Counting by 7s(69)

I can’t remember ever in my life seeing red tape. There is black and of course brown tape for packing. And silver.

I make a note to investigate this reference later.



Lenore signs off on her part in the approval process, but she says that Pattie and Jairo need to come back and do things the right way.

But the important thing is that for today, they are granted, jointly, the guardianship, which is on track to not be temporary, of a person named Willow Chance.

That’s now legal.

Once this is said by the judge, in an official way, Dell makes a show by dropping to the floor like he’s doing a split.

It’s supposed to be some kind of victory move.

But he rips his pants in the crotch, which isn’t just super-embarrassing for him but makes Quang-ha start to laugh.

It’s his high-pitched giggle.

And once that happens, the contagious thing gets going.

And I’m part of that now.

I can see from the look on the judge’s scrunched face that it’s time for us to be moving on.



We are outside when Mai gives me a big hug.

Then Quang-ha slings his arm around my shoulder and I know he’s going to say something important.

He lowers his voice, and I hear:

“I have a paper due in English class on Wednesday. Moby-Dick. Hope you have time to read it.”

We then walk across the plaza and get into Jairo’s taxi. We sit three in the front and three in the back.

It doesn’t look safe, but there are seat belts for all of the passengers.

We decide to drive to Luigi’s restaurant (since this is a favorite of Dell’s and he’s got the most enthusiasm about eating).

I get sacco beans, which are pinto beans marinated in oil and vinegar and crushed red pepper.

Everyone else orders spicy pickled tongue sandwiches.

I don’t eat meat. And organ meat is in a whole other category of stuff I wouldn’t want to chew.

But I do nothing but smile when they all offer me a bite.





Chapter 61





We are in the taxi, driving back, when Pattie reveals something big.

She wants to buy the building.

The Gardens of Glenwood.

We all think that she’s kidding, but apparently she has already spoken to someone at the bank and she’s put in a formal offer.

I don’t know what to make of it, but Dell looks thrilled.

I’m thinking that he’s thinking that he won’t get evicted if she owns the place.

But I doubt he’d still be the building rep.

Quang-ha is the most energized by this news. I guess he still worries about going back to the garage behind the salon.

He says that if his mom owns the place, we should make a skateboard ramp in the front entrance where the stairs are.

I didn’t know he was a skateboarder.

Interesting.

Pattie says that nothing is for certain.

That is the truest statement I’ve ever heard.



In the late afternoon, after everything has settled down, I put away my garden clothes and I run the mile loop.

I then take a seat next to the timber bamboo in the courtyard.

I know that I will think about this day many times.

Then I realize that it is the 7th of the month. And I’m not surprised.

7 is a natural number.

And it is a prime number.

There are 7 basic types of catastrophes.

And 7 days of the week.

Isaac Newton identified the 7 colors of the rainbow as: Violet

Indigo

Blue

Green

Yellow

Orange

Red

Dell put people in 7 categories: Misfit

Oddball

Lone Wolf

Weirdo

Genius

Dictator

Mutant

I have my own system of order.

I think that at every stage of living, there are 7 people who matter in your world.

They are people who are inside you.

They are people you rely on.

They are people who daily change your life.

For me I count:

        My mom (always)

    and my dad (forever)

    Mai

    Dell

    Quang-ha

    Pattie

    Jairo



I decide that when my head begins to pound from now on, I will shut my eyes and count to 7, instead of by 7s.

I see each one of these people like the colors of the rainbow.

They are vivid and distinct.

And they hold a permanent place in my heart.



If the builder had had more money, this area would have probably been a swimming pool.

But it’s not.

It’s a garden.

I shift my position and suddenly I feel something in my pocket.

It’s my lucky acorn.

I get up and pick a spot off to the side where I know there might be space for something of size to grow. I punch my finger into the dirt to make a small hole, and I drop in the brown nut.

I return to the stairs, and as I sit here in a slice of winter sunlight, two small birds find their way down to the honeysuckle planted next to the bamboo.

They speak to me, not in words, but in action.