Penny picked up a pencil and began to draw. "I wish Ody didn't act so smart all the time."
Looking over at Penny a little startled, Ramona paused and then spoke, "He's just excited. Don't worry, siblings can be like zat." Ramona sat and watched her for a few minutes before opening her mouth to speak. "Tou know..." she hesitated, and Penny looked up, "I have twelve sisters back home."
"Huh, I didn't know that," spoke Penny as she placed her drawing down and looked up into the woman's eyes, beckoning for the woman to continue.
"Yeah," smiled Ramona as her eyes sparkled a little and lost their hardness, "yeah, zey are all younger. We used to live in an unsafe neighborhood not far from Andorra. Mi hermanas and I mostly stayed inside. We worked for our madre and padre at an early age. By za time I was eight, I told my madre I wanted to go to a public school. Naturally, Madre agreed. I walked za three miles to school every morning.
Penny fidgeted with her pencil as she listened to Ramona speak.
"In zat school, I met zis teacher who was a foreigner. She was American. I remembered, one day I was falling behind and za American asked me to stay late.
"Well, I did of course. She sat me down and smiled at me instead of whacking my knuckles with a ruler like other teachers would've. She looked me in za eyes and told me zat if I got good grades, I could get out of zat small town and go somewhere.
"I remember at zat age, zinking about what zat woman had said zat night. I couldn't sleep zat night, so I stayed up and zought about what za woman had said. To get out of zat place, meant opportunities in life. After all, I never liked my parents' chicken farm.
"I believed her. I worked and worked for years until I got my PhD and made a living teaching at za University of Valencia. With that money, I moved to America. I told myself zat if I could work my way up to a well-paying job, zen I could pay for my hermanas to get out of zat place where all zey ever did was twist za necks of chickens and sell zeir bodies at za market.
"Both of my parents died before my eldest sister was veinte. Zat pulled za whole family down and most of my hermanas became full-time maids or trymen so zat zey could pay for za little ones.
"I told myself I would save up to come back but with each year zat came and went I grew a little older. I grew even further from za family I'd left behind.
"Well, last October I went to visit zem with twenty-four thousand dollars so I could fly zem all over za border to come live with me in America where za younger girls could get an education and za elders could work for double za income.
"When I finally arrived in za dirt paths of my home, I found four of my sisters had left home and abandoned za younger ones. Zere were still three others who were of za working age. Two of which were ill with Covid-19 while za other worked day after day in hope to keep zem alive. Two of za youngest hadn't made it and zey were hopeless."
"Why are ya tellin' me this?" Penny spoke softly with inquiry in her tone.
"Penny, I know what tou are feeling. I know what it's like to lose someone tou love. Zis whole situation after Devlin's death must be hard for tou, but I hope tou know zat working on PSE is our way of honoring his memory. We won't forget him. I need tou to remember zat.
"I offered my sisters za tickets and had to take weeks off to allow za virus to pass through zem. I lost money and time and was angry about how I had saved only to lose it and some of my sisters to zis world.
"When I got back in za states, Mr. Aldrich called and for lack of money, I took za job to pay for za schooling of my hermanas. Penny, zis opportunity saved me.
"Zat is why Devlin gave tou zat note. He knew we would all fall apart without his humor and smiles. He knew he needed to leave some hidden sunshine behind him, or the world would be a dark place for long time. Zat is why he led tou and your brother to us.
"He knew tou and Ody needed us and zat we needed tou. He had watched zis community heal me and others in it. His last hope was zat it could heal tou too. No one knows what he was thinking, but zis was all part of his plan.
"It's what he wanted..." Penny's voice trailed off.
"What do tou mean?"
"Mr. Eric said Ody was missing somethin' and that is why he was so mad at the world. He told me that before we left home. Ody wanted a family, a community. That is why he was like that and Devlin gave that to him..."
YOU ARE READING
The Post Sunday Experiment | COMPLETED 2020
AvventuraAfter his parent's divorce, Ody Winter moves to New York City with his mother, leaving behind the rolling hills he and his sister grew up on. Two years later, they learn that Ody's father, scientist Devlin Jax Winter, died from a peculiar suicide...
