Frutta e Fiori

Chapter 3. Welcome to Your Summer.

Nana tapped her feet to the music drifting down from Lena's room.

The scratch of her pencil against the rough drawing paper filled the corners that the music and her taps didn't.

The plate of lazy warm strawberries in front of her was shakily reflected on her page, a palette of dry watercolours waiting for the sketches they were meant to fill to be done, a cup of water beside them.

She could smell her father cooking something downstairs, and down on the beach, her mom was set up with an easel and palette of thick greasy paints.

She was the softer gentler version of her mother, a woman as bold as the colour she sprayed against canvas almost daily.

Nana liked bright colours too, but softer. Watercolours were her favourite, while her mother's studio was lined and splattered with gouache, and acrylic, with the everlasting smell of oil paints hanging in the air.

Fruit was her usual subject.

It was such sweet company, made sweeter still when the piece was done and she could make use of the fruit as they had been intended.

She glanced back up from her plate of strawberries down at her mother and was surprised to see she suddenly had company.

A male figure, towel over his shoulder, palm shielding his eyes from the bright midday sun, staring and gesturing at her mother's easel.

The sun sparkled off the ocean too fiercely, and she couldn't make out which of their new neighbours it was.

The white curtain over her door blew in the soft breeze, covering the view for a moment, and she broke her gaze. Finally, the pencil went down and a brush was taken up. The next time Nana looked up, her mother was alone again.

-

The family sat after dinner, the back door open, and the smell of night-blooming jasmine filling the bottom floor. The phone rang from the kitchen, a soft shrill cracking the peace of the early evening.

The girls' perked up as they heard their mother answer cheerily,

"Ah! Mr. Fiore. How are you?"

The gentle buzzing of energy filled the silence, and again she spoke up.

"I'll have to ask them, but I think they'd be more than happy to help. Of course, I'll have them let you know tomorrow morning. Goodnight!"

Lena and Nana exchanged a glance and sat up as they heard the receiver click.

"What did he want, mama?" Lena asked.

Their mother reappeared. "Remember the girls that lived in the big green house down the street? Linda, Ally, and

their friend? I can't remember her name. They usually help the Fiores every summer, but apparently, Linda and her friend are at college in New York, and Ally got married last year, so they're down a hand or two. The boys came over to take over for the Johnsons because they moved too, but they weren't expecting to lose their other regulars. So, Mr Fiore is asking if you'd like a summer job? You'd be paid, and you don't have to stay at the camp since we're so close, if you don't like. I told him you'd let him know tomorrow."

Lena jumped up excitedly. "Yes!"

The girls had helped several summers on and off through high school, but it felt like a lifetime ago.

Nana's mind drifted back to the green eyes from yesterday afternoon.

-

Lena held the receiver as it rang, twisting the coil with a furious determination.

"Mrs Fiore? Hi! It's Lena. I'm calling to let you and Mr. Fiori know that Nana and I would be more than happy to help with the camp. Of course! We'll be down there at three o'clock. See you then. Bye-bye"

She slammed the receiver down. "The open ceremony is around three-thirty, so she asked us to be there at three." Nana sat at the counter, stirring an icey cup of fresh green juice.

"Did she say we need to bring anything in particular?" "I didn't ask."

"Of course you didn't."

"Hey, there's no trouble, we live sixty seconds away."

Nana laughed as she wiped away the condensation flooding the bench.

-

Nana and Lena trudged across the warm sand at around 2:55pm, headed to the beginning of the rest of their summer.

"Grace girls!" a loud cheerful voice called from behind them.

They turned and Nana tried to shield her eyes against the sun to see.

Silas, Hyde, Dean, and Bay came down from the Fiore's yard and joined them on the sand.

"We heard you'll be our co-workers for the next 6 weeks." Silas said, the sound of a wink clearly echoed in his voice. Lena laughed, her full and sweet laughter echoing against the waves. "It seems so!"

"My uncle said there are around 80 kids this time around. You sure you can handle that much raw energy?" Bay asked with a grin, his eyes meeting Nana's.

Lena answered, in that nonchalantly funny way she had. "Are YOU?"

Silas laughed and Nana saw Hyde smile down into the sand. She saw Dean lagging behind them, staring out at the sea. Of all the boys, he'd been the one she'd heard speak the least.

He was handsome, perhaps the shortest in the group, but by no means short.

His hair was cut close to his head, and his eyes were sharp and his nose stoic.

Nana looked away before she got caught staring, again.

-

Mr Fiore stood in a garish Hawaiian shirt, most definitely bought somewhere in the depths of Waikiki.

Mrs Fiore, in contrast, work a light linen pair of slacks, and a faded green shirt, and looked like a gentle gardener next to a giant bush of flowers.

Little kids were already running wild in all corners of the camp. There were rows of thick palm logs laying on the ground, that they were meant to be seated in, but everyone knows that the first day of camp is for tricks and laughter.

Mrs Fiore smiled as she watched the commotion, and rung the bell that hung from the big, old mess hall building.

The kids finally started gathering themselves, with the help of parents who'd stuck behind to give their kids a final send-off.

Nana, Lena, and the four boys stood off to the side, feeling a little awkward as little hands and eyes pointed and stared.

There is something about the pure innocence of a child that can see right through you, and it tends to be most unnerving even to the best of us.

Mr Fiore cupped his hands and called out a good afternoon, followed by "Welcome to your summer!" and the crowd cheered.

Silas clapped and whistled, and Lena joined in.

For the first time, Nana and Dean met eyes, and the sudden surprise of it made them both burst out laughing, the sound washed away by the cheering of 80 little kids ready to cause trouble.