“It was your mother’s idea,” Tatay said. “She was just enamored with the baby girl.” It was no secret that Nanay yearned for a daughter. Nanay cooked extra the next few weeks for Belen and Linda.
“I hope Karrto and Linda do not think that they can have as many children as there are combinations with the name ‘Linda,’” Tatay mentioned at breakfast, while folding his paper for easy reading.
“AGUSTIN, GIVE ME the shirt that I bought you a few weeks ago,” Nanay called to me. She was in our backyard harvesting guavas.
I took the shirt from my aparador. It was a Saturday, and the novena would be that night, but she still took time to wash my shirt as it had been in the closet for quite some time. I walked to the back of our hut and handed it to Nanay. She sat at the pozo with a batya in front
