xp_logs | Red X: Reconstruction - Small Girl Ambush (Reply)

Angelo is working on one of the sites when he's accosted by a familiar face.

This was more like his climate, Angelo thought idly as he dropped another load of bricks at the layer's side. Straightening up, he wiped an arm across his forehead. Hot work, though, lifting and hauling.

There was a small girl, one of the local kids, flitting back and forth with a bag of water bottles, handing them out to the workers. She looked like any of the multitudes of Latino kids in the barrio, a moppet with dark curly hair and clothes that were faded, but clean. She turned around to see Angelo, and let out a shriek.

He whipped round reflexively, worried one of the kids had fallen or otherwise hurt themselves, and then blinked at her. They didn't usually react that badly to his skin.

He didn't get much more chance to do react than that before a small dark-haired missile flung itself at him and attached itself to his leg. "~You came back!~" came the excited babble in Spanish. "~You came back to see us!~"

That got even more blinking, of a different kind, before he put the pieces together and leaned down to detach the little girl and lift her higher. "Well, look who it is. Hey, you."

"Hello!" she chirped in English, before switching back to Spanish. "~I knew you would come back one day, Senor. Papa said not to hope, but I knew I would see you again.~" She looked around. "~Where is the pretty lady with the funny Spanish?~"

"~She couldn't come this time~", Angelo told her. "~But her Spanish is still funny. Listen, I'm sorry, little one, but I forgot your name. Did you even tell me it last time?~"

"Maria!" she told him, arms firmly wrapped around his neck. "~Maria Rios. What's your name? I was too scared to ask before.~"

"Angelo Espinosa", he told her. "~I'm from Los Angeles, but I live in New York now. An' yeah, I came back. I was kind of hopin' I'd get a chance to find you."

"~You found me last time, when our house fell down.~" Her face clouded a little. "~When Mama went to live with the angels in Heaven.~"

"~That's right.~" He gave her a quick squeeze. "~An' I know your Mama's very proud of how brave you were then. But I wanted to check you were okay now.~"

She nodded. "~Papa came in the place with the red crosses, and he looks after me now. He is helping build today - see, there he is, over there!~" Marie pointed a chubby hand in the direction of a lean-looking Mexican man carrying lumber.

Angelo glanced that way and smiled. "~I bet he's a really good dad, huh?~"

"~Yes! He takes me to school and makes me peanut butter sandwiches with the crusts cut off.~" When Maria smiled, there was a gap where her front tooth had fallen out and was growing back in. "~He misses Mama sometimes. It makes him sad. Me too. But one day we will see her again, and so I try to be a good girl for her.~" She gave Angelo a squeeze of sun-browned arms. "~You can come home to have dinner with us. Papa won't mind.~"

"~You sure?~" he asked, looking over at "Papa" again. "~Maybe you should go ask. Just to check, okay?~"

"~Okay!~" And with that, Maria wriggled out of his arms, sliding back to the ground and grabbing his hand to drag him over to where 'Papa' had just set the lumber down. "~Papa! I found him, Papa!~" she called, the bag of water bottles banging against her hip.

"~Whoa, Maria, slow down!~" Angelo protested, laughing as he was dragged along. "~Um. Hello, sir.~"

'Papa' straightened, and looked over the young man his daughter had attached herself to. "~You found him, did you chiquita?~" he asked with a slight smile. Taking in Angelo, he offered a work-callused hand. "~You must be the young man who pulled my Maria out of the rubble. I am very glad to meet you, at last. Carlos Rios.~"

Angelo nodded, shaking the older man's hand. "~I'm sorry I couldn't wait with her last time. But there was so much to do... I'm Angelo.~"

Carlos' grip was firm as he shook Angelo's hand. "~I understand. She was well looked after.~" Maria tugged at his pants leg. "~What is it, chiquita?"

"~I want Angelo to come to dinner,~" she piped up. "~Can he, Papa? Please?~" She gazed up at him with soulful brown eyes.

"~Perhaps Angelo already has plans,~" Carlos said, but with a twinkle of humour. "~But I shall ask.~" He turned his attention back to Angelo. "~Would you like to join us tonight? We are still in temporary housing, but I can promise you will not go hungry. And it is the least I can do, to show my thanks for saving my little girl.~"

"~I was just gonna go back to the school an' eat with my friends... but they'll understand~", he said readily. "~Yeah. I'd love to.~"