A tour

"Are you done eating breakfast?" the girl asked. Suri looked over her shoulder and was comforted by the sight of her new friend. "Yeah, I'm all done now," she replied dropping her spoon. What do we do after breakfast?" she asked clearly uncertain of the daily routine. Some of us help clear the tables and the older kids take turns washing the dishes. Grandma likes everyone to pitch in to show their appreciation. Suri was beginning to wonder if every other sentence the girl uttered would begin with 'grandma.' It reminded her of church folk always mentioning the pastor in their conversations. She was comforted by the familiarity yet annoyed by the redundancy.

"Is grandma here everyday? Or does she just visit from time to time?" she asked. "Oh, Grandma lives here with us. Do you like her? Have you talked to her? Did you meet her? I bet you'd really like her!" the girl inquired excitedly. Suri felt out of place considering Grandma had never smiled at her let alone talked to her. She didn't really get the impression that the woman cared to know anything about her. She was beginning to miss her old home and all of the predictability that comes from having a place to call home.

"Do you want to see the backyard? That's where we play after breakfast." the girl asked. "Sure. Do they have swings out there?" Suri asked wide-eyed and smiling from ear to ear. She loved the swings. She could just picture herself rocking back and forth with the wind gently licking her face. She began to smile at the thought. "Yes of course we have swings!" the girl exclaimed. "What kind of home doesn't have swings?" she giggled. Suri felt certain the girl had never been anywhere outside of this house. Their were plenty of homes that didn't have swings. Her old house didn't have any swings until her daddy built one. She thought back to that day....
"Daddy! What you doin' with all of that wood there?" she asked curiously as she leaned over his tall shoulder.
"I'm building a swing for my little girl."he replied beaming. "What's the point of having this big ol' tree over here if I aint gonna put a nice swing underneath it?"
"A swing daddy?! Really! for me?" she said planting a big kiss on his cheek.
"Let me show you how it's done baby girl," he said pulling her around to face him. He grabbed the freshly cut piece of wood with both hands. "See I put two holes in the sides and then we take this rope right here and-"

"Hey! Hey, Suri! You coming?" the girl asked. She stood tapping her foot in the middle of the backyard. "Oh, yes I'm coming now." Suri replied.

Suri walked into the backyard and was awestruck by the greenery. There were vines wrapping around the wooden gate, thick grass coating the ground, and tall trees that almost touched the sky that keeping the yard cool. Children ran back and forth playing tag and pirate ship with sticks. Little boys wrestled in the dirt and some girls gossiped in the corner. She wondered if they were talking about her. Then she saw it. The swing. It was spectacular. It had a thick yellow rope that hugged the tree branch on both sides and the tree's branches draped over it leaving only a small space for the sunshine to enter. And it did enter. It shined directly onto the seat of the swing. It seemed to call out to her. She ran full speed to the swing, plopped onto it, leaned back and pushed herself forward. She swung effortlessly in the breeze. Then suddenly someone shoved her off and she fell face first into the dirt with a thud. "Who are you?!" the voice called out angrily. "We ain't got but one swing. You can't just be jumping on it like it's yours shoot!"
Suri slowly looked up puzzled. She saw long legs in blue jeans and a plaid cotton shirt. Then she saw the face of an older girl who was clearly agitated with her arms crossed. "Aryn! What is she doing on my swing?" Suri was shocked to see her new friend fidgeting with her clothes and unsure of how to answer. She realized that she had never even taken the courtesy to ask the girl what her name was and how rude that must have seemed.
"She um, she just came over and um. She didn't know. She didn't ask me to ask you - " Aryn stammered.
"I didn't know I couldn't get on it. Nobody told me nothing." Suri chimed in holding her jaw which felt sore from the fall. "I didn't see nobody on it so I just got on it."
"Saying 'you didn't know' aint no real excuse! You need to learn to ask somebody fo' you just be doin stuff," the girl said. "I'm Cara and this is my swing ya hear! If you want to get on it you have to ask me first. I'm in charge!" she yelled.

Suri was confused. She was under the impression that the only person in charge was Grandma. Now some girl named Cara is in charge too, and had the right to tell her she couldn't use the swing? This was all too much for one day. She dusted off her clothes and decided she didn't want to play in the backyard anymore. She looked over at Aryn disappointed and regretting having ever agreed to play outside with her.
"Why don't you go tell Grandma you didn't know. She'll let you swing for sure." Aryn asked energetically.
"Why don't you go ask her," Suri replied. "You know a whole lot more about the way things go around here than I do." She walked off shaking her head "I should have known better. I never had any friends and I definitely don't have any here," she thought to herself.  She continued to rub her jaw and wondered if it was swollen. She saw Grandma approaching.

"What's wrong with your face baby?" Grandma asked.
"I didn't know I couldn't get on the swing and that tall girl pushed me off" Suri replied avoiding eye contact.
"Never begin a sentence with "I didn't know". Ignorance is a choice young lady." Grandma replied. "Now come have a seat by the sink and I'll put some cold peas on your face."
Suri felt like her blood was boiling. She hadn't done anything to anybody. The girl pushed her off of the swing  for nothing and all Grandma could say was ignorance was a choice? She was convinced this place was full of crazy people.
She made up her mind to count down the days until she could leave.