Freddy's First Date

Part 2

Freddy shut the front door of the house behind him, holding three fishing poles and a tackle box with his one hand and his crutch with the other.

Rosa Vasquez leaned against the family's yellow van, yawning. Freddy couldn't help feeling a little bad; he knew how much Rosa liked sleeping in on weekends. Despite that, she had still insisted on taking him.

"Do you have her address?" Freddy asked as he sat in the front seat.

"Yup," Rosa said as she started the car. "And that hat looks cute on you, mijo!"

"Mom!"

At the last minute, Freddy had grabbed his sage colored bucket hat and put it on. Now, he was starting to regret his decision.

He wasn't going for cute, he was going for manly. That was already hard enough to do with a crutch and a limp.

As they drove, Rosa would take huge gulps out of a tumbler with coffee in it, sighing happily when she was done. Then she would reach over and comb out Freddy's hair with her fingers. He was starting to regret not waking up Mary to drive him when they pulled into Old City.

"That's her house." Freddy pointed. "The one with the Brooklina flag on the pole."

"Is that her on the step?" Rosa asked as she pulled into the driveway. "Oh she's cute!"

Sure enough, Azalea was sitting on the front porch. Her black hair fell down in waves on her cream colored sweater that complimented her olive skin. Freddy stepped out of the van and suddenly felt pretty stupid in his Green Arrow shirt.

What if she hates Green Arrow? Freddy thought. I should have gone with the Superman shirt; everyone likes Superman!

"Good morning Freddy," Azalea greeted, dusting off her jeans as she stood up. "I'll go get Mercy."

She spun around on the heel of her leather boots and went inside the house's front door. Freddy swallowed, his mouth dry.

"She seems nice, mijo," Rosa said.

"Yeah."

Azalea came back outside, holding a girl's hand. If it weren't for the height and age difference, they could have passed as twins.

"Mercy, this is Freddy," Azalea introduced. "Freddy, this is my little sister."

Mercy looked Freddy up and down before settling her gaze on the Green Arrow symbol on Freddy's chest.

"Blue Comet is better." Mercy simply stated.

She brushed past Freddy without another word. Azalea pursed her lips while Rosa looked like she was trying not to laugh.

"Sorry about her," Azalea said. "She's just mad we can't bring the dog."

"Elvy deserves to go fishing too!" Mercy yelled from the backseat. How she got back there, Freddy didn't know.

 "Oh you can bring your dog!" Rosa quickly said. "Freddy just loves dogs."

"He does?" Mercy asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Oh yes, big dogs, small dogs, he loves them all."

Mercy looked at Freddy and nodded in approval.

"Thank you." Freddy mouthed.

Rosa smiled, nodding.

"I'll go get her!" Mercy yelled, running inside.

Freddy opened the van door for Azalea before getting in himself. Mercy walked back outside with a fluffy black puppy on a leash.

"This is Elvy," Mercy said, holding up the puppy. It licked her face, making her giggle. "She's a Bermuda Mountain dog."

"A Burmese Mountain dog," Azalea corrected.

"That's what I said!"

Freddy couldn't help but smirk at their bickering. It reminded him of his own siblings.

"Are we ready to go?" Rosa asked.

Freddy glanced at the house and saw a woman looking outside the window. She was still in pajamas and looked like she hadn't slept in months. Azalea saw her too and pursed her lips.

"We're ready." She said.