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Aisha smiled. “I’ve never been outside the city.”
Gabi frowned. “Really?”
Aisha shook her head. “We can’t afford to travel, though I’ve dreamed of what it would be like.”
“Not even with the dancing?”
“We live off the land. I don’t get paid to teach. The money I earn dancing keeps us out of poverty, but there’s nothing left for luxuries.”
“I didn’t realise.” She avoided Aisha’s eyes. She wished she’d known, wished she could do something to help.
“It’s okay. We have what we need to survive, and we don’t waste anything. Though I’d like to see other places, like history and art museums, and I’d like to go to the theatre. I’d like to study poetry, and music, and science, and talk to more people like me. There is so much to learn.”
“I wasted my school years,” Gabi said, and she felt shit about that. If she could have gifted her education and opportunities to Aisha she would, and Aisha would have done something incredible with them.
“It’s difficult to appreciate what you have when you don’t want for anything.”
Gabi fell silent and felt even more of a shit for chucking away what Aisha would have treasured. Children’s laughter broke through her pity party, and Aisha directed her to the back of a building and into a small, gated area.
“This way.”
Gabi’s stomach did a jig, and her heart raced. And then she saw their faces as each one of the children looked up at her in turn, a Mexican wave of big smiles, white teeth, tanned skin, and dark hair. They were beautiful, and she had to bite back the sudden rush of emotion.
“Children, this is Gabi. What do we have to say?”
“Hello, Miss Gabi,” they said slowly in unison in English.
Aisha smiled. “We’ve been practising.”
“Hola a todos,” Gabi said.
The two girls giggled. The boys jumped to their feet and ran towards a dog-eaten, brown-skinned football.
One of the girls, no more than six years old, got to her feet and came to Gabi. She took Gabi’s hand and led her back to the other girl and pointed at the ground.
Gabi put the rucksack down and sat with them. The girl touched the back of Gabi’s neck, toyed with her short hair, and smiled.
“I’ll get some drinks,” Aisha said.
Gabi widened her eyes. “You’re leaving me here alone?”
“I’m just going inside. I’ll be back in a minute.”
The second girl, sitting cross-legged, pointed at the rucksack. Gabi noticed a scar on her cheek that looked like a burn mark. There was something captivating about her that Gabi couldn’t define.
“What’s in there?” she asked.
“Do you like to sew?” Gabi opened the bag and started to unpack.
The girl nodded. “My name’s Marta.”
“Would you like to make some jewellery?”
Marta nodded. She dived into the pile of bags and started looking inside them.
Gabi’s initial response was to create some sense of order, but she held back from controlling the girls and watched their eyes light up as they discovered the coloured leather laces, beads, carved wooden shapes, and the metal animals that Gabi had thought would be good for making a charm bracelet.
“My name’s Verónica,” the girl who had been playing with Gabi’s hair said.
