Sila was hoping Gio would take them to the edge of the pond, but instead he said, “Why don’t you let them go from up here? They’ll roll down the hill.”
As much as Sila wanted to get closer to the enormous animal, the idea of watching watermelons spiral down the hill sounded great. She got out of the cart and Mateo wordlessly followed. Sila went first. She set her watermelon on the ground and let it go. The melon started rotating slowly, but as it continued downhill it gathered speed. It hit the pond with a splash, and she and Gio and her father cheered. Mateo’s fingers spread wide and his hands flapped in a rhythmic way. It wasn’t clapping. But it was a celebration.
The group watched from their high vantage point as Veda headed to the melon. She wrapped her trunk around the twenty-pound fruit as if it were a grape, lifted it out of the water, and popped it into her mouth. With a single jaw motion she crushed it in an explosion of pink juice and smashed rind.
Alp was impressed. “Whoa! There’s no question Veda loves watermelon.”
Sila agreed, adding, “She’s so strong but also kind of delicate.”
“In brute strength, there is no mammal stronger than an elephant,” Gio said, adding, “Mateo, you’re up.”
It was Mateo’s turn to send a watermelon down the hill, and now Veda was ready. Mateo was cautious as he set the watermelon on the ground. He let go, and this time as the spinning fruit came toward her Veda kept it from hitting the water by stopping it with her foot.
Sila cheered, “She’s a soccer player!”
Sila took the melon that her father was holding and released it down the hill. This time the rotating watermelon hit a sharp rock at the wrong angle and it split apart, sending red chunks in multiple directions.
Mateo’s first words that day loud enough for everyone to hear were: “We should have brought more watermelons.”
Sila started to laugh and after a long moment Mateo started laughing too. It must have been infectious, because soon they were all laughing and Veda was stamping her feet in the pond, making the water splash. Sila decided it was her way of joining in too.
* * *
At exactly noon Mateo turned to Sila and said, “It’s almost time for my tuna fish sandwich.”
The tone of his voice made it clear that eating was a big priority. Gio put the golf cart in reverse as Sila said goodbye to Veda. She could have stayed all day watching her. The elephant changed how she felt about the world. It took away her anxiety about her mother. It made her optimistic about life again.
They arrived back at the farmhouse and got the food out of Alp’s car. Then they all sat together at the old picnic table on the front porch. Sila didn’t ever eat tuna fish sandwiches because she didn’t like the idea of fish that came in a can, but there were small pieces of celery and bits of cut-up apples mixed in the tuna fish on a very interesting seedy bread, so it tasted pretty good. Her father and Gio both commented on the crunch of the thing.
Mateo ate his sandwich in silence, all the while staring out at the property. When he was done with the tuna he removed a small ziplock bag with seven almonds and carefully ate each one.
Gio did most of the talking, explaining to the group, “I’m refining how I feed Veda. I have hay and grain delivered, along with a wholesale order of carrots, onions, and sweet potatoes from a produce distributor. A truck comes every Monday. And I made a deal with the gardeners who work at the college. I pay them to bring all their clippings here. The grass, the branches, everything. It’s a lot of green stuff.”
Sila asked, “You can’t just order elephant food?”
“Oh, I do that too. There’s a place in Indiana that makes exotic animal supplements. The elephant pellets come in fifty-pound bags. I mix that in with fruit and grain. It’s got all the vitamins and minerals she’s supposed to have. Veda spends pretty much all day eating. Believe me, the only thing worse than a hungry elephant is being a person trying to feed a hungry elephant.”
Sila was sympathetic. “It takes a lot of effort just for me and Dad to put together a meal.”
“I’ve never worked harder. But I’ve never felt so good about it. I’ve got a five-thousand-pound reason to get up in the morning.”
Sila noticed that Mateo had been staring at the results of all the elephant feeding. He seemed alarmed as he pointed to the bread-loaf-sized elephant turds that were all over the property, and said, “The poops should be gathered up.”
Gio laughed. “She’s a dung factory, that’s for sure.”
Mateo continued, “It needs to be organized. Put in one place. It’s not good to have it everywhere.”
Sila suddenly saw Mateo’s point. “There are a lot of flies and who knows what else surrounding each of those poop piles.”
“Well, maybe, Mateo, you’re right,” said Gio.
Once the sandwiches and chips and almonds and cookies were all gone, Mateo again asked about Veda’s bricks of dung.
“Mateo and I could just pick up some of the stuff.” Sila smiled at Gio and saw he was considering the situation.
“Okay then, I’ll pay you.”
“You don’t have to do that. We want to do it. Right, Mateo?”
He was already on his feet. There were two wheelbarrows next to the barn and he was heading toward one.
25.
Alp had work gloves in his car and the kids each put on a pair. It was decided that they would take the manure to an area behind the barn. As Alp and Gio sipped lemonade at a distance, deep in conversation, the kids pushed wheelbarrows. When they had collected everything Veda had dropped around the farmhouse and in the barn, they started picking up dung on the dirt road that led toward the pond.
Time slipped away. Alp and Gio had been on the front porch talking for over an hour. Alp didn’t get the chance to sit outdoors very often. He worked. He came home. He took care of his daughter. Then that cycle repeated itself. Since his wife had been gone, he hadn’t wanted to leave Sila alone. They didn’t go to the park or even take walks like they used to do. Alp missed that. He understood now that Sila probably did as well. Alp checked his watch and called out reluctantly to the kids that it was time to go.
Sila hollered back, “You’ve got to see what we did!”
The kids directed the two men behind the barn to an elephant turd pile.
“Well, will you look at that?” Gio said. “It’s like a one-story mound of brown bread loaves!”
Alp shared only part of his enthusiasm. “Until you get close. The stuff has a pretty strong smell.”
Gio laughed. “I’ve already gotten used to it, but I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have close neighbors.”
The old man reached into his pants pocket and took out two twenty-dollar bills. “You kids did a great job,” he said as he handed Sila and Mateo each the cash.
Alp made an attempt to stop him. “No. They were happy to help clean up.”
Sila agreed. “My dad’s right. We did it for fun.”
Mateo added, “And because organizationally it was the correct thing to do.”
But Gio held firm. “Nope. It was a job. I won’t have it any other way. You get paid for work.”
Gio’s words echoed in Sila’s ears: “You get paid for work.” Suddenly she saw an opportunity for herself this summer. School would be out soon. In the past Sila had found jobs babysitting some of the little kids who lived in the apartment building. She’d also helped a woman down the street pull weeds in her garden. But this would be something a thousand times better. She could save the money and use it to help her mom. She would be outside. She would be with Veda. She would spend time with Mr. Gio Gardino. There was nothing that sounded better.
They were walking toward her father’s car when she said rapidly, “Gio, the school year’s almost over. Do you think I could come out here to work this summer? I could clean up after Veda, and put the hay in the barn. I’m sure th
ere are all kinds of things that need to be done. Maybe Mateo could work with me out here.”
Sila wasn’t sure why she was including Mateo. He could be annoying. But at the same time, it didn’t feel right to leave him out. He was standing there at her side listening to her make her case, and she wanted to be a caring person. What difference did it make if he only wanted tuna fish for lunch or if he kicked the back of her seat? He didn’t ever judge what she did—at least she couldn’t think of a time that he had. Gathering up the elephant turds had been his idea. How could she leave him out now?
Mateo didn’t say anything, but Alp did. “Sila, listen, you can’t just ask—”
Gio interrupted, looking right at Sila. “I was just thinking how great it would be to have you two kids out here to help me.”
“You were?”
“You could be my first real employees. I’ve had other workers, but no one yet who comes every day.”
Sila tried to keep her excitement in check. “Really?”
“Yes. Really.”
“Mateo and I live on the same street. Once school’s over, we’d be able to ride our bikes out here.”
The boy at her side was staring at the leaves moving in a birch tree. The wind had suddenly picked up. Was Mateo paying attention? Sila’s father certainly was. Alp’s voice was agitated. “I don’t know about riding your bike and I really don’t know if it’s safe for you kids to be out here with the elephant.”
Gio responded, “I would never put the kids in danger.”
Mateo looked up. “I would like to be put in danger,” he said, adding, “Also, the elephant poop could be worth money. It’s not every day people have access to something like that.”
Sila wondered if this was true. Mateo was an expert in a number of things. Sila smiled at Gio and decided to make it seem like this was something she and Mateo had discussed. “We’ve got a whole plan about what we want to do with the stuff.”
There was no plan. But Mateo didn’t contradict her, which he could have done.
Sometimes, Sila decided, saying you have a plan is the first step in making one.
It was agreed that nothing was agreed, which is actually a form of an agreement as far as Sila was concerned.
After one more trip in the golf cart to the pond to see Veda, they said their goodbyes and found themselves back in the car heading home. Alp turned on the radio, which was set to the local classical music station. Sila was going to ask if they could listen to something else when she heard from the back seat, “Clementi: Symphony Number Two in D.” Alp looked over at his daughter. Sila only shrugged. They kept the radio on the classical station for the rest of the ride.
As soon as they pulled up to the curb in front of Mateo’s house, his mother came out the front door. Mrs. Lopez was halfway down the walkway when she called out anxiously, “How did you do? How was the day?”
Mateo strode toward the front door without answering. His eyes were on Waffles. Sila could see the dog jumping up and down at one of the front windows. Mateo didn’t say goodbye to Sila or her father, and he didn’t say thank you for the time together. But he also didn’t say hello to his mother as he passed. Sila got out of the car with the empty grocery bag and thermos in her hands.
“Thanks for lunch. The sandwiches were great and I don’t even like tuna fish.”
“So you had a good time?”
Alp turned off the engine and stepped out of the car. Sila liked that he was polite that way. “It was a lot of fun,” he said. “And I think your son enjoyed himself.”
“I’m just—I’m, well—I’m so grateful to you for taking him.”
“Our pleasure. He’s a good kid.”
Sila had never heard Mateo described that way before. Mateo was interesting. He was smart. He was a really different kid. Sila looked at Mrs. Lopez and could see that she was about to explode with happiness, so she offered up, “I took a lot more pictures. They’re on my dad’s phone. I can send them to you.”
“That would be fantastic! And I sent the first picture to my parents. And also to Mateo’s father.”
Sila didn’t think whether or not it was polite before asking, “Where’s his dad live?”
“In Dallas.” Mrs. Lopez then volunteered, “He’s an aerospace engineer. Consumed with his work, really. He doesn’t see Mateo much.”
So his parents didn’t live together. But by choice. Sila felt bad about that.
Mateo came back outside with Waffles on a leash. It was just the opening Sila needed. “What’s Mateo got planned for the summer?”
Mrs. Lopez looked from Mateo back to Sila as she said, “Well, my first idea was to send Mateo to see my parents in Mexico City.”
Mateo gave the leash a single tug and Waffles sat down. He then said, “But I’m not doing that.”
Mrs. Lopez continued, “So then we started looking into coding camp. There’s a program at the university for kids with high mathematical aptitude.”
Mateo shrugged. “I don’t know if I’m going to that.”
Sila looked at her father. She could tell he wanted to leave. But she pressed on. “Today an opportunity came up for Mateo and me for the summer.”
“Opportunity?”
Alp answered before Sila could. “My daughter would like to help out at Mr. Gardino’s property this summer. I’m not sure it’s going to happen. It only came up today. There’s no decision made on that.”
Mrs. Lopez turned to her son. He said, “Yeah. Me and Sila could go out there together.”
It felt to Sila as if she had been waiting for this cloudy Oregon moment. Mateo was standing beside her now, and the two of them had a kind of force she didn’t believe she’d feel on her own as she said, “I know you work. And so does my dad. Mateo and I would be outside all day and get a lot of exercise because besides the work, we could ride our bikes there and back.”
“Ride your bikes?”
Mrs. Lopez looked skeptical.
She took a few moments, then answered, “I don’t know. I need to think about it.”
Mateo leaned back down to pet his dog. “You always say I spend too much time playing video games. There’s no computer involved in pushing a wheelbarrow. Only I bet at some point in the future robots will be able to do that.”
Alp put his hand on Sila’s shoulder gently. “We need to go now, honey.”
Sila nodded and turned toward the car. As she opened the door she looked back at Mrs. Lopez and said, “You work from home on Thursdays, right?”
Mrs. Lopez nodded. “I do.”
“We could talk about it more then. I could come over after school. What do you do again, Mrs. Lopez?”
“I’m a lawyer.”
Sila’s father spoke once they were back in the car. “I haven’t said yes to any of this, Sila.”
“But you haven’t said no.”
“I’d worry about you out there.”
“I appreciate the caring part, but we can’t worry about disaster all the time.”
“I don’t think I do that. Do you think I do that?”
Sila nodded. “Because of Mom.”
Alp exhaled in a long, slow way. “I’m sorry, Sila.”
She realized her father had just spent a big part of his day driving her and Mateo out to see an elephant. He could have tried to get an extra shift at work and earned more money. She wasn’t showing her gratitude. She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder.
“No, I’m sorry, Dad.”
He didn’t say anything, and Sila shut her eyes. When she next opened them, they were pulling into their parking space at the apartment building on Cleary Road.
26.
That night in her room Sila set to work making a drawing of Veda.
She could have looked at the photos she took on her dad’s phone, but she decided to make the picture the way s
he saw Veda in her mind’s eye. The end result found the elephant to be enormous and Gio’s pond small. She may have gotten the proportions wrong, but she was expressing what she felt. At the bottom of the drawing she wrote her father a note:
Papa,
Thank you for today. I know I’m lucky because you and Mom are people who took risks in your lives. You did that by leaving one country and going to another one for a better life.
If we hadn’t both been out to meet Gio and to see Veda, I would have to explain to you that he is a good person, and that I feel something bigger than words when I’m with his beautiful elephant. But you’ve been there, so you know.
I want to work at Gio’s this summer.
I want to be with Veda.
I’m hoping you let me.
Love you, Sila
Veda was in the barn inside the newly built metal enclosure, which guaranteed she was secure for the night. Gio had put out fresh hay, refilled her water, and gone into the farmhouse. He had returned to sleeping in his bed under the comforter that Lillian had made another lifetime ago. He could sometimes imagine that his wife was there beside him, unseen in the darkness. There were times he put a pillow where her body should have been, tricking himself into believing things were different. His thoughts were of her now, but then shifted to Sila and her friend. They had both known his wife. She had been their teacher. Lillian’s students filled the place in her heart that would have held her own children.
Did he feel so connected to the young girl because she’d known his wife? There was something about Sila that brightened his day. It was her spirit. She was like Veda. She confirmed to him that the world was still filled with surprise.
For the next few days Sila and her father didn’t talk about her upcoming summer vacation or Veda or Mateo Lopez. But Alp taped Sila’s note with the drawing of the elephant onto the refrigerator door. She took this to be a good sign.
The Elephant in the Room Page 9