She remembers playing scrabble with Dad.

They put words together she didn’t understand but it still built a language between them. She recalls his laugh, even though she doesn’t remember his face.

SIGNS BY HORACIO MANCILLA 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 19

Cereesa takes Jackson for a walk. She sees the usual people and dogs along the way. For the first time, she notices the sign outside the church:

God sent us the gift of His Son wrapped in swaddling clothes

The girl stops for a second and thinks about baby Jesus. She pictures the rose-colored little hands pierced by seven-inch rusty nails. Then she remembers the $35 piercing on her nipple. Cereesa starts walking again but the leash pulls her back. Jackson is taking a dump on the church’s lawn. She pretends to look for a plastic bag in her jeans pocket. “Who cares?” she says to Jackson and she continues her journey. On the way back she stops in front of the church again. She looks around, steps onto the lawn, steps over the steamy excrement and reaches the sign. No lock, no people.…