The Cub in the Water

PROVINCIAL SUMMER

After being with him in Queretaro, I understood the reasons why he had to go.

Before I knew it the promised two weeks came around. I was so excited, my stomach hurt. I became vigilant at the very same window where I had watched him drive away, waiting for any sign of that white Cavalier. Soon enough the car showed itself at our garage door. Two seconds later the bell rang. My mom yelled, "Mia, your dad is here! Grab your stuff, get ready!"

She didn't have to say it twice. Before she even finished the sentence, I was already in my room picking up my suitcase and my backpack. I walked towards the living room where he was already waiting. He saw me come in, "Wow, that's a lot of stuff you got there," he laughed.

"It's everything we need to have a great week together," I said with a smile.

"Let me guess, suitcase is for clothes, toothbrush, hairbrush, soap, and pool equipment. And the backpack?"

"For the Super Nintendo!" I said very sure of myself and expecting to hear no allegation against the matter from either of them. I was really looking forward to playing Nintendo with him ever since he brought it to me from one of his trips to the US.

They both looked at each other as if they were expecting the other to say, "I don't think it's a good idea".

The silence was broken by my mom, "Fine, you can take it with you. Just be careful and take good care of it."

"Promise," I assured my mom.

"Are you sure you are not forgetting anything?" She asked.

"I'm sure. Already checked twice."

"Have a great time with your dad. Call me when you get there, please. Take care," she said.

"Yes, yes, and yes," I said as I walked towards her to kiss her goodbye. She gave me a quick hug and I suddenly felt kind of sad. I wasn't going to see my mom for a week. I tried to reassure myself, 'Oh come on! It's just a week,' but I was an eight-year-old girl who was used to being around mother all the time, it took a little more than that.

My dad knew exactly what to say, "Don't worry. We'll call her every day. I promise."

That seemed to do the trick because two minutes later I was taking off with my dad without a care in the world and a big smile on my face.

We got into the car and started driving north. The trip was fairly quick. Sooner than I expected we were arriving in Queretaro just as the sun was going down.

We drove for a couple of minutes in the city until we arrived at a long white wall.

"We are almost there," my dad said.

I started to look around to find what he might have been referring to and saw nothing that caught my attention until an opening came upon the wall. He turned the car right and headed through the space on the wall. There was a little surveillance house where the guard carried out his duty. My dad waved to the guy and we were granted permission to enter.

The place was huge. There were about twelve big yellow buildings, each with an external set of stairs which led you to the five floors where you could find four apartments per story. There were gardens with small green bushes and flowers, and a small running track snaked through the middle of the development. To the far left of the area, you could find a dry soccer field, with two basketball courts next to it.

The place seemed fantastic.

After going through the opening in the wall we arrived at a big rectangular area where we parked the car in front of the second building beside the big concrete wall that marked the end of the condominium. We got out of the car and stretched our legs to shake the feeling of numbness given by the two-hour drive.