“Do your parents speak Spanish?”
“Yes. Even though they were born in New York they learned the language from their parents and grandparents. But, like a lot of New York Puerto Ricans, when they talk they tend to mix both languages. It’s known as Spanglish.”
“Give me an example.”
“Instead of saying I’m going to the park, they’ll say, ‘I’m going to theparque.’ Or ‘bring me un container of leche’ for a container of milk.”
“Next year I’ll go into the seventh grade and I have to select a foreign language. I’ve decided to choose Spanish because my dad speaks it.”
Nydia wondered if Kendra had overheard her father speaking the language or if he’d told her. “The easiest way to learn a language is to speak it. Once you become familiar with certain words you should practice with him.”
“Morgan and Taylor said they are taking Mandarin, while the Kelly girls are taking French.” Kendra paused, seemingly deep in thought. “Tell me how it was to grow up in New York.”
* * *
Lamar returned to the kitchen in time to hear Nydia answer his daughter’s questions about her life as a child in New York City. Nydia was the first woman he’d introduced to his daughter since becoming a widower, and he couldn’t believe his good fortune, because she seemed to get along well with Kendra. She was patient as she demonstrated how Kendra should slice something, and was effusive in her praise when she accomplished it.
He was still uncertain emotionally when it came time for him to assess his feelings for Nydia. Everything about her screamed an unadulterated sexiness he’d found missing in many of the women he’d met, whether socially or professionally. And there were times when he could not understand her need to play down her sexiness. When he’d strolled through the Lower Quarter with her he’d noticed men giving her furtive glances, which only served to bolster his male pride in having her on his arm. The chic hairstyle, her flawless gold-brown complexion, and brilliant jewel-like eyes, pert nose, lush mouth, and curvy, compact, petite body definitely garnered a second or third glance. Although she was shorter and less endowed than the women to whom he’d found himself attracted, there was something about Nydia that had him mesmerized.
And what he really appreciated was her frankness. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind; that was something that had irked him with Valerie. His wife would occasionally shut down rather than discuss things that she deemed important to her. He’d believed she was experiencing postpartum depression after Kendra was born. It was he who got up in the middle of the night to walk the floor in an attempt to comfort the crying infant, and he also learned to feed, bathe, and change his daughter whenever Valerie took to her bed and refused to leave.
Making love with his wife had become a thing of the past, and when he suggested she see a doctor to talk about what he believed was depression, she turned on him like an agitated mother bird protecting her young and said there was nothing wrong with her. The impasse continued until Kendra celebrated her second birthday, and that was when Valerie talked about hiring a live-in housekeeper because she was going back to work.
Lamar would have agreed to anything if only to get back the woman he had fallen in love with and married. Once Valerie received the okay to go back to work she was like a colorful butterfly emerging from a cocoon to spread its wings. Each time she returned home from a flight the house was filled with laughter and a gaiety he had come to anticipate. As long as Valerie was flying off to different cities she was like a kid in a candy shop. It took a long time for him to believe she wasn’t coming home, and he knew he had to be both mother and father to a young girl who would grow up without her mother. He had put Kendra in counseling, but he knew it was difficult for a six-year-old to understand and accept the inevitability of death; she’d asked about her mother for more than three months before she appeared to accept that her mother wasn’t coming back.
Lamar wasn’t looking a mother for his daughter, but if asked, he definitely would have considered someone like Nydia. And watching her interact with Kendra filled him with conflicting emotions as to whether he wanted her in his and Kendra’s life. There was no doubt she would be a positive role model for Kendra, who needed to look up to a strong, educated, and independent woman who was not afraid to speak her mind.
“When’s dinner?” Nydia and Kendra turned around at the same time.
“Daddy, we just ate lunch.”
He entered the kitchen and sat on a stool. “That was just a snack.” Lamar peered at the clock on the microwave. “That was nearly three hours ago. Right now I’m feenin’ forpasteles.”
“There’s no such word asfeening,” Kendra countered.
“Yes there is. You tell her, Nydia,” Lamar insisted.
“Well, it’s really not a word, but people use it when they say they’re craving something.”
“Well, that’s what you should have said, Daddy. You always tell me to use the right word, and now you’re not.”
Lamar managed to look contrite. His daughter was right, because he constantly corrected her when she said something that didn’t remotely resemble the English language. “You’re right, and I apologize.”
She inclined her head, laughing. “I accept your apology.”
Nydia also laughed and said, “You’re going to have tocravethem a bit longer because it’s going to take at least an hour for them to cook. Meanwhile, I can make you a fruit salad.”
“Hold off on the fruit salad. I’ll get a beer instead to tide me over while I watch the game.”
Kendra leaned in close to Nydia’s ear and whispered, “Daddy loves sports. He watches baseball, football, and basketball. And sometimes he goes to football games.”
“I heard that,” Lamar called out as he opened the door to the refrigerator.
“There’s nothing wrong with being into sports,” Nydia said to Kendra. “In fact I’ve been to Yankee Stadium to watch the Yankees and Citi Field for the Mets. The executives at the company where I used to work would purchase season tickets to all of the local professional sports teams for their elite clients and would sometimes give them away as perks for their employees.”
“How about football games?” Lamar asked.
Nydia shook her head. “I’m not really into football or hockey. I like baseball and then basketball.”
