芒果街上的小屋玛琳

玛琳

　　玛琳的男朋友在波多黎各。她给我们看他的信，并让我们答应，别告诉任何人她回波多黎各后他们就要结婚。她说他还没有找到工作，可她在靠卖雅芳和照看表妹们攒钱。

　　玛琳说她如果明年还留在这里的话，她要去市中心找一份真正的工作，因为最好的工作都在那里。因为你总得打扮漂亮点，穿上好衣服，才能在地铁里遇到一个会和你结婚，带你住到远方大屋里的人。

　　可是第二年路易的父母打算把她送回她妈妈那里，并写上一封信说她太麻烦了。这太糟糕了，因为我好喜欢玛琳。她比我大，懂得许多事情。是她告诉我们戴夫小宝的妹妹是怎么怀孕的；去掉唇髭用什么霜最好；数数你手上的小白点就能知道有多少男孩在想你；还有好多别的我现在记不起来的事情。

　　在玛琳的婶婶下班回家前，我们从来都看不到玛琳。在那以后，她也只能出到房子前面。她每晚都拿着个收音机在那里。等她婶婶房间里的灯熄灭后，玛琳就会点一枝烟，如果那会儿外面冷，或者收音机不响，或者我们相互没话说，这些都不要紧；要紧的是，玛琳说，要让男孩子看到我们，我们看到男孩子。因为玛琳的裙子更短，因为她的眼睛很漂亮，因为她在很多方面已经比我们成熟，男孩子跑过来说一些蠢话，比如我爱上了你说是眼睛的那两个青苹果，把它们给我吧为什么不？玛琳只是看着他们，眼睛都不眨一下，也不害怕。

　　玛琳，街灯下独自起舞的人，在某个地方唱着同一首歌，我知道。她在等一辆小汽车停下来，等着一颗星星坠落，等一个人改变她的生活。

　　Marin's boyfriend is io Rico. She shows us his letters and makes us promise not to tell anybody they're getting married when she goes back to P. R. She says he didn't get a job yet, but she's saving the money she gets from selling Avon and taking care of her cousins.

　　Marin says that if she stays here year, she's going to get a real job downtown because that's where the best jobs are, since you always get to look beautiful ao wear nice clothes and meet someone in the subway who might marry you and take you to live in a big house far away.

　　But year Louie's parents are going to send her back to her mother with a letter saying she's too much trouble, and that is too bad because I like Marin. She is older and knows lots of things. She is the one who told us how Davey the Baby's sister gnant and what cream is best for taking off moustache hair and if you t the white flecks on your fingernails you know how many boys are thinking of you and lots of other things I 't remember now.

　　We never see Marin until her aunt es home from work, and even then she only stay out in front. She is there every night with the radio. When the light in her aunt's room goes out, Marin lights a cigarette and it doesn't matter if it's cold out or if the radio doesn't work or if we've got nothing to say to each other. What matters, Marin says, is for the boys to see us and for us to see them. And since Marin's skirts are shorter and since her eyes are pretty, and since Marin is already older than us in many ways, the boys who do pass by say stupid things like I am in love with those two green apples you call eyes, give them to me why don't you. And Marin just looks at them without even blinking and is not afraid.

　　Marin, uhe streetlight, dang by herself, is singing the same song somewhere. I know. Is waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someoo ge her life.

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