DOWN AT THE PARK by CAM VILLANUEVA

There was a knock on the door and Melania went to answer it.

“Who’s there? What took you so long? Hold on,” she said. She was naked so ran back into her room to put some clothes on. “It’s Bobo. Can you let him in?” Laiza opened the door. Bobo was late getting back from parking the car, and he walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. He was now wearing an old Yankees cap and sunglasses and Laiza wondered where he got them from. Bobo would usually stay a couple hours and go back to his cell in the high rise tower. That was his Friday night routine. He liked staying at the girls’ flat because the girls were technically married and qualified for a larger government flat. 

Melania walked into the room wearing pink sweats, changing out of the evening gown she was forced to wear at the club. She reached in the fridge and handed Bobo the next to last Asahi.

“We need more beer,” she said.

“Who wants to get high,” Bobo asked. Melania raised her hand and stuck her finger in her mouth. She did that sometimes out of habit when she was nervous. She was nervous because she just started smoking. Bobo opened a plastic Ziploc and pinched some of the pungent green weed onto the rolling papers. He wiped his mustache.

“Ah,” Laiza said. “So that’s what took you so long.”

“What does 1.5 mean?” Melania asked as she examined the rolling papers. They reminded her of little baking sheets.

“It’s the size, doll.” Bobo took off his glasses. “Finally off the clock you bitches and I’m loving life.” He looked around at the two girls staring at him. “We need some music.” 

Melania was wondering what Yuji would think of this new hobby of hers. Yuji was her Japanese lover. Melania looked over at Laiza, her head prone on the table. 

“We should probably go outside,” she said.

“Are you crazy?” Bobo said. He had rolled the paper round and round and then licked it to make a perfect joint. He smelled it like a dog would sniff another dog’s ass. Melania lit the silver Zippo and held it up to him. Some K-pop started playing.

“I’m first,” Bobo said, lighting it and taking a few quick puffs to make sure it was lit. He passed it to Melania who was now sitting on the floor. “We should turn the fan on or something,” he said.

Laiza covered her nose. Melania took a long drag and coughed. She stood up and kept coughing. Bobo laughed. 

“Shut the fuck up.” She took another drag but this time didn’t cough. She held the joint between her middle finger and thumb. “The world just got better,” she said as she stood up and did a little dance. 

“I don’t understand K-pop,” Bobo said. “Give me that.”

Bobo took a puff and looked over at Melania. “Did you tell her yet?”

“Tell her what?” Melania asked. 

Laiza walked over. “What’s going on Melania?”

“What are you waiting for?” Bobo asked as he took another drag. ”Ok, if you don’t tell her, I will. I heard Jumbo’s unit is getting deployed to the front lines.

“Where’d you hear that from,” Laiza asked.

“Sanchez. Who else?” He cleared his throat. “Shit, I’m fucking high.”

“Bullshit. Sanchez is a liar. Besides Jumbo would have already told me.”

“Maybe he’s waiting for the right time,” Bobo said.

Laiza’s phone started ringing.

“Speak of the devil,” Bobo said as Laiza walked into the bedroom.”

Yuji was different. She always liked tall guys and she wasn’t into the Japanese guys who came into the club. They were always drunk and just not physically attractive for Melania. They would immediately start touching her and tried to barfine her and have sex with her all the time. But Yuji was uncommon. He was about six feet and he was hardly ever drunk. And he was fresh, he made Melania feel something refreshing. At first, he never talked about his wife. They would just sing karaoke together, usually Enka, because Melania knew all the songs. He started requesting her and after a few months they started dating. Then Yuji confessed he was married and told Melania he asked for a divorce but his wife wouldn’t do it. It was common in Japan. Usually, after a year, the wife would agree and then move out. Some others, he said, didn’t take as long. He told her he was waiting for his wife to finally agree to go back to Chiba, in mainland Japan, where she first came from before Yuji met her.

There was light now coming in from the window. Bobo and Laiza looked out together.

“I think you should tell him, and tell him soon,” he said.

“You’re fucking stoned,” she said. Laiza got up to go into her room. She was getting a contact high from all the smoke. Melania looked up at her as she came in and then shook her head. Laiza paused climbing up the ladder to her bunk. She looked down at Louie sleeping peacefully. His arm was resting on Melania’s shoulder. Laiza listened to Melania on the phone.

“I can’t go, I told you.” She stood up and started walking around the room. Laiza feigned sleep. “Why don’t you trust me? I can’t take this,” she said.” She looked at Louie and patted his head. “He’s just a friend. There’s nothing going on.”

Louie made a face. He stretched his arms and yawned. He opened his eyes and looked at his mother, who was now standing at the window looking out at the illuminating horizon for the sun which hadn’t come up. He looked up at Laiza, who was looking down from the top of her bunk. She made a face and stuck out her tongue and Louie smiled.

“I gotta go. I can’t talk now. No, nobody is here. No, I don’t want you to come. I gotta hang up. Screw you, too.” She hung up. “Fucker!”

Laiza was reaching down from the bunk to touch Louie’s outstretched hand. Each had a finger pointed toward the other and could almost touch.

“Asshole,” Melania said.

“Trouble in paradise?”

“Yeah. I think he’s coming over.”

“Now?” they both looked at the clock. It was 5:45. “Why don’t you tell him the truth? It might be easier cause he’s drunk.”

“Yeah, and that’s not all.”

“What?” Laiza was now sitting up on her bed.

“He’s with Joe.”

“Mommy,” Louie grabbed his mother. “Can I go jump rope?”

“What are you doing awake? Now? It’s too early. Shit, really?”

“Mommy I want to show you I can do so many jumps now,” he said.

“Really? Ok, sure, why not. But first, Mommy has to talk to Sanchez, ok? He’s going to come over for a while so can you try to go back to sleep”

“I can’t sleep,” Louie said.

“I’ll take him,” Laiza said. “You should get dressed. Get ready to meet your Papi.” Melania glared at her.

“I’m hungry,” Louie said.

“There’s some bread in the kitchen. Why don’t you go check.”

Bobo was listening to music with headphones. The joint was finished and he was staring at the wall. He turned slowly to see Louie.

“Hey little big man,” he said and high-fived Louie. 

Louie looked around for the bread. It was gone. Bobo had eaten it. He went back into the bedroom to tell his mother the bread was gone.

“Asshole,” Melania said. “Why did you eat the bread?”

“Huh? Oh, I was hungry,” Bobo said.

“Well go get him something to eat, will you?”

Bobo left for the convenience store and the girls changed into jeans and t-shirts and Laiza took Louie outside. They passed an old lady sweeping and said good morning. Yuji was still passed out on the bench.

Last week Melania confessed to Yuji that she had an American boyfriend, Sanchez. Yuji was shocked but understanding. He knew this was a business relationship for Melania, but it was still difficult for him. He told her he loved her. Melania got angry and told him she can’t take it anymore. She told Laiza they were getting too close. Yuji kept calling and messaging but stopped two days ago. Melania knew it was his 35th birthday and wanted to call, she just forgot.

The park was quite large and surrounded by apartment buildings. Many of the buildings were old and run down. Trees lined the perimeter and the center was open except for an odd geometric sculpture, shaped like a donut, with a hollow center big enough for a kid to crawl through. Several crows were roosting in the trees, only to come down to the ground to wander among the people, searching for food. There was another boy awake and he was riding his bicycle around the park. He looked at them as to ask why they were also awake this early.

“Look,” Louie said. He ran to the center of the park where there were some cement seats. He started doing jump rope. “Look, Mommy,” he said. “He looked at Laiza and corrected himself. “Look Laiza,” he chuckled. “I can do 20.” 

Just then, Sanchez and Joe pulled up in their black Lexus with gold rims. How did these military guys afford these cars, she wondered.

“Where’s Melania?” Sanchez was out of the car and wearing just a sleeveless shirt.

“Why don’t you put on something more respectable than a wife beater to come see your girl, Papi,” Laiza said.

“I’m not fucking around, Laiza,” he said as he started climbing the stairs to their apartment. She looked at Joe. “And what do you want?”

He stepped out of the car and came up to her. 

“Look,” he said. He was wearing the yellow shirt that Laiza hated and he seemed bigger than what she remembered. What is this, she thought. The Brazilian mafia? “I just came to tell you that I’m being deployed. We are leaving in two days.”

“Whatever man,” Laiza said looking away, dejected. “What else?”

“That’s it.”

She looked at the park. The crows were no longer walking around and instead were roosted in the trees. “Ok, well, see you later.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah, that’s it. I got nothing more to say to you. Except,” Laiza stopped what she was saying and realized she couldn’t see Louie. She called out for him.

“Louie?”

On the far end of the park she could see a shadow, it was large and then it became two shadows, one large and one small.

“Louie,” she cried.

The boy riding his bicycle had turned to look at her as he passed.

The two shadows disappeared into the toilet.

“Someone took Louie,” she yelled to Joe.

Joe started running and he became a yellow streak across the early morning. Sanchez heard the commotion too. He was looking from the top of the steps. 

It was about 100m to the toilet. There, Yuji was helping Louie go pee. He heard the noises and turned back. Louie was stretched up on his tip toes and pee spurted from his tiny penis. Yuji saw the muscular foreigner running toward him and at first he was confused. Now sobered up, he grabbed Louie, whose pants were still at his ankles, and started running, afraid of what the man would do to the child.

Melania was still arguing with Sanchez when he jumped down the steps. Someone took Louie is all she heard. Melania collapsed on the way down the steps and was stiff on the sidewalk, paralyzed by fear.

“What is happening?” She could see Joe holding a naked Louie who was crying and dragging Yuji across the park. “No!” she screamed. She tried to crawl down the stair but her legs were frozen. 

Sanchez caught up and jumped on Yuji, knocking both men to the ground. Joe pulled up Louie’s pants and handed him to Laiza, who was touching Sanchez’s back wondering what was happening. His back felt like a horse in a race on the final stretch. Sanchez kept pounding Yuji. Joe was trying to pull him off but couldn’t. Yuji’s arms were up embracing Sanchez, but when his neck snapped on the final blow, his arms fell outstretched to the ground, looking like he was making a snow angel, but had fallen asleep before the first sweep.

The boy riding his bicycle had stopped to observe.

Melania screamed. She could see it was Yuji. She screamed for the men to stop but they were already finished and admiring their work. 

Melania could finally stand and started running weakly to the center of the park. She could see Yuji on the ground not moving.

“He’s my friend,” she screamed. “What did you do?”

Laiza tried to get Louie to come back but he wouldn’t leave his mother and his mother wouldn’t leave Yuji. 

“Somebody call the police!” she screamed. Neighbors were now looking from balconies and on their cell phones. 

Laiza was in tears but tried to keep Louie from looking. “Come on Louie, let’s go,” she said. Louie clung to his mother. “Let’s do jump rope.” He wouldn’t budge. He embraced his hysteric mother. “Come on,” she tried again while standing in a running position. “I’ll race you.” Louie turned around.

“One, two, three, go!” she said. 

Laiza started running and as she looked back she could see Louie smiling and running after her. She could see Yuji on the ground in the distance, Melania collapsed at his side, and the two big men there, forming a kind of bridge, each with one arm on the other, and she thought she could see some kind of light going straight up and realized it was the first rays of sun. Louie was catching up to her so she turned around and ran harder toward the jump rope. Laiza thought about the baby in her belly and if she should stop running. But she knew the baby was holding on tight, much like her, and she reached the jump rope first. So she won.