Cross The Street - Short Story

Thrasher Magazine, Oct, 2001 by Mark Gonzales

ONLY FIVE MORE MINUTES. I CAN'T WAIT another second. David had tried to end his life four times in the two years that he and his older brother had been separated. First he took pills, then he stole the car and crashed it off a bridge, then he slit his wrists and now, after being hospitalized, he wished he had just shot himself in the nose or gut. But he didn't. Guns were not allowed in the house so he tried to hang himself. Only the gardner saw him hanging, busted in, and saved him. The gardener's name was "Hore-hay." George couldn't believe how much money these people have--they try to throw life away like a joke. This made George mad. He went to the hospital to visit David. At first David refused visitors, but then he accepted George as a visitor. He wanted to kill the Mexican that wouldn't let him die in peace.

When George came to the hospital to visit David, he brought his daughter Julietta who was one-year-old. George thought she was the most precious thing. He thought if the boy who tried to hang himself could see a father's love for a child maybe it would help change the boy's mind. But when George and his daughter got to the reception desk, they were turned away. No child visitors here, not to mention George would need an interpreter; his English was not so good. The front desk made arrangements for an interpreter to be available next week. "Please come alone Mr. George, without your daughter. David wishes to meet with the man who saved his life."

The week went by pretty fast. The next time George came to the hospital he brought the very shears which he had used to cut the boy loose. The hospital administration was surprised to see what the Mexican man had brought this time, only now, luckily they had an interpreter. Wanda was African American. She worked the east wing of the hospital. She wasn't fat--just a little chunky--and laughed quietly, and very frequently. Her Spanish was spoken fast and the words echoed off the insides of her mouth. Even though she grew up speaking Spanish with her neighbors in East LA, she spoke kind of like a Cuban--fast and rampant. "Hi, how are you sir?" were her first words to Mr. George in Spanish.

"Fine, thank you," Mr. George answered in Spanish.

Wanda looked at two of the hospital staff who were in charge of David. "What would you like me to translate?" Wanda asked, and then giggled quietly.

"Can you ask him how he feels?" one nurse asked. The other nurse nodded his head in agreement. George--holding the shears in his left hand--said to Wanda, "I'm a little tired but I feel fine. I just want to meet and talk with the boy" Wanda translated this to the two nurses.

"Tell him David wants to meet with him as well." So Wanda told George that David wanted to meet with him too. "Well, what are we waiting for?" George said to Wanda. Wanda told the two nurses he was ready to meet with David. The taller of the two male nurses (who is also named David) said, "I don't believe he'll be able to bring those back, do you?" The nurse pointed to the clippers the Mexican man had in his hand. "Just a second! Wanda, ask him what he intends on doing with those clippers."

Wanda said, "Sure, I'll ask what the clippers are for." George had a confused look on his face. It was how she asked him that spawned the expression. The facial language made Wanda ask more politely. First she said sorry, and then she asked. "And the clippers, why have you brought those?" This was a polite way to ask in Spanish. George, in a soft voice, explained to Wanda why he had brought the clippers. He wanted to share them with David. George said, "If I hadn't been outside clipping and then noticed him hanging, I would never have saved the boy's life." The two nurses were watching George speak Spanish. His face was intense and it seemed as though what he was telling Wanda was important. Wanda finally translated what George had said. "Still though, That's a sharp object. Remember Wanda, sharp objects are to be kept away from the patients at all times. Can you tell the man his clippers will have to stay up front in the office when he visits?"

"Sure," Wanda said. She told George his clippers would have to stay up front in the office while he visited. George said no to Wanda in Spanish. "It is important for the kid to see what I used to save his life." George began jerking the shears in the air. He was speaking Spanish to Wanda, telling her it was very necessary for him to bring the clippers back to him when he went to visit David. The two nurses saw Mr. George getting hysterical. One nurse left to call the back up team. The back up team is a group of guys that usually help restrain patients when they loose control. Luckily before the back up team arrived, Wanda had the clippers in her hands and had persuaded George to see David and leave the clippers in the front office. How she did it the two nurses will never know, since they don't speak Spanish. Now the small group ventured back to some plexiglas rooms. As they walked down a long hallway and were drawing closer to the room David was in, Mr. George walked on his toes and tried to see further. Wh en he saw David in the hospital clothing and pretty drugged out, he was surprised; it was not at all what Mr. George expected. The door to the small plexiglas room was opened. Wanda, the two nurses, and Mr. George entered. A nurse was already there with David and a short white lady who got up and left immediately when the others arrived. "Enjoy your visitors," the lady said to David before she left the small room. Everyone but Mr. George was seated. "Please sit down," the head nurse ask Wanda to tell Mr. George. The other nurse wondered if they would have to call the back up team again. Luckily Mr. George sat down. It was Wanda's keen way of communicating that had worked.