City Tour (Part 2)

I obviously wasn’t a tourist guide, and even if I had lived there for a little while, I didn’t know what would interest Svetlana. That’s why I decided to take her to the called “Centro”, where most of the touristic landmarks were. However, I was about to find out that a girl her size was much harder to impress than I thought.

The first thing I thought of was the city’s symbol: the Angel of Independence (or “Ángel de la Independencia”, as the locals call it). A golden angel standing on top of a tower, as if watching for the city around it. Personally, I thought it was a very powerful landmark, but Svetlana didn’t seem to agree with me. I guess a waist-high tower holding a 25 cm tall (about 9 inches) angel wasn’t exactly very impressive to her.

“Is this it?”, she asked, bending down a little to get a closer look. “Is this really the symbol of the whole city? This statuette is even smaller than a Barbie doll.”

“Don’t be mean.”, I said. “Remember that you’re much bigger than them. This is actually quite big and imposing to Mexicans.”

“Oh, no, don’t get me wrong. I think this little figurine is quite cute.”, she said, reaching for it.

“No, don’t touch it!”, I said, pulling her arm before she could do so. “If you do anything to it you’re gonna get the army here!”

“OK, OK, fine!”, she said, crossing her arms, as if to keep them away from the landmark. “I wasn’t going to drop it, or steal it.”

“I know, I’m sorry, but they’re really apprehensive with these things, so…sorry.”

“It’s OK”, she said, sighing. “Hey, what’s that sound?”

Looking down, we both noticed a huge traffic jam, apparently caused by Svetlana’s huge feet standing in the middle of the street. Most car drivers were already blowing their horns at her. A few had even got out of their cars and were standing right by her feet, yelling up and telling her to move. Much more interested in them than in the angel, she crouched, looking amused at the tiny crowd on the street.

“Hey, Lena, check this out! What do you think they’re doing here? Maybe a parade?”

“No, Svetlana. You’re blocking the cars flow.”, I said, actually giggling a little, finding the situation somewhat hilarious.

“Oh! Am I?”, she said, obviously embarrassed, and stood back to full height, taking a step aside, letting the cars drive on. “This city is super tiny, Lena. I’m bigger than everything around me. Even buildings.”

“Oh, so you want something big, huh? OK, let’s go. I have something in mind.”

Our walk across this part of the city was surprisingly easy. While Svetlana was obviously struggling with each step, the citizens in general seemed to be used to having people our size passing by, even if we were the only ones at the moment. They knew just where to stand, when, and how to know when someone so big was approaching and from what direction.

Before we could reach our destination, though, Svetlana seemed to be tired of walking. Even panting a little bit. So we stopped for a moment, to let her catch her breath.

“Are you OK?”, I asked. “You’re sweating a lot.”

“I’m fine”, she said. “I’m just a little tired.”

“Tired? But your legs are longer than mine. You haven’t walked much.”

“I know, but the heat is killing me! I’m from Russia. I feel like I’m inside an oven.”

“Oh…I see. Well, why don’t you rest here a little while I go get you something to drink?”

“Thanks a lot, Lena. You’re a very nice girl.”

And so I went to get her a bottle of ice water. Being a touristic area, there were some places to get stuff our size, but not that many. That’s why I had to walk a little while to find one. When I walked back to Svetlana, however, I saw something I didn’t expect. There she was, lying down on her back, right in the middle of the “zócalo”, which is some kind of enormous plinth where people can walk or simply stand to look around. There was a big flagpole in the middle, displaying Mexico’s flag proudly. Well, big to Mexicans. The pole was a little shorter than Svetlana’s shoulder.

Seeing her lying down like that, I obviously freaked out. There were hundreds of tinies around her, which made me freak out even more. Without thinking it twice, I hurried towards her. The slapping of my flip-flops against the ground probably scared a few of them, since they immediately backed away from her. I kneeled down next to her face.

“Svetlana!”, I said, really worried. “Are you OK? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, hi Lena”, she said, cheerfully, which helped me calm down a little.

“What are you doing here?”

“I just decided to lay down for a little while.”, she said, sitting up. “But yeah, I’m feeling just fine.”

“Oh, thank God”, I said, sighing in relief. “I thought you had a sunstroke or something!”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine”, she said, smiling. “Hey! You got me some water! Thanks!”

I helped her back onto her feet as she took a few gulps of water. Everyone around us started clapping and cheering as we did. As I blushed, not feeling comfortable being the center of attention like that, Svetlana noticed the flagpole and walked towards it.

“Hey, Lena, check this out!”, she said, and started blowing at the flag, trying to make it wave.

“What are you doing now, silly?”

“Just making it wave. It looks better like that. I suppose I can’t take it either, right?”

“Sorry, no. But don’t worry, I bet you’ll like our next stop.”

“OK, then.”, she said, caressing the flag a little with her hand before we left the area.

Our following path was harder than the rest, since the buildings were pretty close to each other, making it hard for us to walk through, since there was just a narrow space for us to pass. Not to mention that this made it even more difficult to find enough room to put our feet as we carefully stepped right next to pedestrians and cars alike.

Fortunately, it didn’t take us too long to find our goal. In front of us stood a gigantic tower, more than twice Svetlana’s height. Not too tall if we consider that it’s the tallest building in Mexico, but it was the first time Svetlana had to actually look up to see something since she arrived to the country, so I hoped it’d do the trick.

“Svetlana, this is the famous Latin-American Tower. Or 'Torre Latinoamericana', in Spanish”, I said, smiling.

“Wow!”, she said, staring up at it. “It’s very tall! What’s inside?”

“Well, why don’t you go and see for yourself?”

Clapping excitedly, she walked towards it, looking through the tiny windows. Most of the floors that were eye level to her had offices inside. The people inside their cubicles were startled for a second by the enormous blonde girl suddenly appearing, but as most people there, they were used to tourist of different sizes, so they continued working after a few seconds.

However, as soon as Svetlana cupped her hands around her eyes and held them against the glass of the windows to avoid the sun reflection, many workers screamed and got away from their desks, gathering at the opposite end of the building, worried that the pressure of her hands was going to shatter the glass windows.

“Lena, look! There are a lot of tinies in here!”, she said, amused.

“Just don’t lean against the building”, I said, snapping my fingers to make her hurry. “The windows are fragile!”

“Oh, sorry”, she said, immediately backing away from it.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t paying attention as she backed away from the building, and she accidentally bumped a tiny couple with her bare heel, knocking them both off their feet. Gasping, she turned around, bending over to see if any of them was hurt. As she did, though, her butt hit the tower she had just peeked through, breaking dozens of windows with the impact. Already pretty agitated, she turned around, backing away again. Fortunately, the couple had already got away, so instead, she stepped right on a parked police car.

The two policemen, who were standing next to a tacos stand, could only watch as their car was easily flattened under the gigantic foot of a blonde girl, as if it was an empty can. The vehicle soon disappeared under slipper fabric and flesh alike. They then stared up, crossing their arms.

“Oops!”, she said, innocently. “S…sorry?”

“You’re gonna have to come with us, miss”, said one of the police officers.

“Wait, hold on a second.”, I said, crouching next to them. “Please don’t do anything to her. It was an accident. It’s her first time here and she’s not used to watch her step.”

“I’m sorry, but she has to come with us.”

“Please…there must be another way.”

“Well…”, one of them started. “The insurance can take care of this.”

“Oh, really?”, I asked, really surprised. “Does it cover giants destroying stuff?”

“If it’s an accident, yes”, he said, now sounding serious. “But why would we say it was an accident?”

“Please, please, please. You gotta help us.”

“Then you have to help us help you, miss”, he said, grinning.

“S…sure. How can I help you?”

“Well, those earrings are very pretty.”

“M…my earrings?”, I asked, quickly taking them off. “Sure, sure, they’re yours.”, I said, taking them off and placing them next to the two police officers.

“And the necklace too.”, the other one said.

“The necklace.”, I said, sighing. “F…fine…it’s yours too.”, I placed it next to the earrings.

“And the ring too.”

“What?”, I asked, now upset. “That’s too much.”

“Well, then, we’ll have to take your friend with us.”

“OK, OK, fine!”, I placed my ring on the ground. “Can we go now?”

“Yeah, I guess you can go. Just watch your step from now on, girls.”

“Thanks”, I said, obviously not meaning it, and grabbed Svetlana’s hand. “Let’s go. We’re going home now.”

I know it was wrong to bribe those officers, but things in Mexico kind of work like that. You can get in a lot of trouble if you refuse to do it when they ask. They don’t get anything from arresting someone, so they decide to take a little advantage of it. It’s still not a good excuse to do it, but I didn’t want Svetlana to get in trouble. The poor girl was already really shaken because of all the wrecking she caused and I just wanted it all to end.

We finally got back home. Tired and a little stressed, we only wanted to rest. But when we got inside, we couldn’t find my dad anywhere.

“Dad?”, I asked, walking into my bedroom. He was nowhere to be found. Just before I left the room, I noticed a sheet of paper on my bed. Without telling Svetlana, I picked it up and read it. It said:

“Hello, Lena.

I thought a lot about what you said earlier, and I think you’re right. This relationship is just wrong. I’m taking advantage of this poor girl. She deserves much better than me, just like your mom did. I don’t want to ruin her life, and I won’t. Please be easy when explaining this to her. I don’t want her to be too sad. You know I never was good with words, but I know she’s in good hands with you. Let her know that she’ll be happier without me. I’m sorry again to leave like this, but it’s for the best.

Loves you, dad”

***

“But why would he leave like this?”, Svetlana asked me, as she hugged me tightly. “Without even saying goodbye?”

“He was ashamed.”, I said, patting her back.

“And why did he leave, anyway? Was I not good enough?”

“No, no, don’t say that, girl! You’re more than enough for any guy.”

“Maybe it’s my height.”, she said, sobbing. “I know many men are intimidated by taller women.”

“Trust me”, I said, thinking her reasoning was a bit cute. “Your looks weren’t a problem here. At all.”

“Then why?”

“He thinks you’ll be happier with a someone your age.”

“Why would he think that? I love him. And love doesn’t know of age.”

“It’s not that”, I said, feeling more like a mom than a friend. “It’s just that…well, you love him, right? And you want to be with him as long as possible. But with this age difference, he’ll probably die when you’re still young. You’ll be very sad at such an early age. Do you want that?”

“Well, no, but…”

“And even worse if you have kids. You want them to grow up without a dad?”

“N…no, I don’t”.

“So you understand now?”

“I…I think so”, she said, starting to calm down. “But I’m still going to miss him.”

“Of course you are”, I said, feeling really sorry for her. Even though they were together for a very brief time, she somehow got to like him a lot.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

“It must be him!”, she said, rushing to the door and opening it. A man stood there, but it wasn’t my dad.

“Excuse me, I’m bringing lost luggage. Is this the right address?”, he asked, staring up in awe at the tall Russian.

“Y…yes, it’s here.”, she said, recognizing her luggage. “Thanks.”

“Have a nice evening”, he said, and left.

Svetlana took her stuff and closed the door.

“Lena?”, she said, looking at the floor. “Would it be OK if I stayed with you a few days? I really don’t want to be alone right now.”

“Sure, sure. Stay as long as you want, dear”, I said, hugging her again. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay with your family?”

“No, that’s not a good idea.”, she said, shaking her head. “I think it’s time to start my own life, away from home. I want to be independent.”

“I see. Well, tomorrow we’ll go get you a job, then. If you’re gonna live here, you need to start working.”

“Yay!”, she said, excited. “I hope my inexperience won’t be an issue. I’ve never had a job before.”

“Well…”, I said, looking at her face, her body and her size in general. “Something tells me you won’t have much trouble finding a job…”

I was really angry at my dad, as you can probably imagine. However, he did bring Svetlana to my life, and I really thank him for that. She soon became one of my closest friends, and we’ve had tons of fun together. But I’ll go into that later…