Cape May

Cats and Dogs

Every Friday, since I was twelve, and she ten, I would take Gaby into the garage and teach her all the things I'd learned in judo class. She was a skinny kid, and so I had to be careful not to hurt her for I knew I would never hear the end of it from my mother. I liked to tell her she was skin and bones, which she actually was. I would tease her every chance I got to make up for all the horrible things she did to me.

By the time she turned fourteen, she had grown quite a bit, vertically, that is, which made her look even more gangly. She was tall and had a smile that seemed too big for her face. Her eyes were big, almond eyes like those on women one sees in magazines. But her looks were deceptive because she was very physically coordinated. But still, every time she hit the mat, I was scared she'd break a bone or two. But looks are deceiving. She actually was quite the strong one and she never missed an opportunity to let me know it. She made it a point to throw me with extra vigor, beat me to the sweep, elbow me "accidentally" more times than she should. I would laugh at her efforts to define herself and just comment when she elbowed me for the third time in ten minutes,

"Wait, wait, hold on."

"What, what's the matter Bobby, tired, can't take it," she would bask in her glory."

"Nah, nah, it's just that I think there's a fly in here that keeps bugging me," chuckling, obviously proud of letting her know I didn't even feel her feeble attempts at getting me to recognize her strength.

"Oh really? She walks up to me and without any warning whatsoever punches me in the stomach with all the force her skinny arms could muster. This had not been the first time she's done something like that. But all the other times it had been more like a playful jab or a nudge. This was for real.

As the breath wheezed out of my lungs and my stomach burned from the pain, I tried so very hard not to bend over, as is the natural thing to do when one gets walloped in the midsection. I could not, under any circumstances, allow her to know that I was even slightly affected by her punch. What I didn't realize was that when someone tries to hold in something like that, they're face turns red, beet red. Gabby saw this and mistook it for anger, and truth be told, she was not far from the mark. Being the smart one, she made a quick exit out of the garage and into the safe haven of the kitchen, where she knew mommy and grandma would be preparing dinner, but not before looking back over her shoulder and laughingly telling me,

"That must be one heck of a big fly."

By the time I entered the kitchen, I had regained my composure. Mommy, who normally would have to drag us out of the garage to eat dinner commented,

"What happened, you guys finished kinda early today."

"Oh, Bobby got bitten by a big ass fly," she volunteered quite enthusiastically.

"Monica Gabrielle, what did I tell you about using that kind of language.

"Sorry mommy," but she could not contain her enthusiasm and her smile gave it away.

"Bobby, what happened?"

"Nothing ma, I guess skinny Monica just couldn't take it any more."

Mommy wasn't stupid. She could tell something happened between us two. Mother and grandmother exchanged glances as if saying, these two are up to something. They just didn't know what.

"Papito, you fighting with your sister again?"

'No abuela, I'm not fighting with little Gaby. Why would I be doing something like that with our little angel? I replied sarcastically.

"Roberto, don't think you're too big for me to give you a couple of good ones that your butt will feel well into next week. Estos ninos, se creen que pueden hablar como quieren en esta casa."

"Ohh grandma, it's just that she's a pain."

"You're a pain stupid."

"Gabriela! What I tell you about calling your brother stupid. You two are going to drive me to the loony house. My God, can't you two get along for just one minute. Anybody'd think I got nothing but cats and dogs in this house. Now go wash up.

She shooed them off to the bathroom just off the kitchen to wash up for dinner. Over the one sink in the bathroom, she taunted him. "You know Bobby, next time it may be a bee that bites you."

"You know Monica Gabrielle," taunting her by using the same version of her name her mother does when she's scolding her," Aint nuttin you could do to hurt me with your skinny little self."

I didn't know it then, but Gaby was just trying to assert herself. She had always been a frail skinny kid and was now basking in the new-found strength her developing body was affording her. It was a normal teenage thing, but I didn't see it just as I didn't see that her body was filling out in places that would soon change her relationship to the world.

After dinner Gabby went upstairs to do homework, while I finished up some chores in the yard. It being a Friday, mommy always let us stay up till 11 o'clock watching TV as long as we finish our schoolwork. By the time I got upstairs, she was sprawled all over my bed doing her homework.

"Aint nobody told you, you could come in here."

"Aint nobody told me I coon't"

I went about in silence preparing stuff on my desk to do homework, when she jumps off the bed and brings her stuff and puts it along mine and plops down in my chair.

"What are you doing, you were in bed, now all of a sudden you wanna do your homework here. You like a monkey, always wanna be doing what I'm doing."

"You a monkey, with big bubba lips and a big red ass." She couldn't help but giggle at her amazingly funny joke.

"Damm Gaby, you a pain in da ass, you know that."

I never saw the smile leave her lips nor the sad look that crept over her face or the mist that clouded her eyes as I went to her room to get her chair to sit on.

We sat side by side quietly working for a half hour, which was an amazing thing for we could never be together for ten minutes without going at it. She would always spread her stuff all over the table, pushing mine to the side. Suddenly I blurt out,

"Damm Gabby, why you gotta hog up the whole table?"

"I aint hogging up no whole table. You hogging the table."

"Come on, we gotta finish our homework or mommy aint gonna let us watch TV."

"It aint my fault you a dummy and can't do your homework."

I wondered how long it would take for people to notice she was missing. There was a bog out by Willow Creek Road, a swamp like looking place where I just knew that if you put a body in a bag and fill it with big rocks, it would just sink all the way to the bottom.... and nobody would find it for years and years.