Dreams come true

Chapter 6

I didn't know why I thought to go there, but I was beginning to wonder if it had been a good idea.

The Mexican restaurant my parents ran was crazy. Color and music flooded everything. Almost all the tables were full and people seemed upbeat and enjoying their dinner which, to be fair, appealed to the appetite just by smelling it. Too much noise for two poor people exhausted and dirty.

"For the trolls' sake! Kristoff! What happened to you?"

My mother came out from behind the curtain that led to the rear, wrapped in an apron covered in red spots and looking worried.

"It's nothing, ma. We only spent the afternoon at the orphanage."

"We?"

She shifted her gaze from my face to Anna's, scanned it shamelessly up and down, and her concern magically disappeared.

"I am Bulda, dear. The mother of this huge babe."

"Ma!"

"Come, I'll walk you upstairs. I'll take you to which was Kristoff's room before he left his parents because he was too old to continue enjoying his company and one of my daughters will leave you some clean clothes without shreds. Looking at those malnourished bones, whatever they leave you will be a little too big, but you will feel more comfortable."

I looked at Anna in horror at how my mother's domesticity was starting to get somewhat offensive, and saw a contained laugh on her tight lips. Thank God.

I saw them disappear in the direction of my room, while my mother spoke almost without stopping to breathe, and I sneaked into the room of one of my brothers to clean myself and shake my clothes. Even if I'd try, I doubted I could put on either of their clothes without bursting them outright.

Like five minutes later, less smelly and dusty, I stepped out into the hall and found myself face to face with Anna and my mother who were fervently debating whether the best sauce for a good pasta dish was pesto or carbonara. Anna wore a simple and loose T-shirt that reached almost to her knees and covered the L-shaped tear of her pants, she had let down and washed her hair and I would say that she had even scented herself.

"How long have I been in there?"

"Are you ready, sweetie? Perfect. Take the lady to the table that we have reserved for you two. We can't let your girl go hungry."

"She's not my..."

But my mother didn't allow me to finish the sentence. She headed downstairs humming a ranchera and turning a deaf ear to my every word.

I turned to Anna somewhat embarrassed and met her bright grin.

"Sorry. I don't think I thought it through as well as I should have."

"She's a lovely woman. And I feel clean and fresh. Thanks for bringing me. Besides, she's promised me that her nachos are the best in town."

"I can't deny it."

"Then, what are we waiting for?"

I followed Anna, who moved freely around my family's house, and we sat at the small, cornered, poorly-lit table my mother had reserved for us. A few minutes later, my father appeared with a platter of nachos with different sauces and a little note hooked on the edge. He brazenly shoved the note into my shirt pocket, winked at me, bowed slightly to Anna, and went the way he had come.

Anna looked at me intrigued and I glanced at the note, afraid to find what it actually put on that paper.

'If you need a room, your sheets are freshly changed. We will make sure that your brothers do not disturb you.'