continued from Scribble Scrabble - Intro
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| Photo: La Esperanza Bakery Blog |
Papi didn’t sing or hum while he worked though. Instead he danced. There was definitely a rhythm to his work. He would step to the back of the truck and grab loaves of freshly baked bread, step off the truck and enter the store. Place the loaves in the basket with one hand and take the pencil out his shirt pocket with his other hand. Then he’d scribble and scrabble, then wave the pen at the bodeguero.
This rhythmic pattern was surely a dance! Step to the back, grab, step off, step into the store - then - left hand drop, right hand pen, scribble scrabble, wave.
-And again-
back, grab, off, in
left hand drop, right hand pen
scribble scrabble, wave
back, grab, off, in
left hand drop, right hand pen
scribble scrabble, wave
And then there’s my sister. I did everything first, because I was older. But she did everything better. So yeah - I was the first to go to a four year college but Julieta… well, she went to that Ivy League school up on that hill in Manhattan. So yeah - Maybe I got all A’s and B’s in school but Julieta… well, she was valedictorian. So yeah - Maybe. Maybe I did want to be a doctor, but well, it was Julieta who was accepted into a pre-med program … in HIGH SCHOOL.
Fast forward 10 years later, the only way I could beat Julieta was to go to law school. But really, I was still chasing the dream of being like Gramita or Papi. Just like them, I wanted to sing and dance while I worked. By now I had figured out why they sang, why there was a rhythm to their step. They sang and danced because they owned their own business. So I knew that eventually I had to hang up my own shingle: Attorney at Law.
And so there I am. An office off The Grand Concourse. Dusty, dreary. Bathroom didn’t flush. But, it was mine. And I could sing. Off tune if I wanted. I can also count… well, there was nothing to count. No orders to fill. Instead of customers, I had clients. Well, at least I was supposed to have clients. Anyhow, they’ll come. In the meantime, I sat and scribble scrabbled on my fresh new pristine yellow legal pad as I hummed: “Siempre que te pregunto, que cuando, cómo, y donde / tu siempre me respondes, quizas quizas quizas...”
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