Lety Out Loud by Angela Cervantes

Author:Angela Cervantes [Cervantes, Angela]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2018-03-25T04:00:00+00:00

Later that night in bed, Lety couldn’t sleep. She was upset that Brisa wasn’t returning to the shelter. Across the room from her, Eddie wriggled around in his twin bed and let out a few whimpers like the kittens at the shelter when they were afraid. When Eddie’s whimpers turned into an all-out sob, her father came in and switched on the light.

“Mijo,” her dad whispered. He sat at the edge of Eddie’s bed and pulled the covers to see Eddie’s wet, teary face. “¿Mijo, por qué lloras?”

“I don’t want people to yell at me.”

Lety’s father wiped Eddie’s tears away with his calloused fingers.

“No llores, Eduardo,” he said. “No cry.”

Eddie’s sobbing crumbled Lety’s heart like chalk on the sidewalk. She was used to Eddie always being confident and positive. She imagined herself taking purple chalk and scrawling words that would make her little brother feel better. She remembered what Mrs. Camacho had said about Eddie’s English being better because he was younger when he started to learn it.

“People won’t yell at you, Eddie,” Lety said, sitting up in bed. “You’re young and your brain is a sponge. You speak English better than all of us.”

“Not just me. I don’t want them to yell at you, Mom,Dad, or Brisa either,” Eddie cried, covering his face with his hands. “Or Mrs. Quispe. I don’t want —” Eddie voice broke into a long wail. Lety helplessly looked at her father, unsure of what else to say. Then her father did something she never expected. He reached for a paint swatch from Eddie’s nightstand. As Eddie sobbed, her father started reading the colors aloud.

“Dark Denim. Durango Blue. Jean Jacket Blue.”

Eddie dropped his hands from his eyes and glanced up at his father. A smile crept across his face.

“Arizona Sky. Indigo Night.”

“Papá!” Eddie laughed. “You pronounced all of them wrong.”

“¿Qué? I say it correct, no?” Lety’s father winked playfully at Lety.

“Noooo,” Eddie said with a chuckle.

“Tomorrow, you and Lety teach me say English correct. Sleep now, mijo.”

“Okay, but I get to be the teacher,” Eddie said, flopping down against his pillow. As her father tucked Eddie back into bed, Lety wiped her tears with her bedsheets.

Her father came over, leaned down, and kissed Lety’s forehead. He smelled minty, like the medicine her mom rubbed on her hands after long days of painting cabinets. She wondered if his hands or back were hurting.

Before he walked out of the room and switched off the lights, Lety called out to him.

“Papá?”

“¿Sí, mija?”

“Are you glad we came here?”

Her father paused at the doorway and gave her a tired smile.

“Sí, mija. We make dream here. Better life for you.”

“Even if they don’t want us here?”

“Sí, mija. No one can stop dreams. Buenas noches, mi vida.”

“Buenas noches, Papá.”

He turned off the light, filling the room with darkness except for a ray of light that streamed under the door into the room. It created a blue haze on the floor between the two beds. Lety studied the blue glow. It reminded her of the deep end of a swimming pool.

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