Tangled Webs -Oscar Diaz-

Chapter 16

Sofia loved Ruby, she truly did. She admired his independence and authoritative nature. However, sometimes he could be a pushover. Which was why she currently found herself sitting in her backyard with art supplies scattered around her. Ruby had tasked her with making a Texas mural for Olivia. It seemed like an easy task, but it was not. It wasn't overly complicated, just time-consuming. Along with trying to recreate his drawing, she was in charge of babysitting the twins.

"Luis," Sofia yelled as she began outlining a cowboy boot. "Put down the mulch, please."

"Yes," he screamed before running towards her. She continued to work on perfectly outlining the boot to place on the large pink paper that would soon be plastered on the garage door. "What's that?" Sofia glanced over at her little brother.

"It's a cowboy boot," Sofia explained as she put the finished image to the side. "See."

"What are you painting," Louisa looked at the bottom of the pink paper.

"That would be a desert," she explained. "With cactuses." Louisa then threw herself in Sofia's arms. "Oh." Sofia wasn't expecting her to do that. "Hello."

"Where's Mama," the girl sat in her lap.

Sofia leaned over and pulled out the black paint. "She went with Papa to the store."

"Can I play with the paint," Luis asked grabbing the large bottle.

Sofia was quick to react and took it from his hands. She was worried he would spill the paint on the pink paper, and she would have to start over. "How about you take these," she hands the twins each a piece of white paper. "And use the pink paint over there. Sound good?"

"Yes," they both screamed. 

They grabbed the paper from her hands and ran over to the side to start painting. "Remember that paint is not a food," she called to them as they sat. Sofia took a deep breath and grabbed the bottle of black paint to begin repainting the desert.

"Is that Texas," a voice spoke causing her to jump. She was quick to turn around to see who it was, and to her surprise, it was Oscar.

"What are you doing here," she placed a hand over her eyes to block the sun.

"Cesar called and said you were working on a project," he looked around her. "I wasn't expecting-" he waved his hand.

"It's Ruby's idea," she let her shoulders drop. "It's for Olivia."

"I heard about her quinceanera," he sat down on the floor next to her.

Sofia smiled at him, "Cesar tell you?"

"Yeah."

He took a paintbrush and dipped it in the black paint. This confused Sofia, "what are you doing?"

Oscar didn't look at her, "I'm painting." She smiled to herself at his actions and began painting the other side. Her eyes would dance between the painting, Oscar, and the Twins. The bottom of the mural was starting to come together with the second layer of black paint. It was going by much faster now that Oscar was helping on the other side. He seemed to at ease as he painted his side in silence.

Sofia continued to paint in silence, but Louisa interpreted that. "Ana, Ana," she ran towards her. "I painted." Sofia turned towards her just as her body collided into her. She took the painting from her hands and looked at it. To her, it was a messy pink-painted house.

"Wow," Sofia smiled at her. "It's amazing."

Louisa giggled, but it soon faded as she looked past her and at Oscar. "Ana," she leaned on her shoulder. "Who is that?"