cherries

The day had been sunny. Not a cloud in the sky could be seen. The birds were flying about and the little children were playing in the empty streets. This sight was not uncommon in Milton, Massachusetts during the summer. My life had always revolved around summers, when I would stay at my grandparents’ house for weeks at a time. My siblings and I loved Mami and Papi’s house (These meant mom and dad in Spanish and we were accustomed to call them that.) Here we could do almost anything and not be reprimanded by either of my grandparents. They did not believe in spanking, not when it came to us anyway. I spent the whole day playing dolls with my sister Amy. Afterwards, I decided to go see what my brother Rafael was doing. I walked to the terrace to find Rafael talking to Michael, one of his friends. Michael informed us that our next door neighbor Julio was gone for the weekend. He also mentioned that he wanted to trespass the property to pick some cherries from the tree in Julio’s backyard. Every kid in the neighborhood lusted after those juicy, red, delicious cherries. Rafael joined Michael on his quest for the cherries. Suddenly, I was being sucked into the master plan too. Peer pressure, I assume, because I do not remember actually agreeing to go along with Michael and Rafael.

The breaking and entering was supposed to take place the following night. It was definitely an adrenaline rush. The dark combined with the trespassing and the fact that we were all wearing black was exciting to all of us, it made us feel grown-up and responsible too. The moon was hidden behind clouds; only the light from the street lights were illuminating us. Rafael, Michael and I hid in the back yard until my grandmother left the kitchen, which led to the backyard, and went to her bedroom to watch the Spanish soaps she loved so much. Amy joined her shortly after.

“Deberias verlas con nosotras” she always used to say to me, which meant that I should watch the soaps with them. But to me, it was far more exciting to play hide and seek with my brother and his friends. After we could hear my grandmother talking back to the television because Joanna, the heroine of the story, took back her repulsive cheating boyfriend, we jumped over the fence connecting my grandparents’ house to Julio’s.
When my feet hit the ground I remembered that Julio owned a dog, a Rottweiler. My heart started beating faster than usual, I froze. Michael seemed to sense my fear of advancing away from the fence and volunteered the information that Julio had taken his dog along with him. At that moment, I realized that I had been holding my breath and took a deep breath. My lungs welcomed the fresh night air. Rafael took a few steps towards the luscious tree and pulled out the black trash bag he had stored in his pack pocket minutes before. Michael followed his lead and pulled out his own bag. The cherries’ glow mesmerized me; I could not take my eyes away from the forbidden fruit. The bounty was worth the risk.

The deed was done within 20 minutes. All three of us had bags full cherries. Small ones, big ones, red ones, green ones, you name it we had it. Between the three of us, the decision was made to sit against one of the walls and eat the cherries there. We ate the cherries quietly, but I could tell that both Michael and Rafael were enjoying them. Out of the blue Michael had the idea of building a bonfire with the newspapers he had seen in the trash can next to the kitchen door. Rafael agreed to help him with it. They both turned to me and waited for an answer.

“I think this is dangerous.”
“Will you stop it? You don’t know anything, you’re such a baby.”
“I’m not a baby!” I got up from the grass and walked to the door. I took out all the newspapers I could find. When I was finished, I turned around so I could face my brother head-on. The smile on his face showed his satisfaction. He extended his right hand in order to hand me the matches Michael had given him. He stepped back to let me light the match. Blood was being pumped through my veins at the speed of light. My stomach was doing jumps. I felt powerful and exuberant. In a moment of pure disconcertment for what could happen, I threw a match towards the pile of newspapers stacked a few feet away from me.

The pile caught fire quickly, in a few seconds flames had spread throughout the whole stack. Rafael’s eyes had a spark in them, I later saw. I started dancing around the fire, I did not care that it looked silly; I felt elevated and away from people’s opinions of me and my actions. What none of us saw were the tiny lit newspaper particles that left the stack and advanced towards the cherry tree. In less than five minutes one branch of the tree had caught fire. The leaves were spreading the flames to the rest of the tree.
“Oh, my God! The tree is on fire!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. Michael got up from where he was sitting and tried to put the fire out with his shirt. The shirt caught fire fast and he had to drop it. The fire was out of control; we did not know how to stop it or how to control it. Michael said goodbye and jumped across the fence that divided Julio’s house and my grandparents.’ Rafael did not move; he just kept staring at the inferno in front of him. A thousand things went through my mind, but the thought that we might not be able to get out of there in time stood out among the rest. Fear crept its way across my body.
“Ralph, let’s go! Come on! Rafael!” my throat was aching. The smoke was starting to cloud my sight; my eyes got watery.

I got close to Rafael and pulled on his arm. That seem to get him out of his trance, and he turned around to see the fear portrayed in my face. He took my hand and directed me to the fence. He helped me up and then he jumped too. Holding hands we ran into the kitchen and out of it. I followed him to the den and waited while he explained to Papi that we had accidentally gotten the cherry tree on fire. What happened next is fuzzy in my memory, I just know the firefighters were called and the house was saved. Julio never pressed charges against me or Rafael. Neither one of us ever mentioned that Michael had been involved. My brother never spoke to him again after the fiasco.
The next summer when it was time to go visit Mami ,Papi and my parents were hesitant to let us go. A ridiculous amount of rules we set on how my brother and I were supposed to behave, but we were allowed to go. That summer was not the same as the rest though. The once beautiful luscious tree had to be cut after the fire. We never fully regained my grandparents’ or my parents’ trust. My brother had lost a friend. The price we had to pay for tasting the forbidden was far too great. Not worth it in my mind. It was then when I learnt that some things are not worth having or tasting. Not even for a moment. Not even at all.