Late

February 10, 2008

I was late today for a very absurd reason. I watched cartoons on YouTube. The little girl wanted to accompany me to the office for the third time this week. I bribed her with toons so she would stay home.

While combing my hair, I had this crazy idea to introduce my daughter to the old cartoons I grew up loving. Try heigh-ho, I told Allaine. The dwarves at the mines would amuse her.

They progressed from Snow White, Little Mermaid, to Lion King. By the time they were on to Following the Leader, I’d given up combing my hair and had joined them singing.

We used to sing this, my sister said, grinning. We used to march to this song, with you acting all leader-ly and important. We’d follow you from the living room to the kitchen and the whole time, you’d bang on a huge Nido can with a spoon.

Mama banged on a Nido can?

Yes, but that’s not all she used to do. She used to tell us the old mansanitas tree across the street is a fairy kingdom, and that if we climbed all the way to the top, we can eat all the mansanitas we want and grow silver wings.

Don’t tell her that story, I admonished. The story had ended badly. We’d clambered all the way to the top, and roughly ten minutes after, Lolo Ogie stood below us, threatening to lop our limbs off with the bolo he was holding if we do not make our way down instantly. At the time, I thought he over-reacted, but I understand him now. The mansanitas tree stood to the right of a very busy highway. Anyone who falls off a branch could only land on two places: the pavement or the top of a moving vehicle. In retrospect, dismemberment by bolo hacking is a more appealing alternative to certain death.

But I digress. I was late this morning because I watched cartoons on YouTube and ended up singing Following the Leader, Kiss the Girl, and Under the Sea. I didn’t want to go to work, truth be told, but I didn’t have much of a choice because if I could finish checking the payslips before noon, then it’s possible we could swing payday today, instead of tomorrow; and really, in the grand scheme of things, one girl’s love affair with cartoons is peanuts compared to the replenishment of almost 80 people’s personal coffers.