Poverty Hill
Copyright© 2026 by Asa Strong
Chapter 22
I didn’t even get a chance to drive my new truck! Lisa beat me to the vehicle, and jumped in the driver’s seat afore I was half way across the yard.
“Damn, what’s it with you and this truck?” I asked, settin’ myself down in the passenger seat.
Lisa grinned, “I don’t know, I just like drivin’ this thing. It makes me feel big I guess.” She finished with a giggle.
I shook my head, and then said in a tesin’ voice, “I think you’re on a power trip there girl. Big truck, big gun ... Hell, what comes next!”
She laughed and put the truck in gear, and we were off for Denver.
Neither Lisa nor I are much for talkin’ just to make noise. The trip to Denver were purty quiet; I even got in a short nap.
We reached the outskirts of Denver a little after noon. Lisa’s sister lived in North Denver, right off of 38th street, on Quivas.
When we pulled up in front of her sister’s house, her mother and Angel were a sittin’ on the front porch. As soon as Lisa got out of the truck, Angel seen her mother, and made a beeline to her, hollerin’, “Mama, mama.”
By the time I worked my way out of the passenger side of the truck and hobbled over to where Lisa and her daughter were, they was huggin’ and a kissin’. Lisa’s mother had walked down from the porch, and was standin’ beside Lisa.
When I reached where they were a standin’, Angel looked up at me, from the crook of her mother’s arms and said, “Hi, Mr. Amos.”
Damn, if that weren’t the first time the girl had spoke to me.
“Hi there sweetheart, you been a good girl while your momma was workin’?”
She gave me a big smile and nodded her head in an affirmative manner.
Lisa and her mother chuckled, and then Lisa turned towards me and said, “Amos, this is my mother, Juanita Mendoza.”
I doffed my hat and said, “Nice to meet yah, Mrs. Mendoza.”
Her mother thanked me, and then turned to Lisa and said in Spanish, “Is this your man?”
I could speak Spanish purty good, as I’d been to school at the Army language school. It were a requirement for Special Forces members to speak a second language. I’d picked Spanish and done purty well in school. Livin’ and workin’ in South America, while in the Army, had polished it a bit more too.
Lisa responded to her mother with a nod, and then looked at me, pro’lly gettin’ ready to translate what her mother said.
I broke in, and said to her mother, in Spanish, “I may be her man, but we’re still figurin’ out who wears the pants.”
Lisa looked astonished, and her mother broke out in laughter.
Lisa then said, “I didn’t know you could speak Spanish.”
I chuckled and said, “Well, yah learn somethin’ new every day.”
Lisa chuckled and then said, “Yah, it’s a never ending bunch of surprises, being around you.”
We all went into the house, that were one of them brick houses that were pro’lly built back in the early 30’s. I was introduced to Lisa’s sister Gabriella, and she explained that her two kids were in school and her husband at work.
I’d hoped to get in and out in one day, but it weren’t to be. Lisa, her mother and sister settled in for a gabfest and it didn’t look like it were a gonna break up anytime soon. They were a speakin’ Spanish so fast, I couldn’t keep up with ‘em.
It didn’t take me long to realize I was a fifth wheel, so I asked Angel if she wanted to go outside in the back yard and play.
Angel was all for that idear, so we spent the afternoon in the back yard. I were surprised, it was nice just sittin’ on the glider on the back porch watchin’ the l’il girl play. Every so often, she’d come over and have to show me a flower she’d picked or haul me over to where she’d found an ant a crawlin’ on the ground. It were refreshin’ to see the joy and wonder of a kid explorin’ the world around them.
About four in the afternoon, Gabriella’s two kids arrived on the school bus and the women finally broke up.
Angel and her two cousins wandered off into the house, and I were sittin’ on the back porch where Lisa found me.
“How you doing Amos? I’m sorry for abandoning you, but I haven’t seen my sister for quite a while.
I patted the place beside me with my hand and Lisa sat down. I put my arm around her and then said, “It’s OK, darlin’. I had a nice time out here with Angel.”
Lisa smiled and then said in a small voice, “Is it alright if we stay here tonight? I’d like to spend some more time with my sister.”
Well, it were a gettin’ late anyway, so I said, “Sure, we can get an early start tomorrow mornin’.”
Lisa kissed me on the cheek, “Thanks Amos.”
We sat there for a while, just relaxin’, and after a while, her brother-in-law came in the back gate to the yard. I’d seen a white pickup pull up behind the garage in the rear of the yard and guessed it were his.
After he entered the yard, Lisa stood up and gave him a hug and then in Spanish, introduced me.
“Amos, this is my brother-in-law Erik Sanchez.”
I nodded to him and extended my hand to shake. He returned the gesture, but you could see he was somewhat apprehensive about it.
We had a workman’s dinner of fajitas for dinner that was really good. Lisa’s mother cooked it, and I immediately seen a big advantage to havin’ her live with us. That woman knew what she were a doin’ in the kitchen.
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.