We had so much to say that we forgot it was the middle of the night — until we noticed Mami standing in the doorway.
“Excuse me, girls,” Mami said. “Do you realize what time it is?”
“But, Mami, Anamay got picked to go to Lincoln Center!” Gracie said. “And nobody even asked her about it all day!”
Mami opened her mouth and put her hands on her cheeks. “Oh, mamita, I’m so sorry.” She walked over, grabbed my face, and kissed my cheeks over and over. “I’m so proud of you, mi amor. We have to tell your father.” She left the room, but came right back with Papi behind her. Connie was wide awake and getting a piggyback ride from him.
“This calls for a celebration!” Papi said. “To the kitchen!”
“But don’t you have to get up early for work tomorrow?” I said. “And we don’t want to disturb the neighbors, right?”
“It’s okay if I’m tired at work for one day,” Papi said. “And we can celebrate quietly. How about some ice cream?”
“Yay!” we all screamed.
Mami put her finger on her lips and said, “Shh.”
We put our hands over our mouths and said “Yay” again, but in a whisper this time. We giggled all the way to the kitchen. Claudia always said I was lucky to have sisters. Maybe she was right.
Chapter 14
I slept into the morning without any more dreams. When I opened my eyes, the sun poured in over the top of the drawn curtains, telling me that the day had started hours ago. I took out my glasses and put them on. Rosie was sound asleep, her knees tucked under her belly and her bottom pointed up in the air. A little drool had dribbled out of her open mouth and onto her pillow. I pulled back my covers and ducked under Gracie’s dangling arm to get out of bed.
Mami and Abuelita were talking in the kitchen. Abuelita would surely lecture me about “the importance of always looking your best” if I went out there in my pajamas. So I picked out some clothes and went to the bathroom to scrub myself clean and try to brush the frizz out of my hair.
Abuelita jumped up and hugged me when I walked into the kitchen. “The concert pianist is here!”
I smiled. “It’s not that big a deal,” I said. “It’s just a kids’ recital.”
Mami put her hand on my shoulder. “Stop being so modest, Anamay,” she said. “You’ve worked hard for this, and you deserve some fuss. Now, come have breakfast.” Mami forked out a steaming boiled plantain from a pot on the stove and put it on a plate. “What do you want with your mangú?” she asked as she mashed the plantain with the fork.
“Um, could I have fried cheese?” I asked.
“Of course. Take it out of the refrigerator and slice up however much you want.”
The cheese was sizzling in the pan when Gracie came in. “You know,” she said, “we need to start thinking about a dress for Anamay’s recital.”
“I agree,” Mami said. “We can pick out a pattern now, but the annual sale at Cristina’s isn’t until October. We’ll buy the material then.”
Cristina’s Fabrics was Mami’s favorite place, and Gracie’s too. When Mami and Gracie talked about sewing, they acted like nobody else was in the room. It was the same thing with Mami and Rosie in the kitchen together. And when Mami showed Connie how to repot a plant that had outgrown its first home, there was no talking to either one of them. They just didn’t notice you. But the worst was the sewing, because Gracie and Mami always sewed for someone else. And if you were the one getting a new outfit, it was like you were just a mannequin. I was glad about playing at Lincoln Center and getting a chance to impress some people from the Eleanor School, but I was not looking forward to this whole dress-making process.
***
The next day Abuelita rode the two subway stops with us to Cristina’s. We walked straight to the table with all the pattern books on it. Rosie sat between Mami and Abuelita, and Connie climbed onto Mami’s lap. Gracie and I sat across from them with the Vogue pattern book in front of us. “Vogue is the fanciest,” Gracie said. She turned to the evening wear pages.
“Those dresses are too grown-up for Anamay,” Mami said. “Check the children’s section.” She pointed to a babyish dress in the book in front of her. “Look, isn’t this adorable?”
Abuelita leaned over Rosie and studied the dress Mami had picked out. “Oh, yes, that’s darling,” she said.
“No, no, no,” Gracie said. “She needs a long gown. Those little-girl dresses won’t work.”
“She’s only eleven years old,” Mami said. “She is not wearing that dress with the back all exposed. It’s not appropriate.”
“She’ll be twelve by the time of the concert,” Gracie said.
Mami cocked her head to one side and gave Gracie a do-you-think-I’m-stupid look. “Anamay is not wearing any of those mature-looking dresses.”
Gracie huffed and slammed the book shut, then reached for another one. Again, she went to the evening wear pages. “This book has prom dresses for high school girls. Anamay’s almost in high school.” She pointed at one dress and turned the book around so Mami could see. “What about this?”
Mami took the book from Gracie. “Hmm, that is nice. What do you think, Mamá?”
Abuelita examined the page. “That’s perfect,” she said. “Very suitable for a girl Anamay’s age.”
I cleared my throat loudly. “Do I get an opinion here?”
Mami looked at me like she was surprised I was there. “Oh, of course, mamita.” She handed the book to me. “Do you like this?”
I was sure I wouldn’t, and then I’d make them watch me go through every single book until I picked out the perfect dress. The perfect dress for me. Not them. That would serve them right. I put the book down in front of me and looked at the dress Gracie had picked out. It had a lace top and sleeves. The skirt gathered at the waist, then fluttered down to the ground, giving me enough room to work the pedals. It was beautiful.
“Can I get it in red?” I said.
Chapter 15
The telephone was ringing when we got home. It was Mami’s friend Millie. “Millie’s baby is sick,” Mami said when she hung up. “I’m going to babysit Max so she can take the baby to the emergency room.”
“Now?” Gracie said.
“Yes. Let’s Max-proof the house. You know how he is.”
“We all know how he is,” I said. Millie was nice enough, but people in the neighborhood ran away screaming when they saw four-year-old Max coming.
“Oh no, not Max!” Rosie slapped herself on the forehead. “He drives me crazy.”
Gracie laughed. “You’ve been crazy for a long time, missy,” she said. “Max has nothing to do with it.”
“But he wants to play tag all the time. ALL. THE. TIME. I mean, what’s wrong with sitting and relaxing? He’s exhausting!” Rosie plopped herself down on the living room floor and spread her arms.
“Max is fun!” Connie jumped and jumped.
“I need to practice piano,” I said. “Mami, do I have time before things get crazy?”
“Millie said she’ll be here in fifteen minutes, so you’d better hurry.”
I went to the piano bench and pulled out two finger exercise books. I sat down and started with some scales.
“Put these in my room,” Mami said.
I turned my head and saw Gracie pick up the vase of silk flowers from the coffee table. I messed up and skipped an F-sharp. I started over.
“What about these?” Rosie said.
“Oh, yes, put that in my room too,” Mami said.
I peeked again. Rosie was skipping down the hallway with a picture frame in each hand, while Connie followed behind her, holding two more frames. I remembered the F-sharp this time, but not the C-sharp. I grunted and started again. This was getting annoying.
My sisters came back to the living room. “I put the toothpaste on the highest shelf
,” Gracie said.
“Good thinking,” Mami said. The last time Max was at our house, he squeezed a whole tube of toothpaste all over the floor.
I decided I had had enough of scales. I opened Hanon’s The Virtuoso Pianist in Sixty Exercises for the Piano. I had just finished the first exercise when Millie knocked on the door.
Max burst in with a navy-blue towel tied around his neck and flowing down his back. He jumped onto the couch and yelled, “I’m Superman!”
Rosie and Connie gasped. “No jumping on the couch!” Connie shouted.
“But I’m Superman!”
“Jumping isn’t allowed,” Rosie said. “We’re not animals!”
I kept playing as I listened to Millie outside the door, thanking Mami and explaining about the baby’s fever and stuff. “Maxito, stop!” she screamed. “Sit down like a civilized person!”
“It’s okay,” Mami said. “He’s just excited. He’ll settle down as soon as you leave. Now don’t worry about a thing and take your time coming back for him.”
Why was Mami lying? She knew Max would never settle down. I clicked on the metronome and tried to tune out the noise behind me.
“Let’s play tag!” Max yelled.
The metronome was not enough to drown out the arguing about who would be “it.” I counted out loud. Very loud. “One-two-three-four-one-two-three-four.”
Thumps and laughter behind me. Then a scream. It was Connie. “That’s my Barbie! Put her down!”
“Max, give it back to her,” Gracie said.
“One-two-three-four.“
“Noooo!” Connie yelled. “You broke her! Mami, he broke her!”
“Max, you tore her head off!” Mami said. “That wasn’t very nice.”
“One-two-three-four.”
Connie cried and cried.
“Anamay can fix it later, mamita,” Mami said. “She’s good at these things. For now, your Barbie will rest on top of the refrigerator.”
“One-two-three-four-one-two-three-four.” Suddenly, I felt a blow to the back of my head. I turned around. Max was being an airplane and running around the room with his arms out wide. He had smacked me when he whizzed by.
“That’s it,” I said. “I give up.” I stood up and tossed my piano books back into the bench. Then I walked down the hall without looking back.
“Anamay, help us entertain him,” Gracie called.
I went into my room and closed the door. I felt a little guilty about abandoning my sisters. But this was all Mami’s fault. She agreed to babysit her friend’s savage kid when she knew I needed to practice. Thanks to her, I would never be as good as Sarita, and I would probably embarrass myself at Lincoln Center with Eleanor’s head of school watching! Let Mami deal with Max. I had to work on my scholarship application and study for the test. I was definitely going to need a perfect score now.
Chapter 16
Papi stayed home from work the next day to go to the doctor with Mami.
“Is Mami sick?” Connie asked.
“No,” Papi said. “She and the baby just need a checkup. Like the one you had a few months ago, remember?”
“Is the baby getting a shot?”
Papi chuckled. “No, not today. But Mami is, and she’ll be a little tired when she gets home, so she won’t be able to carry you.”
Connie crossed her arms and lifted her chin in the air. “She doesn’t have to carry me,” she said. “I’m a big girl.”
“Well, of course you are,” Papi said. “But is it okay if I pick you up now and give you a big hug?”
Connie tilted her head and looked at the ceiling. “Well . . . okay.” Then she jumped into his arms.
“What is this shot you’re getting?” I asked Mami.
“It’s just a little test,” Mami said. “To make sure everything’s fine.”
“Why wouldn’t everything be fine?” I said. “Are you sick?” Could Max have made Mami sick? I did hear him cough a few times. That beast never even covered his mouth. Maybe this was my fault for not helping out yesterday.
“Stop worrying, Anamay,” Mami said. “I’m not sick. This is just a precaution. Now, you two” — she pointed at Gracie and me — “take good care of your sisters, don’t leave the house, and don’t let anyone come in while we’re out.”
Gracie and I nodded.
“We’ll be back in a few hours.” Mami gave each of us a hug and a kiss and walked out the door with Papi.
“Anamay, will you fix my Barbie now?”
Poor Connie. She had cried herself to sleep last night. Max was still at our house when Connie went to bed. He napped on the couch until his mother finally came back. Mami didn’t want to take the doll down before Max left. Just in case.
“Of course, mamita,” I said. I went into the kitchen and found Barbie’s body and her severed head. Then I sat down to work while Connie stood beside me. She leaned in close, her warm breath smelling like orange juice against my cheek. I squeezed the doll’s head to widen the neck hole, and then I pushed the bulb of the neck into the opening. It went in pretty easily, but I twisted the head a few times to make sure it was on there good and tight. “Here you go,” I said as I handed the doll to Connie.
Connie grabbed Barbie and hugged her. “Thank you, thank you!” she said. Then she threw her arms around me. It was nice to see Connie so happy. I picked her up and hugged her back. “Will you read to us now?” she asked.
“Sure, what do you want to read?”
Connie ran around the apartment and gathered up every picture book in the place. “What are you doing?” Rosie asked her.
“Finding books for Anamay to read to me.”
“Oh, can I help?” Rosie didn’t wait for an answer. Before I knew it, there were eighteen books piled on the coffee table.
I sat on the couch with one little sister on each side of me. “Let’s start with the library books,” I said. “Since we have to take them back soon.”
“Where’s Gracie?” Rosie asked. “Doesn’t she want to read with us?”
I shrugged. “She’s probably on her phone or something.” I opened the first book.
“Oh, can I read it?” Rosie said. She leaned on my arm.
“Sure,” I said. Connie leaned on my other arm, and she propped up her doll so it was facing the book. Rosie started to read. Both my sisters’ heads blocked my view of the book, but that was okay. I knew all these books by heart.
Gracie came into the living room when Rosie was on the last page. She was wearing lipstick and a white tank top, and she had rolled up the elastic waistband on her red shorts to make them even shorter. She waited for Rosie to finish.
“I’m going out,” Gracie said. “I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?” I asked. “And whose lipstick is that? You’re not allowed to use makeup.”
Gracie rolled her eyes. “I’m just going down to the lobby,” she said.
“Oh, is Pedro meeting you downstairs?” Rosie stretched out the first syllable in “Pedro” and made kissing noises.
Gracie chuckled. “Maybe,” she said. “But only for a minute.”
It was more than a minute. It was fourteen books later. And when she came back, she washed off the lipstick, unrolled her shorts, and sat down to read with us like nothing had happened. Like she hadn’t disobeyed Mami. Like she just knew no one would tell on her.
***
Papi was right about Mami being tired after her appointment. She went straight to bed when they got home. Then Papi went out and brought back two pizzas for dinner. Pizza again? And without salad this time? Maybe this was my lucky week.
We sat at the table and opened the first box. “Don’t tell your mother I got pepperoni,” Papi said with a wink. “She’d have a fit if she knew.” He took a bite, then looked around the table at my sisters and me. “So, what did
you girls do while we were out?”
Gracie answered right away. “We read a bunch of books,” she said. “See the pile on the table?”
“And I read most of them,” Rosie said.
Papi raised his eyebrows and nodded. “Impressive,” he said.
“And Anamay fixed my Barbie.” Connie held the doll up for Papi to see.
“You’re not supposed to bring Barbie to the dinner table,” Gracie said. “You might get her clothes dirty.”
“Oh, really,” I said. “Since when do you care about doing what you’re supposed to?”
Gracie looked at me with wide-open eyes. I swear she stopped breathing.
“What do you mean by that?” Papi said. He looked back and forth between Gracie and me while he chewed. “Did something happen today?”
Gracie looked like she would cry. Her eyes stayed on mine, and I could tell what she was thinking: Please, please, please don’t tell.
I looked at Papi. What would he do if I told him that Gracie had put on makeup and super short shorts to be alone with a boy? Would he make too big a deal out of it? Would he ground Gracie for life? Would she hate me for life?
“She only read with us the last few books,” I said. “Other than that, I was on my own with Connie and Rosie. I think she was on her phone.” I couldn’t believe I had lied. But it wasn’t really a lie, I told myself, because she probably was on her phone at first. She had definitely spoken with Pedro before she met him in the lobby, right?
“Well, I guess you deserved that,” Papi said. “Since you left her alone to deal with Max last night.”
“That’s different,” I said. “Mami was here yesterday, and she was in charge.”
“Anamay’s right,” Gracie said quickly. “Mami left both of us to take care of Connie and Rosie, and I should have helped more.” She looked me in the eyes. “I’m sorry, Anamay. It won’t happen again. And thank you for picking up the slack for me.”
“Oh no!” Connie yelled. She held up her Barbie with pizza sauce all over her fingers. “Her clothes are dirty now!”
Ana Maria Reyes Does Not Live in a Castle Page 7
