At the park, everything looks the same
except for one thing.
My grandfather sits on a camping chair
beneath a giant umbrella
away from everyone else,
talking to a family,
but not just any family.
I see something
I can’t believe—
it’s the Agbayanis!
When they see us
they all stand,
and there are so many
strange hellos and nice to meet yous.
Lola smiles at me,
and next to her is Malia,
wrapped in a scarf, sunglasses,
and a wide straw hat,
her lips frozen into a frown.
This is the first time
I’ve seen her
away from her house.
She doesn’t move,
so I sit down next to her.
I pull out the notebook,
start flipping through doodles.
Look at this one, I say.
It’s the golem.
Well, can you make it come to life right now?
I look where’s she’s looking, and I see Martin and the other boys
staring at us in between their baseball game.
I can’t blame them, she says.
I mean, look at me?
Wrapped up like a mummy.
And it’s then I notice
that people everywhere
are talking and eating all together,
but no one
is talking to the Agbayanis
except for us.
I go over to Malia
with my mitt and baseball.
Want to play catch?
Malia looks at me,
a smile across her face,
she jumps up.
The mitt dangles from her hand,
then suddenly she launches the ball at me
with incredible strength.
I let it fly past me
since I don’t have a mitt.
It soars, then bounces
all the way into the field,
right past Martin
to where Jordan is standing.
But before I can pick up the ball,
Martin puts his foot on it,
staring at it and then me,
then he lifts his arm
like he’s throwing a fastball.
But I don’t move,
not an inch.
He laughs.
Is the creature your girlfriend now?
I hold out my hand
for him to give me the ball.
No way! I’m not touching this thing after she did.
He moves his foot off the ball.
Jordan walks over,
picks the ball up from the ground,
puts it in my hand.