by Regina Rheda
In the lobby of the Pillars of Society Club, Leona was now skipping around the armchair, clockwise and counterclockwise, over and over. At the same time, she was eating some peanut brittle that her teacher had chosen for her from a tray of sweets, courtesy of Sublime Decay Candies and Confections. Since the beginning of the event, Miss Norma, while roaming all over the place to mingle with the participants and establish useful connections, had kept a watchful eye on Leona. It was clear to her that the girl was becoming increasingly impatient, her little face wrinkling from stress. Miss Norma was worried. Leona’s fatigue might cause her to underperform while on the air, which would be devastating. The radio intern seemed oblivious of the girl’s growing uneasiness. He was just concerned with the adult speakers and the businesses and institutions they were representing. Three Little Piggies Construction. The City Council. Fine Barrel Liquor Store. The Princess and the Pea Luxury Resort and Hotel. Bloody Forks Meatpacking Company. The mayor’s wife.
Miss Norma approached Leona and told her to sit down and to keep practicing her speech in her mind. The girl sat on her little pile of Disney comics. The peanut brittle was making her thirsty. She glimpsed at her mother through the cracks in the wall formed by the grownups. Susi was focused on chatting with a tall gentleman who was donating a rosary made of gold beads. Leona asked Miss Norma for a bottle of guarana soda. The teacher promptly gave her one and headed for the studio.
Soda bottle in one hand and typed sheet in the other, Leona dutifully read her speech to herself once again. The perfume in the smoky air didn’t sit well with the sweetness of the peanut-brittle-and-soda mix, and she started to feel sick. Her teacher came back, bringing along a smiley older man with a little moustache and yellow teeth.
“Miss Norma, can I do my speech right away?” the girl anxiously asked.
“We’ll see, my dear,” Miss Norma said, and turned to the older man. “Mr. Cardoso, this is my student, Leona Silva.”
He bent forward to be able to place his yellow-toothed, mustached smile close to Leona’s cheerless face. He read her badge.
“Leona Silva, Little Rain Forest Elementary. You’re a sweet little patriot, aren’t you? Are your little schoolmates glued to the radio just to listen to you?”
“Yes,” the girl murmured. “And my uncle Joel promised to come here to see me.”
“You should be proud,” the older man said. “This is a great day for our country.”
His breath smelled like her dad’s, which her mother used to say stank of alcohol. She covered her nose with her hand. Her teacher quickly grabbed her hand and kept it in hers. Mr. Cardoso straightened up his spine.
Miss Norma told him, “Leona is the valedictorian, Mr. Cardoso. The principal and I chose her to represent our school because we believe she’s the perfect symbol of the promising and brilliant future of our great country.” She turned to Leona. “Tell Mr. Cardoso here that you’re very proud to deliver a speech on his radio station.”
Leona said to Mr. Cardoso what her teacher had told her to say, and then asked him to let her do her speech right away.
“You’ll do it very soon, sweetheart,” Mr. Cardoso said. “Right after the ambassador’s phone call.”
Miss Norma looked disappointed. “Phone call? Wasn’t the American ambassador supposed to be here in person?”
“He couldn’t leave the nation’s capital just to come to Guava City! Too many things on his plate these days.”
“I understand,” Miss Norma said, concealing her resentment. “Anyway, we should all be very grateful that he’s taking care of us South Americans. Were it not for him and that other diplomat, the military attaché, what’s his name, our former president would still be in power…”
Mr. Cardoso interrupted her. “The ambassador is vehemently denying his own involvement, you know.”
“Obviously! As much as he denied that the American government regards South America as the United States’ backyard.”
“He’s a diplomat. That’s what diplomats do.”
“Actually, for my part, I don’t mind being regarded as the United States’ backyard. It makes me feel we’re family.”
“That’s the spirit, Miss Norma.”
The teacher felt a tug on her skirt and looked down. It was Leona asking for her attention, shifting in her seat and looking miserable. Miss Norma turned to the older man. “Mr. Cardoso, this little girl has been here for more than two hours. She’s tired and sleepy. Please allow her to do her speech right away. She needs to be back home.”
Mr. Cardoso looked at his watch and then bent forward again, his face almost touching Leona’s. He said in a playful falsetto, “Sure, I’ll tell my intern to come and get this smart, pretty speaker in a moment. Please hold on a sec.”
As he moved away toward the studio, he left a waft of alcohol in his wake.
“You stay put,” Miss Norma told Leona. “I’m going to tell your mom that you’re next.”
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