A Mummy in Her Backpack / Una momia en su mochila

by James Luna

  Lupita answered, “Sandra’s lying! She just wants to get us in trouble because she’s jealous.”

  Flor spoke more calmly. “Look in the room, Miss King. There’s no one there.”

  Miss King walked to the classroom with Flor, Lupita and Sandra behind her. She looked through the window and said, “I don’t see anyone, Sandra. Who did you see?”

  “Some little kid dressed like a cowboy,” explained Sandra.

  Miss King laughed. “A cowboy? There’s no student in this whole school dressed like a cowboy!”

  Lupita exclaimed, “See! I told you that she lies!”

  “I do not!” Sandra protested.

  “Girls! Girls!” Miss King interrupted. She turned to Sandra. “There’s no problem here, Sandra. Please don’t make up stories anymore.”

  Flor nudged Lupita softly and asked her teacher, “Miss King, can we go to the bathroom?”

  “Sure,” she answered.

  The girls ran to the restroom. Inside, a pack of sixth-grade girls were talking and laughing. Flor sighed. “We can’t let Rafa out while they’re in there.”

  Flor and Lupita waited by the restroom door. When two boys ran by yelling and playing tag, Lupita got an idea. She ran into the restroom and announced, “Joey and Robert said they’re going to beat up Sammy on the soccer field!”

  Everyone knew Joey, Robert and Sammy, and the trouble they caused, so the sixth graders ran out to see the fight. Lupita entered the bathroom, disappearing from Flor’s view for a while. Flor heard a flush, and then Lupita returned and gave her a “thumbs up.”

  “Those girls will be mad when they realize that you lied,” Flor said.

  Lupita shrugged, “I didn’t say they were fighting. I said that they said they were going to fight. Too bad if they believe everything.”

  It was Flor’s turn to shrug. The girls went into a stall and closed the door. Flor opened her backpack and let Rafa out. “You wait here until after school. We’ll come and get you then,” she told him.

  “¡Vaya!” Rafa said staring down. “Look at the well! Can I have a drink?”

  “No!” Flor yelled, grabbing his bony arm. “It’s not a well. It’s a toilet.”

  “A toilet? Toy let,” he repeated. “What toys do you put in it?”

  Lupita laughed. “Explain it to him, Flor.”

  Flor glared at her friend, and then turned to Rafa. “Come here,” she said, walking him across the restroom. “This is a sink. This is where water comes out.” She turned on the faucet.

  “¡Caray!” Rafa said, shaking his head. “This is great. But what’s that other thing for if you don’t drink from it?”

  Flor began, “It’s for . . . for . . . It’s for . . . ”

  Rafa stared at Flor waiting for an answer. His yellow eyes and dried skin made her nervous, so she looked down. Then she smiled, “It’s an outhouse inside!”

  “Oh!” Rafa said. “How fancy! So, basically, I sit here until you get back.” Then he rubbed his chin. “But what do I do if somebody comes in?”

  Flor looked at Lupita who shrugged her shoulders. Flor looked around the restroom and had an idea.

  “Here,” she told Lupita. “Get all these paper towels and put them in the toilet.”

  “Ewww! No!” Lupita said.

  “Just do it,” Flor ordered. “Just drop them in the water. Remember when Hugo and Marco got sent to the office last year?”

  Lupita smiled, “Oh, yeah!” She took the brown paper towels and carefully dropped them in the toilet. Flor worked faster, grabbing paper towels, rolling them into balls and dropping them into the toilet. As they worked, the bell rang for the end of recess. “Hurry, Flor!” Lupita said. “We’re going to get in trouble. Besides, how are we going to . . . ?”

  “Don’t worry,” Flor said. “Wait outside.”

  Lupita left, and Flor told Rafa, “Stand on that pipe coming out of the wall.”

  Rafa stood on the pipe and Flor flushed the toilet. The brown paper towels swirled and sank into the toilet for a second, then rose up with the water. The toilet overflowed, and water and paper towels spilled onto the floor.

  “Perfect,” Flor said, moving her feet as if dancing to stay out of the water. She shook her finger at Rafa and said, “Wait here. I’ll be back after school.”

  Rafa nodded.

  When Flor got back to class, she told Miss King, “The girl’s restroom is flooded again. Can I go tell the custodian?”

  “You two are missing math,” Miss King scolded. “Are you going to be able to learn what we’re doing?”

  Flor looked at the board and then at the worksheet in Miss King’s hands.

  “To divide fractions you flip the first fraction over,” Lupita said.

  “Then you multiply, right?” Flor added.

  “Well, yes,” Miss King said.

  Miss King gave the girls permission and they went looking for the custodian, Mr. García. They found him setting up the lunch tables in the cafeteria.

  Flor walked up to him and said, “Um. The girls’ restroom is flooded.”

  “No problem,” Mr. García said. “I’ll go fix it.”

  Flor looked down and mumbled, “It’s my fault. I put paper towels in the toilet. I’ll clean it out.”

  Mr. García didn’t know what to say. Flor was such a good kid. “I can’t let you do that. It’s a dirty job,” he said.

  Flor shook her head, “No. There’s no . . . ”

  Lupita giggled. “No poop,” she finished.

  Flor continued, “It’s just paper towels. I’ll pull them out, if you . . . ”

  “If I what?” Mr. García asked.

  “Keep the bathroom closed until after school.”

  “But it’ll be a mess. Besides, what will the girls do?”

  “They can use the other one,” Flor said.

  Lupita chimed in, “And you can turn the water off. I saw my dad do it once when our bathroom was flooded.”

  “Girls, why do you want to keep me and every one else out of the bathroom?” Mr. García asked.

  “Can I show you after school?” Flor said. “I promise it’s nothing bad.”

  Mr. García looked at Flor and Lupita. He’d known the girls since kindergarten. If Flor said that it was nothing bad, it was nothing bad. So he agreed, “Okay. You pull out the paper towels, and I’ll cover the door with caution tape.”

  Flor then did something he didn’t expect. She looked up at Mr. García, smiled wide and gave him a big hug. That’s when he knew that he’d done the right thing.

  As the three of them walked to the restroom, Lupita whispered to Flor, “What are we going to do after school?”

  “Right now I don’t know,” Flor answered.

  What Flor didn’t know was that Sandra had been watching the two friends. She was suspicious about the bathroom being flooded, so she told Miss King that she had a stomachache. Instead of going to the nurse, she went to the restroom where Rafa was hiding. When she got to the restroom door, she stopped.

  “Who’s in here?” Sandra yelled.

  No answer.

  “I know someone’s in here,” she said. Sandra tiptoed into the restroom, trying to keep her shoes and pants dry. Just then, Flor, Lupita and Mr. García arrived.

  “Sandra! Get out of there!” Flor yelled.

  Sandra hadn’t heard them coming. Startled, Sandra slipped and fell. She hit her head on the wall of the bathroom stall. By the time Mr. García got to her, she was soaking wet and crying. He helped her up and walked her out of the restroom.

  “What were you doing in there?” Flor asked. Sandra was crying so much that she didn’t answer.

  “You should be more careful,” Lupita said. “Don’t worry, Sandra. We’ll tell Miss King what happened. Everything that happened.”

  Sandra cried even louder.

  “See?” Mr. García said. “The wet floor is dangerous. You better let me clean it out.”

  Flor thought fast. “Sandra fell because we scared her. I’ll
be more careful.”

  “Okay,” he said. “But we’ll be right outside if you need us.”

  Mr. García gave Flor a wire hook to get the paper towels out of the toilet. Flor stepped delicately into the flooded restroom. When she opened the stall, Rafa looked up and smiled. He was about to say something when Flor put her finger to her mouth. Rafa nodded and kept quiet. Dipping the hook into the toilet bowl, she pulled out the soggy paper towels and plopped them on the floor. The sound they made was as disgusting as the thought of what she might pull up next. When Flor pulled out the last paper towel, the water flowed down the pipe, instead of spilling out. She breathed a sigh of relief.

  “All done,” she announced as she left the restroom. She realized what a mess she had made. “I guess I better clean up the paper towels now.”

  “We’ll worry about that later,” Mr. García said. “I have to take Sandra to the nurse, and you two have missed enough class time.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” Flor said. “But don’t forget the caution tape.”

  “I’ll do better than that,” he said. “I’ll lock the door for now and put the tape across the door later.”

  “Perfect,” Flor said. “Thank you very much. We’ll be here after school.”

  Flor and Lupita returned to class and began telling Miss King about Sandra. Lupita made sure to say, “She fell in toilet water” really loud so everyone heard. The class erupted in laughter.

  When the school secretary called and asked for Sandra’s things to be sent to the office, Miss King told Flor, “I’ll send someone else this time. You’ve been out of class a lot today.”

  “Okay,” Flor said. She didn’t mind. She just wanted to sit down for a while and think.

  Flor spent the rest of the day worrying about Rafa. She ate only a little lunch, and gave her apple slices to Lupita. The girls even walked past the restroom during lunch recess to make sure the door was still locked. During social studies, instead of studying maps, Lupita whispered, “Do you think Rafa’s okay?”

  “Ssshhh,” Flor said. “Don’t say his name.”

  “What are you going to tell Mr. García after school?”

  Flor sighed. Miss King walked by, so Flor pointed to the map and pretended to be working. “I guess I have to tell him the truth,” she said. “But I’m not sure how.”

  Lupita pointed to the map too and whispered, “Are you going to show Rafa to him?”

  Flor shrugged her shoulders and continued staring at the book. She wasn’t sure what she would do.

  After school, Flor and Lupita picked up their brothers from their classes, and then they searched for Mr. García. When they found him, Flor asked, “Can we go in the restroom now?”

  “Okay,” he said.

  “We’ve got to do something with our brothers,” Flor whispered to Lupita.

  “No problem,” Lupita answered. She called to the boys, who were walking slowly behind them, “Want to go to the playground before we go home?” The boys ran to the playground and began to dig in the sandbox.

  Flor and Mr. García went to the restroom. Mr. García unlocked the door, and asked, “Okay. Do I get to see what the big deal is?”

  Flor hesitated, and then nodded. “Wait here.” She walked in the restroom and came out in a few seconds holding her backpack. She looked down and whispered, “Promise not to tell?”

  Mr. García thought about it. He had to tell the principal everything that went on. He’d heard about one custodian who didn’t tell his principal about a cat living under a classroom. That guy got fired when the principal found kittens in her lunch. Those things happen to custodians.

  Then he looked at Flor. Her big brown eyes were red and watery. What could he do?

  “I promise,” he said.

  Flor looked around to make sure no kids were around. She slowly opened her backpack. “It’s okay, Rafa,” she said.

  First, Mr. García saw the beat up cowboy hat, then the wrinkled yellow skin. It reminded him of the dried mustard he scraped off the cafeteria floor after they served corndogs for lunch.

  “This is Rafa,” Flor said.

  Even a custodian who’d seen gross stuff for years was grossed out seeing a mummy.

  Rafa stood up and smiled, “Buenos días. Rafael Rigoberto Pérez Hernández, at your service.”

  Mr. García looked at Rafa and then he looked at Flor. “Okay, Flor. What’s going on?” he asked.

  Flor told him about her trip to Guanajuato, the mummy museum and Rafa escaping in her backpack.

  Mr. García scowled, “So you’re . . . I’m talking to a . . . ” Mr. García shook his head and said, “Putting people in glass cases and calling it a museum sounds kind of weird to me, but I’ve never been to Guanajuato. My family’s from Jalisco. But just take it . . . him, home now, and I promise to keep it a secret.” Flor promised and Rafa went back into the backpack. Mr. García added, “And promise me that from now on, you’ll leave the toilets alone.”

  “I promise,” Flor nodded. “Thank you.”

  Flor and Lupita called their brothers and together they began walking home. On the way, things got even more complicated for Flor, Rafa and even for Mr. García.

  The girls told their little brothers to walk ahead of them, so they could talk privately. The boys scrambled ahead and began to talk about superheroes. As they walked past the Under a Dollar Mart, the boys stopped and stared in the window. The girls caught up to them and began looking too. The store window was filled with different types of Halloween costumes, from superheroes to princesses to zombies; they all hung flat and lifeless. Flor looked in the window and said, “I hope my mom doesn’t get me that princess costume like she said. I want to be a witch.”

  “Again?” Lupita complained. “You were a witch in second grade.”

  “Yeah,” Flor said. “But this time I’ll be really scary! It won’t be a little kid witch.”

  “You mean with long nails and green skin?” Lupita asked.

  “Yeah!” Flor answered. “And I want a stringy wig and pointed shoes.”

  Lupita looked at Flor. “I want to be a monkey. My tía is almost done with the costume.”

  Flor shook her head. “I better tell my mom not to get that costume. It’s already October 24.”

  Flor’s backpack shook, and she almost fell.

  “Stop it, Rafa,” Flor shouted. “Someone’s going to see you!”

  The girls heard Rafa’s muffled voice, but couldn’t understand what he was saying. Flor looked around. Some third graders were walking past.

  Lupita pointed behind them and yelled, “Run! The cucuy is coming!”

  The little kids ran away without looking back. No one ever wants to be caught by the boogeyman. You’ll never see your parents again.

  Lupita turned to Flor and laughed, “All clear.” She then saw Adrian and Gabriel’s scared faces. She smiled at them. “I was just kidding. Wait right there.”

  Flor took off her backpack and unzipped it. She scolded Rafa, “What’s the matter?”

  “Mija, it’s hard to hear in your backpack,” Rafa said, “but did you say today is October 24?”

  “Yeah,” Flor said.

  “¡Dios mío!” Rafa cried. “I only have eight days.”

  “Halloween’s in seven days,” Lupita corrected.

  “Not Halloween, mija,” Rafa said. “El Día de los Muertos, you know, the day to remember the departed loved ones.”

  “So?” Lupita asked. “Why does that matter?’

  Rafa eyes looked up from inside the backpack and he explained. “It’s my favorite time of the year. All my family, my great-great grandchildren come and sing and bring food. I’ve got to get back to Guanajuato. I have to be in the museum by then.”

  Flor looked at Lupita. Lupita stared back and said, “Forget it, Flor. You just got back from there. Besides, you don’t even know how to get to Guanajuato.”

  “Yes, I do,” Flor said. “You get in a car, drive to Tijuana, get on a plane, fly to . . . to . . .
Guadalajara, and your uncle drives you to Guanajuato.”

  “I knew I could count on you!” Rafa said.

  “Hey!” Flor said. “I didn’t say I was going to take you. I just said that I knew the way.”

  “But . . . ” Rafa said.

  “I’ll figure it out, Rafa,” Flor said. “But I need to get home first.”

  “Me too,” Rafa answered.

  Flor rolled her eyes, zipped up her backpack, put it on and started walking. She walked in silence with Lupita. After just a few steps, she heard sniffling.

  “What’s wrong?” Flor asked Lupita.

  Lupita turned around. “Nothing,” she said.

  Flor stopped and looked at Lupita. “You didn’t sniffle just now?” she asked Flor.

  “No,” Lupita answered.

  The girls heard it again. It was Rafa. Flor stopped and opened her backpack again.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry, mija,” Rafa said. “But basically, I don’t have any fun. I’m a mummy. We don’t do anything but stay in a glass case all day. Only when my family comes for the Day of the Dead does anything nice happen to me.”

  Flor could see Rafa begin to smile as he thought of the special day.

  He continued, “You should see how colorful all the decorations are! They make a big sugar skull with my name on it, and huge loaves of sweet bread called pan de muerto. They even bring a corn drink called atole, and I love atole! I know I can’t drink it, but it’s fun to know someone still remembers me. I have to be in the museum by then. I thought that coming here with you to los Estados Unidos would be fun, and it was, until you told me what day it was. I’m sorry to cry like this. I don’t think I wet your homework.”

  Flor sighed. “Don’t worry,” she told Rafa. “My family kind of celebrates the Day of the Dead here. My great-great-grandma is buried in Guanajuato. We put her picture up in the living room with flowers and sweets. We could do that for you.”

  Rafa thought about it. “But I’ll have to stay in your backpack,” he said, sniffling. “I won’t get to see the candles or smell the sweet bread. I won’t get to hear the songs. I won’t see the flowers. I . . . I . . . ” He started crying again.