– Who is that there, with the hat on?

– Wait a second, let me see. This sun is shining too brightly and I am old. It might be the priest’s wife

– No, she ain’t got any kids running after her.

– Perhaps she’s one of the PullMoons.

– The what?

– Tache’s family. When he gets drunk, he tries to pull out the moon from the fountain using a bucket. So we call his family the PullMoons.

– What would they be doing in Pojorta, at four o’clock? It could only be my cousin, Leana of the Palefaces. She’s the only lady around here, walking around with a hat and a bag.

– She may have finished work early.

– She’s probably checking up on George, that child is pure evil, I tell you!

– He’s a childless mom, you, do not talk that way about him, you’ll anger the heavens.

-You would say the same if you knew what I know. Only the day before yesterday, I was sitting here, looking at people go by. And I noticed all sorts of boys going in and out of Leana’s place. The kind that do not go to school, and are terrible to look at. When Leana came in, she found the house a mess, they drank all her plum brandy – she’s got none left to give to people who help her around the house – and they even trampled all her gladioli. They must have ran all over her garden, and she had such beautiful gladioli. What is more, she found the boy smoking. Nine-year-old kid, it is outrageous!

– Shut up lest she hears you.

The lady in the oversized hat reaches the bench where the two were sitting. She has an elegant bag and dark stockings. The brims of her hat flap as she steps.

– Have a nice day, she says.

– Hello, Leana. What’s new around Fagaras?

– I saw the mayor, and he said he’ll be coming round to see you when you finish distilling your plum brandy, misses Oara.

– Well he only comes around when there’s alcohol.

– Give the man his drink, maybe he’ll put in a good word and they’ll fix our road, the man said.

– Why don’t you tell me when he comes to see you, he’s very funny after a few drinks. What do you do with so much plum brandy anyway?

– I have my in-law to thank for that, I sent him to buy me some apple trees and he came back with plum trees.

– All’s well that ends well, the trees produce such fleshy plums that you can sell it at the market, the man said and he winked at the woman with the oversized hat.

– How would I sell it when you waste it all on brandy?

– If you had any left, you could, he said and he winked again.

Leana laughs. The brims of her straw hat are flapping.

– Leana, I looked after Georgy today for a little while. He came by to play hide-and-seek with Diana, but he left in a hurry. She was still in hiding when he sprinted out the door. I told her to come out, stop being stupid, for Georgy must have gone out with the guys, he was not playing with her anymore, but she stayed there for a few more hours.. I don’t know what kind of games they play.

– Thank you, misses Oara. Mr Gheorghe, your zip is untied.

– Oh my. Well, where there’s an open window, there’s more definitely a dead guy inside.

Leana laughs out loud. She then says goodbye and stops in front of a gate. The two are focused on her, they have not resumed talking to each other.

– Georgy, come to the gate, what on Earth are you doing?

– Wait a second auntie, I have a surprise for you.

The woman empties the contents of her bag on the ground, looking for the key. She unlocks the gate, dusts everything she pulled out of the bag, and puts it back. She goes in.

A boy with eyes as green as hers greets her. He is wearing a crumpled shirt, half of it tucked inside his pants. He is handing her a bouquet of yellow lilies with a single petal that closes in on itself, irises, other purple wildflowers that look like bells, yellow peonies, and baby’s breath flowers. In the very center, there is an exotic-looking flower, with sharp petals in orange and purple tones. It looked like a wing.

– Where on Earth did you find this one?

– Out in the forest, auntie. Do you like it?

– It sure looks interesting. Now that’s what I call a warm welcome.

– Will you forgive me for the day before yesterday?

– If you’ll be a good boy and stop hanging out with all sorts of punks, auntie will forgive you.

– Why don’t we eat outside, look, I cooked. I made you fries and eggs. You sit down and I will serve you. I wanted to also make you some coffee, but I do not know how to do that, he says and sprints into the kitchen.

The woman takes off her hat, puts it on the table, and then puts her hand on her chair. She quickly jumps back.

– What on Earth…

A streaked chicken comes out from under the chair and tries to run toward the garden. Any time he manages to get away, he is pulled back by an elastic band that was tied to the chair. When he starts to flap his wings, he flips the chair over. A few feathers fly over the boy that is coming out of the kitchen with two plates. He puts the plates on the table, lifts the chair back up, and unties the elastic from it. He ties it to the iron swing.

– Eaaasy, boy. Sorry auntie, I forgot about it. It’s our neighbor’s, it got into our yard and I tried to catch it for some two hours. I went to hers to give it back, but no one answered. I did not want to set it free and run around again. I will try to take it again after we eat.

The chicken tries to get free a couple more times, then he gives up and sits down on one side in the sand.

– You felt lazy and what did you say to yourself: let’s ruin some fine elastic band that auntie could have used for dresses and strangle a chicken!

– It won’t suffocate, I tied it freaking proper, around the neck and the wings.

– Talk nicely!

– Let’s eat. Am I a good cook or not?

– The woman tries some fried egg. She puts it on a piece of bread and bites into it. She can feel eggshell pieces between her teeth.

– The best cook. You should cook more often.

– I will, says the boy. He is putting bread inside the yolk. He decided to stop eating egg white after seeing how it looked raw.

– Let me show you how coffee is made, the woman says.

In the kitchen, everything is sprayed with oil. The cooker, the back wall, the rags, the pot lids and the painting depicting a man in his different life stages, are all covered in oil drops.

– Kiddo, you made a whole mess in here. Next time, put the lid on the pan, that’s why we have it. May all the luck in the world strike you! Come on, take the kettle, I will clean up. Now put water and a teaspoon full of coffee in the kettle and put it over the fire. When you see the coffee drowning like this, you take the teaspoon and mix this twice. Then leave it alone until it boils once. That’s how you make the best coffee.

– Leana! Leana!

– Come on in, misses Oara.

– Leana, do you know what this devil of a child did to me?! Did I tell you how he made Diana hide and he ran away? In fact, he did not want the girl to see how he was picking up my most beautiful flowers, even that Bird of Paradise that my daughter-in-law brought me from Bucharest! Not to mention a couple of lilies!

– Georgie, go fetch auntie’s bouquet and go to the barn. Don’t come back until I call you and don’t make me say it twice!

When the boy makes himself scarce, Leana says:

– Did he pluck it out completely or did he cut the stem?

– He cut the stem. Listen to me, Leana, if I sent George to the barn every time he did something wrong, I would have spoiled him. You have to hit him a little, or else you are not doing anything. He wasted such beautiful, expensive flowers, who knows how much my daughter-in-law paid for it!

– Look, miss Oara, the boy put together a bouquet for me, he wanted to make me happy, he did not realize he was not allowed to take your flowers. Take this bouquet, and put it on your table for tomorrow when your children come, your daughter-in-law will like it. And after all, forget about it, if he did not take it out with the roots, others will grow. Why don’t I give you some cake, the kind that the ladies in Fagaras have with their coffee, and let’s forget about the whole issue? Also, you can have the boy work for you here and there for free, there’s no need to pay someone to help you carry firewood for example.

– Is it the good kind of cake?

– Of course!

– All right then. But you have to teach that boy a lesson!

– Yeah, don’t you worry about that. I will!

Leana goes to the barn and finds the boy on top of some hay.

– Wait, auntie, do not send me away, let me explain. Old man Gheorghe told me that the more you upset a woman, the more flowers you need to bring her.

– Do you think your mother would like it if she knew you were stealing flowers from people?

– I don’t even remember my mom. I don’t even know how she would hit me. Grandma used to turn all red when she would hit me with her stick, dad’s sister would hit me against the back of the neck for playing with other children through the fence, Miss Mihaela would hit me with the ruler over my palms and misses Oara – with the whip they use for horses. But I do not remember about Mom…

– Georgy, do you like it here? Do you want to stay with me?

– I wanted to stay with you from the very beginning, ever since you agreed to take me in but my grandma said you were not to be trusted with children because you failed your own.

The woman puts her head down. The boy hugs her and puts a dirty, bony hand on her face.

– But I like your house best because you taught me how to ride the stairs like a slope and my room smells nice and you taught me how to make pancakes and you are the only person I know who saw ghosts, he continued.

– Will you promise auntie you will try not to upset Misses Oara and never steal again? If I hear you steal one more time, my sweet child, I will be very pissed at you!

– Hit me, auntie, kill me if you must, but call me my sweet child again.