10 Years • Joel Pimentel

Chapter 3

"Hi! I'm Emanuel!" One of the boys shouted. I froze on my spot and stare down at my doll. I was currently seating down on the hammock my father hung. Should I look up? Or should I pretend I didn't hear him? I heard the other boys whispering. "Maybe she didn't hear you." I heard one of them say. "Um, hello?" The same boy shouted. I gulped and finally looked up. The tallest boy smiled as the others just stared.

"What's your name?" The youngest said. I stood there frozen not saying a word. They're going to think I'm a jerk if I don't say anything. Come on Amelia, stop being a chicken!

"Come on! Let's just play. She doesn't wanna talk to us." The second shortest said as he kicked the blue ball hitting the second tallest in the head. That's the boy from earlier.

"Ouu!" The boy from earlier rubbed the back of his head and looked at his brother who looked terrified. "That hurt! I'm going to tell on mo-"

"No. No. No Joel please don't. It was an accident!" The boy begged. "I'll do anything. Just don't tell mom." The youngest started laughing as the oldest one, or should I say Emanuel, grabbed his arm and made the shh gesture. The boy soon looked down and stopped laughing. "Are you new to Hesperia?" He asked looking at me.

"Y-yeah." I felt the words slip out of my mouth. "I just moved here today, actually." I felt my cheeks flush as the boys smiled.

"So you don't have friends, yet?" The second shortest said.

"Israel!" All the boys shouted in union.

"what? I was just asking." He looked down embarrassed realizing he sounded a bit rude. I didn't mind because he was right. I had no friends, yet.

"No. No. It's okay." I said getting off the hammock. "He's right. I don't." I simply said. Oh, we're getting comfortable now, huh? I see. I walked over to them so we wouldn't be yelling back and forth.

"Now you do!" Emanuel said smiling from ear to ear. "Hi, I'm Emanuel." He took out his hand out but then realize I couldn't shake it due the fact that the fence was between us. "Um, these are my brothers. Joel, Israel and Gabriel." He said awkwardly as he introduced me to the boys in order by height.

"Hi. I'm Amelia." I smiled shyly. "I don't have siblings."

"You don't? Why?" Asked a curious Gabriel.

"Um, I don't know. I never really asked." I simply said.

"How about a dog? We have two!" He said eagerly. I smiled but shook my head no.

"Where are you from?" Emanuel cut Gabriel off. I looked down a bit embarrassed. How can I word this without sounding dumb?

"I actually don't know." I said looking up earning confuse looks from the boys. "But it's sorta like here. Very desert like." I chuckled.

"Is it here in California? Or a different state?" Joel asked confused. "Dude, if she doesn't know where she's from, what makes you think she'll know what state?" Emanuel said rolling his eyes. Joel looked down embarrassed but then chuckled.

"I think it's California." I said unsure. I tried remembering the signs I saw on our way here. "Wait! It's not here. I remember seeing a sign that said 'Welcome to California'"

"So you're from a different state?" Joel asked. "Arizona, maybe? How many hours did it take? For you to get here?"

"I don't know. I fell asleep on our way here." I said honestly. "But we left my old house in the morning and got here before the sun set."

"Oh I don't know, then." Joel gave up and looked at Emanuel who tried to figure it out. "How was your home, back there?" Emanuel asked.

"Well, my house wasn't that pretty. It was very old. Pretty much made out of mud bricks? I think that's what is called. It was very unsafe." I said trying to picture my old house.

"Why didn't you have a better house?" Israel asked.

"We don't have a lot of money. Plus, it was very close to the factory my mom worked in. And close to the fields where my dad and the other men worked in."

The boys nodded and seemed to want to change the topic. "Want to play with us? We can play in the front yard." Joel asked.

I looked down at my white shiny shoes. Although they seem like nice people, I still didn't feel comfortable. "No it's okay. I have to go back inside." I lied. "Okay. Well it was nice meeting you, Amelia." Said Emanuel smiling. "See you around." and they walked to the front yard to play. "They don't seem that bad." I thought to myself before walking back inside.

"You made some friends?" My mother asked as she unpacked. "I guess you can say that."