245/365 Puzzled

"I'm just so puzzled by that little Drina," Sr. Agneta says with a sigh at lunch. "I gave her a new backpack and all these notebooks and pens and books and workbooks. But it's all gone. She pretends she doesn't understand me when I ask her where it all went."

Terri, Cynthia, and I just smile at each other.

"They. Are. Gypsies!" Terri says again for the hundredth time.

"Terri," Cynthia chides her. "Really? Are we going to continue with the stereotypes?"

"Look, I'm just telling you what Ben told me. They are nomadic. They take what they can and move on. He believes they speak English even if they probably are illiterate. I still would bet any money they'll be gone before Christmas."

"I think that's a terrible thing to say about them," Agneta says, straightening her back even more than it's already straightened. "Drina is just lovely."

"But she lies?" Terri says, eyes wide. "And steals things? And pretends not to know English?"

Agneta wipes her hands on her napkin. "I was just wondering, you know, if maybe Frank or someone in your class had stolen the items."

"Oh, leave Frank alone," I tell her. "You don't know a damned thing about Frank."

She stares at me, like she's sizing me up, seeing if she can take me in a fist fight. She can't, but that isn't really what she's checking. "I know plenty about Frank. And he's my thief."

"But he hasn't been up to your room in weeks, Agneta," Cynthia reminds her.

"So now he's stealing the things I gave to Drina. She's terrified of him. Of his," she circles her face with her finger. "Blackness."

Terri laughs out loud, breaking the tension, thank God.

"You know what I mean," Agneta snaps back, picking up her tray. She walks out and Cynthia turns to me shaking her head. The moment is over.

"So, Danny brought his step-son over last night with Tanya. I hadn't seen Wesley since their wedding. You know his dad is out of the picture, so Tanya put him on my lap and said, 'Wesley, here's Nana!' Well, I just about burst into tears right there, the whole thing was so sweet........"