Trick or Treat
It’s easy to become lazy. Half a year ago, I was working in Cape Cod, from 8 am to 8 pm. At 4 pm, I would drink a cup of coffee, in the mean time kept writing and dictating. I hoped the remaining 4 hours won’t be so busy. Now in Canada, at 4 pm, my mind has gone outside of the hospital.
Today I went to Wal-mart, bought a skull custom and several bags of candies.
When I first took my daughter for trick or treat, she was 3 year old. We lived in the south of Brooklyn, New York city. This area used to be an Italian area. Most of the buildings are Italian style, two-floor red brick buildings, with colorful pergola covering the terrace on second floor. Many Italians had moved out, except the elderly. Some Chinese and Hispanics had moved in. In the afternoon, few elderly couples sat on terrace, looking at the empty street, barely talked. At Halloween night, most of the houses were dark. I carried my daughter in my arms, walked 2 blocks, didn’t get much candy. We turned back. Suddenly a voice came far behind us: “I have candy.” We went there. An old gentleman sat on the steps with a basket of candy in his hand. He gave Dawn a handful of candy. I thanked him and joked: “ Why are you so nice?”. After we walked about 100 meters away, I heard he was telling his neighbors: “ He asked me why I was so nice.”
When we got back home, my son was hiding on the second floor where the owner lived. When a group of kids reached our door, he dropped a big plastic spider. A boy about 4 years old screamed. A lady behind them screamed too: “He had mental problem. He could become sick.” I rushed to stop my son’s mischief, otherwise I would become ill too.
The next year, we moved to Staten island. Our house was located in a quiet street. Across was a private elementary school. Not many residents lived in that area. In Halloween, I took my daughter for trick or treat again. Only half an hour passed, she asked to go home. Once returned home, she opened our door, enjoyed giving candies to other coming kid.
The 3rd year, I found that across the main busy street, there were streets with many more residents. Most of residents there are Russian speaking people. I took her there. The moment we got there, both of us became high spirited. The street was as bright as daytime. Almost every door was open, with light coming out. Most of the doors and windows had different decoration. People there wore customs, sat or stood in front of their houses with buckets of candy at hands. Groups of kids walked up and down the street. Their bird like voices filled the air. We had hardly walked through two street, her basked was already full of candy. I put the candy into my pocket, inside my shirt touching my abdomen. We went 3 more streets.
Now I’m two hours flight away from my daughter. However, I would still prepare for the Halloween. Maybe when I opened my door, my little girl would jump out with her shy smile, tiny voice like mosquito, saying: “ trick or treat, Daddy?”
遥怜小儿女 不解忆长安
人大概容易变懒, 不容易变勤快。 半年多前在麻省CAPE COD 上班, 每天从早晨八点干到晚上八点。到了下午四点, 一边喝咖啡, 一边不停地写和录音, 希望剩下的四个小时不要那么忙。来到加拿大, 下午四点, 心思早就飞到医院外去了。
鬼节将到, 到Wal-mart, 买了几袋糖果, 一个骷髅面具。
第一次带女儿出去要糖, 她刚满三岁。那时我们住在纽约布鲁克林南部。以前这里是意大利人的区域, 红砖楼房热带风光，二楼阳台上的凉棚花花绿绿。 不少年轻的意大利人搬出, 中国人搬进来。下午，一两对老年人在二楼阳台，看着空旷的街道，半天说不出几句话。晚上出去, 街上灯光黯淡，冷冷清清, 没有几家发糖。抱着女儿走了两个街区, 有点扫兴, 回头往家走。突然听到后面很远的地方有人叫: “我有糖”。 转身走过去, 一个六十多岁的老汉, 坐在门口的阶梯上, 手里提着一筐糖。他抓给女儿一大把糖. 我谢谢了他, 又开玩笑说: “你为什么这么好?”。
走了多远, 还听见老汉对邻居说: “他问我为什么这么好。”
回到家里，儿子躲在房东的二楼。 一群孩子来到我家门口, 儿子突然从上面吊下一只塑料蜘蛛。一个四岁多的男孩吓得尖叫。跟在这群孩子后面的一个中年妇女也尖叫起来: “他精神有毛病, 要吓出病来。” 我赶快制止儿子危险的恶作剧, 不然我也要吓出毛病。
第二年我们搬到史丹顿岛。住房对面是一所私立小学, 住宅区周围居民也不多。鬼节又带女儿出去要糖。走了一条街, 女儿就要回家。回到家中, 女儿把门打开, 等着别人来要糖。给别人散糖, 也很高兴。
鬼节过后, 同事问我女儿鬼节穿的什么化装。我说是瓢虫。同事笑道: 又是瓢虫。惭愧,我都忘了女儿去年的化装。
第三年我发现穿过一条主车道, 对面是一大片住宅区,人烟稠密, 居民大多是俄罗斯或乌克兰人。鬼节带着女儿刚到那里, 两个人的情绪马上就高起来。这里灯火通明, 几乎家家户户都开着门,亮着灯。门口是各种各样的装饰。很多人戴着不同的面具, 在门口坐着或者站着。一群又一群小孩子, 在街上叽叽喳喳, 窜过来窜过去。还没有走完两条街, 女儿的篮子就装满了。我把糖塞进衣服裤子口袋里, 丢进衬衣里紧贴着奶油肚子，又走了三条街。
今年, 离女儿两小时的飞行距离. 我也得准备一番。也许打开门, 她会突然出现, 一脸羞怯, 眼睛盯着地上, 声音象蚊子一般: “Trick or treat, Daddy?”