The Fire Hydrant

The day had barely started, and my younger brother was already up to his mischief. It had been three years since my family had all been together in the same house, and abuela had been insisting we come back to Chicago for the summer. Given that she was 78 and not in good health, we all slowly started to cancel plans, and by July, my mom, dad, aunt, brother, and I were all cramped in airline seats. After an exhausting three and a half hours of nonstop bickering from our parents, I was practically running out of the terminal only to catch a cab and be subject to even more bickering. That’s why even though I was exhausted, I got up before anyone else. Scavenging through abuela’s fridge for leftovers and started to read the latest Polly Haulkner book. At least that was the plan, but as soon as I started to microwave the tamales I found in the back of the fridge, I spotted my brother hunched over the fire hydrant with a giant wrench in hand.

I scowled and slammed open the screen door.

“Mateo, what the hell are you doing?” My feet were instantly coated in dust. I forgot my slippers at the door, and the deck was insanely dirty.

“I’m cracking open the fire hydrant.” Mateo grinned. I crossed my arms and almost let the screen door slam behind me, but I remembered that everyone was still asleep, so I eased it closed.

“And why are you doing that?” I hissed.

“You don’t know?” he looked up at me, his brows furrowed. When he saw my stoic expression, he sighed. “It’s for the kids.”

“What kids?”

“You know! The kids in the neighborhood. Someone always used to crack open the hydrant, and all the kids would run outside and play in the water.” I pinched the bridge of my nose and exhaled deeply.

“Are you trying to get arrested? What if one of the neighbors sees you?”

“You forget, Tracy. We’re on the bad side of town. The only time I’m getting the police called on me is if I start shooting.” I wanted to argue, but he did have a point. No one gave a crap around here. It was nothing like Florida, but there was still one very important thing he missed.

“Mateo, half the kids on the block are probably out of town right now, and the other half are probably still in bed. It’s 6 o’clock in the morning. Even if you did manage to open it now, nobody’s going to play in the water.”

“That’s what you think.”

“That’s what I know. What’s the big deal anyway?” I ask as I climb down the steps and open the black metal gate. “Just go inside and get some more sleep before everyone wakes up and starts kicking up a fuss.” I grabbed the end of the wrench from his hands, but his grip didn’t ease.

“But…hermana…” He scrunched up his big brown eyes, “I’ve been waiting to do this since we got here.”

“Why, though? Why is this such a big deal?”

Mateo let go of the wrench and fell onto his bottom straight into the gutter. I pushed down the urge to scold him over dirtying his cargo pants.

“Remember when we were in middle school and mom and dad broke up for a year?” I couldn’t help but be surprised. I had forgotten that even happened, but most importantly, why did it have anything to do with this fire hydrant?

“Yeah, sure,” I said hurriedly.

“I missed you so much, I was crying to dad every single day that I wanted to see you, but he wouldn’t let me. But when summer break came around, mom and dad dropped us off at abuela’s house, and the first thing we did was have Uncle Glenn crack open the fire hydrant, and we were playing around like we never left. I haven’t seen you in three years, hermana. I just thought…” I squeezed the wrench in my hand.

“Geez, you're such a kid,” I mumbled.

I remembered that year now. I was miserable. My parents had broken up over something so stupid, and I felt like it had been entirely my fault. I always hated my name. It was a little weird and not the typical Spanish name everyone else in my family had. The year my parents broke up, I had a new reason to hate it. My mom had been talking to a friend of hers and announced that I was named after an ex-boyfriend she had had before meeting my father. She said that she pushed my father into agreeing to it, and was surprised when I turned out to be a girl, saying she was lucky it was gender neutral. I told my father about it, and before I knew it my dad and brother were gone, and I was left in the hands of my very pissed off mother.

She blamed me for the whole thing and started to leave me home alone to go on dates. The whole time, I never once thought about missing Mateo. I was just angry that he got to stay with dad while I had to ride the waves of our mother’s moodswings. I can’t even remember how I felt when I saw him again. Our parents got back together before the new school year even started, and it was like nothing had ever happened. The only thing that stuck with me was the seething hatred for my name. Not once did I think my brother might be missing me.

I dropped the wrench to the ground and squatted down to flick him on the forehead.

“Just don’t get caught, dummy.” I grinned, and my brother grinned back. He scrambled back to his knees and started to twist it again. A cool breeze sent shivers down my spine, and I trotted up the steps and back into the warmth of the living room.

It didn’t take long before the hydrant was cracked and the water started to gush out. I watched from the window as my brother whooped and hollered as the water drenched him in a matter of seconds. As I predicted, though, not a single kid came outside to play in the water. The stream weakened, and my brother sat dejected on the sidewalk looking like a sad puppy that just been hit by a hurricane. As I finished the last of my tamales, I looked around the house. It was still dead quiet, and not even abuela, who was your typical early riser, stirred. I pulled myself out of the chair and climbed up the stairs to my room. It took only a minute to change, and I walked down the steps with a pair of flip flops in hand. I opened the screen door, but this time I let it slam behind me. My brother looked up and started to grin.

“If I’d known I was going to be doing this, I would’ve got a one-piece. Now I just feel indecent.” I slipped on the flip flops and untwisted the straps of my bikini and padded down the steps. Mateo rose to his feet and reached for his back pocket.

“I have to warn you, though, I’m armed.” he pulled out a small water gun no bigger than a salt shaker.

“Bring…it…on.” I stood still for a second as he pointed the tiny barrel towards me. I darted towards the gutter as I took a shot from the water gun to my bare stomach. I shivered at the cold water and used my hands to throw a handful of freezing water at him. He screamed as the water hit his face, and I burst out laughing at his wails.

“Oh God, I think you just tossed a leaf into my mouth.”

“Maybe that wouldn’t happen if you kept your mouth shut!” I tossed another handful of water at his face.

“Mercy, please!”

“What happened to all that confidence, huh?”

“I can’t help it. I’ve been outgunned. There is only one weapon I can use now…” He drew closer, and I backed away into the flooded street, still grinning. “And that is…this!” Mateo used his hands to throw a handful of water at my face, drenching my hair in one go.

“Aah!” I screamed. “I better not get worms in my eyes from this dirty ass gutter water,” I said as I rubbed my eyes. “Or else I’m suing you and the worms.” I splashed him back, and we both started to kick the water at each other like mad.

“I don’t think you and the worms have the same currency.”

“Then I’ll just settle for them eating your eyes.”

We splashed around in the water until the hydrant went dry, and abuela finally woke up and scolded us for playing in dirty water. Mateo and I could help but burst out laughing as she did, knowing full well we were in our 20s getting scolded by abuela like we were still scrappy little kids. She handed each of us a towel, and I got a special scolding for wearing such a skimpy swimsuit in the middle of the street. Everyone else started to rouse, and the house was soon filled with the scent of bacon and scrambled eggs. Mateo and I kept giggling at each other, and as abuela started to dish out, I leaned over to Mateo and whispered,

“Hey, do you want to hangout today, just the two of us?”

“What? No mom and dad?”

“Yeah,”

Mateo thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that.”