Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

Author:Simone Elkeles [Elkeles, Simone]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9780802727985
Google: aKaVKAKrzgMC
Amazon: 0802727980
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Published: 2012-07-04T22:00:00+00:00

26

Nikki

I stood outside Luis’s house for a few minutes before I got up the nerve to ring the bell. They’re obviously having a party. I can see a house full of people through the front window.

Alex answered the door. He knows who I am. Every few months my parents invite him and his wife and son to our house for dinner or Sunday brunch. He calls Luis to the door and my heart pounds in anticipation.

Luis comes to the door with a big red lipstick mark on his cheek. “What are you doing here?” he asks, his voice tense. He’s obviously not happy to see me.

“Come on in,” Alex says, putting his arm around me and urging me inside.

“You still got that lipstick crap on your face, bro,” Alex mumbles to Luis as we pass him.

Luis curses, then starts wiping his cheek vigorously. “My cousin likes to mark us,” he explains. “It’s kind of an unnecessary and annoyin’ tradition.”

I pass a police officer standing next to Luis’s mom. Carlos is here, too, along with another couple. The couple must be having a heated argument, because they don’t look happy with each other.

Carlos points to me. “Is this the girl?” he asks Luis. “The one from the poem.”

“What poem?” I ask, suddenly curious.

“There is no poem,” Luis insists. “My brother is delusional from the pain meds he’s on. Don’t listen to him.”

“Are you okay?” I ask Carlos.

Carlos lifts up his pant leg, revealing a nasty cut stitched together with a row of staples traveling from his thigh all the way down to his calf. “This is proof that freedom ain’t free.”

“Ouch. How did it happen?” I ask, cringing. Just looking at it is painful.

“Shrapnel from an IED.” He narrows his eyes at me. “You Mexicana?”

“Carlos!” his mom calls out in a scolding tone.

“Seriously, bro, shut up,” Luis says.

Carlos holds up his hands in surrender. “What, it’s a crime to ask a girl if she’s Mexican?”

“No. It’s just rude,” Luis says.

Carlos laughs heartily. “Bro, when have you known me not to be rude?”

I answer Carlos, “I’m American more than Mexican. Does it matter?”

“Only if you deny your heritage. Don’t want to dilute the culture, you know.”

“Carlos is one to talk,” Alex chimes in. “His girlfriend is as white as they come.”

“Are you kiddin’, Alex? Have you looked at your lily-white wife lately?” Carlos argues playfully.

“Hey,” Alex says. “Before you rip on white people, you might want to remember that your nephew is half white.”

“Not the half that counts,” Carlos says proudly. “Listen, I’m an American and fight for this country, but that don’t mean I ignore my Mexican heritage like it’s somethin’ to be ashamed of.”

“I’m not ashamed of it,” I say. “I don’t know Spanish or walk around waving a Mexican flag. I’m not going to fake it, when I don’t know much about it.”

“It’s not too late to learn,” Carlos says.

“Luis, are you going to introduce me to your friend?” his mother cuts in.

Luis hesitates, so I step forward. “I’m Nikki,” I say with a smile.

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