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《不完美，也美》
Perfect with a Capital P
“Hey Jessica, do you live around here?” a girl’s voice called.
I looked up to see Sarita jogging across the grass toward me. I had never seen her in my neighborhood, only at school. And I never really talked with her much there, because, to me, Sarita is perfect with a capital P. She gets the best grades in the class, is the best at almost every sport, and everyone is always clustered ) around her. I assumed she wouldn’t want to bother with me. I’m perfectly average ), with a lower-case ) letter a.
I turned back to helping my brother Matthew dig in the sand just as Sarita reached us, but I did answer her question. “Yes. We live next door.”
“I wish I lived next to a park,” Sarita said.
“It’s great,” I agreed. “Except when people have noisy parties on late summer evenings. Then it’s hard to sleep.”
“Lyde, Essa, lyde,” Matthew suddenly said, flinging ) his shovel aside.
“He wants to go on the slide,” I explained to Sarita as I hoisted ) Matthew onto my hip.
“It must be fun to have a little brother,” Sarita said.
“He is fun,” I agreed. “I have to watch him a lot, though. Right now my parents are painting the kitchen.”
Sarita followed us to the slide. I placed Matthew on top and held his hands as he slid down.
“Ing, Essa, ing,” Matthew said.
“Now he wants to swing,” I told Sarita.
“Is he calling you Essa?” Sarita guessed.
“That’s his name for me,” I said.
Sarita laughed. “That’s cute.” Then her pocket buzzed ), and she pulled out a cell phone. “¿Hola?” she answered, then paused to listen. “Sí, Rosa, lo está en el armario del pasillo.”
“My sister,” Sarita explained as she slid the phone back into her pocket. “She wanted to borrow one of my sweaters.”
It must be fun to have a sister to share clothes with, I thought. But out loud ), I mentioned the main thing on my mind. “You’re lucky, Sarita. I wish I had a cell phone.”
Sarita shrugged. “I’m only allowed to use it to talk to my family,” she explained.
As I slipped Matthew’s legs through the holes in the toddler ) swing, he chanted ), “I me, I me, Essa!”
“I’ll push you high, Matthew,” I assured him as I pushed the swing.
Sarita stood next to the swings, watching us. Why is she hanging around here, I wondered. She must have a million exciting things to do with all her friends.
“Can I push him?” Sarita suddenly asked.
“Sure,” I replied. “My arms get tired after a while.”
Sarita and I took turns pushing while Matthew called out, “I me!” over and over. My little brother could swing forever.
“My sister used to push me on swings,” Sarita said. “Now she just borrows my stuff all the time. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have to share a room with her.”
I’m glad I have my own room, I thought. “But I’ll bet she shares her stuff with you, too,” I said.
“Luckily she buys lots of books,” Sarita replied. “Mysteries, mostly, just what I like to read. So I can borrow them from her.”
“Mysteries are my favorite books, too,” I said.
“Really, Jessica? I never knew that about you.” Sarita smiled at me. “I read whenever I have time, after my chores.”
“What kind of chores do you have to do?” I asked. I had never imagined Sarita doing anything but fun stuff.
“Oh, mop the floors and take out the trash,” Sarita answered. “And Rosa and I switch off with the dishes and laundry.”
Wow, I thought. I don’t have to do all that. I just keep my room clean and watch Matthew.
“My parents are really busy with work,” Sarita explained.
Sarita and I kept talking while we kept taking turns pushing. By the time Matthew called out, “Top, top!” and I grabbed the swing to stop it, I had almost forgotten about Sarita being perfect with a capital P. Maybe nobody, and nobody’s life, is perfect, I thought. Sarita has a few less-than-perfect things in her life, just like I do. And we have a few other things in common, too.
“Sarita, weren’t you going somewhere when you stopped here?” I asked as I pulled Matthew from the swing.
“No, I was just taking a walk,” Sarita answered. “I didn’t have anywhere to go.”
Holding Matthew, I glanced at my house. “It’s time for us to go home,” I told Sarita. And then I decided to take a chance ). Why not? “My parents are ordering pizza because they’ve been painting all day. We’ll have plenty. Want to come over for dinner?”
“I’d like that,” Sarita answered. “I’ll call my dad.” She pulled out her phone and dialed. “Papá, mi amiga Jessica me invitó a su casa para la cena. Puedo ir?”
I recognized that word, amiga. Friend. That made me smile. Friend with a capital F, that is.
“嗨，杰茜卡，你住在这附近？”一个女孩的声音喊道。
我抬起头来，看见萨丽塔正慢慢穿过草坪朝我跑过来。我从未在我家附近见过她，只在学校里见过。在学校我也从来没有正儿八经地和她说过很多话，因为，对我来说，萨丽塔是完美的，完美到不能再完美。她的学习成绩是班里最好的，而且几乎每一项体育运动都玩得很棒，所以大家总是簇拥在她的周围。我猜想她是不会愿意费工夫来搭理我的。我是那么的普通，普通到不能再普通。
就在萨丽塔来到我们身边时，我转过身去帮我弟弟马修一起挖沙子，不过我还是回答了她的问题。“是的，我们住隔壁。”
“真希望自己住在公园旁边。”萨丽塔说。
“住公园旁是不错，”我赞同道，“只要夏天人们不要在晚上很晚的时候还在公园里开那种闹哄哄的派对。要是这样的话，就会吵得人难以入睡。”
“梯，茜，梯。”马修突然说道，还把他的铁铲猛地扔到一边。
“他想去玩滑梯。”我一边和萨丽塔解释，一边把马修抱起来。
“有个小弟弟肯定很好玩。”萨丽塔说。
“他是很好玩，”我没有否认，“不过我经常得看着他。就像现在，我爸妈正在粉刷厨房。”
萨丽塔跟着我们来到了滑梯旁。我把马修放在滑梯顶部，然后牵着他的手让他滑下来。
“千，茜，千。”马修说。
“现在他想要荡秋千。”我告诉萨丽塔。
“他是在叫你茜吗？”萨丽塔猜测道。
“那是他给我起的名字。”我说。
萨丽塔大笑了起来。“太可爱了。”这时她的口袋嗡嗡作响，接着她从口袋里掏出了一部手机。“喂？”她接通了电话，然后没说话，只是听着。“是的，罗莎，在走廊的衣柜里。”
“我姐姐，”萨丽塔一边解释一边把手机塞回口袋里，“她想借我的一件运动衫。”
有个姐姐和你换穿衣服肯定很有意思，我心想。但我大声说出来的却是满脑子想的那件事。“你真幸运，萨丽塔。我多希望有部手机啊。”
萨丽塔耸了耸肩。“我只可以用这部手机和我的家人通话。”她解释道。
在我把马修的两条腿从儿童秋千座椅上的两个小洞里穿过去时，他反复地喊着：“我飞，我飞，茜！”
“我会把你推得高高的，马修。”我一边推着秋千一边向他保证。
萨丽塔站在秋千旁看着我们。我不知道她为什么在这儿闲荡。她肯定有一大堆刺激的事情可以和她那些朋友一起做。
“我能推他吗？”萨丽塔突然问。
“当然，”我回答说，“我的胳膊推一会儿就会累。”
萨丽塔和我轮流推着秋千，马修则一遍又一遍地大喊：“我飞！”我这个小弟弟可以一直这么荡下去。
“我姐姐以前也推着我荡秋千，”萨丽塔说，“现在她整天只知道找我借东西。有时候我真希望不用和她住在一个房间里。”
我很高兴我有属于自己的房间，我心想。“但我打赌她也和你分享她的东西吧。”我说。
“幸好她买了很多书，”萨丽塔回答说，“大部分都是悬疑小说，正好是我喜欢读的。所以我可以从她那儿借书。”
“悬疑小说也是我最喜欢读的书。”我说。
“真的吗，杰茜卡？我从不知道你也有这个爱好。”萨丽塔冲我微微一笑。“我只要一有时间就读，在我干完家务活以后。”
“你得做什么样的家务活啊？”我问。我从未想象过萨丽塔除了玩乐还要做其他事情。
“哦，拖地，还有倒垃圾，”萨丽塔回答说，“罗莎和我还轮流洗碗和洗衣服。”
哇，我心想。所有这些事情我都不用做。我只要保持自己房间干净，还有就是看着马修就行。
“我爸妈工作真的很忙。”萨丽塔解释道。
萨丽塔和我一边聊着天一边轮流推秋千。直到马修大喊“停，停！”的时候，我才抓住秋千让它停下来，我几乎都忘记了她是那个完美到不能再完美的萨丽塔。我想，或许没有人，也没有人的生活是完美的。萨丽塔在生活中也会有一些不尽如人意的事情，正如我一样。我们在其他一些事情上也有一样的地方。
“萨丽塔，你在这儿逗留之前是打算去哪儿吗？”我问道，顺便把马修从秋千上抱下来。
“没有，我就是出来散个步，”萨丽塔回答，“我没有地方要去。”
我抱着马修，眼睛瞟了一眼我家。“我们该回家了。”我告诉萨丽塔。接着，我决定冒险一试。为什么不呢？“我爸妈要定比萨，因为他们一整天都在粉刷。我们会要很多。想不想来我家吃晚饭？”
“当然愿意啊，”萨丽塔回答，“我要给我爸爸打个电话。”她掏出手机，拨了个电话号码。“爸爸，我朋友杰茜卡邀请我去她家吃晚饭。我能去吗？”
我听出了那个词，amiga。那是“朋友”的意思。听到那个词让我笑了。是“朋友”，没错。
文章摘自：《新东方英语·中学生》杂志2016年11月号
