Rating - PG
E-mail - katrey@earthlink.net

Meeting

by Kat

Chapter 1  

"I’m cold, Papa." The small blonde child in the threadbare dress and the light spring coat spoke softly to her father in Spanish. Her hair was blowing against her forehead as he pulled her into his lap, trying to wrap his denim jacket around her against the cold November wind.

"I know, Angel. It has been a long journey for such a little person." His Spanish was heavily accented. "But you have been very brave and your mama will be very proud."

Manny Ramirez, Cuban refugee, looked down into the sparkling blue-green eyes of his only daughter. She tried so hard to be brave for him, but he could see the longing for her home and her mother’s warmth at the back of her eyes. "I miss my mamma very much. When will I see her again?"

"Soon, Angel. Today the big boat will take us to America. Then it will be just a matter of time until your papa makes enough money to bring her to you."

The girl was silent as she watched the water rushing by the bow of the big freighter. The salt water spray stung her cheeks, making them rosy pink. She looked out to where they were going but saw only the great expanse of ocean. It was all she had seen for almost two weeks. “What is America like, Papa?”

"In America, the streets are paved with gold, Angel. There is much opportunity for us both. I will make great movies for all the world to see and you will sit in a big movie house and eat all the popcorn you want as you watch my movies on a giant screen. And when you grow up, you do not have to marry a soldier. You can be anything you want. A doctor, a lawyer..."

"I want to make movies with you, Papa."

"Then you will, child. You will."

She closed her eyes, trying to picture the great big movie houses her father described to her, wondering if the men wore uniforms and carried guns, wondering if she would ever understand the strange language the ship workers spoke.

Manny turned his daughter around in his lap to face the front of the freighter.He pointed to the Manhattan skyline emerging through the early morning fog. "Look, Angel. The Statue of Liberty. She represents liberty and freedom from Castro and his soldiers."

The six year old girl looked out at the large green form emerging from the fog and made a face. It was big, but didn’t look all that much to her.

After the boat docked, Manny took his little girl by the hand, swung their one duffel bag over his shoulder, and followed the rest of the ship workers down to the dock. It was utter chaos. The dark-haired Cuban looked around, not knowing what to do or who to talk to. There were big
burly dock workers drinking beer and laughing in small groups by the buildings along the wharf. Others were climbing into cranes, driving forklifts to move big pallets of fruit and vegetables or moving boxes, pushing them along the ground as if they were plastic blocks. Men were
whistling, trucks were beeping as they backed up, men were shouting and gesturing wildly as the wharf came to life in the early morning fog.

Angela Ramirez gripped her father’s hand tighter. If she lost him in the chaos she might never find him again. She was terrified. The little girl with the soft blonde hair jumped as a hand came down on her head, resting there, forcing her bangs to poke her eyeballs. She blinked and tried to look up but could not move her head under the weight of hand. She shivered.

The man belonging to the hand knelt down to her level, smiling, two teeth missing. "Well, missy. what do you think of the American waterfront?" The tiny six year old girl cowered behind her father’s leg.

He placed a hand reassuringly on her head and translated for her. She looked up at her papa, her life, then back at the big black man with the missing teeth and the bulging biceps.

She tried to repeat the foreign name to him in English, the letters rolling around her tongue in some weird form. She had learned only a few words on the boat from her father. He wanted her to learn English right away, but it was so much for one little mind to digest.

"She’s sweet, Ramirez. Take good care of her."

"Thank you," Manny whispered. "Jake, where do I go to get paid?" he asked hopefully.

"Right, right right. Follow me to the dock captain’s office." He took the duffel from Manny’s shoulder without another word and strode off, Manny walking quickly, Angie breaking into a run to keep up with the big man.

"You’re a hard worker Ramirez. There may be work for you loading trucks in the warehouse. I’ll see what I can do." Manny shook the man’s hand, thanking him profusely as they entered the trailer that was the dock captain’s office. Angie sat on the step with the duffel bag watching the
hustle and bustle of the docks with wide eyes.
 

Chapter 2  
 
 

Manny Ramirez stood in the dock captain’s office looking from the captain behind the desk to the big man beside him.

"But my daughter, I have no place to take her. We just arrived in thiscountry ten minutes ago."

"She’s not allowed in the warehouse, Ramirez. You are illegal, you have no papers, You look pretty scrawny to me. If it wasn’t for Jake’s recommendation , I wouldn’t give you the time of day. Work is hard to find. It’s all I got. Take it or leave it."

Manny didn’t know what to say. He had been offered a good job that would help him find them a home but the man expected him to just leave his daughter to start now, without a thought to her welfare. He had no place to bring her, but she wasn’t allowed to stay.

Big Jake looked at the captain. "The girl can stay with me. If she stays on the steps I can watch her while the ship is being unloaded."

Manny looked at him, his eyes wide. The stranger, a man he feared for his large size had not only recommended him for a job but was offering to watch his daughter for him while he worked.

"I couldn’t ask you..."

The captain cut him off. "Done." With a wave of his hand he dismissed the two men.

Angela Ramirez sat crying silently as she peered up into her father’s liquid brown eyes. He gripped her shoulders and smiled. "I know you are very tired, Angel. And the last couple of weeks has been very strange for you. But I need this work so we can have a place to stay. It is the first step to bring your mama to you. Jake will look after you while I’m gone. He’ll be right over there. Please be brave for me, sweetheart."

The girl nodded but the tears did not stop.

The large black man knelt down on front of her. His arms were bigger than her head. He put one hand behind his bulging biceps and made the tattoo of the mermaid move. Angela smiled. He patted her on the head and stood up. Manny reached down into his duffel bag, pulling out a teddy bear.

It was old and battered, missing one arm and a button eye, stuffing beginning to creep out at the seams down its back. It was the only toy Manny and his wife had ever been able to afford for the girl and he had almost left it behind in his haste to make the freighter in Havana.

The girl took it eagerly from her father and he walked away as she spoke to the bear in Spanish, telling it about their long journey. Manny thanked Jake for his kindness as he was pointed away from the docks towards the warehouse. He hated to leave the girl alone, but at this point he needed the money so badly.
 

Chapter 3  

It had been a few hours since her father had left her and Angela Ramirez sat on the steps holding her battered teddy bear to her heart watching the hustle and bustle of the docks of NYC. She was looking past the men and cranes and boxes to a freighter being docked in the distance by two
tug boats.

Her concentration was broken by a plastic toy jeep crashing into her foot. She looked down at it and then around at the stairs, buildings and boxes, wondering where it had come from.

The petite Spanish girl had leaned down to pick up the toy, gripping her teddy bear to her chest, when she saw the boy approaching. She sat up straight immediately and watched him walk towards her, a big grin on his face. He was tall and gawky, his wavy brown hair covering his eyes. He blew his bangs up off his face as he sat down on the cold asphalt in front of her, pulling his baseball jacket closer around him. He held a plastic GI Joe doll in his hand. He looked at the jeep at Angela’s feet, then at her.

"Go, ahead, You can play with it. Your old man dump you down here for Jake to watch too?"

She stared at him blankly, not comprehending the strange words.

"What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

She repeated the only word she understood, "Cat."

"I take it that’s a yes."

The boy placed his doll in the plastic jeep. It was much too large for the small vehicle, its torso and arms sticking out over the roll bar at a weird angle. Then he pushed it away on the cement, saying "VVRRROOOMMMM" to the chill air.

He was back shortly, scooting along the ground with his toys. He was talking to himself incessantly. He stopped in front of her, eyeing her stuffed teddy bear. She hugged it closer to her chest as she followed his gaze.

"No, no ,no, girlie. I don’t want to steal it. I just want to play with you. I don’t get a lot of company around here ya know." He frowned as she began talking rapidly in Spanish.

His eyes lit up and he placed the toys in her lap. She screamed for brief instant as she watched him step away and sit down.

She took the jeep in her hand, and pushed it along the ground and picked it up, delighted and fascinated by the spinning wheels. She looked into the warm brown eyes of the boy in front of her and for the first time since being torn from her mother’s arms, she giggled.

"Alright, we’re making progress, eh?" The boy pointed to the teddy bear in her arms. "We’d have more fun if that bear was a one-armed monster. What d’ya say?" He pointed again to the bear.

Angela looked at the three toys in her lap, slowly handing the bear to him. He placed it on the ground near them, its one arm outstretched. Then he grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet. He began talking again as she looked at him blankly, not understanding. She caught the occasional familiar sounding word but she sat on the ground trying to mimic his actions. Together, they were helping GI Joe save the wharf from the evil giant one armed monster of a teddy bear.

After a couple of hours the boy looked at her quizzically, then at their monster. "You know, girlie, our monster really does need two eyes." With that he ripped a button off his shirt, a small blue one, and picked up a paper clip from the stairs, breaking it in half, using it to secure the
button to the bear’s head.

Angela clapped her hands together, her eyes lighting up as she spoke rapidly in Spanish. He just smiled a big toothy grin. "Sorry, girlie. Don’t get a word, but you're welcome all the same."
 

To be continued