In chapter three, we meet Larya's family and trouble reaches the Moya household.
Whatever!
Chapter Three
The next meeting occurred at Ivy’s home, a grey bricked multi-family building occupied by the entire Novak clan. A thin, lanky man in faded jeans and a t-shirt was working underneath a little red Yugo parked in the driveway beside the building. In the yard behind the building was a skinny older woman with curly brown hair hanging up the washing in a blue floral housecoat. A little brown haired girl sat playing in the grass at her feet.
Sabrina knocked on the painted wooden door and a little old lady with thick glasses opened it.
“Ah, you are here for Larya, yes?”
The old woman’s accent was so thick Bree could hardly make out what she’d said. Her brain caught on after a moment and she responded,
“Yes, I’m here for Larya. My name is Sabrina.”
“Sabrina. Pretty, very pretty. I am Zora.”
She motioned for the girl to come in and closed the door behind them. The living room was large with plain white walls and a white tile floor. The furniture looked well worn, the floral cushions covered in plastic for posterity. Zora yelled towards the back of the house as she shuffled over to the couch.
Sitting on a cart was an older TV set that was showing CNN’s coverage of the war in the Gulf. Sabrina and her family watched in awe last night at the flashing green lights that lit up the night sky over Baghdad. It was the first time anyone had witnessed live coverage of wartime fighting and everyone was mesmerized. It was surreal.
Zora held up a soft looking brown sweater she was knitting and nodded toward the TV.
“I make for grandson there.” She said.
Sabrina gasped. “Your grandson is serving in Iraq?”
Sabrina’s family had served in the US military since Puerto Ricans were granted citizenship 70-80 years ago but she didn’t know anyone actively serving now.
“Riyadh, actually.” Larry said, crossing into the living room.
She said something to her grandmother who responded back and shooed her away. Larry just sighed and rolled her eyes.
“Babka obsesses over this war. She doesn’t understand my brother, Stefan, is safe right now.” Larry’s face twisted into an angry sneer.
“That’s awful. I hope she doesn’t worry herself sick if she doesn’t need to.”
Larya shrugged and started to say something before switching to English.
“Babas worry to worry. It can’t be helped.”
Sabrina followed her to the large kitchen in the back of the house where Ivy and Cassie sat around a rickety wooden table with mismatched chairs.
“How long have you guys been here in the US, Larry?” She asked as she sat down.
Larya looked up at the ceiling as she thought.
“We came here over the summer, why?”
“No reason, I’ve been meaning to ask where you’re from. I mean Cass and I practically grew up together but we don’t really know anything about you and Ivy.”
“The project is nearly finished and now you want to be friends?” Ivy laughed.
The other girls gave Sabrina some incredulous looks and after a moment she raised her hands and sighed,
“Alright, forget I said anything.”
##
Sabrina sat in the living room beside Babka Zora waiting for her brother to pick her up. The group had had another productive meeting and she was satisfied with their progress on the project. It bothered her a little the way the girls stared at her like she’d grown a second head when she suggested they get to know each other better. She didn’t see anything wrong with the idea but reminded herself that this was high school. Just because you’re in the same class doesn’t mean you automatically had to be friends anymore.
Grow up, Bree! She chided herself.
“Yugoslavia.”
Sabrina looked up to find Larya standing over her.
“You wanted to know where we are from. I grew up in Yugoslavia, my family lived all over Serbia and Croatia but Muslims are not welcome anymore so we flee when the armies come.”
Sabrina was shocked. She had no idea there was anything going on outside of the Iraq war. She didn’t think she could point to Yugoslavia on a map. The only reason she even knew of the country was because there seemed to be an influx of people moving into the area from there. Now she knew why.
“Oh Larry, I’m so sorry.”
“Why? You did not drive us from our homes.”
“Still though- so you guys came over and your brother immediately joined the military here?”
“No, Stefan came to live with my uncles and go to school in New York years ago. He joined Army because he love his new country so much.”
The last part of that sentence dripped with sarcasm.
“So the Army jacket you wear to school everyday-“ Sabrina began to ask.
“Belongs to my brother, yes.”
“You must really miss him.”
Larya’s lips twitched.
“You are being queen of obvious, yes?”
“Yeah, sorry.” Sabrina smiled ruefully. “Listen, if you ever need to talk about it-“
“I know. Thank you, Bree.”
##
Sabrina was laying in bed wide awake and mulling over what she’d learned about Larya and her family when she heard her stepfather come home. He was working 14 hour shifts seven days a week now and she was starting to get worried. Her mother took to waiting up for him in the sala despite his asking her not to because she wanted to make sure he at least got to eat a hot meal when he came home.
Sabrina could already hear the low murmur of them talking. She padded over to the door and opened it a crack to hear what her parents were saying. Across the way, her brother’s door was also open. She peered out and their eyes met.
“We got the news today. The layoffs start in two weeks.” Her dad sounded tired.
Sabrina considered Darnell Fraser more her dad than her birth father since he was the one who taught her how to tie her shoes and defend herself against bullies. He sat up late with her as she struggled with her math homework, ran her to the hospital after a bad bicycle accident, and ran interference on the beach against the grown men who tried to approach her once puberty at the age of 10. She grew up accustomed to the sight of his work boots by the door and the smell of Old Spice mixed with diesel fuel when he came home from work, his umber complexion darkening further where the shadow of his hard hat on his clean shaven head hadn’t shielded it from the sun. Darnell regarded both V and Bree the same as his own Zoe and treated all the children equally.
Sabrina could picture the sadness in his jet black eyes as he relayed the bad news to her mother, scrubbing his hands over his face through his neatly trimmed mustache and beard in defeat. This was the day the family waited for with bated breath for several weeks. They’d experienced layoffs before, often for several weeks at a time. This time though promised to be far far worse. Sabrina glanced across the hall to her brother and saw the concern etched on his face. No one but Zoe would be getting sleep in that house tonight.
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