After school I go right to the shop.
Main Street is busy already.
Everyone has baseball pennants
in their windows or hanging on doors.
Mr. Katsaros’s hardware store is green with A’s posters,
pictures of all the players and Stomper the elephant.
But in Mr. Osaka’s stationery store,
everything is Giants.
I give him a thumbs-up, and he smiles at me.
I like the way the colors look
in the street, like someone painted
it new again,
everyone separate,
everyone together.
Mrs. Li grabs me.
Etan, I need you to take this
medicine to 1401 Forest Road. Okay?
She hands me a plastic bag with a long tube
inside that looks like it might be toothpaste,
then she fills a paper bag with tea leaves
and folds it all together.
Can you give this to Mrs. Agbayani?
She hands me an apple and two dollar bills.
Before I take the delivery,
I check in with my grandfather to let him know.
He’s got some customers inside,
so I wave and hold up the packages,
and he nods.