Today felt like a proper Sunday morning… even though it was
Saturday.
It is amazing what enjoyable people elvis’ parents are when
they aren’t drunk. Actually pleasant. This is their last day in town before
they head back up to the alpaca ranch.
While I was washing laundry and dishes with Roxana, the dogs
were playing on the patio, elvis’ father was sorting the last batch of potatoes
from this year’s harvest, his mother was tending to their horses, Doña Juana
was cooking breakfast, Don Juan was still in bed, and elvis was playing with
animal figurines on a log.
I loved that moment when everyone stops what they are doing
to watch the dogs play, laugh in unison, then return to their individual
chores.
‘Thank god they don’t watch tv’ popped into my head.
“Luz” elvis’ father hollered, then he made the motion of
cutting his own hair. Roxana must have told them I was cutting my hair
yesterday.
“Would you like me to cut elvis’ hair?”
“mine!”
Elvis grabs his head and feels his hair.
“would you like me to cut yours too, elvis”
“just all of it but this.” He says as he yanks his bangs,
“but my dad first.”
We set up a chair in the corral, and I brought out my
scissors.
“Just even all over.” Elvis’ father says, but I know he
wants more cut off than what he is saying. It took about 5 minutes of
repetitive conversation for me to figure out what he wanted. “But, how much do
you want me to take off?”
“Just even all over.”
“Yes, I am going to try my best to make it even all over,
but at what length?”
“just even all over”
Then sweet elvis took his seat. He is such a good boy.
Especially to me and his parents. He is a little ornery with his cousin Roxana
and his aunt and uncle don juan and doña juana, but he treats his parents and
myself with his own beautiful concoction of respect and reverie. I kept
bouncing back and forth between what his mother wanted and what elvis wanted
and landed somewhere in the middle with both of them happy. At one point this
conversation happened,
“luz, this part on his face bothers me” Claudia said in
reference to hair that had grown down in front of his ears like side burns and
she made a quick motion from his check to his ear with her finger, “zzzzzip”
“Ok Elvis, I am going to trim this up to here, ok?”
“ya”
As I made the cut I saw that he is starting to get some
facial hair.
“Oh, goodness, we are going to have to trim this too! You
are getting some hair on your face! Becoming a man, you are!” I celebrated with
this child brain in a 14-year-old body.
“like Gray?” he said
“Yes, just like Gray.” I smiled, fighting back the tears in
my eyes while he sat up taller in his seat and I trimmed his sideburns.
Within 45 minutes they were both trimmed and surprisingly
happy with what a botch job I felt I did. Pleased, Elvis father insisted on
giving me 1s/. per cut (about 70¢ total). He shoved the coins in my hand and I
passed it on to Elvis in one fale swoop.
Then we all returned to our day’s duties.
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