by Julia Watts
“So,” Mom asks Mr. Ramirez, “how’s business since the newspaper ran the story about Rick Boshears tampering with the food?”
“Better and better,” Mr. Ramirez says.“We had tried to spread the word that the illnesses weren’t caused by food poisoning, but I don’t think people believed it until they saw it in print.”
“Well, I still think that feller should’ve got more than a fine and community service after he confessed,”Granny says,scooping up some guacamole. “After all you young’uns found out…”
I send a thought to Granny’s head: Don’t go there. Adam, Abigail, Isabella and I had a long talk after Rick confessed to the police. We decided not to tell Isabella’s dad or Adam’s parents about Rick’s murder of Juanita. We didn’t want to scare them with how much danger we’d been in. Also, Isabella said if her dad found out about Rick killing the nice Mexican girl who loved him, she was afraid of what her dad might do.
I understand what Granny was saying, though. Rick can never be put on trial for Juanita’s murder because her body was never found. Because Rick told anyone who asked that she’d gone back to Mexico, nobody ever reported her missing. And since she was in the U.S. illegally, there were no official American documents with her name on them. It was like Rick killed somebody who didn’t even exist.
Rick tried to confess to the sheriff about what he did to Juanita, but the sheriff kept saying the same thing: “No body, no murder.” So Rick’s punishment besides a fine and community service is living with what he did. Even though the real ghost of Juanita is no longer haunting the riverbank, the ghost of her memory will haunt Rick forever.
Mr. Ramirez and Javier have come back from the kitchen with platters heaped with taquitos and tamales. They set the platters down and join us at the table.
Sometimes it’s hard to have the Sight because I hear so many bad thoughts I’d rather not know about. But tonight the Sight makes me happy because as we all sit together and pass plates, everybody’s thoughts are kind. I look at Adam in the chair next to me, and Abigail smiles up at me from the mirror in my lap.
And while I can’t see into Abigail’s thoughts, I know from her smile that they’re the same as the Sos, the Ramirezes, Mom’s, Granny, and mine: It’s good for us to be together and to live where there’s so much to share.
About the Author
A native of southeastern Kentucky, Julia Watts has been writing stories since she was eight years old. Though her handwriting hasn’t improved much since then, she likes to think that her stories have.She is the award-winning author of numerous novels for adults and young adults. Free Spirits is the second book in the series featuring Miranda, Adam and Abigail. Right now, she’s thinking the series will be a trilogy, but she would consider writing even more books about these characters if someone asked her nicely. Her Web site is www.juliawattsbook.com, and she also welcomes readers to “friend” her on Facebook.
