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CONTRAST - 40

A SPANISH 21ST

BY SHANNON MCCLELLAN

"He's five?!" Jen exclaimed. "Bullshit. Tell me you're fucking bullshitting me
right now."

I could really only laugh when Jen talked. I nodded my head yes in response.
"Yep, he's five."

Jen had just returned to her host family after a fifteen day backpacking trip
across northern Europe and her eyes looked even darker than I remembered. She
rested her elbow on the top of the couch and folded her knees underneath her. Vir-
ginia, Jen's host mom, and Carmina, my host mom, had left us to chat while they
went for a late night walk.

She exhaled. "Fuck, man. Oh hold on ... Manuela! Tell them to stop. Stop, ok?
End it. Got that? Go play in there. The room, ok? Got it?" Jen yelled to the oldest
of her three host kids. They could speak very minimal English. Manuela, still in awe
of and sizing up the new stranger in her home, nodded her head and left to corral
her siblings.

"But Shannon, that Mario kid? When Virginia first pointed him out to me I was
spooked. Seriously, Shannon, the kid is huge. He creeps me the fuck out with his
giant head and fucking insane ass creepy smile."

I started to laugh at her as she took a sip of wine.
"There is something wrong with him" I explained. "He has to go to a child
psychiatrist because the school won't let him attend unless he does. He used to go
around literally chomping on kids, like not just biting them, viciously munching on
them."
Jen nearly spit out her wine when I spoke, and looked at me with her wide dark
eyes. I watched her hand on the glass, gently placing it on the table while the wine
settled and the sides of the glass looked all filmy and soft. I could feel the tension
loosening in my chest every time she responded incredulously when I told her
about the kids; I started to think it wasn't wrong or weak of me to want to leave.
Jen and I barely knew each other. We met briefly before when she was dump-
ing her suitcases at her host family's home before she left on her backpacking
trip. Our host moms had thought the introductory meeting appropriate since we
were two young American female au pairs and neighbors for that entire summer in
Spain. This was our first time really getting to know one another, and even though
she was harsh and somewhat crass, I felt at ease with her because her eyes were
always honest.
When Jen returned from her trip, she texted me before I came over to hang
out: "Well they fucking lied to me, goddamn company. These kids don't speak any
English, except for Manuela who can somewhat understand basic commands. And
I speak shit Spanish so these next ten weeks are going to be a fucking joyride."
Jen's kids weren't as advertised, but they were a hell of a lot better than mine.
I texted back and told her I could help with the kids since we'd be at the pool
every day together anyways and I was a fluent Spanish speaker.
I didn't mind. I needed a friend.
The company had lied to me, too.