I Remember

Sweet Barber

My real grandfather name was Dimas. He was a barber,the sweetest most coolest grandpa I knew. I remember going over there to see him every Sumner, he had 5 daughters and 1 son. Tito, Marianela, Angelica, Anna,Vielka, and my mom. My mom was the eldest. His kid's mother name is Antonia, I dislike her we never got along. Dimas and my grandma got married when she was 15 and pregnant with my mom. It was an arranged marriage because grandma was pregnant, her mother wasn't going to take care of no babies and to maintain her honor. Naty said that they didn't love each other so when she turned 18 and was able she left. He went his way and she went hers. They remained friends forever but didn't divorced until recent years, she had 9 kids and he had 5. Antonia and him separated, he kicked her out but she would wait for him to leave for work then come on in, she would spend all day there and leave before he got home.
We spent most of every Summer in Veranillo that was the name of the neighborhood. Antonia messed with witchcraft also, she used to try and put roots and potions on my granddaddy, I would be there when she had a lady cone tell her how to do this and that and where to put it. This is why I didn't like her, I guess you can fool a child but you cannot fool their spirit. She didn't like us because we were a reminder to her of why granddaddy wouldn't marry her being that he never divorced my grandmother, grown ups hold grudges longer than kids do.  I didn't feel the need of her being there every day since she wasn't supposed to be there anyways, so I wouldn't mind her nor her orders, instead I would tell my granddaddy that she had been there all day and about the witch lady. She would talk bad about my mom and constantly complained about us being there occupying he kids, she would say her kids weren't babysitters, and that she couldn't believe how my grandma would just feel like she could send us there without knowing if anyone could keep us. She would insist to her kids to go and live their lives and to leave us there, because it wasn't their fault my momma abandoned us and now we had to be thrown every which way. She would rant and rave about my mom and family all the time.
We would be their maids and had to do all the store runs and the water collecting and every dish washing, cleaning and such. Whenever my aunts gave birth they will send us to their houses to help them with the babies and such.
I would end up washing clothed diapers and cleaning bottles, we were used by them, and they had the nerve to complain. Poor us.
In Veranillo there were lots of hills. People built their houses on the mountains and hills. Granddaddy's wood house Sat on top of a hill, it had an outhouse, I was scared of using that toilet,  I saw maggots and spiders in there thankfully, a new bathroom was being built at that time.
Because the houses were built on the hills the water took a long time to reach the top. So during the day we wouldn't have any water until night time then it would have a powerful flow. At midnight each day we would fill every container, gallons and pots with water, sometimes it would be a whole day or two before the water would reach the top, on those days we would have to go to the lower part of the town to some relatives house and tow water back to granddaddy's house on the hill, man we worked hard. The only good part about being at granddaddy's house was when he was there, late at nights and on the weekends. He was a boxing fan, he would send us to buy ice cream and sodas to make float, then he would make us floats and we would sit there with him as he boxed along the fighters on tv from his living room.
All his kids would leave and it would be just us, we love our granddaddy, it was the only time we were shown true love.
We slept with him every day, his daughters had a problem with us sleeping with them, well it was his ex who found a problem with it. She would say it wasn't fair to her kids to be made uncomfortable just because we were there. So granddaddy said "ok, they can sleep with me!!" It was a little odd but he made it sweet. He would tell us stories and scratch our heads until we doze off and he would too, not having any parents is rough, no body is going to love you like your own MOMMA ever will.
Leo would rant and rave to my grandma and tell her we was our granddad's responsibility also, that he was tired of caring for us and that we was another mouth to feed. She would give in and send us, not knowing the degree of mess we had to endure and survive.
There came a time when I made a decision of ditching Veranillo and getting on a different bus so I went to stay with Cuca instead. She open her door to me but it brought her plenty of trouble.  I wasn't able to see her or go to her because she caused my mom to leave the house. Why I had to pay for grown ups mess? I couldn't figure it out. They expected me to be loyal to my mom who wasn't there.
Cuca had been my second mother, she raised me from a little girl until I was 6. I stayed there until they figured it out, I think Cuca called grandma, just so she would know where I was, it was the right thing to do. Grandma came to Cuca's and I was in big trouble. Somehow Naty let me stay but was mad that I went the other way. Cuca must've pleaded her case because after that I was able to go stay with Cuca, so I did, I was one happy girl. I was able to see papa Santo too. I was much bigger now, so I couldn't crawl in his bed anymore, but his love remained the same. His daughters were older, I was a teenager so I was mature enough to hang with them. I was happy over there,  I hated that it was only for the summers. I loved my granddaddy but Cuca's love was home.