19

it's 8pm. a beautiful hour. it's dark, but the town is playful.
I’m sweeping my house. I open the door to dispose of the dust, and there, sitting on top of his own mountain of sand, is a five year old boy. he's smiling, like he's expecting me. and he probably is, or at least hoping. he's been playing outside of my house more and more. we've spoken a few times already, to my enjoyment. and his. he asks the best questions. tonight, he asks me: "do you understand Spanish?" now, anyone that knows me knows that i live to say sarcastic shit. but it's different when a 5 year old kid is asking the questions.
"yes, i do understand spanish, and English too!" He is very impressed. He thinks of a very important question- i can tell by the serious look that appears on his face.
"How do you say 'Jose' in English?"
I tell him: "well, it's Joe."
He's confused: "I don’t understand."
I Sympathize: "me neither."
The next question takes me by surprise: "is your dad alive?"
"yes."
"when he dies, will they bury him?" I'm pretty sure that dad wants the alternative, but i don’t want to get into that.
"Yes. when my dad dies, they will bury him."
"In El Salvador?"
“No, he's never been here. He lives in the united states, where I’m from. we'll bury him there."
He asks me more fantastic questions for about 10 minutes. I’m sitting in my doorway, bathed in the light coming from inside the house. he's sitting in the same spot, playing in the sand, without a worry in the world. He confirms several times that i speak english, and spanish, and then i ask him some questions.
"Where do you live?" It's now going on 830, and this kid is out a night, unsupervised (I’m secretly jealous).
"Down in the colonia" (a few blocks away).
"Are your parents alive?"
"Yes. They live in San Salvador" (which explains the solo missions to the gringo's house?).
"How many brothers do you have?"
"Eight."
By coincidence, one of them walks by, and the little boy, smiling, joins him as they walk into the darkness, leaving me feeling kind of abandoned.
But i stand up, brush myself off, smile at the night, and decide it's good to be alive.