Presumption of Guilt

"No," Maria answered firmly, turning back around to finish working in the flower bed. She had a flat of flowers to add to the garden. She began digging again.

Tony threw his head back in frustration and then knelt beside her. "Stop, Abuela, please! Don't say that, por favor. You didn't even take any time thinking about it before you said no."

Maria turned to look at him, placing a hand over her eyes to shade them from the bright Mexican sun.

Giving her his best beseeching voice, he puffed his bottom lip out into a pout as he regarded her. "Abuela, you are the only grandparent to say no all the time. Everybody else's grandmamma lets them do things!"

She regarded the little boy and spoke quietly, "Antonio, enough- I do not want to hear anymore about this. I have answered you. La repuesta es no. The answer is still no, you may not go with Felipe's family to Campeche. I don't care if I am the only grandmamma to say no or not. You belong to me, and you are not going. That is the decision."

Her explanation did nothing to soothe the seven year old, and he ignored her warning and plunged ahead anyway, begging as he tried to make her agree. "Abuela, all I want to do is go with them to Campeche. They invited me themselves, and you are not even giving me any reason why you won't let me go. That is mean and unfair, and you didn't even give me any reason for saying no."

Maria stood up slowly, then brushed the dirt from her hands before she spoke. "I believe I told you I will not listen to any more on this same subject. Furthermore, Bambino, I do not have to give you a reason for saying you can not go. The conversation is finished for both of us, Antonio. This is now a count of one. Keep this going, and keep disobeying, and you will earn a punishment. Comprendes?"

He did not plan to accept the decision without more of a fight. His voice rose with unhappiness. "No, I don't understand! This is not fair at all, and…"

She interrupted firmly, in the voice Tony knew contained the warning tone before he got into serious trouble, "Two, Tony, and …."

Nevertheless, he interrupted again, throwing his hands into the air dramatically. "You don't even have a reason for saying no! You just don't want me to have a good time or any fun, Abuela."

"Three," she announced firmly, then pointed towards the house. "Go inside right now, Young Man, and go straight to your room. Immediatamente- immediately-"

Tony opened his mouth to argue about that decision, but taking a good look at her expression, self preservation finally put in an appearance. He turned and stomped his way inside the house, decidedly unhappy and displeased with her lack of cooperation, and Maria watched him go with a shake of her head.

She resumed her flower planting, taking her time to finish the task at hand, and deliberately calming down before she headed into the house. Tony's upset concerned her. It was not often that her baby acted in such a defiant manner, and it bothered her that he wanted to be in the company of the newcomers so much.

A new family had moved onto the outskirts of their village the week before, and one of the boys, Felipe, was Tony's age. Their community was a small one, and all of the kids tended to socialize with one another, though some with others at a greater extent.

The kids from the new family, all three of them, caused problems almost from the second that they arrived. That fact lay in the irresponsibility of their parents, who allowed their offspring to do as they pleased. So their young ones pretty much ran wild, which managed to alienate the other parents from the newcomer parents, but had the village children wishing to join the fun of the three siblings. They envied the liberty that Felipe and his brothers enjoyed.

From that point the refrain of all the other children to their parents in the village had been to argue that Felipe and his brothers didn't have to follow rules, so why should they?

Felipe and his family had decided on a shopping trip to Campeche, and they planned to spend the afternoon. They had invited Tony to accompany them, but Maria refused to let him go, despite Tony's impassioned pleas. She had no intention of allowing her baby to wander the streets of Campeche unsupervised or even semi-supervised with a family like that.

This morning, though, Tony would not accept no for an answer, and had attempted to wear down Maria's resolve with his words.

Not only had his strategy not worked, but now he was in additional trouble for backtalking her.

Tony lay across his bed staring at the ceiling of his bedroom and sulking when Maria went to check a while later. He had one arm thrown over his eyes, but had managed to keep a scowl intact, and his bottom lip pushed into a pout for added effect.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed. "Antonio, look at me please, por favor."

He obeyed, meeting her gaze but once again puffing his lip out in his trademark pout so that she would have no doubt about his unhappiness, or that he had spent his time out brooding.

"You will stay in your room until lunch time because of your disrespect. You know better than to talk back, and you know better than to argue. No longer are you four or five. You are seven, and capable of stopping yourself from saying something you shouldn't. Usted sabe mejor- you know better. I am unhappy that you chose to do both, backtalking and arguing, when you have been taught to act with respect and manners, Antonio."

That did not please the child, and he deliberately turned over on the bed so that he no longer faced her.

Reacting instantly to the impertinence, Maria narrowed her eyes and spoke sharply, in the voice Tony tried never to invoke, "Turn to me and sit up right this minute, Bambino! Instantaneamente!"

He scrambled up quickly- immediately, as per her order. Though determined to share his misery, he also understood that her displeasure with him had scaled a new height, and he recognized that he had pushed her too far.

"Now, because of that rudeness just now, there will be no going outdoors to play after you eat, either," she announced.

Tony flinched, and his eyes filled. Lying on his bed the past half hour, he had consoled himself that at least he could play with his friends later in the day, even if he still did not have the Campeche excursion. Now he had lost that and the rest of his day just looked bleak.

"Am I clear, Antonio? Do you understand?" Maria raised an eyebrow and waited for his response.

He replied quietly. "Si, yes, Abuela, I understand. Lo siento- I apologize for being disrespectful."

Nodding, Maria left him and made her way to the spacious kitchen. Maria's sister planned to join them for supper, and Maria wanted to prepare flan for dessert.

Having served his punishment, after lunch Tony was allowed to leave his room. However, he could not join his friends or play with them through the afternoon. He moped instead.

Jethro had not made it down to Mexico yet, but would arrive in a few days, so Maria and Tony had the house to themselves. When Tony joined her she noticed that his mood had improved with his time out, and she smiled in relief.

After supper Maria sat with her sister in the courtyard, rocking gently as the daylight faded, and talking quietly. Lorenzo, Maria's teenaged nephew, was getting himself ready to go out for the evening, but Tony desperately wanted to spend time with him. Tony hero worshipped his older cousin, and Lorenzo had proved very patient and loving with the little boy from the moment he met him.

When Maria told Tony to go take his bath, he protested at once, begging for time with Lorenzo, and Maria started to count again. The teen managed to save Tony from another punishment by telling the child he would go help him get his bath started, but then that he would have to leave to take his own shower. Tony happily agreed, and swinging on Lorenzo's hand, made his way into the house.

Half an hour later Tony navigated his battery controlled race car around the courtyard, clean and pajamaed.

Maria and her sister discussed plans for later in the week, and debated making a trip into Campeche to visit some of the vendors. Tony stopped playing when he heard the talk of Campeche. Putting down his car, he leaned against Maria's legs as she rocked. She tilted his head back for a kiss, then pulled him onto her lap. He snuggled immediately, but then sat straight up and regarded her suspiciously.

"This is not time for me to go to bed, Abuela," he pointed out.

Tia smiled and leaned over to tousle his hair. "You are a clever boy, Antonio."

Tony grinned and settled back against Maria, raising both of his arms behind him so that he could rub his Abuela's hair. Maria winked conspiratorially at her sister. That constituted a sure sign that Tony needed to sleep. She caressed his cheek and regarded him. His eyes were green and very shimmery, and Tony had been blessed with long, gorgeous eyelashes to frame them. He grinned up at her.

The little boy rearranged himself so that he could sit sideways and watch Maria's sister, using one hand to rub his eyes, and the other to stroke Maria's hair. "Tia," he complained, "Abuela, abuela mia, will not let me go to Campeche and have fun. Ella no me dejara ir. I asked her nicely, too."

Maria raised her eyebrows, and told her sibling the name of the family who had issued the invitation.

His aunt nodded, savvy to the problem at once, and answered soothingly, "She is right, though, that we do not know this family well enough for the baby to go with them, ok? No los conozco."

Tony scowled, "I am not a baby anymore. Yo soy grande, Tia."

"Si," she smiled, then blew a kiss his way.

He giggled, and rubbed his face in the front of his abuela's dress before rearranging himself yet once again.

Fifteen minutes later Lorenzo returned, dressed for his evening out and there to tell his mother and aunt good bye. Tony slept soundly in Maria's lap. He leaned down and kissed both, then asked, "Tia Maria, why don't I carry the muchacho to bed for you?"

She nodded, and he carefully picked up Tony and carried him through the house to the little boy's room. He rocked him gently in his arms as Maria hurried to pull down the covers. Tony didn't even wake when Lorenzo slid him between the sheets and his abuela kissed him good night.