Confessions of the Five De Silva Girls
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has to do with the Mediator Series by Meg Cabot/Jenny Carroll, including Jesse (coughpor favor?cough).
Claimer: I may not own the fact that Jesse has five sisters (ages 6-16 when he died), but I do own who the five girls are – i.e. their personalities and names. In short, I own Juanita "Nita" De Silva, Estefana De Silva, Felicidad "Felly" De Silva, Dolores "Dolly" De Silva, and most of all Carmen De Silva. I also own their parents' personas and names.
To Clavel: Gracias.
To kewine: I'm glad. - Thanks for the review!
To Alda Rethe: I honestly never know how long my stories are going to be before they're over (or very close to being over), but I suspect it will be longer than "Timeout." After all, I want to atleast have two chapters of each girl's POV, so that makes ten chapters atleast. They're probably will be more though. I'm also thinking about making the very last chapter under Jesse's POV and how he felt growing up with his sisters.
Anyway, William and Carmen are a lot like Suze and Jesse…except William was only five-years-old when he died and Carmen's only six. When I'm done with the other four sisters then I'll get back to writing under Carmen's POV. She will definitely meet Jesse as a ghost though being a mediator and all.
Thanks for reviewing!
To Arda Silverlace: Yeah, I know about the "Carmen-can-still-see-Jesse" thing. She'll talk to him in chapter six, which is the next time this'll be under her POV.
Thank you for the compliments and review! -
To happydrummergal: I never know for sure how long my stories will be, nor am I ever really sure how much time they'll span. You can expect it to span atleast from the years 1830-1860 (probably longer though). Thanks for the review!
A/N: This chapter is under the POV of Jesse's second youngest sister – who I've dubbed "Dolores," or "Dolly." Keep in mind, Dolly is only six-years-old when she's writing this diary.
Chapter 2: Dolly's Diary – Numero Uno
6 de enero del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Abuela gave me this diary today for Three Kings Day. She says I should start out by writing about my family, so I will.
First, there's Mami and Papi. Mami has pretty long black hair that she usually braids and puts on her head in a bun with pins. Papi says she's as big as our cow, Bessie, right now because she's going to have a new baby. (When he says that, Mami always hits him with her ladle.)
Papi is very strong, but yells a lot. Abuela says he just likes to hear himself speak though. When she says that, Papi always laughs and grins at us.
Mami and Papi both gave me a pretty doll for Three Kings Day. It has a porca-porcelane-no-porecelain face. Jesse helped me spell porcelain. He's good at spelling and reading and writing. He'll be fourteen in the June. Papi says he's already becoming a good hombre. Abuela and I think someday there will be lots of girls wanting to court him.
Juanita is the second oldest, and she's only nine years old, but she's already got a boy in love with her. But if you ask her, she'll say she don't. (Jesse says that last word should be doesn't. Oh well.) His name is Antonio Owen Perry, but everyone except his madre calls him Owen.
After Nita is Estefana. She'll be eight years old in three days. She has black hair like Mami, while I have brown hair like Papi. Estefana likes to sit on the fence outside and stare out at the cows as they graze. She's always outside looking at the sun at dawn and sunset. She told me she's going to paint the sun rising and setting someday when she has the money to buy paint and paper.)
Then, there's Felicidad, or Felly, as we call her. (Jesse told me how to write that sentence. He's proofreading all of this, but when I get older and start writing about boys, I won't let him look anymore.)
Jesse laughed when I wrote that, but it's true.
Anyway, back to talking about Felly. She's taller than me and almost as tall as Nita. She always wears her hair in one braid and is always ordered by Mami to look after me because I'm the youngest.
Felly hates looking after me though. She tells me too. A lot. She says when the new baby is born, she'll be forced to look after he or she too.
I hope the baby is a girl. Jesse says I have enough hermanas, but I know he doesn't mean it. You love having four hermanitas, don't you, Jesse?
He gave me a look like I was loco. Just like how Mami looks at Señor Inquietud when he says the price of new cloth has gone up.
But I know Jesse loves us.
The last person who I live with is Abuela. She is the madre of Papi, Uncles Ricardo, Jorge, Eduardo,and Leonardo, and Aunt Inéz. She is tough and weather-beaten with gray hair that she keeps up in a tight bun and she almost always speaks in Spanish. She yells as loud as Papi when she's angry. The topic she yells about the most is my prima Maria. She says Maria is on her way to becoming a prostituta with all the boy chasing she does at the age of thirteen. Maria's padre, Uncle Ricardo, says that is a strong word to call someone so young, but I can tell Papi, Aunt Inéz, and Uncles Jorge, Eduardo, and Leonardo at least somewhat agree with Abuela.
As for me, I became six-years-old four days ago and am the youngest of five children. Soon I won't be the youngest anymore though. I can't wait for the new baby to be born!
Tu amiga,
Dolly
9 de enero del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Estefana is eight-years-old today! Mami and Papi gave her a little paintbrush with a red wooden handle and dark bristles. Aunt Inéz gave her a thin book on how to make paint with berries and tree sap and other natural stuff, while Uncle Ricardo, Aunt Cristina, and Maria gave her a sewing kit. Uncles Jorge, Eduardo, and Leonardo combined their money and bought her a little orange tabby cat. Estefana named the kitten "Marcela" and, as soon as Juanita's bad-tempered cat Dulce saw Marcela, she hissed and ran off.
Jesse says that's one reason why Papi calls Dulce "Agridulce," or bittersweet.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
15 de enero del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Jesse's helping me practice my letters.
A B C D E F G H I J H L M N O P R (oh. I forgot Q)
A B C D E F G H I J H L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Tu amiga,
Dolly
23 de enero del año 1844
Querido Diario,
One of the horses died today. It was really gross looking with its eyes all funny looking and it smelled.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
29 de enero del año 1844
Querido Diario,
I got a new dress today. It's pink with puffy sleeves and ruffles on the bottom of the skirt. Abuela says I should wear it for Pascua de Resurrección. Every Easter we always get dressed in our best clothes and go to church. Then, we celebrate with my tíos and primos. Sometimes the boys ride the horses, while girls sew, play with dolls, or sit on the fence and watch the boys. At times, Juanita even rides the horses with the boys.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
26 de febrero del año 1844
Querido Diario,
It has been almost a month since I last wrote to you. I've been really busy though.
I'm a big hermana now! Mami gave birth to a baby on February 11th as pretty as my porcelain doll. She is called Carmen Lucia De Silva. Mami and Papi named her after Abuela. She is small and tan like the rest of the family, but not as dark as Papi, Nita, and Uncle Jorge.
I think even Felly likes her though.
Tu amiga,
Dolly, la hermana mayor
3 de marzo del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Carmen is growing! Abuela says not to expect her to be too tall though. She told me we are a family of short people except for the few odd ducks like Papi, Uncle Ricardo, and Nita.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
14 de marzo del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Today, Estefana used her paints to paint a picture of baby Carmen. She's already painted the sunrise, the sunset, and a black horse. The picture of Carmen is so pretty! Estefana did it while Carmen was sleeping so she wouldn't move much.
Estefana promised she would paint me after she paints the ocean!
Tu amiga,
Dolly
18 de marzo del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Today is Nita's birthday! She is now ten years old. She blushed when Owen gave her a bunch of flowers, while Estefana, Felly, and I giggled. Jesse told Owen he had better not hurt Nita.
That made Estefana, Felly, and I giggle even more. Nita ran after us, so we broke off our giggles and ran through the fields. In the end, we hid up in the barn until nightfall and we were sure Nita was calmer.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
21 de marzo del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Nita is finally talking to Estefana, Felly, and I after three days of silence.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
2 de abril del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Estefana's painting of me turned out pretty! I had on my pink dress and Aunt Cristina curled my hair so it looked like hers! Papi hung the painting up in the sitting room with Estefana's other pictures.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
13 de mayo del año 1844
Querido Diario,
I know it has been many days since I last wrote, but while we were celebrating Easter, baby Carmen got very sick and Papi and Mami had to go into town to see the doctor, Señor Salubre. Carmen was crying so hard she was hardly breathing. It was scary.
Jesse sat with me and rocked me until I fell asleep. He tried to stay calm for Felly, Estefana, Nita, and me, but I could tell he was really afraid.
Abuela prayed all night and the next day. Uncle Ricardo came around noon with news from Papi and Mami. Carmen was going to be okay!
Jesse was so relieved he said, "Nombre de Dios." Abuela scolded him for "saying the Lord's name in vain," but I could tell she didn't mind so much.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
15 de mayo del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Carmen, Mami, and Papi came home today. The baby looks sick, but she was laughing so she must be better.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
1 de junio del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Jesse says I am getting better at this. He doesn't have to proofread as much as he used to. His birthday is in a week.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
8 de junio del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Feliz cumpleaños, Jesse!
Nita, Felly, Estefana, and I got him a new pocketknife since he gave his old one to our primo José. Now that Jesse is fourteen, Papi lets him go into town alone.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
12 de junio del año 1844
Querido Diario,
¡Hace mucho calor! It has become so hot outside lately. Estefana and I swam in the stream behind the barn, but as soon as we were done, we were back into the heat.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
13 de junio del año 1844
Querido Diario,
¡Hace mucho, mucho, MUCHO calor!
Tu amiga,
Dolly
15 de junio del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Papi says I'm being silly, but I know this heat is killing me.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
17 de junio del año 1844
Querido Diario,
¡Está lloviendo! It's raining! It's raining! The rain feels so cool and nice! No more heat!
Felly says I'm loco, but she never liked the rain.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
20 de junio del año 1844
Querido Diario,
NO! The heat is back! I cannot bear to write anymore about it. It just makes me hotter.
Jesse says that is a good thing. He no longer wants to hear about the weather.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
4 de julio del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Carmen's baby teeth are growing in! She looks so cute with her little smile.
Tu amiga,
Dolly, la hermana de Carmen
10 de agosto del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Carmen is starting to talk. She says Mama and Papa a lot. Sometimes she even says Jesse too. She calls Nita "Neet," Estefana "Este," and me "Dol." Felly has been trying to teach her to say "Felicidad," but it has not worked at all.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
13 de septiembre del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Felly is now seven years old. She says that means she will now leave "childish things behind," like her dolls. Mami gave me Felly's dolls instead, and now Felly wants to be a little girl again.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
14 de septiembre del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Felly yelled at Mami when she told me not to give Felly back her dolls. Mami says Felly must learn a lesson about conc-consecu-consequences.
Now Felly is sitting in her room without dinner.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
18 de septiembre del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Dulce and Marcela were in a fight today. Nita tried to separate them, but was scratched. After that we left the cats alone.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
19 de septiembre del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Dulce won the fight. Now she is in the barn cleaning herself. Jesse says Marcela looks like a fallen knight for she is sulking in the cellar. Even Estefana and Marcela's favorite cake cannot get Marcela to come upstairs.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
23 de septiembre del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Marcela has come upstairs and is in the room I share with all my hermanas. All but Carmen sleep on a big mat covered in sheets on the floor. Carmen sleeps in a crib beneath the window that my hermanas, Jesse, and I have all slept in at some time. Jesse has his own small room in the attic, but sometimes in the summer it gets so hot up there, so he comes and sleeps on the mat with us.
Marcela is avoiding Dulce who always sleeps in the barn on some hay beside our milk cow, Bessie. Dulce has been walking around the ranch as if she were queen.
Papi says she has lived up to the name he gave her as a kitten, Agridulce.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
4 de noviembre del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Maria became thirteen today. She got two new dresses and a new chain for the little nameplate charm all De Silvas get after they're a few weeks old. Mine is a round, gold disk with a cross on the front. On the back, it says:
Dolores Josefina De Silva
January 2nd, 1838
Dios protég
Tu amiga,
Dolores
10 de noviembre del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Hace fresco. I miss the heat now.
Jesse says he'll stop helping me if I keep writing about the weather, so I'll stop. For now.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
1 de deciembre del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Advent has started!
24 days until Christmas.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
10 de deciembre del año 1844
Querido Diario,
14 days!
Tu amiga,
Dolly
12 de deciembre del año 1844
Querido Diario,
12 more days! Jesse says I'm silly, but that atleast I'm not talking about the weather.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
21 de deciembre del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Almost time! The ranch looks so pretty with the snow and decorations.
Tu amiga,
Dolly
25 de deciembre del año 1844
Querido Diario,
Today we had a big feast! I wore a soft red dress with a few white petticoats. It was so heavy. I don't know how Mami, my aunts, and Maria can handle as many petticoats as they wear with a hoop skirt!
Tu amiga,
Dolores
1 de enero del año 1845 Uno Año Nuevo!
Querido Diario,
It's a brand new year! Tomorrow is my birthday too. I can't believe it's almost been a whole year since I started this diary. I vow to keep my promise to Abuela and keep writing!
Tu amiga,
Dolores
A/N: Well, that certainly was a long chapter, but it's hard to encompass a whole year through the eyes of a six-year-old in a few pages. I think with Jesse's help this would be about how well an average child can write. It was just so stiff to write though because I couldn't put in many difficult words.
A/N 2: Tell me what you think! Review! Next chapter will be about Felicidad "Felly" De Silva. Bye!