A Mummy in Her Backpack / Una momia en su mochila

by James Luna

  Flor looked at Lupita.

  Lupita glared at Flor.

  Flor exclaimed, “We have to do something! He’s crying!” She looked into her backpack. “Don’t worry, Rafa,” she promised, “we’ll get you home.”

  “Gracias,” Rafa sniffled. Flor zipped up her backpack.

  As the girls resumed their walk, Lupita argued, “Why did you say that? We can’t go to Mexico on our own. We don’t even have any money.”

  “I know that, Lupita,” Flor said. “We don’t have to go, but we can find a way to get Rafa there.”

  Lupita stopped and grabbed Flor’s arm. “Hey!” she said. “Maybe some other kid will go to Guanajuato soon, and they’ll be able to take Rafa for you.”

  Flor rolled her eyes. “Who do we know that’s going to Guanajuato this week?”

  “I don’t know,” Lupita said. “We can ask people.”

  “And what are we going to tell them?” Flor asked, “‘Hey, can you take this mummy to the museum?’ What will they say?”

  “Sorry!” Lupita yelled. “I’m just trying to help.” Lupita walked away from Flor, staring straight ahead, and joined the boys.

  Flor sprinted to catch up, but didn’t know what else to say, so they continued walking in silence. When they finally arrived at Lupita’s house, Lupita tried changing the subject.

  “My mom said I could try the internet tonight,” Lupita bragged. She knew that Flor didn’t have a computer.

  “Bye,” was all Flor said, leaving Lupita at the gate of her house.

  Flor walked a few steps, stopped and turned to Lupita. “You’re getting on the internet tonight?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” Lupita answered cautiously.

  “Do you think that you can find the mummy museum on the internet?”

  “I don’t know,” Lupita answered. “I can try.”

  “Do you think I can come over?” Flor asked smiling weakly.

  “Sure!” Lupita said, smiling back. “That way my mom won’t get suspicious if we’re looking for the museum. But how are we going to get him there?”

  Just then, a man walked between the girls. “Excuse me,” he said.

  The girls looked. It was the postal worker, bringing the day’s mail. Flor and Lupita looked at each other. “We’ll mail him!” they said together.

  “I’ll call you after dinner,” Flor said. “Thanks, Lupita.” The girls hugged.

  Flor walked home with a little more hope for her new friend, then she felt a tug on her backpack. “Stop, Rafa,” she said. “We’re almost home. I’ll get you out then.”

  “Who’s Rafa?” The voice was not Rafa’s.

  Flor turned quickly. It was Sandra.

  “And what’s in your backpack?”

  “None of your business,” Flor said. Then she added, “Have you done your homework yet, or do you like detention?”

  Sandra curled her fist, but held her temper. “Who was in the room with you at recess? And what were you doing in the bathroom?”

  “What everybody who’s potty-trained does in the bathroom, but you wouldn’t know that, nosy!” Flor answered. She felt a tug on her backpack. She twisted around and saw Sandra’s little brother.

  “I got it opened!” he yelled to Sandra.

  Flor felt Sandra’s hand reach into her backpack. Then Sandra screamed. “Aaah! Something grabbed me back! What’s in there?”

  Turning her backpack backwards, Flor zipped it up. She took two steps back and looked at Sandra and her brother. “It’s a mummy! He was brought back to life with magic. The mummy’s under my powers and he’ll attack anyone who attacks me! There! Now you know, and you better leave me alone or . . . ” She didn’t finish the sentence. Sandra and her brother were running down the street. She looked at Adrian; he was staring at her.

  Flor smiled at her little brother. Thinking quickly, she told him, “Pretty good trick, huh? I guess we scared them.”

  Adrian nodded, but seemed startled.

  Flor opened her backpack. “I was just kidding.” She pulled out a notebook. “All I have in my backpack is homework, just like you.”

  Adrian began to smile.

  Flor asked, “What homework do you have?”

  “Nothing.”

  Flor shook her head. “You have homework every day, just like me. What do you have? It’s your turn to open your backpack.”

  Adrian opened his backpack and took out some crumpled papers. Flor took his hand. They walked home as she read the papers. “Hey! Your field trip is next week!”

  “Yeah,” Adrian said. “I can’t wait.” He began to talk about the trip, and his friends, and Flor smiled to herself. He’d already forgotten about her backpack.

  When they got home, Adrian burst in, but Flor walked in quietly. She wasn’t sure how to tell her mom about Rafa, and she didn’t want to worry her. In the living room, her youngest brother, Benjamin, was playing with action figures while her mother was watching TV. Adrian dropped his backpack and ran to play with Benjamin.

  “Is that you, mija?” Flor’s mother called to her.

  “Yes, Mami,” Flor answered. She walked straight to her room and put her backpack down carefully. “Wait in my closet, Rafa. You can get out of the backpack, but stay in the closet. Hide if the door opens.”

  “Perfecto,” Rafa answered from inside Flor’s backpack. “Gracias.”

  Flor usually gave her mom a kiss as soon as she got in, so her mom was worried when she did not go to the living room. Flor’s mom got up and walked down the hall.

  “¿Estás bien, mija?” Flor’s mom called, then she heard the whispering, “Who are you talking to?”

  “Just talking,” Flor answered. She closed her closet door and walked out of her room. “I’m just happy to be home.” She wrapped her arms around her mom’s waist.

  “Ay, mija,” her mom said, kissing her daughter. “How was your day?” “Fine,” Flor said. “Can I go to Lupita’s house later? She’s going to use her computer.”

  “Sí, mija. After you eat and help me clean up,” her mom said. “And soon, you’ll have a computer, too.”

  “Thank you,” Flor said. They walked to the kitchen where some albóndigas were bubbling in a large pot. She liked the meatball stew. Flor began to set the table. She asked her mom, “Remember the mummy museum?”

  Her mom turned and smiled, “Of course. You were so scared that you held my arm tight the whole time. You only let go of me when Benjamin wanted you to pick him up, then you almost left your backpack! What a time!”

  Flor smiled, and then asked, “Can you tell me about the momias?”

  “¿Las momias?” her mom said. “And why are you so curious about mummies? You didn’t even like the museum.”

  “Please,” Flor said.

  “Pues, bien,” her mom said. “Let’s go back to the living room.”

  Flor rested her head on her mom’s lap. On TV, a soccer game had started but Flor and her mom weren’t looking at it. Her mom was stroking Flor’s hair, and she began to speak. “I was born in Guanajuato. To me, it’s the most beautiful place on earth. You remember how pretty it looked from the top of the hills when we took a ride on the tram?”

  Flor nodded. She remembered feeling like a bird, flying high above the town. Standing on the top of the hills, looking down on the colored buildings, she thought they looked like doll houses, yellow, orange and pink with red tile roofs.

  Her mom told her about the cemetery of Santa Paula, which isn’t like the cemeteries here. Most of the graves are above ground, stacked high. “When I was a kid,” her mom said, “Las momias weren’t in glass cases. They were just out in the open. You could get really close, but we usually covered our faces with a handkerchief.” She sighed. “Your great-grandparents and their parents are buried there. It is a beautiful place.”

  Flor took her mom’s hand and kissed it.

  Later, when Flor returned to her room, she closed the door and called to Rafa. “It’s okay, Rafa. It’s just me.” She slowly opened the
closet door. She had to hold back the creepy feeling she got seeing the little mummy in her closet.

  “Hola,” Rafa said.

  Flor smiled. “Where am I going to keep you?”

  “Basically, I’m fine right here,” Rafa said.

  Flor shook her head. “I’m not. Get in my backpack and I’ll see where I can put you for the night.” Rafa climbed back and then stretched out his bony hand. “Here’s your notebook and your homework.”

  “Thanks,” Flor answered. She’d need to do that later.

  She took her backpack and walked quietly to the backyard. She didn’t want to leave Rafa outside, so she went into the garage. She moved among the tools, a lawnmower and three bikes. Finally, she found a box that had her broken skates, old dolls and action figures that her brothers had destroyed. She lifted her backpack and said, “You can stay in this box. You can get out and explore the garage, but be quiet, and get back in the backpack in the morning. I’ll come get you before I go to school.”

  Rafa nodded, “Hmm. This place looks real interesting. These dolls have lots of muscles.”

  Flor giggled, “Those are action figures, like dolls for boys.”

  Rafa touched an action figure’s arm, then his own skinny arm. He shook his head.

  “Don’t worry,” Flor smiled. “You’re perfect, for a momia.”

  “Gracias,” Rafa said. “I was thinking the same thing.”

  “I have to go,” Flor said. “Good night.”

  “Buenas noches,” Rafa answered.

  That evening at Lupita’s house, Flor and Lupita sat down in front of the computer. Lupita clicked on the internet.

  Lupita and Flor knew how to do internet searches. They had done them in school lots of times for research reports. Flor told Lupita to type in “museo de las momias de Guanajuato.”

  It worked! They found the site for the museum!

  “Look up the address,” Flor told Lupita.

  They found it and wrote it down. Then they went to the Postal Service website. They printed the mailing information for sending packages to Guanajuato.

  “This is perfect,” Lupita said.

  “And easy,” Flor added.

  It turned out to be a little harder than that, though.

  The next morning, Flor got up early and dressed for school.

  “Good morning, Rafa,” she whispered, as she opened the garage door. But there was no answer. She went to the corner where Rafa’s box was, and it was gone! Maybe it wasn’t here, she thought. Maybe it’s behind the bikes. Her heart raced as she moved the bikes, but didn’t find the box. She searched the entire garage until her mom called her for breakfast. Flor walked in and flopped down at the table.

  “What’s wrong, mija?” her mom asked. “Do you feel sick?”

  Flor shook her head. “It’s just that . . . What happened to that box that was in the garage? The one with my broken skates and old dolls?”

  “Oh, that box,” Flor’s mom said. “I told your father to take it to the dump today on his way to work. That box needed to go a long time ago.”

  Flor got up and ran outside to see if her dad had left. His truck was gone! Her shoulders slumped, and she went back inside.

  Her mom looked puzzled. “What’s the problem?” Then she smiled, “Oh! Don’t worry. Your dad took out your skates. Why were they in the box? They weren’t broken.”

  Flor looked at her mom. She was pointing to Flor’s skates on the living room floor.

  Flor didn’t want to argue with her mom, but she was sure that one of the front wheels on the left foot was off. Her mom served Flor a plate of eggs, but Flor kept her head down.

  “Are you sure that you’re not sick?” she asked.

  Flor just shook her head. Her mom sighed. Adrian came in, sat down and started eating.

  “Flor!” he called. Flor didn’t answer. “Flor!” he said again, and when she didn’t answer, he asked, “Why did you put your backpack by my door?”

  Flor looked up.

  Adrian repeated, “Why did you put your backpack by my door?”

  Flor said, “I didn’t . . . ”

  Her mom interrupted, “Oh! That’s where your dad put it. I thought he put it by your skates. I guess he was in a rush and just put it down by Adrian’s door instead of yours.”

  Flor rushed to Adrian’s room. There, leaning against the wall was her backpack. She picked it up, ran to her room, closed the door and opened the backpack.

  “Buenos días,” Rafa said, peeking out.

  Flor sighed. “Good morning,” she answered. “I was worried about you.”

  Rafa stood up. “Oh, I’m fine. That room is huge. And so many tools! Those boots with wheels are very interesting. I hope you don’t mind, I put the fourth wheel on. I think I got it right.”

  “That’s what happened to my skates,” Flor said. Then she smiled at Rafa. “Thank you for fixing them.”

  “De nada,” he answered. “Are we going back to your school today?”

  “Yes,” Flor said, then her stomach growled. “But I’m going to get breakfast first.” She paused, and then added, “Can I get you anything?”

  Rafa smiled. “No. I’m fine. I haven’t been hungry in about a hundred years.”

  Flor laughed, and returned to the table to eat her breakfast.

  She felt confident as she walked to school. On her way, she saw Sandra, but Sandra was too sore from falling and too scared to bother her. Rafa stayed still in her backpack. As soon as she got to school, she found Lupita, and together, they went up to Mr. García as he was emptying the breakfast trash in the dumpster, some soggy French toast.

  “Could we please have an empty box?” Flor asked.

  “Sure,” he said. “How big?”

  Flor held up her backpack, “This big?”

  “No problem,” he answered. “Do you want it now or after school?”

  “Well,” Flor said, “we kind of need more help.”

  “Does this have something to do with Rafa?” he asked.

  Flor looked down. Her shoulders fell. “Rafa needs to get home.”

  “Home?” Mr. García said.

  “In time for El Día de los Muertos,” Lupita added.

  “Wow!” Mr. García said, talking to the backpack. “You don’t have much time. Isn’t that in about . . . Hey! How are you going to . . . ?“

  Then he understood. He looked at Flor.

  “So that’s what you want the box for.”

  “Yes,” Flor said. “But we need more help. We need you to mail him to Guanajuato today.”

  “What?” he said.

  “Will you mail him for us?” Flor pleaded.

  “You kids don’t even know how much it costs to mail something . . . I mean, someone that far,” he argued.

  “Yes, we do,” Lupita interrupted. “We found out online last night.”

  “Here,” she continued, pulling out a sheet of paper from her backpack. “According to the Postal Service website, we can mail Rafa to Mexico using Global Express Guaranteed Non-Documenting Service for sixty-seven dollars and twenty cents without insurance. Sorry, Rafa.”

  “Don’t worry,” Rafa said. “I’m just excited to be going home.”

  “Sixty-seven dollars!” Mr. García exclaimed. “I don’t have that kind of money.”

  “And twenty cents,” Rafa added, smiling.

  “You better get back in my backpack, Rafa,” Flor said. “Someone’s going to see you.”

  Rafa smiled at Flor and obediently stuffed himself into her backpack. Then Flor turned to Mr. García.

  “Lupita and I have forty dollars, twenty each that we both saved from our birthdays. We can pay you the other twenty-seven dollars soon.”

  “And twenty cents,” Mr. García added.

  “Oh, we have the twenty cents,” Lupita said, holding out two dimes in her hand.

  “Great,” he told her. “So what do you want me to do?”

  Just then the bell rang. Lupita ran to class.

 
; “We have to go,” Flor said. “We’ll look for you at recess.”

  As soon as all the kids were seated, Miss King went around the room collecting homework. Flor, as usual, had hers out ready to hand in. When Miss King got to Sandra’s desk, she asked, “What’s wrong, Sandra?”

  Sandra, who had her head down, answered, “I tried to do my homework. But it was so hard, and my head hurt from yesterday. I tried, Miss King. I tried.” And she cried even louder than before.

  Miss King sighed, “Don’t worry, Sandra. I’ll see what I can do.”

  Sandra looked up at her teacher. ”Can Flor help me during recess? She was so helpful yesterday when I got hurt. And she’s so good at math.”

  “That’s a good idea, Sandra,” Miss King said. Then she turned to Flor. “Flor, I’d like you to help Sandra with her math.”

  What could Flor do? She couldn’t say Sorry, Miss King, I have to help a mummy get back to Mexico. “Okay,” she mumbled, staring at her desktop.

  After the bell rang for recess, Miss King said, “I have yard duty again. Sandra, you have enough time to finish the first ten problems. Thank you for helping, Flor. Lupita, please come outside.”

  Once the door was closed, Flor said, “Okay, Sandra, get your book.”

  Sandra got up and sat next to Flor. “I guess you can’t go see the custodian, huh? Too bad.”

  Something inside Flor tightened. What a trick! She tried to keep her temper.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Flor said. “We better hurry, or you won’t get your work done.”

  Sandra took out a pencil and dropped it. As she picked it up, she knocked down Flor’s backpack.

  “Ow!” Rafa said.

  Sandra jumped. “You do have something in there!” she yelled, standing up and backing away from the desk.

  Flor quickly picked up her backpack and hung it on the back of her chair. “I already told you about the momia!” she said, glaring at Sandra. “Leave my backpack alone, or I’ll . . . ” She calmed down and realized how to get back at Sandra. “You better finish your work or I’ll tell Miss King you were goofing around, and you know that she’ll believe me.”

  Sandra sat back down, but two desks away from Flor. “Fine, then. What are the answers?” she demanded.

  Flor looked at the problems. “Number one is forty-seven. Number two is fifteen, remainder two.”