncomfortable, and despite what they told him, he thinks he can feel the magnetic field as they pass through his body. It’s a feeling he does not like.
Like in past exams, nothing was physical found that could explain his pain or condition. Grandma always knew his condition was genetic in nature, a bad gene in his system that causes so much trouble for him. One she believes is from her daughter’s father side of the family, for they on that side are a weak and whiney lot. But Fernando is neither weak nor whiney, and his headaches have been of major concern since he used to be such an active and happy child. The family is told to wait while a specialist was called into conference.
She walks in with large rim glasses and a tight dress under her lab coat. Most notably, she is a flying squirrel like the patient sent to her, and yet incredibly young looking for her age. She sits down at the table in front of the family without Fernando’s presence, for he was still taking more tests in the EEG (Electroencephalograph) lab. Unfortunately, he had to deal with the Red pill / Blue pill philosophy and decided on the red pill, just to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.
“Good morning, I am Dr. Aiesha Leary and I am here to help your son.”, she tells them.
“Good Morning.”, Mother tells her.
“What is she saying?” Grandma says in Spanish.
Dr. Aiesha looks at Grandma. “Spanish only for you?”, she asks Grandma in Spanish.
[Translated from Spanish]
“I’ve been speaking Spanish all my life, never needed English. So is you don’t mind, yes, in Spanish please.”, Grandma tells her.
“Alright then. I have no problem with that. Like I said before, I am Dr. Aiesha Leary and I am here to help your son.”, Dr. Aiesha tells them. She looks over Fernando’s records for a moment, “I see Fernando has been having headaches that warrant medical attention. When was the first time any of you noticed this?”
Mother and Grandma look at each other for a moment. They both agree that it started a few years ago, but putting an exact date is another matter.
“About the third month Rosita was in the hospital. I remember seeing him in bed curled up in ball, crying about how much his head hurts. We know about his vision problem but at the time he was in a dark room.”, Grandma explains.
“Vision problem?”, Dr. Aiesha asks. She turns to the records and flips through the pages, “Oh, I see- extreme sensitivity to light. But being exposed to light is not the problem?”
“No. Fernando would be normal one second and next second he would be on the floor in pain.”, Mother answers.
“I see.”, D. Aiesha says. She continues with a list of questions for a yes or no answer, “Has he ever fallen on his head?”
“No.” Mother answers.
“Got hit in the head?”
“No”
“Allergic to anything?”
“No.”, Mother answers.
“Not True- he’s allergic to Strawberries.”, Grandma answers.
“Since when?”, Mother asks.
“I’m the one who feeds them. I should know.”, Grandma tells her.
“OK.”, Dr. Aiesha says, making a note in his records. “Does he fly much?”
“Fly?”, Mother asks.
“He is a Flying Squirrel. Don’t tell me you got him grounded?”, Dr. Aiesha tells her.
“He flies around once in a while, when he is not having vision problems.”, Grandma answers. “But its rare if I see him doing it.”
“So he does fly?”, Dr. Aiesha asks.
“Yes. But to how often, I do not know.”, Grandma explains.
“OK. “, Dr. Aiesha says. She continues to look over his records. “Any psychological trauma?”
“Psychological trauma?”, Mother asks.
“You know. Was he molested or even raped? Was he in a car accident but was physically fine. Was he in a building fire? Was he a victim of a crime?”
“No to any of those.”, Mother says, Grandma nods her head.
“Has he lost a friend?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”, Mother asks.
“Psychological trauma can manifest themselves into physical problems.” Grandma tells her daughter sternly. “Yes. He has lost a very close friend several years ago. But he has been to various psychiatrists and psychologists and all say that he’s well adjusted and no longer required treatment.”
“I see. I only have his medical records, not his mental records. But I’ll take a note of that.”, Dr. Aiesha says.
A technician walks in with the latest MRI Scans, and shows them to Dr. Aiesha, pointing out a recent injury, which shows internal bruising around the Zygomatic and Frontal bones of his face. Dr. Aiesha nods, taking the MRI image. She remains quite as the technician leaves.
“You found something?”, Mother asks,
“It may not mean much, since his headaches has an ongoing history. But I need you to be honest with me, do you punish your children?”, Dr. Aiesha says cautiously.
“Punish?” Mother asks.
“Fernando is a good boy. Its Jorge that needs a constant reminder with the belt!”, Grandma tells her.
Dr. Aiesha does not know how to respond to that response but decides to go further.
“I see. Then I am going to need an explanation to why he has a bruise to the left side of the face that the MRI picked up.”, Dr. Aiesha explains.
Grandma turns to Jorge with a angered expression all over her face. “Jorge… Did you beat up on Fernando again?!!”
“NO! I did not! I SWEAR!”, Jorge pleaded in panic.
“Maybe it was that little whore.”, Mother says looking at Rachel.
“Rachel would never harm Fernando!”, Grandma points out.
“How about we ask her.”, Mother says.
“How about it, Rachel, you ever hit Fernando?”, Grandma asks.
“I would never hit him!”, Rachel answers.
“Then what would cause such an injury?”, Mother asks sternly at her.
Rachel began to feel uncomfortable in her seat. She did not want to say anything about what happened at the pool or about the fight Fernando and Lucy had which he lost.
“Girl, you better tell me what you know or I swear I will rip up those adoption papers and leave you on the side of the highway to fend for yourself!”, Mother almost yells at her.
“You won’t do no such thing!”, Grandma steps in to Rachel’s side. “If Rachel knows something, she will tell us.”
Rachel bows her head, trying to hold back tears but cant.
“See, she’s hiding something!”, Mother says.
“Enough of this.”, Dr. Aiesha tells her. “There is no way you are going to threaten a child to get information in front of me!”
“You have any children of your own?”, Mother asks.
“No I don’t.”, Dr. Aiesha says.
“Then what do you know about raising a child?”, Mother scolds the doctor.
“Rachel, what do you know how Fernando got injured?”, Grandma asks her, “You tell me the truth and you wont get into trouble.”
Rachel looks up at her for a moment, wiping a tear from her face. She takes a second to recompose herself before saying a word.
“It happened at the pool the other day. Fernando had a fight with a girl where he pushed her into the pool but then later she attacked him at the boys’ locker room.”, Rachel explains.
“And where were you when this happened?”, Mother asks her sternly.
“I was still in the pool with my friends. But Cathy and Juanita were with him when it happened.”, Rachel answered.
“Why didn’t you tell me what happened?”, Grandma asks.
“Fernando told me not to and that he would tell you himself.”, Rachel says before breaking down again.
“Wait. How long ago was this?”, Grandma asks.
“About 3 days ago.”, Rachel answers through the tears.
“And he’s been having this headache since the day before.”, Grandma says.
“What are you going to do about the girl who attacked him?”, Mother asks.
“I will deal with it as I see fit when we return home. But first we are here to deal with Fernando’s problems, not when are you returning to the bar and drink yourself into a drunken floozy stupor.”, Grandma tells her.
“You Damn Witch!”, Mother calls her.
“Remember, this witch raised you.”, Grandma tells her.
“CUT IT OUT!”, Dr. Aiesha yells to get their attention. They both look at her as if she was wrong. “Finally. I swear, I did not think that there was an underlying cause for his headaches; I would say it was you two.
“Watch what you say. Miss. You are not part of this family.”, Mother tells her.
“And you watch what you say to the good doctor, she is trying to help.”, Grandma tells her.
Dr. Aiesha shakes her head. “Alright. Since his condition does not appear to be life threatening, he could be sent home though I would like to keep him here for observation.”, she continues.
“We’ll take him home.”, Grandma says.
“Fine. Bring him back on September 4th for a follow up visit before he starts school.”, Dr. Aiesha says. “Now. What school is he going to?”
Mother looks at Grandma for an answer.
“I think its call the St. Lovejoy School.”, Grandma answers.
“St. Lovejoy School? I don’t ever remembering a school with that name in New York City.’, Dr. Aiesha stated.
“Its in Pouncefield.”, Grandma answer.
“Pouncefeild?”, Dr. Aeisha asks.
“Its about 100 miles away from here.”, Mother answers, hiding the disgust in her voice.
“I know where it is. I’m just asking, you brought them here?”, Dr. Aiesha asks.
“They did have an appointment, and their records and doctors are here.”, Mother says.
“I see.”, Dr. Aiesha stated. “After this next appointment, I would suggest transferring all records to Pouncefeild County General. They have an excellent staff there and I do go there when my field of specialty is requested.”
Grandma nods. Mother is not too happy about the advice.
A nurse rolls Fernando in a wheel chair who was sleeping due to the pill given to him for the EEG. The clipboard with the results of his EEG was given to Dr. Aiesha. She quickly gives it a once over, finding nothing that would be a matter of concern.
“You can take him home now. Mind you, the pill he was given will keep him asleep for most of the day.”, Dr. Aiesha tells them, sliding to the center of the table another red pill inside a blister pack. “If he wakes up in the middle of the night and cant go back to sleep, give him this one and he will wake up normally in the morning.”
Grandma reaches over and takes the pill inside its blister pack. She put it in her purse for safekeeping.
Dr. Aiesha continues, “Looks like everything has come up inconclusive again. But I would suggest keeping the stress levels down in the house and give him what he wants. Also take notes of when he gets his headaches and what seemed to be the cause. I would like to see those notes when he returns.”
Jorge was not too happy about this as it gives Fernando more freedoms and can do no wrong.
The family gathers around Fernando and his wheel chair. “One more thing.”, Dr. Aiesha adds. “Fernando is a flying squirrel, let him out more often so he can fly. It may help reduce his stress and eventually his headaches.” Grandma nods to the request. Mother on the other hand does not like it.
As they leave the hospital, Grandma and Mother argue about going home. Grandma wants to return to Pouncefeild, Mother wants them to spend the day at their place. Eventually Grandma wins with the statement of, “If you aint taking me home, I have enough money to take a cab home with the children.” Mother submits to defeat and has her friend drive them back home.
Once at home in Pouncefeild, Grandma carries Fernando to his bed. Being a flying squirrel, he is much lighter than his brother because his bones are hollow. She takes off his outer layers of clothing and puts him to bed with the blanket covering him up to his shoulders. She takes his glasses and puts them on the table in the middle of the room with his cane. Mother stays for a bit before saying goodbye. Grandma tells Rachel to keep an eye on Fernando, though being passed out on some sort of sleeping pill from he hospital, there was nothing much to watch. She takes off her shoes before climbing into bed with him, holding him as he slept. She did not think that she too would go to sleep, but does.
Fifteen minutes later she wakes up, finding Jorge on her computer chair in front of the bed.
“If you two aint fucking then why are you sleeping in his bed with him?”, Jorge asks.
Rachel stretches and yawns before answering. “Its none of your business what we do. You’re his brother too, you’re supposed to help him out, but instead you two fight all the time. Now what do you want and what are you doing here?”, Rachel tells him.
“Grandma went food shopping and told me that since it’s getting late that we should stay in the house. Just passing the word to you.”, Jorge says before he started to get up and walk out the room.
“Wait.”, Rachel calls to him.
“What?”, Jorge says as he stood by the door.
Rachel slowly got up and sat on the edge of the bed. “Grandma has $100 for you. Its for you to buy school uniforms at the shopping mall.”, she explains.
Jorge takes the hundred dollars out of his pocket and shows it off, “I know all about it.”, he says, “And I’m going to double this money before this day is through.”
“Double your money?”, Rachel asks.
“Yeah. There are some suckers out there who think they can play craps.”, Jorge says.
“But didn’t Grandma say not to leave the house?”, Rachel asks.
“She said for us not to leave the house, but whether we listen to her or not is another story.”, ,Jorge says. “Since Fernando is zonked out, I don’t think you have a choice.”
Jorge leaves the room, closing the door behind him. He can be heard trotting down the hall and to the stairs. Several seconds later, the door to the house can be heard slamming.
Rachel can only sit there and wonder. A thousand thoughts run through her head but nothing comes up as an answer to anything. She decides to go down stairs for some water and a bite to eat. Walking around in her sox, she enjoys the slipperiness of them as she walks down stairs.
All was quiet in the house, or so it seemed. With Fernando out in La La land, she thinks that there is nothing to do that she would want to do with her favorite brother because of his condition. The drug has him limp and overly relaxed, more like one of her old rag dolls she has from younger days. But at least he was resting peacefully and that was more than what Rachel could have offered.
She finishes her drink of water and the sandwich she had made, and then washes the glass before putting it away. Bored with nothing to do, she stands there against the sink before making a decision to go back up stairs to their room. Feeling defeated for some reason, she starts her way to the stairs. But before she enters the living room, there was a knock on the door.
Startled, she trots over to the door and opens it. It was Edna with Cynthia and 4 other girls: Sally (a peacock) , Jennifer (a black cat), Laura (a brown squirrel), and Ashley (a black bunny).
“Can we come in?”, Edna asks.
“Uhm… I don’t think I’m allowed.”, Rachel says with uncertainty.
“Why?”, Edna asks. “Aren’t we your friends?”
“Its not that. No one’s at home but me and Fernando.”, Rachel stated.
“Oh, so are we interrupting anything?”, Edna asks, putting on a sly smile.
“When are we going in?”, Cynthia complains.
“No. We just came back from the hospital.”, Rachel tries to explain.
“Hospital? Is Fernando alright?”, Edna asks.
“Actually, he’s not…”, Rachel started to say, but stopped as the girls bummed rushed the door to get in. They all stand around in the living room looking about. Rachel is getting a little miffed about being bum rushed through the door as they did. Edna notices that this house was a mirror copy of the one she lives in down the street.
“So where is he?”, one of them said.
“Yeah, we would like to thank him for putting Lucy in her place.”, Sally says.
“He’s not in good shape and he needs his rest.”, Rachel tries to explain.
“Nonsense.” Edna says as she started to walk to the stairs. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to see us.”
“No! Don’t Go Upstairs!”, Rachel tells her. But with the others following, Rachel could run up after them. Edna tries the first room on the floor, finding it to be their room. They walk in and stand around eyeing the place and then to the bed where Fernando was. Edna sits on the bed and tries to wake him up as Rachel walks into the room.
“Hey- Squirrely one, wake up!”, Edna says out loud, shaking him, lightly at first but increasing force as needed.
“Don’t Do That!”, Rachel says as she gets behind Edna and pushes her out of the bed. Edna remains sitting on the floor on her ass.
“Why you did that for?!!”, Edna complains. “And what’s wrong with him, why he wont wake up!”
“I told you he needs his rest.”, Rachel tells her.
“He does look cute sleeping there.”, Cynthia says to herself but loud enough to be heard.
“He got a girlfriend?”, Jennifer asks.
“He has her as a sister…”, Edna answers.
“Who sleeps on the top bed?”, Sally asks.
“I do.”, Rachel answers.
“You do?!!”, most of the girls ask, most except Edna, Laura and Cynthia.
“Yeah. He and brother fight too much to be trusted in the same room, and I watch him since he’s sick most of the time.”, Rachel explains.
“Sick?”, Laura asks.
“Is he contagious?”, Ashley asks.
“No, he’s not contagious. He just gets headaches all the time.”, Rachel explains while checking on him.
“Hey! Look at these cool shades! They even match my fur!”, Jennifer says as she picks them up from the table and tries to put them on.
Rachel jumps out of the bed and takes the glasses before Jennifer could have them on for too long. “Don’t do that! They’re his!”, she yells as she examines them for damage. She folds them up and puts them on the table next to the cane.
Rachel was beginning to feel like a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
“No reason to get excited, no harm was done.”, Jennifer says.
Edna sits back down on the bed and takes Fernando’s arm and picks it up, then drops it. “Uhm, is he dead?”, she then asks as she tries it again.
“He’s floppier than some of my plushies.”, Sally added.
“What are you doing?!!” Rachel almost yells as she runs to Fernando’s bedside to stop Edna from doing it again..
“Just trying to wake him up!”, Edna innocently says.
“Everybody out!!!”, Rachel yells out.
They all look at her, stunned at her reaction.
“I said ‘Everybody Out!!’ “, Rachel as she got up and starts pushing the girls out the door.
“Hey! Quit Shoving!”, Laura yells.
“OW! My Tail Feathers!”, followed by Sally.
Eventually they make it out of the room, down the stairs, through the living and out the door to the yard.
“You know you’re making it hard to make friends with you!”, Cynthia said at the door.
“ARGH!!!”, Rachel lets out before slamming the door.
“You think she’s hiding something”, Ashley asks.
“We can always to ask Yin and Yang.”, Edna says as she walks to the front gate.
“Yin and Yang?”, Jennifer asks.
“Yeah- from the Chinese Cultural Awareness classes when they had the Olympics.”, Edna explains as they walked down the street. Then she points at the two houses across the street from each other, “Yin- the black squirrel Juanita and Yang, the while squirrel Cathy.”
“You actually remembered that stuff?”, Ashley asks.
“You think I’m always yiffing around?”, Edna asks in return. “Come on, they should know something.”
To their demise, neither one knew anything, both stating that if Fernando was sleeping; waking him up would have resulted in fur flying out the window.
As they leave Juanita’s yard from talking with her second, Edna notices a little old lady squirrel pushing a filled shopping cart of various food items.
“How about we help out the old lady?”, Sally says.
Edna grabs her tail feathers as she started to go to the old lady. “Don’t you dare! That’s their grandmother, and not only does she not speak English, she is one mean squirrel-bitch!”
“What makes you say that?”, Jennifer asks as they watch her walk by. “She seems nice enough.”
“She chewed out my father in Spanish, and threw us out the house when we came in as the welcoming committee.”, Edna explains.
“Maybe it was a misunderstanding.”, Ashley says.
“Yes it was a misunderstanding, but she took it to a whole new level!”, Edna stated.
They all look at the old lady go into the house where Fernando and Rachel lives, closing the door behind her.
In the house, Grandma checks on Fernando and Rachel, asking where Jorge was. Rachel answers, “I don’t know where he went, he left on his own.”
The next couple of hours Grandma prepares dinner, to which only her and Rachel ate. Jorge would come in as they ate and for leaving the house when he was not supposed to, is sent to his room without dinner. Rachel says to herself, “Busted…”
After dinner Grandma sends Rachel upstairs to take care of Fernando and report on his condition. After reporting his condition, Grandma tells Rachel to sleep with him, but to expect him to wake up in the middle of the night, and tell her for he has to take the second pill. In the refrigerator Grandma had made a sandwich for Fernando to eat when he wakes up.
At about 11pm, Fernando wakes up and is given the pill along with some water and a sandwich to eat since he hasn’t eaten anything all day. Thanks to the pill, he was back asleep at 11:30. That night Rachel held him a bit tighter than she normally would.
-End of Back To New York –
Copyright of characters:
- Edna, Cynthia, Jennifer Katt, Ashley, and Laura (c) Krezz Karavan
- Sally Peacock (c) Zim 999