I blinked and shook my head. “No, Sarita and Lucy needed us, and I’m glad we helped them.” A part of me just said that so she wouldn’t worry. But another part of me really meant it.
Chapter 20
Papi kept his promise and called the Eleanor School on Monday. They said there would be an open house in October, with all the same presentations from Saturday‘s information session. “You see,” Papi said. “I knew it would all work out.” I nodded but I didn’t say anything. Who knew what would come up on the day of the open house? I would just have to keep my fingers crossed.
Papi came home from work early one day to take Mami to the doctor and get her test results. When my parents got back home, they sat us down and told us the baby was healthy. “Now we have a decision to make,” Papi said. He held up an envelope. “The doctor wrote down if the baby is a boy or a girl, and put the paper in here. Do we want to know now, or should we wait until the baby is born? We thought we’d put it up to a vote.”
“Now! Now!” Rosie jumped up from the love seat and raised one hand up high, as if she were trying to get the teacher’s attention in school.
“Yes, now!” Connie grabbed Rosie’s hands and the two of them jumped up and down.
“Oh, but surprises are so nice,” Abuelita said.
“I’m with Abuelita,” Gracie said. “I love surprises.”
“It looks like you’re the tiebreaker, Ana María,” Papi said.
Why were they asking us? Why didn’t they just make up their own minds? “I don’t care. Do whatever you want.” I had more important things to worry about, like studying for my scholarship test and learning a super tough piece to play at Lincoln Center.
Gracie frowned at me. “Does that mean you don’t want to know now?”
“It means I don’t want to make this decision. I mean” — I looked at Mami and Papi — “I don’t want you complaining if you don’t like what I decide. Remember the bathroom?”
A few years earlier my parents decided the bathroom needed a coat of paint, and they said Gracie and I could pick the color. When we agreed on neon green, my parents nagged us until they talked Gracie into beige. I still wanted the green, but the bathroom had been beige ever since. Why did they bother pretending we had a say in anything?
My parents looked at each other for a while, like they were having a whole conversation without saying a word. Then Papi stood up. “You’re absolutely right. Your mother and I should figure this out.”
***
My parents decided not to open the envelope. They put it high up on the china cabinet underneath the super sharp sewing scissors, and ignored it after that. Our trip to the Dominican Republic was three weeks away and Mami was freaking out. “We don’t even have suitcases!” she said. So we spent two whole days traipsing from store to store seeking the best deals on luggage. Then we went back to the very first store.
“We’ve been here already!” Gracie said.
“I know, and now I’m sure this is the best place to buy.”
Then Mami announced that we needed new clothes to put inside the suitcases. “We can’t bring our old clothes on vacation,” she said.
Well, that didn’t make any sense. But I didn’t argue. Rosie and Connie were thrilled. They hardly ever got new clothes. Mami “shopped” for them in the bins of hand-me-downs in the hall closet.
“We’ll go to Chichi’s and Lydia’s stores next week,” Mami said.
And we did. Every day. But we did more than shop for clothes. Twice we brought lunch with us and ate with Chichi and Lydia. We stayed almost the whole day. At least Chichi’s brats weren’t there, but still, I had things to do. “I need to study and practice piano,” I said on the third shopping day. “Can I go home?”
“All by yourself?” Mami said.
“Yes. I walk to Doña Dulce’s alone, and that’s even farther.”
“All right, but call here as soon as you get home, and lock the door behind you.”
The first thing I did when I got home was call Mami and let her know I was still alive and well. Then I sat at the piano. I played a little, but I couldn’t concentrate. Maybe I wasn’t used to all the quiet.
I started thinking about that envelope under the sewing scissors. I should have voted. After all, I did not like surprises. Would it make a difference to my parents if they got a son this time? Maybe. Or maybe not. I would have to think about that. But first I’d have to know what I was dealing with. I mean, if the doctor’s note said “girl,” then I didn’t need to worry about whether having a boy around would change things at home.
I got up and walked over to the china cabinet. I reached up, lifted the scissors, and slid the envelope out. I would take a quick peek. I wouldn’t tell my family. They obviously didn’t want to know, so why ruin the surprise for everyone else?
The envelope was sealed. I held it up to the light, hoping to see through it. No luck. I could use steam to open the envelope, then I would seal it back with a glue stick. Surely no one would notice. I went into the kitchen and put a pot filled with water on the burner. The telephone rang while I waited for the water to boil. “Hello?”
It was Mami. “I’m sorry to interrupt your studies, but there is an adorable bathing suit I want to get for you. They have them in orange, navy blue, and hot pink. Which color would you like?”
“Um, I don’t know, whatever you think is nicest,” I said. My heart thumped. I turned my back to the kitchen and stared at my feet. I felt guilty about opening the letter without telling Mami. It felt like a lie.
Mami blathered on and on about shorts and sundresses and different patterns and colors. Finally, finally, she hung up. I let out a long breath and felt my shoulders relax. Then I turned around.
A tall orange flame fluttered next to the pot on the stove.
Chapter 21
I grabbed the burning envelope by the one safe edge and slammed it into the sink. I turned on the cold water and watched the fire go out. My chest heaved as the white corner and some shriveled dark brown bits of paper swirled in the sink.
I turned to the gurgling stove and shut off the burner. Then I looked up at the china cabinet. Mami would definitely notice something was missing underneath the scissors. I could take a piece of paper from the printer, write either boy or girl on it, and put it in one of the envelopes from Papi’s desk drawer. But which word to write? Maybe there was a clue in the surviving bit of paper, like a g or a y. I picked up the dripping sliver of envelope and peeled it like a banana, revealing the small scrap of paper inside. I turned the paper over slowly, hoping the back was not blank like the front. But it was. I turned the paper back and forth a few times and wished for a miracle. None came.
It was getting late. Mami and my sisters would be home soon. I opened up all the windows to let out the smoky smell. Then I scooped everything out of the sink, squeezed the water out of the paper fragments, and took the ruined letter out of the apartment and down to the trash room at the end of the hallway. I rushed back and rinsed the pot, dried it, and put it away. Then I put my hands on my hips and looked around. No one would know I had even been in the kitchen. Now I had to work on a new envelope.
I got the envelope and the piece of paper. Now, boy or girl? I decided to write girl. After all, that was probably right. And if it wasn’t, so what? If my parents checked the note before the baby was born, and then they had a boy, they would be so happy they wouldn’t even worry that the doctor had made a mistake. At least that’s what I told myself.
By the time Mami and my sisters got back home, the fake envelope was underneath the scissors, the windows were closed again, and I was practicing piano.
“You’re not finished yet?” Mami said.
I had just started. “Um, almost,” I said. I was going to tell her that I had studied first and now I needed more time at the piano. But I had lied enough in one day, and I wasn’t that good
at it, so someone might get suspicious. I got up from the piano and went to my room to work on a practice test.
***
I couldn’t stop thinking about that envelope. I told myself that no one would ever figure out what I had done. Even if my parents changed their minds about opening it, there was nothing fishy about what was inside. I had written in all capital letters, so they wouldn’t recognize my handwriting. There was absolutely nothing to worry about.
Then why couldn’t I stop worrying? Every time Mami had friends over and they talked about the baby, I worried. Whenever she put her hand on her swelling belly and said the baby was moving, I worried. At night after my sisters and I went to bed, I worried. I lay awake, listening to my parents talk in the living room, and I wondered what they were saying. Were they discussing the baby? Would they look now, without the rest of us there? Maybe. Or maybe they would call a family meeting one day so we could all find out together.
I would have asked my friends if they had any suggestions, but Claudia was at field hockey camp now, and every time I saw Ruben, his mother was lurking nearby. Everybody knows grown-ups can’t be trusted. So I just worried alone.
One night I woke up in the middle of the night in a panic. What if the doctor had typed the note, and my parents had seen her pull the paper out of the printer? When they saw my handwritten note, they would know something wasn’t right. What would I do when they looked at me and said, What’s the meaning of this, young lady?
I couldn’t take it anymore. I put on my glasses, got up, and stood on the ladder to the top bunk. I reached over and lifted Gracie’s hair off her face. “Gracie,” I whispered. Nothing. I called her again, just a little louder. But not too loud. I couldn’t risk waking Rosie. “Gracie,” I said one more time. This time I shook her too.
Finally, Gracie opened her eyes and blinked a few times. “What’s the matter?” she said. “Is someone sick?”
“No, I just can’t sleep.” Then I told her everything.
Gracie propped herself up on her elbows. Her eyes popped wide open when I told her about the fire. She even smiled a little, like she was proud of me or something. “Don’t worry, Anamay,” she said when I finished talking. “Your plan was brilliant. They’ll never figure it out.”
“But what if the doctor typed the note?”
“Oh, she probably didn’t.” Gracie lay back down and faced the ceiling. “But I guess she might have.” She bit her lower lip. “Okay, this is what we’ll do. We won’t let them open the envelope. Ever.”
“How do we do that?”
“We tell them over and over how much we want it to be a surprise. And you have to join in this time.” She poked me in the chest. “Don’t act like you don’t care again.”
“Okay.” It wasn’t a great plan, but it was better than nothing. And now that Gracie was on my side, this secret seemed so much lighter to carry. I would have to remember this feeling the next time Gracie was upset. Even if I didn’t have a solution to her problem, just talking might help her a little.
“Now get some sleep,” Gracie said. “Mami’s waking us up early tomorrow.”
I had forgotten all about the hairdresser appointment in the morning. Mami wanted us to get gussied up for our flight the day after. “Ugh, I hate getting my hair done.”
Gracie yawned. “You’re so weird. Who doesn’t like looking beautiful? Well, anyway, you have no choice. So, good night.” She turned onto her stomach and faced the wall.
I climbed back down and crawled under my sheets. For the first time in almost two weeks, I fell asleep right away.
Chapter 22
We got up super early the day of our flight to the Dominican Republic. The suitcases were packed and waiting by the door. We just had to fill our backpacks, where we could bring whatever we wanted — supposedly. “No library books,” Mami said. “They might get lost or damaged.”
If I couldn’t bring library books, why bring a backpack at all?
Papi walked in and handed me a white plastic bag. “I picked these up for you on my way home from work yesterday.”
I looked inside and saw two books: How Tía Lola Came to Visit Stay by Julia Alvarez, and the seventh Harry Potter book, which was long enough to keep me busy for at least a week! I grabbed the books and held them against my chest. “Thanks, Papi!”
Mami clapped her hands. “Okay, let’s hurry up. The airport shuttle will be here any minute!”
I arranged my new books carefully inside my backpack alongside the Chopin and Liszt books, the “Meine Freuden” sheet music, and the books of scales and finger exercises. We put on the new clothes Mami had ironed and laid out for us the night before. I didn’t have to do much to my hair. It was still straight from the intense blow-drying at the hairdresser the day before. It looked just like Gracie’s. I smiled in the mirror and tossed my head back. Then I followed Mami out the door.
When the elevator got to Abuelita’s floor, she wasn’t there.
“Anamay, go see what’s keeping your grandmother,” Mami said. “We’ll go down and wait in the lobby.”
Abuelita had tears in her eyes when she opened her purple door. “I don’t know where your uncle is! He should be here by now! What if we miss the flight?”
“Maybe Tío Lalo is already on his way to the airport.” Even as I said that, I knew it couldn’t be true. But still, we weren’t all going to miss our flight because of my flaky uncle. Would I have to argue with Abuelita about this? Luckily, the phone rang.
“Lalo! Where are you?” Abuelita screamed into the phone. “Oh?” She lifted her eyebrows as she listened. Then she smiled and lowered her voice. “Okay, mijo. Good, good, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She put the phone down and picked up her purse. “Lalo traded in his plane ticket for a cheaper flight in the middle of the night,” she said. “He saved a lot of money that way. He’s so resourceful.”
I took Abuelita’s suitcase and went to the door. “Didn’t Tía Nona buy his plane ticket?” I said.
“Yes.”
“So is he giving her the extra money?”
“I don’t know.” Abuelita locked her door and walked down the hall without looking at me.
When we got downstairs and Abuelita told Mami and Papi about Tío Lalo, my parents just looked at each other and shook their heads.
***
The airport was huge and full of people rushing around and bumping into one another. Mami told Gracie to hold on to Rosie and not let go, and I was in charge of Connie. I had the easy job since Connie clung to me until we got on the plane and were buckled into our seats. I felt sorry for Gracie, though. Rosie was so excited she couldn’t stand still. Gracie breathed a sigh of relief beside me as she clicked on her seat belt with Mami, Connie, and Abuelita in between her and Rosie.
I got why Rosie was so excited. I was excited too. What would it feel like to be up in the air? To set foot in a different country, a country full of family? Would I be comfortable around these people, or would they feel like strangers?
Connie let out a delighted squeal when the plane lifted off the runway, and all the people sitting near us laughed and said “aww.” For the next three and a half hours, Gracie listened to music she had downloaded to her phone, Mami and Abuelita took turns telling Connie stories, Papi read a newspaper, and I started Tía Lola. And hyper little Rosie fell sound asleep, looking like a perfect angel.
Chapter 23
The first thing I noticed when we stepped off the plane was the sticky heat. My hair fell down past my shoulders when we left our house, but now it frizzed out and crunched up around my neck. Even Gracie’s hair curled up a little, but not like mine. It felt like a furry animal was on my head.
We got our suitcases, and Papi showed our passports to some men in khaki uniforms. They waved us through, and we went back outside where cars and vans were lined up waiting for passengers. A bunch of men ran around and grabbed
people’s suitcases, then asked where they needed to go. Mami, Papi, and Abuelita kept snatching our bags away from them. “We have family picking us up!” they said over and over again.
Suddenly Mami screamed and opened her arms out wide. A woman who looked like Mami with a tan was screaming too. They ran into each other’s arms and clung together, crying and crying.
Finally Mami let go and the woman went through the same routine with Abuelita. Then the woman hugged Papi and said, “It’s been too long, compadre.” Next, she grabbed Gracie’s face and cupped it in her hands. “You must be Altagracia! I’m your Tía Chea. I haven’t seen my little sister Mecho in sixteen years! And now here she is with her whole beautiful family!” She started to cry again. Suddenly she let go of Gracie and hurled herself at me. I took a step back to keep from falling over under her hug. “Ana María!” She held me in her strong arms. “Rosalba! Consuelo!” She crouched down and hugged my little sisters in one swoop.
“Where’s Nona?” Mami asked.
Tía Chea smiled. “She’s at her house getting things ready. This is a very special occasion, all of us together again.” She laughed and hugged Mami and Abuelita again. “Come on, let’s get you home.”
Tía Chea and her oldest son, Pepito, who was seventeen, had brought a van so there would be room for all of us. We piled in and rode for a long time. I started to count the palm trees along the road, but there were too many. And the bright sun made my eyes water, so I closed them, just for a second.
“Anamay, we’re at Tía Nona’s house.” Gracie shook my arm to wake me. I looked out the van window. We were in front of a white two-story house with a wraparound porch and a wavy red roof. The white rocking chairs on the porch had colorful pillows on them: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. When we slid the van doors open, the smell of burning charcoal and meat reminded me of summer barbecues at Claudia’s house.
Ana Maria Reyes Does Not Live in a Castle Page 9
