Middle of Everywhere - Mary Bray Pipher [55]
Ignazio tossed his line, snagging, then ripping, then snagging again. Soon I was retying a hook for him, untangling other lines, rebaiting hooks, and then, miracle of miracles, taking off a fish. Ignazio shouted out, "Gracias a Dios!" and held up his five-inch catfish for all to see. Just then Walat caught a little sun perch, which he expertly took off himself. I took his picture holding his fish up. Then he gently put it in our bucket.
Pavel was upset that Walat and Ignazio had caught the first fish and he positioned himself in their area. Meanwhile, Khoa cast his entire pole into the water and jumped in after it. By the time we got him out of the water he was soaked and had lost a shoe and his pole. But he had achieved what he wanted, which was to steal the show from Walat, who had now caught a second fish.
With what sounded like Russian cursing, Pavel redoubled his efforts. Fatima grew discouraged and sat down on a pile of rocks. Soon Deena and Trinh joined her, and the girls watched a green caterpillar crawl across the grass. Fatima wanted to pick it up, but Deena said firmly, "Leave her alone."
Meanwhile, Abdul had also quit fishing but he noticed that Ignazio's line was all tangled up and he worked to unravel the bird nest of tackle. For the first time since I'd met him he seemed interested in something. Walat caught another perch and then Ly pulled in a small bass. She danced around with her fish, looking like happiness personified.
Watching kids fish was a good way to learn about them. Some like Walat and Ly were patient and methodical; others like Pavel and Khoa couldn't setde down. Ignazio was enthusiastic but clumsy. Trinh and Fatima were indifferent to the sport, while Deena, an animal rights activist in the making, kept asking Grace if the fishes' mouths were hurt by the hooks.
With her pole still in the water, Mai wandered off alone. She sat under a willow tree, her hands folded in her lap. The natural world is a great healer and her body looked more relaxed.
Soon we had twenty perch and the small catfish—Walat caught seven, while Pavel hadn't caught any. Pavel's frustration had built, making him a less and less competent fisherman. He wouldn't stay in one spot but ran to wherever anyone else had caught a fish and wrestled for their place. Then, when nothing happened, he would try a new piece of tackle or eat his candies.
Meanwhile, Abdul fixed Fatima's pole and untangled Ly's line. He messed with Ignazio's broken reel. I wondered if we could find him a shop project or even let him follow the maintenance staff around.
Ignazio held a fish up to his lips and kissed it, talking to it as if it were a little pet. Then Deena and Walat released all the fish. As they swam away, Deena asked, "Will they live?"
Grace got out Five Alive and Goldfish. The kids liked those little cracker fish, but they didn't like the bees that gathered around the juice. Still, Pavel and Ignazio managed to drink three cups of juice each and then needed a bathroom.
Abdul bragged to no one in particular, "I fixed three poles and I'd fix Khoa's, too, if we could find it." Khoa shouted unapologetically, "My pole lives with the fishes now."
Walat, Ly, and Deena gathered and stacked the poles. All the kids looked happy today, the way people do when they are lucky enough to be outdoors in beautiful weather. I thought how rich our country is, and yet we are all inside toiling on gorgeous days. It is hard on everyone, but especially on children.
We took more pictures, passed out the rest of the Goldfish, and then, alas, headed for the vans. Pavel said, "If we could just stay a while longer, I could catch a big fish." I didn't say, "We'll come back soon."
October 14, 1999
It was a blue-sky day and the leaves were turning on the sycamore. There is something about a crisp fall morning, walking into a school, the voices of children, the smell of sunshine on leaves, that brings back my own childhood. I could see Beaver City Elementary, smell the chalk and the cereal breath of my classmates.
I'd been sick for