¿Cuantos Años Tiene?

A little girl waiting with her father
for the family income taxes.
Not much of a place
to play or skip
or all the other things little girls do.
But then sitting in dad's lap
is probably better than sitting in a hot car
with mom and three other siblings.

Mom who either does not come inside
because of the three siblings
or because she does not have a tax payer i.d.,
or a current driver's license.

A dad who sits mostly quietly,
patiently waiting to hear whether he will have enough
of a refund to supplement
his only other source of income
unemployment,
until he hears me ask his little girl:

"¿Cuantos años tiene?"

"Seis"

"Seis, are you in 1st grade"

"Kindergarten"

"Kindergarten? Is your teacher nice?"

"Yes, she yells at the other kids."

"But you're a good girl, aren't you?"

"Yes."

And I believe her.

And two dads laugh,
because we both know
what it is like to hold a little girl
in our lap,
a little girl who is
seis.