Tammy gnawed on her thumbnail.
"Why is she doing this? You don't think she's trying to trick us into
staying until the authorities come, do you? I mean, with the snow and the city
being shut down, maybe they weren't able to come out right away." She
seemed genuinely worried.
"I think if they were
coming, they would have already been here."
"Maybe the snow has
slowed them down. You heard what they said on the television. The entire city
has shut down except for emergency personnel."
"Why are you worrying? I
thought you had become Anna Pagonis's number one defender."
Tammy wrapped her arms around
her thin waist, hugging herself tightly. "Stop it. I don't want my girls
to get hurt. You know how hard it is to go back out there."
"Then let's make sure
they never have to go back."
"What do you mean?"
Rona pulled her deeper into
the room. "It's simple. She's giving us jobs. We'll have an address, a
place to wash our clothes and ourselves. We could start looking for real jobs.
If we can stay here long enough for one of us to find a decent job, then we'll
be able to find a small place of our own. You have to start thinking about
getting the girls into a school. We could work different shifts so that one of
us is always there to take care of diem. We can get ourselves off the
street."
"How long would it take?
Do you think she'd let us stay that long?"
Rona was tempted to reveal her
plan, but Tammy had become so protective of Anna that she decided against it.
The only thing she knew for certain was that she was not going back to die
streets. This house was full of things that could be taken to a pawnshop. One
way or another, when she left here she was moving into a place of her own.
At that moment, the girls came
running over to join them. Karla was wearing a pair of pink pants and a
matching top with a cuddly bear on the front. Katie was in a bright blue
sweater and jeans. The blue brought out the color of her eyes.
Rona forced a smile.
"Everywhere I look I see beautiful little girls. Who are they?"
"It's us," Katie
said and rolled her eyes.
"Where are your
coats?" Tammy asked.
Katie pointed back toward the
bedroom.
"Well, go get them."
Tammy was silent until the girls were out of sight. "I'm kind of nervous
about meeting these people. What if they start asking questions?"
Rona shook her head.
"Don't worry about it. If they do, just tell them whatever you want them
to know. You don't have to explain yourself to anyone." She eyed Tammy and
suggested something she had always suspected. "Besides, I have a feeling
you'll be in your element."
Tammy's head snapped up as she
stared at her. Rona could see the suspicion and fear in her eyes. "What do
you mean by that?"
Before Rona could respond, the
girls reappeared clutching their new hooded coats. Katie's was obviously a
boy's coat, but she didn't seem to notice.
"Can we go build a
snowman, now?" Karla asked as she tugged on Tammy's pant leg.
Rona swung her up into her
arms. "Only if you promise to let me help you build it."
"Okay. Can Mama help
too?"
"Of course she can."
"I don't know how to
build a snowman," Katie admitted as Tammy picked her up.
"I do," Rona said.
"I grew up building snowmen."
"Did you really?"
the twins cried in unison.
"I remember one year it
snowed so much, it was almost to the roof of the house," Rona exaggerated.
"It can't snow that much.
Can it, Mama?" Katie asked.
"I don't know. Rona said
it did."
"What did you do?"
Katie asked.
"I rolled all of the snow
up into a humongous snowman that was so tall I used the clouds to make his
hair," Rona replied as they started down the stairs with the kids shouting
their disbelief.
Anna was at the foot of the
stairs when they came down. Rona did a double take at the tall olive-skinned
woman. Why hadn't she noticed how dark Anna's eyes were? Still dressed in the
jeans, thick wool sweater and hiking boots, Anna radiated health and energy. A
slight nudge from Tammy reminded her to close her mouth and to quit staring.
Anna didn't seem to notice the effect she had on her.
"I wondered what happened
to everyone," Anna said. "I thought you all had left without
me."
"We couldn't. We don't
know where we're going," Katie said.
"That's true," Anna
agreed. "Are you ready to go?"
The twins nodded vigorously.
"Then let's get these
coats on," Rona said as she helped Karla with her coat and the mittens
that hung from a long cord threaded through the sleeves.
As they stepped out into the
cold garage, Anna turned to them. "I should warn you that when my family
gets together, it's usually the entire clan. There will be a full house.
They're sweet people,"
she added in
a rush. "It's just that you might find them a little overwhelming at
first."
Tammy glanced at Rona
nervously.
"In that case we may have
to build two snowmen," Rona said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.
She wasn't going to do anything to screw up this opportunity.
Chapter Eight
"Judging from the cars in
front of Julian's house," Anna said as she eased down the snow-covered
road, "it looks like the entire family has already arrived." She
parked behind a green truck.
As they made their way up the
carefully cleared driveway, a chorus of screams and shouts floated out from
behind the house.
"It sounds like the party
has already started in the backyard," Anna said. She led them through a
side gate. As she came around the side of the house, a snowball hit her
squarely on the chest. "What the heck?"
"Be careful, Nick,"
Pietro yelled. "Your Aunt Anna is getting old."
"Yeah," Julian piped
in. "Her bones are getting brittle."
Anna scooped up a handful of
snow and hurled it in the general direction of her brothers. The snowball fell
several feet short. They added further insult to her by not even bothering to
dodge.
"Is that the best you've
got?" Pietro sneered as he turned and waggled his butt at her.
"Oh, you are so going to
get it," she cried as she carefully made her way toward him.
He mocked her by tiptoeing
around in a circle and calling, "I'm so scared."
For the next several minutes,
snowballs filled the air. The four newcomers were quickly pulled into the
battle.
"I thought we were going
to build a snowman," Anna shouted and ducked behind a tree to avoid a new
volley of snowballs.
"Yeah," Julian replied.
"I don't know how to
build a snowman," Trevor, Julian's seven-year-old son, said.
"There's nothing to
it," Rona replied from across the yard. "I've built dozens of them.
Let me show you." If family meant so much to Anna Pagonis, she could play
along.
She showed them how to pack
the snow into a tight ball and roll it into a larger ball. By the time Anna's
mother, Helen, poked her head out the door to inform them the food was ready,
the group had completed a snowman and a rather busty version of a snowwoman.
They were trying to decide whether they should use a Spurs cap or a Cowboys cap
as headgear for the snowman. The Spurs cap finally won out. Laughing and
brushing one another off, the gang tromped toward the house. Tammy's twins were
chattering nonstop with the younger Pagonis children.
Rona caught Tammy's gaze and
smiled. It felt good to hear the twins enjoying themselves.
As they were making their way
across the yard, Rona watched as Anna's ten-year-old nephew, Adam, grabbed
Anna's arm. Without really meaning to eavesdrop, she listened to them talking.
"Where's your dad?"
Anna asked.
Rona tried to remember the
hierarchy of the Pagonis family. Anna had explained who all might be here, but
Rona wasn't sure how much she remembered.
"He had to go to the hospital,"
Adam replied. "With the snow, there's a bazillion accidents."
She remembered now. Hector was
a doctor on staff at St. Luke's Hospital. He and his wife, Polly, had three
kids. Adam was the oldest.
"Will you talk to Dad for
me?" Adam asked.
"What about?" Anna
brushed the snow from his dark hair.
"He won't let me get a
tattoo."
Rona tried not to grimace. She
hated seeing tattoos on kids.
"What does your mom
say?" Anna asked.
His long-suffering sigh
floated back to Rona. "You know she always agrees with him."
"I guess I can try to
talk to him. I'm not sure my recommendation will carry much weight."
"Yeah, it will. He likes
you. Besides, they know you got one."
Anna laughed. "He likes
you too, and he wasn't happy when he heard about my tattoo."
Rona was so engrossed in their
conversation that she almost tripped over the kitchen threshold as she stepped
inside. Had she heard correctly? Anna had a tattoo.
The noise from the other
family members was making it difficult for her to hear so she eased closer to
them in time to hear Anna say, "Secretly, I wish he had been there to talk
me out of it."
"Why?" Adam asked,
clearly appalled.
"Don't tell anyone I told
you so, but it hurt."
His eyes widened slightly.
"My friend Sean got one and he said it didn't hurt," he protested.
Anna shrugged. "Well,
sure he's going to say it didn't hurt. If you got one and it hurt, would you
tell your friends?"
"No way." He shook
his head vigorously. "They'd think I was a wimp."
Rona almost laughed aloud at
his energetic denial. Was she ever that young?
Anna squeezed his arm.
"That's exactly why your friend Sean
didn't
tell you," she said before relenting. "I'll talk to Hector if he
comes to dinner on Sunday."
Adam nodded as his brow
creased in thought. "Maybe I should wait for a while. You know, until I
bulk up. Sean and I are planning to start lifting weights this summer."
Anna looked completely serious
as she nodded and said, "That's probably a good idea. You wouldn't want to
get a tattoo and then bulk up. It might stretch it all out of proportion."
"Yeah." He nodded
his head in short bobs. "Thanks, Aunt Anna. You're the coolest." He
darted into the living room, yelling for his older cousin Nick.
Anna turned and almost stepped
on Rona. "Oh, there you are," she said.
Tammy joined them. She was
holding the twins' hands.
"How are you all
doing?" Anna said. "I hope my wild family hasn't scared you too
much."
"We held our own,"
Rona said as she reached down and mussed Karla's hair. "I didn't realize
Karla had such a pitching arm. Did you see her throw? This girl has some
serious muscle." With her thumb and forefinger, she squeezed the child's
upper arm through the coat. Karla grinned and hid her face against Tammy's leg.
"As soon as Mom makes all
of us savages sit down, I'll properly introduce you to everyone."
"Why are you doing
this?" Tammy blurted out.
The question stopped Anna
short. "I don't know," she replied. "I want to help if I can. My
parents worked so hard to make things easier for me and my brothers." They
stood staring at each other until Anna's mom called them into the dining room.
"Come on, come on. The
food is getting cold and those babies need to eat," Mrs. Pagonis scolded.
Anna smiled. "I should
have warned you. Mom loves to feed people. I guess it comes from all those
years of working at the restaurant."
"Your mom works at a
restaurant?" Tammy asked.
"Actually they own it.
You may have heard of it—Athenians. It's near Ingram Park Mall. We practically
grew up in the restaurant."
All of the kids, except for
the two sets of
twins and Julian's three-year-old daughter, Ellen,
disappeared to other rooms. The adults began to crowd around the long table.
The three highchairs lined up against the wall were carried to the table.
"Julian," Gina
called. "Go to die pantry and get two more highchairs for these
babies."
"We can hold them,"
Tammy replied.
Gina waved off the protest.
"We have plenty. If there's one tiling this family has plenty of, it's baby
items. It will be more comfortable for you and die girls."
"This family has been
blessed with many grandchildren," Mrs. Pagonis added.
Julian and Pietro went for the
chairs and placed one on either side of Tammy. With much chair shuffling and
good-natured banter, the Pagonis adults and their guests were soon seated.