Echoes of Grace by Guadalupe García McCall

Author:Guadalupe García McCall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Published: 2021-12-13T21:27:08+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Eagle Pass, Texas

August 2011

Because Mercy is still pretending I don’t exist in her world, I do the only thing I can do to let her know about school. I sneak into her room and put the red backpack I bought for her at the college bookstore on her bed and lay her class schedule on top of it.

Satisfied, I go back to the kitchen and put the big acero on the stove and turn the heat on low. As I take out all the ingredients for enchiladas, I think of what I’m going to say to her when she finds the backpack and schedule on her bed. She’ll have to rethink her dating once school starts, but I made sure her classes were all in the evenings, so she won’t have to stop working during the day.

She’ll also have to go pick up her refund from her financial aid at some point, but I figure I’ll tell her about that once she gets over me signing her up for school. It’ll probably soften the blow when she hears we qualified for a needs-based grant, which means everything is paid for and she even has a few hundred dollars coming back to her.

I am browning rice in hot vegetable oil, getting it ready for the herbed chicken broth that’ll soak into it and make it tender and soupy the way Guelita Rosa likes it, when Mercy comes bouncing into the house. She lays her purse on the coffee table by the door and rushes off to her room. I hear her door slam and stop stirring, staying as silent as possible, listening for a clue as to how she is taking the news of being enrolled in school for the fall.

I don’t have to wait very long.

A few minutes later, Mercy opens the door and comes walking into the kitchen holding her schedule with both hands. “Where did this come from?”

“I…” The words get caught in my throat and I can’t get them out no matter how hard I try. “I…”

“You did this?” she asks. Her perfectly styled brows are two beautifully painted birds facing off low on her forehead as she frowns at me. “Answer me, Grace!”

I clear my throat. “Well, you’ve been so busy —” I start, but then nothing else comes out. Her eyes glisten, then narrow, and her lips tremble as she tries to talk. “You had no right!” she finally cries, tossing the ­schedule onto the table.

“School starts Monday,” I say quietly, so as not to scare her away. I know this is going to be a big step for her. But she can do it. I know she can. “Don’t worry, we don’t have any classes together. I made sure of that.”

Mercy’s nostrils flare, then quickly collapse against the sides of her nose, again and again, like the hooded flaps of a tiny cobra. When she finally speaks, she chooses her words carefully, deliberately. “You little worm!” she screams. “Where did you get

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