Thursday, July 22, 2010
Chapter Four: An Invasion of Thieves
"Katrin, would you go to the co-op for me?" Mrs. Perez asked. "I am so forgetful. I was at the market the other day yet I forgot to buy cooking oil. Here's the bottle and the money."
"Wait, I'm coming too," said Aian, who was lurking around the kitchen. Their mother gave him a questioning look, but nodded, and Aian took his baseball cap off a hook by the door and put it on. The twins went out the kitchen door.
"Why don't we take the shortcut through the Barrios land? After all, it's nearer," Aian suggested.
"Hmph, you just want to see the cottage for yourself. Mama needs this cooking oil at once," Katrin said.
"But it's a nearer route, Kat, we'll be there and back in the same time it would take if we just took the road," Aian said, pulling her in the direction of the orchard.
Getting into the thicket was easier now that Katrin knew the route. Aian went round the little cottage, trying to peek through cracks in the walls and windows, but the inside was too dim for him to make out any details. He glared at the padlock.
"One thing's for sure, Kat," he said, "this padlock was put here after the Barrioses had left. I know Tito Alex didn't lock this up; he figured it would just fall to pieces anyway and said as much."
"Maybe Papa put that there?" Katrin said, the idea having just occurred to her. "In that case we don't have to worry about it... no one else could get in there."
Aian looked at her.
"You want to ask him?"
Katrin bared her teeth at him and he laughed.
"Come on," he said, taking the bottle. "We still have to get to the store."
Katrin followed him back through the thicket. Just before she stepped through the gap, her foot kicked something and she looked down. It was a shiny beer bottle cap.
"I swear, sis, you can be so slow sometimes," Aian complained.
"Am not, too," said Katrin as they walked back into the mango orchard. She took a few steps ahead of him. "In fact... race you to the opposite fence!" she said and ran.
"Aargh!" said Aian, but he gripped the bottle tightly and ran after her.
Katrin reached the barbed-wire fence on the other side of the orchard a few moments before Aian did. Laughing and gasping for breath, she stuck out her tongue at him.
"Who's a slowpoke now, bro?" she asked.
"No fair, I was carrying the bottle and I was scared it would fall," he said.
"Excuses, excuses," said Katrin, climbing through a broken place in the wire then waiting for him to climb through. The two emerged into a lane with houses on both sides. At the end, they could see the co-op store beside the basketball court.
"Heard we have new neighbors," said the woman who managed the store, as she took the bottle and the money.
"Yes, we do, Manang Betya," Katrin said.
"Did they buy the Mansion from the Seromines family?" Manang Betya asked, sticking a funnel into the bottle and refilling it from a gallon tank of cooking oil in the corner.
"No, Manang Betya, their mother is a Seromines," said Katrin.
"You don't mean to say! Which one? Dolores?"
"No, Manang Betya... Tita Anna."
"Anna! That's right, she was your mother's best friend when they were small. Well, well. Anna Seromines is back."
"Yes, Manang Betya. Only she's a Nolasco now. And she's got a daughter my age too!" Katrin couldn't help grinning as she spoke.
"Oh! Good for you, then, Kat. It must have been lonely since Shy moved away, huh?"
"Kat! Aian!" Someone hailed them, and the twins turned to see two of their schoolmates, who had been playing basketball on the court in front of the co-op and had stopped upon seeing them.
"Hey, Eddie! Toffee!" Aian said. "How are you?" The boys came over and punched Aian in the arm playfully, the way all boys and even men greeted one another, and Aian smacked them on the back in return.
"Fine, bro," Toffee said. "Fine," Eddie echoed, "except that someone robbed our house last night!"
"What! Robbed your house!" Katrin exclaimed. "We passed by there earlier." Eddie's house was the last house but one on the lane the twins had taken earlier, before it reached the Barrios property.
"Yes," Manang Betya said. "Tenang (that was Eddie's mother's name) was here earlier, cursing the thieves. Eddie here had forgotten his radio cassette and left it on their front porch, along with his new shoes, and this morning they were gone."
"Well," Eddie said, scratching his head, "Manang Betya, it was our house and our porch! No one in Riverside is a thief, surely!"
"Scary!" Toffee agreed. "I'm putting the dog outside at night, too. That way no one can get into our yard."
"Unless the thieves steal your dog for pulutan!" Katrin said jokingly.
"God forbid! I'd never rest till I tracked them down!" Toffee was fond of his pet dog, a big brown shaggy askal named Tagpi.
"Funny thing is, Rick complained the other day that his clothes had been stolen from their clothesline," said Manang Betya, rubbing her chin musingly. Rick was another one of Katrin and Aian's schoolmates.
"Knowing Rick, he's just misplaced them," Katrin pointed out. Rick was notorious for misplacing things.
"Not his clothes," Manang Betya said, laughing. "His mother had a fit, as she had just finished laundering them an hour or so before."
"Well, that's different," Aian said. Where Rick was untidy, his mother was obsessed with keeping things tidy.
"Manang Betya, another beer grande please," said one of their neighbors, who had been drinking with his buddies in the small bamboo gazebo between the co-op and the basketball court. Manang Betya fetched it and gave it to him.
"Hm, gotta put more bottles in the ref," said Manang Betya, going to the door of the co-op. "Oh, that's strange."
"What is it, Manang?" Aian asked.
"I could've sworn I still had two cases of beer left. Now there's only one," she answered, bringing several bottles of beer into the store and putting them into the refrigerator.
"Maybe you just miscounted, Manang Betya, you're getting old," Eddie teased her.
"Who's getting old? Off with you, Eddie Ferrer!" she indignantly said. "I haven't made a mistake in inventory here yet, your parents would have my hides if I did!" She got out her logbook and began tallying things.
"Well, we have to be off," said Katrin, taking the bottle of cooking oil. "Bye, everyone."
"Why are we having these thefts all of a sudden?" Aian wondered out loud as they walked back up the lane with the cooking oil.
"Yeah, it's weird," Katrin said. "I can't remember anything like this happening before. There are no robbers in Riverside, are there?"
"Who knows? Maybe they're not from Riverside. Maybe they're from other places. We're near a ford in the river... who knows if people have crossed over from the other bank?" Aian said.
"If they're from the other side... why do it now? Why didn't they do it before? that ford has always been there," Katrin argued, climbing back through the barbed wire as Aian held the strands apart for her. She then did the same for him.
"Maybe it's someone new," she speculated as they crossed the mango orchard. "Someone who has just come to this place."
"Hrm," said Aian. "Possible, sis. But are there any new people in Riverside?"
"Of course there are, there's bound to be," Katrin said. "The Nolascos, for one, are new."
Aian laughed.
"I hope you're not suggesting that the Nolascos are thieves," he said. "That's our mother's best friend you're talking about."
"Not to mention that they're rich," Katrin said. "Oh, well. There has got to be strangers around. People in Riverside simply don't steal from one another."
"Just the same," Aian said, "we should tell Papa and Mama. And make sure that we don't leave anything outside the house at night that's likely to be stolen."
"Yeah," Katrin agreed.
"And the Nolascos, too," Aian suddenly said. "They've got a lot more steal-able things than we have."
"Oh, Lord, yeah," Katrin said. "But talk about timing, we're going there for dinner tonight, aren't we? Oh no, what to wear?"
"Wear?" Aian said blankly.
"Don't tell me you are going to show up for dinner, in a mansion, wearing your shorts and white sando?" And Katrin pulled at the hem of the last-mentioned garment, a loose sleeveless racerback top.
Aian blushed suddenly.
"'Course not," he said quickly, opening the gate in the wall for her. "Come on, Mama will be wondering where we are."
Their mother, who had one eye on the clock and the other on the door, immediately took the cooking oil from them the moment they entered the kitchen and began to saute garlic, onions and tomatoes. A delicious smell filled the kitchen. Aian and Katrin sat at the table, sniffing the air hungrily, and told her about the thefts.
"Oh, goodness me, whatever is this world getting to?" Mrs. Perez exclaimed as she cooked. "This is not the big city where people steal clothes right off the clothesline! I must remember to tell Anna about this later. You children did remember we are going to have dinner at the mansion, right?"
"Uh, Mama," Aian began.
"Yes, Aian? And stop that, why are you two jostling each other?"
"Eh," Aian said. "Mama. Are we supposed to wear, er, anything special?"
His mother stopped and stared at him.
"I suppose jeans and a clean shirt will do. But for the love of God, Aian, not what you are wearing right now, if you don't want to shame your parents."
"Yes, Mama."
"And wear a dress, Kat," Mrs. Perez continued, which wiped the grin building on Katrin's face.
"Aw, Mama! If the boys get to wear jeans, why can't I?"
"Because girls always look better in dresses? Pie wears dresses."
"Not on this girl," Kat muttered. Since early childhood, she always had to be dragged and threatened, kicking and screaming, before she would put on a dress.
"The pink dress, Mama?" Aian asked, earning an elbow in the side from his sister.
"No, it's too dressy," Mrs. Perez said. "The one with the maroon roses, perhaps, Kat. And your red thong sandals."
Katrin buried her face in her hands. Where she had actually been looking forward to going to the Mansion again, she now dreaded it.
"And put your hair in a ponytail," said her mother.
"Rrrr," said Katrin, and did not add anything more.
"Kat, hurry up, Mama says!" Aian knocked at his sister's door that evening.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Katrin looked at herself in the mirror again. She was wearing the cream-colored sundress with maroon roses. It was round-necked and sleeveless, and had a garterized waistline. She had put her hair up in a ponytail secured with a red scrunchie, and the red thong sandals. "I hope this doesn't look too overdone," she muttered at her reflection and opened the door.
Aian was wearing blue jeans, a blue-and-gray t-shirt she recognized as one of his favorites, and Islander sandals. Behind him, Andy was similarly attired except that his t-shirt was red-and-white.
Even Kyle wore a presentable t-shirt with a Spiderman logo on it, and his good denim shorts and Islander sandals. Mr. and Mrs. Perez wore what Katrin called their go-to-town clothes; her father wore a white t-shirt with a snarling tiger on the front and blue jeans, and her mother wore a round-necked brown blouse, khaki capris, and sandals like Katrin’s own. They all piled into the tricycle, which Mr. Perez drove.
Katrin tugged uneasily at the waist of her dress.
“Stop fidgeting, Kat,” her mother said.
“Mama, I think this dress makes me look fat!” she said.
“No, it doesn’t, dear,” her mother said. “Just ask your father.”
“Papa, does my dress make me look fat?”
“Of course not, dear. Now where’s that turn… alley oop, there it is.” The tricycle turned off Riverside Road and onto a narrow lane that climbed the hill. The gates of the mansion swung open as they approached, and they went through and parked the tricycle in a cemented courtyard.
A girl came out to meet them and led them up a stone walk which Kat realized ended at the terrace overlooking the garden where she’d been on her previous visit.
“Ah, here they are!” Mrs. Nolasco exclaimed, coming forward to greet them and make introductions. She wore a simple maroon-colored dress and sandals. Mr. Nolasco, a tall, thin, nice-looking man with spectacles, wearing a white polo shirt and slacks under a white apron with the words “Daddy Cook” smiled at them from behind the barbecue grill he’d set up on the lawn. He was busy fanning some coals. Laid out on a small table beside the grill were fish, skewered meat, and even hotdogs for grilling. Michael was helping him and Jenny was watching them. Katrin looked around for Pie.
“I thought as it seemed such a lovely night we’d have dinner on the terrace,” said Mrs. Nolasco, and for the first time Kat noticed the long table set up along one end of the terrace. It was spread with a green tablecloth. Pie was setting out the dishes and directing the maid where to put the bowls she was holding.
“The fruit juice goes there and there,” Pie was saying. “Thank you, Lita, the salad goes there. Hey Kat!” Pie had spotted Katrin and now came towards her.
Katrin breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Pie was also wearing a dress, a little sleeveless, button-down, belted denim number. She had put up her straight hair into a messy bun held by a red clamp, revealing her earrings,two dangling big red plastic circles. She also wore two big red plastic bangles on each arm, and what looked like dainty blue-and-white plastic sandals.
“I like your outfit!” Katrin said, feeling positively dowdy.
‘Thanks!” Pie said. ‘I like yours too! It suits you!”
“Thanks!” Katrin said in return. Remembering her manners, she added, “Uh… can I help or anything?”
“It’s okay, I’ve got it covered,” Pie said. “If you’ll just leave a space for Daddy’s barbecue, Lita? There. Thank you. Mom, is the table okay now, do you think? I want to show Kat the house.”
“It’s all right dear, you and Kat go on,” Mrs. Nolasco said from where she was sitting beside Katrin’s mother. Mr. Perez and the boys had gone to join Mr. Nolasco at the grill and the two fathers were talking about something.
Pie led Katrin through the sliding doors that stood open, but that otherwise served to separate the terrace from the living room. Old photographs hung on the wall; newer ones stood on a cabinet. A huge oil painting of a rural landscape covered another wall. Huge blue-and-white porcelain jars stood in corners, behind a comfortably-stuffed dark-blue sofa and matching chairs and ottomans. A low table in the middle held a fishbowl full of rainbow-colored marbles on top of a lace runner, and the rack beneath it held glossy magazines.
Katrin went to look at the old photographs on the wall, walking across the wooden floor covered with a wide rug with huge flowers on it.
“Those are our great-grandparents,” Pie said of a faded sepia-toned photograph of a middle-aged couple, the man in a barong tagalog and the woman in a panuelo over a filmy Maria Clara blouse and with a lace veil over her hair. “And there’s my grandparents,” she pointed out a couple in more modern garb. “There’s Mom when she was our age.”
“She looks just like you, Pie!” Katrin observed, looking closely at the photograph of a girl in a psychedelic-print minidress and mules.
“Doesn’t she? Isn’t it uncanny?” Pie agreed. “Come on, here’s the kitchen. This is Tiya Cora, who cooks for us. She’s really our aunt because she’s Daddy’s cousin and she came with us all the way from Manila. Tiya, this is my friend Kat.”
“Hello, hello.” Tiya Cora was cheerfully plump, and wore an apron over a loose t-shirt and a long full skirt. “My kare-kare is almost ready. Would you like a taste?” She bustled around the large, well-lit kitchen.
Katrin looked at Pie dubiously, then took a cautious sip from the spoonful of what looked like golden-brown sauce that Tiya Cora was holding out to her. Her eyes widened.
‘Mmm, that’s very good!” she exclaimed. ‘But… does it really have peanuts in it?”
“You mean you’ve never tasted kare-kare before?” Pie asked in surprise. “It’s Tiya Cora’s specialty, and Daddy’s favorite.” Katrin nodded vigorously.
‘It tastes even better with bagoong alamang, and you are going to have it for dinner tonight,” Tiya Cora told her.
“Yes, we are!” Pie affirmed, pulling at Katrin. “Come on Kat, I’ll show you the rest of the house.” Katrin thanked Tiya Cora and followed Pie out.
Pie showed Katrin the library, which held a lot of books, a computer, and a corner that was, she said, her dad’s office when he was at home. There was also a family room, with a complete home entertainment system. Jenny’s toys were there too, and sports equipment and board games. Off the family room was the swimming pool on its own terrace, surrounded by tall hedges.
“You are all welcome to come swim, of course,” said Pie. She then led Katrin up a wide flight of stairs that had a landing halfway up before turning and continuing to the next floor. There was even a window seat in the window on the landing, and when Katrin went to this and looked out, she could see the terrace and everyone on it.
Her father and Mr. Nolasco were still talking, and both were smiling. Kyle and Jenny were having a discussion over a rubber ball. Aian and Andy had left the grill and gone to talk with their mother and Mrs. Nolasco, and Michael was alone at the grill, fanning furiously.
Pie pointed out the closed door to her parents’ room, and Jenny’s nursery next to it, and Michael’s beyond that. Then she opened the door to her room.
“Oh, Pie! You’re so lucky!” Kat exclaimed. Pie’s bedroom was easily twice the size of her own, and everything in it was color-coordinated, from the cream-colored curtains sprigged with tiny pink flowers and green leaves, to the bedspread and pillowcases in the same pattern on the queen-sized bed. Pie also had a window seat that served as a bookcase at the same time. A white closet with flowers stenciled on it and a matching chest of drawers stood against the wall, and a full-length oval mirror on its stand was in a corner. Near the window was a little white study table and a chair, and on the table was a laptop computer with its top down.
“It looks like a room in a magazine or on TV!” Katrin said. ‘It’s so pretty.”
“Thank you!” Pie said. “I picked out the colors and the furniture, and Mom helped me decorate.”
There was a knock on the door, and a girl called, “Miss Pie, your mother says dinner will be ready soon.”
“Thank you, Lita. We’ll be right there!” Pie answered. “Let’s go, Kat.”
Pie sat next to Katrin at dinner. The table was full of good things to eat. Aside from Tiya Cora’s kare-kare and the grilled fish and meat, there was afritada and adobo, and seaweed salad as well as a salad made from radishes, tomatoes and dried anchovies. There was also leche flan, fruit salad, and something that Pie called “buko pandan” that was tasty and refreshing.
“Mmmm,” said Aian, who was on the other side of Katrin. “This is good!”
“I’m glad you like it, Aian,” said Mrs. Nolasco. “More kare-kare?”
“Yes please!”
Across from Aian, Andy was also tucking in, while at the same time keeping an eye on Kyle who sat next to him.
The parents were talking about their children and how they were doing in school.
“I’m lucky, Anna,” Mrs. Perez said. “Andy and the twins are all in the honor roll at their school. Kyle also got honors in kindergarten and he will be in grade one this June.”
“Pie is also an honor student at her school,” said Mrs. Nolasco. “Jenny too.” Katrin suddenly noticed that Michael was not looking at anyone else but at his plate. He was not even eating.
“They must have gone to really good schools in Manila,” said Mr. Perez. “I hope it is not too hard on them to move here?”
The Nolascos exchanged swift glances, with the exception of Michael, who was still very interested in his plate. Pie was looking oddly at her brother, Katrin realized.
“It isn’t really, Tito,” Pie said quickly into the silence that was beginning to form. “Of course it was kind of sad, because I’ve lived in Manila all my life, but it is also exciting, moving here and meeting new friends.”
“We hope you like it here,” said Aian, smiling at her across his sister. “Of course, it’s very different from what you’re used to…”
“I’ll learn, I’ll learn,” said Pie. “And of course I have to work more on my Ilonggo. Mommy says people could sell me and I wouldn’t even know it.”
“We won’t sell you, Ate Pie,” Kyle promised.
“Thank you, Kyle,” Pie said. “You might sell the brat sitting beside you though, if she gets too naughty.”
“I’m not a brat!” Jenny denied indignantly. “You wouldn’t sell me, would you, Kyle?”
“Of course not!” Kyle assured her.
“So where are you sending them to school in June, Anna, Luis?” Mrs. Perez asked. “We do have Notre Dame schools here...”
“Ah, if she sends them to the local Notre Dame, she’d do better sending them to the Public,” Mr. Perez said. “It has a good track record.” He turned to Mr. Nolasco.
“Public schools in Manila are the absolute pits,” Mr. Nolasco said. “The students are even fighting one another on campus.”
“What do you expect of an overcongested place?” Mr. Perez said. “Public schools here are different though. Although if you want to send them to Notre Dame of Siena or Notre Dame University in Marbel, those are good schools as well.”
“Why, what happened to the Notre Dame for Girls and Notre Dame for Boys?” asked Mrs. Nolasco.
“That’s right, you went to the Girls, didn’t you?” said Mrs. Perez. “The Girls became Siena, and the Boys became the University High School, and they’ve both gone co-ed now.”
“Oh!” Mrs. Nolasco laughed. “When I think of the hard times the nuns and priests had, just trying to keep order, and trying to keep us from venturing on one another’s part of the campus… it’s funny.”
“I suppose they just went with the times,” said Mr. Nolasco. “Pie, do you want to go to the Notre Dame? She used to go to St. Scholastica,” he told the Perezes.
“It’ll mean you have to get up at five in the morning so you can be there at seven-thirty,” her mother said. “When I remember what a hard time Mama had getting me out of bed in the morning…”
Both Pie and Jenny groaned.
“I hate getting up so early!” Pie muttered to Katrin.
“How about Michael? Where does he want to go to school? I suppose you’ll send him to the University High School?” asked Mrs. Perez.
“Mike? Do you want to go to the University High School?” Mr. Nolasco asked his son, who was still staring at his plate.
“Wherever,” he said in a low voice.
“He used to go to San Agustino,” Mrs. Nolasco said, almost too brightly, Katrin thought.
“Ah. The University High School is a good school,” Mrs. Perez said to Michael. “You might like it there. Andy, Kat and Aian go to the Public, of course. The tuition fees at Siena and the University are a little too high for us. Besides, it is very far. This way, we can just send the tricycle for them or they can just walk home if they want.”
“I can walk home from school!” Kyle pronounced proudly.
“It’s almost two kilometers!” said Mrs. Nolasco, horrified.
“I fetched him with the tricycle when he was in kindergarten, of course,” said Mrs. Perez. “Or one of the older children fetches him after class. But even Grade One children from Riverside often walk home, in a group of course. Katrin, Aian and Andy all walked home when they were in elementary school; I just met them at the corner of Riverside Road and Acacia Street.”
“Wow,” Pie said to Katrin. “Mom would never let us do that in Manila. We had to wait at the school lobby for someone to fetch us in the car.”
“You only get fetched here if you live in another barrio, because that’s too far to walk,” Katrin answered. “Or if your family has a tricycle. We only bought our tricycle a couple of years ago, so mostly we just walked. Besides, it’s fun when there are a lot of you.”
“I think I want to go to your school, Kat!” Pie exclaimed.
“What, Pie?” her mother said, having overheard.
“I said I want to go to the Public and walk home with Kat, Aian and Andy,” said Pie.
“But…” her father said. “You’d get to meet a lot of other young people at the Notre Dame who could help you later on, when you graduate and find work. Think of the advantages. It’s not as if we can’t afford it.”
“The right kind of people, you mean to say, Daddy?” Pie said. “Sometimes just because people go to private schools doesn’t mean they’re good people, right?”
“We’ll discuss this later, Pie,” her father said. Katrin, who had been watching keenly, didn’t miss the warning glance he threw at Michael. It was the kind of glare their own father gave them when he wanted them to stay where they were and be quiet.
Now what could that mean? She asked herself.
“You simply have got to try the buko pandan,” Mrs. Nolasco said desperately.
“It looks good, Tita Anna,” Andy said.
“Here, Andy, try some.” She heaped the green cubes and young coconut strips in a small bowl, ladled the milky juice over them, and passed the bowl to Andy.
“It is good!” said Andy after tasting it. The conversation once again moved to food, and Katrin could have sworn that everyone breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed.
After dinner, they all sat around on the terrace for a while before the Perezes said goodbye.
“It’s been such a lovely dinner,” Mrs. Perez said to Mr. and Mrs. Nolasco. “Thank you so much for having us over.”
“Our pleasure,” said Mr. Nolasco. “Besides, Anna told me so much about you that I am glad I finally met you and your family.”
“You have to come over and have dinner with us one of these days, of course,” said Mrs. Perez. “I’m afraid it won’t be too fancy, but we’ll be glad to have you.”
“Actually, Margie cooks the best pochero in Sto. Nino,” Mr. Perez said.
“Thank you, we will,” said Mr. Nolasco. “And Carlos, we simply have to discuss more how to make the best of those fields that Anna has. You think an orchard will be feasible?”
“Depends,” said Mr. Perez. “Well, I’m always home on weekends, here’s my cellphone number in case you want to give me a call.”
Pie and Katrin were also exchanging cellphone numbers, as there were no telephones in Riverside yet.
“You want to go to the market with me tomorrow afternoon?” Katrin asked Pie.
“What will we do there?”
“Nothing much, I guess. Hang out, eat some batchoy, see if anyone I know is around. I’ll introduce you to some of our classmates.”
“Sure!” Pie said. “What time?”
“Around three? Text me and I’ll meet you at the foot of the steps.”
“Okay,” Pie said. “But don’t any of your classmates live in Riverside?”
“Classmates, no, but we do have batchmates and schoolmates. And speaking of which, make sure your gates and doors are locked at night. The houses of some of our schoolmates got robbed recently.”
“Robbed?” Pie exclaimed so loudly that her parents heard her.
“What? Robbed?” Mrs. Nolasco exclaimed. So Katrin had to explain all over again.
“That’s strange,” said Mrs. Nolasco. “I can’t remember anyone being robbed in Riverside before. Do you, Marge?”
“Me neither,” said Mrs. Perez.
“Don’t worry about it, Nando makes sure all the gates and doors are locked before he goes to bed,” said Mr. Nolasco. “Besides, it’d be hard for anyone to escape from here once they’re discovered, as the whole place is well-lit.”
“Speaking of which, we better go back to our own house before it also gets robbed,” said Mr. Perez. Katrin, Andy, Aian and Kyle thanked the Nolascos for their hospitality and followed their parents back to the tricycle.
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