Free Hometown Favorite: A Novel by BILL BARTON, HENRY O ARNOLD Page B

depth and rustle of her heart, Rosella felt as if she was
waking from years of slumber, unsure of the altered landscape
and vivid characters. It seemed one night long ago she fell
asleep and was told her sister departed to a world from which
she would never return nor Rosella could ever visit.
    "So why didn't I get my engraved invitation to the big
event?"
    "Bonita;" Rosella whispered, restraining the impulse to touch
her sister. She could not decide on a slap or an embrace, so she
locked her hands behind her back and felt relief when Dewayne
came behind her and took her hands into his.
    "Is `Bonita' all you can say?"
    Rosella's inability to articulate anything beyond the mention
of her name brought a hostile expression to Bonita's face.
    "I guess it's been so long you'd need a DNA test to prove I
was your sister"
    "Calm down, ma'am," Dewayne said.
    "Well, the jolly green giant is not just pretty to look at. He
talks too"

    "Don't, Bonita, please"
    "Don't what, sister dear? Don't admire the pretty addition
to the family? Don't speak to him? Don't what?"
    "I don't know what to say," Rosella said. "I don't know how
to deal with this"
    "Ma'am, is there some way I can help you?" Dewayne started
to reach for his wallet. "I've got a little money-"
    "He's pretty, he talks, and he's willing to help. Looks like you
hit the jackpot, girl" A grin appearing on Bonita's withered
face exposed a number of chipped and missing teeth. "Yeah, I
need some money. My kids are hungry."
    "No. No money. We're not giving her any money," Rosella
said, beginning to gain some control over this shock to her
ordered world. "If you're real, if you're really my sister, then
tell me where you live. Give me an exact address, not some
street corner. I'll get you some groceries. I'll buy some food
and bring it to you tonight. If you're there, you'll be real to
me. If you're not there, then you're still dead."
    Neither woman moved, their eyes locked. Rosella's brain
was in overdrive searching for identity and meaning to this
unexpected discovery.
    "Do I still have a niece and nephew?" she asked.
    Bonita nodded.
    "You have them there. I want to see them. I want to touch
them. Now what's your address, and it better be real, not some
shelter"
    Dewayne was dumbfounded as he watched the two sisters.
Never in his life would he have imagined a scene like this. He
couldn't help but look for similarities between his wife and
this disheveled woman.
    Rosella flipped open her textbook and clicked on her pen. She looked at Bonita as if daring her to offer a lie. Bonita
coughed and swiveled her head as though she might be casting around for a fake address, but the address she gave seemed
legit. It was in East LA, a numbered apartment in a recognizable complex off a main street. No phone number-there was
no money for a phone.

    Rosella snapped her textbook closed. "I'm coming to this
address. I'm knocking on a door, and I'd better see you there.
I'd better see two children with you. You had better not be
messing with me"
    With that, Rosella turned and strode away without her husband.
    Like a lost child, Dewayne stood before Bonita. He turned
to leave and saw his wife on her forced march, then reached
for his wallet and removed two Andrew Jacksons and handed
them to Bonita before starting his jog toward Rosella.
    Bonita's whisper was just loud enough for Dewayne to hear
as she stuffed the bills in her pocket.
    "He's generous too"

    The brisk wind scuttled the litter along the street and around
their feet as they unloaded the groceries from the car. Since he
carried the lion's share of the sacks, Dewayne was thankful his
sister-in-law's apartment was on the first floor of a two-story
complex. This was a place he did not want them to be after
nightfall. There was no grass except the weeds growing through
the cracks in the sidewalks and concrete courtyard, no foliage
except a few withered bushes at each end of the complex, no
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