INVISIBLE STRING ↝ E. BUCKLEY

[0]

The sound of hamburgers on a grill sizzled in the air, and the smell of flowers in the garden covered the backyard in an earthy, yet pleasant scent. Beer bottles clinked together in cheers and aimless chatter buzzed in the backyard as various members of the Diaz family caught up with one another, whether it was those who continued to call El Paso, Texas home, or the few that had chosen to relocate to Los Angeles, California.

"Is this your card?" a small voice sounded next to Charlotte Campbell, and she looked down to see her best friend's son, Christopher Diaz, holding up the ten of spades with a knowing smile.

"How did you know?" Charlie asked the young seven year old with a suspicious grin, and he began to laugh victoriously, a hand flying into the air in triumph.

"I knew it!" Christopher exclaimed. "A friend taught me at school. I've been practicing."

Charlie looked down at Christopher, trying to fight the sad smile that threatened to cross her face. Christopher seemed in high spirits, despite having buried his mother Shannon at her funeral service the day before, but Charlie couldn't even begin to guess what was going through the young boy's head. Aside from the service, Christopher kept a smile on his face from the moment Charlie and her brother had arrived at their house, and it was all she could do to keep the young boy laughing, to keep him distracted from the weight of everything taking place.

"How?" a voice called from near the house, and Charlie looked up to see Christopher's grandfather, Ramon Diaz, looking skeptically over at his wife and son. "By running out on him?"

"Ramon," Helena Diaz warned, her eyes moving back and forth between him and their son, Eddie.

"Oh god," Jackson Campbell breathed, shooting his sister a nervous glance before the two looked uneasily back at Christopher, making sure the boy hadn't heard his grandfather's outburst.

"Papi, we're not doing this." Eddie said, walking back towards his father.

Charlie watched as Ramon nodded, apologizing to Eddie as the three of them sat down together next to Eddie's aunt and grandmother, and began to discuss something quietly amongst the five of them. As she watched the conversation unfold, she noticed Eddie growing more and more angry, especially after his two sisters went over to join the group.

"Hey Chris, how about we go for a walk?" Jackson suggested, turning back to the boy to get him distracted. "You can show me around your abuelita's neighborhood, how does that sound?"

"Okay," Christopher nodded, seemingly unaware of the conversation at the other table, and Jackson nodded his head in their direction, gesturing for Charlie to stay with them.

"You keep an eye on that," Jackson whispered to his sister as he grabbed Christopher's crutches, helping the boy out of his seat as Christopher led the way to the garden gate.

Eddie noticed Christopher and Jackson leave, and his gaze moved down to where Charlie now sat alone as he waved for her to join them. "Charlie, can you come here for a minute?" Eddie asked, and Charlie nodded, quickly getting up from her chair and moving to the empty one next to Eddie.

"Everything okay?" Charlie asked.

"Everything's fine," Ramon attempted to assure her. "Just a family matter, Charlotte. Nothing to worry about."

"No, Charlie stays." Eddie insisted before turning to look at the woman next to him. "It seems the real reason they all came out here was to get me and Christopher back to El Paso." he looked back at Christopher and Jackson's retreating forms before looking back over at his father. "I won't uproot him again."

"Christopher hasn't been here long enough to put down roots." Ramon pointed out. "He spent the first six years of his life in El Paso, with us." He looked back at where Charlie still sat next to Eddie. "With Charlie, too."