A woman had moved into the house at the top of the cul-de-sac, but Coral had been unable to say hello. She often heard her neighbor drive in, because she braked and then revved again as she managed the slight incline to her garage, but the woman kept her door shut and picked up her mail quickly, without looking to see who else might be on the street. Finally Coral left a plant and a note at her new neighbor’s door. The gift was gone the next morning, but nobody stopped to acknowledge it.
It was another week before Coral realized the woman had a child.
On Saturday, Coral saw her pushing an elaborate stroller toward the park. She watched her go by, and when she noticed her returning, she stepped out the front door and said hello.
“Hello,” the woman replied. She didn’t look directly at Coral.
“My name’s Coral. Welcome to the neighborhood.”
“Thank you.”
She looked down, uneasy. Coral thought she must be shy.
“May I see your baby?”
The woman looked up and flashed a small smile.
“Her name’s Malaya.”
“What a lovely name.” Coral walked to the stroller, and looked at the little girl. She was asleep, her cheek flushed, and one curl, moist with sweat, was pasted to her small pink ear.
“Oh, she’s beautiful.”
At this, her new neighbor smiled fully, and her face, which had seemed still and severe, was suddenly open and pleased. She reached out to move the brightly woven blanket off her daughter’s shoulder, and as she did so, her fingers lightly caressed the infant’s soft skin.
“Did you make her blanket? It’s so intricate.”
“My mother made it. In Pilipinas. Where I’m from, we make this cloth.”
“It’s wonderful.”
The woman didn’t speak, but she also didn’t move away. She stood there, gazing at her baby, and Coral shifted awkwardly. It was sweet, the way this mother looked at her baby, but intimate too, as if Coral should not be standing right next to her. She started to step away from the stroller, and the woman spoke.
“My name’s Honorata. I move here from the Philippines.”
“Well, welcome, Honorata. I hope you like it.”
“Have you lived here long?”
“On this street? Nearly three years. But I grew up not far from here. I’m a native.”
Coral was used to people commenting on this fact, but, of course, Honorata was too new to know that native Las Vegans were rare.
“So you choose this neighborhood because it’s a good one?”
“Well, I like it. And it’s close to the school where I work. I’m a teacher. I teach music.”
“At a Catholic school?” Honorata asked.
“No. At a public school. Just a few blocks that way.”
“I’m going to send Malaya to Catholic school.”
The baby stirred then, and made a little noise, like the bleat of a calf. Honorata stroked the child’s cheek, and made a shushing noise with her lips slightly parted. Coral turned to go back inside.
“It was nice to meet you. Let me know if I can do anything. Just knock.”
Honorata looked at Coral.
“Do you like that house there?”
“That one? With the dead grass?”
“Yes. Do you like it?”
Coral wasn’t sure where this was going.
“Umm. Well, I wish they still had the water on. Nobody’s lived there for about a year.”
“Oh. So not good house?”
“I don’t know. The house’s fine. I’m not sure what happened to the owner.”
“You don’t want to buy this house?”
“That house? No.”
“I might buy it. The realtor told me that rental homes are good investment. Lots of people to rent homes here.”
“Oh. Probably. That’s cool.”
“So, okay with you?”
Coral paused.
“I don’t want to buy that house. It’s nice of you to ask me.”
“Okay. I find out about the owner.”
“I think if you call the county, they’ll tell you who owns it. Or you can ask your realtor.”
“Thank you. Very nice of you to tell me.”
Honorata smiled at her.
“You’re a teacher?”
“Yes.”
“You look young.”
“Actually, I’m thirty-two.”
The baby was fussing now, and her neighbor moved the stroller back and forth, trying to get her to settle. Still, she didn’t move on.
“That’s very good. Be a teacher. Have a house.”
Coral laughed.
“My mama agrees with you. It was nice meeting you, Honorata. Take care.”
“Bye, Coral.”
At this, the baby let out a cry, and her mother bent quickly toward her.
Coral didn’t see much of her neighbor after that. On weekends, she sometimes saw Honorata pushing the stroller toward the park, and when the evenings cooled off, she could hear her singing to the baby, in a language Coral couldn’t make out, in the backyard. In the spring, an older woman came to visit, and when Coral stopped to talk with Honorata, she learned that her mother had come to live with her. Coral had never seen anyone who might be the baby’s father on the street, but she didn’t pay close attention. It was possible that there was a father; that he visited Malaya at times.
One day Coral’s niece Keisha came over to play, and when she saw Honorata and Malaya on the street, she rushed out to say hello. The child was learning to walk now, pitching one foot forward at a time and swinging like a pendulum from her mother’s hand. She was a beautiful baby, fairer than her mother, but with her mother’s bright, plump lips and dark-fringed eyes.
Coral watched from inside the house as Keisha crouched down and began to talk to the little girl. Malaya laughed at something Keisha did, and Coral saw Honorata smile and then show Keisha how to take the baby’s hand, how to steady her as she threw one eager foot in front of the other. After a little, Keisha came running in.
“She says I can go over and play with Malaya one day!”
“Really? That’s great.”
“I told her I wanted to babysit, but she said that I would have to get older first.”
“Yeah. Playing with her is a good way to start. She’s learning to walk?”
“She’s so funny. I tried to let go of her hand, but she just sat down on her bottom.”
Althea came by later to pick up Keisha and stayed to eat dinner. Malcolm was at basketball practice, and then the team was going to the coach’s house to eat pasta so the players would be ready for the middle school tournament the next day.
“I can’t stand the coach. He loves Malcolm, of course, and I appreciate that. But he says these things that make my skin crawl.”
“He asked Malcolm if he was planning on a basketball scholarship,” Keisha piped up. “That’s why Mom’s mad.”
Althea raised an eyebrow at her sister.
“Did your mom tell him Malcolm is planning to be a doctor?”
“Malcolm told him.”
“And he clapped him on the back and said he really liked to see a kid dream big.” Althea sounded like she might spit.
Coral looked at Keisha. “I wouldn’t want to be Malcolm’s coach and step on your mom’s toes.”
Keisha laughed.
“Don’t say those things to her, Coral. You just wait till you have a son.”
“Auntie Coral’s going to have girls, Mom. Did I tell you I get to play with the baby down the street?”