?Que has dicho? - A 500-word short story

 The fourth short story of 2023 in my Deadlines for Writers group has to be 500 words using the prompt "teach." Here's my submission. 

?Que Has Dicho?

“Miguel, Miguel!’

I was painting the trim on my garage and looked up to see my neighbor motioning emphatically to the Hispanic man planting the new shrubs around his house. The worker looked up at George questioningly. I saw that it was Miguel, the husband of my teaching partner, Rosita.

“Aqui” said George, much too loud and pointing importantly a few inches to the left of where the gardener was working. “The. azalea. goes. here.” George continued slowly, enunciating carefully, and gesturing widely. “No aqui,” he continued then pointed emphatically, “Aqui!”

I knew Miguel well. His wife and I taught together at the local junior high school and teamed up to plan the fall festival each year.  Rosita and Miquel’s sons played soccer with my sons in the community league; in fact, Miguel had privately and generously stepped in last month and paid the participation fees for the Parker boys, whose father had left the family last year. Their mother was diligently working two jobs to try to make up for the loss of her husband’s salary, but she was having a hard time coming up with the money she needed for her children’s activities and equipment.

Miquel was a devoted father and conscientious citizen as well as the owner of a successful landscaping business that employed more than 20 workers. The Hernadez Nursery was the best place in town to find knowledgeable help with plants and to get dependable landscapers.

I watched in dismay as George continued to proudly pepper his and Miguel’s conversational exchanges with elementary Spanish words that any remedial third grader could comfortably use. I wondered how I could intervene to tell George that Miquel’s English was far superior to George’s Spanish.

As I continued painting around the windows on my garage, I caught George’s voice occasionally. “Bueno. Muy bien.” “Si, Amigo!”  “Aqui.” And even once the expansive and multisyllabic “bueno trabajo!” I glanced over at him when I heard that and found him looking at me to see if I’d noticed his Spanish vocabulary.

By the time that Miguel was nearly finished with the job --under George’s constant scrutiny, I had become absolutely fascinated with what was going on next door and was feeling a little insulted on Miguel’s behalf at George’s condescending manner. But no opportunity had come up for me to speak with George privately.  “I’d pay good pesos,” I thought, to hear Miguel just stand up and tell George to dial down the condescension.

As I began to put away my paint and brushes, I caught movement next door. Miguel was standing and extending his hand to George. I heard his dignified voice say in slightly accented English, “Thank you, Mr. Wilson, for your business. Hernandez Nursery stands behind our work, and we are always available to you for any ongoing landscaping needs. Please call if we can be of further service in the future. The office will put your invoice in the mail tomorrow.”

“Si!” I silently fisted the air.