Ensenada Summer

“Aguacate, agaucate!”, my cousin sings at the top of his lungs to his summertime crush.

A small bundle of freshly picked weeds with the white buds clenched tightly in his hand.

The rest of us laugh and poke fun at him as he walks atop the rock wall that divides her

house from ours. He sounds more like an alley cat in heat than a young boy in love. His

serenade is accompanied by the sweet melody of his bare feet combined with a days’

worth of sand and salt from the playa nearby. He is oblivious to the fact his newfound

love is locked up tight inside like RapunzeI and is probably not aware of his candid

display of affection. Besides the fact he was shouting avocado which is not very

romantic but since his Spanish is limited to five words, queso, tortillas, salsa, guacamole

and aguacate, it would have to do.

My face feels tight when I smile and is warm to the touch from spending one too many

hours frolicking in the ocean waves. I continue to watch my cousin in the light of the now

full moon. I feel the growing distance between us as he is now a teenager, and I still

have two years to catch up. Why do things have to change? I take a drink of my Team

and shout “Again, Pablito!” and we laugh into the night.