Life, After by Sarah Darer Littman

Author:Sarah Darer Littman [Sarah Darer Littman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780545283151
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

The whole bus ride home I was thinking about trying out for a play, imagining myself on stage, being a part of something, and best of all, having something to look forward to besides going to school and coming home to the apartment where Papá’s depression cast a pall over everything.

But when I told Mamá as we washed the dishes after dinner, she sat me down at the kitchen table and looked at me sadly.

“Dani, I would love for you to be able to do this, but at the moment I’m counting on you to look after your sister in the afternoons until I get home from work. Maybe eventually when…”

She wouldn’t say it, but I knew what she meant. When we could finally rely on Papá again.

“But it’s not fair, Mamá. I…”

I couldn’t say more because it looked like Mamá was about to cry, and I didn’t want to be the one responsible for her tears.

I stormed out of the kitchen, but I was so angry when I went to my room that it was hard to stay still or concentrate on anything. Just because Papá had put his life on hold, why did I have to put mine on hold, too?

I needed to get out. I wanted to be with my friends. Since I didn’t have any good friends in Twin Lakes, that meant going online, and since we couldn’t afford a computer of our own, that meant a trip to the library.

Slinging my backpack onto my shoulder, I walked back into the kitchen. “I’m going to walk to the library. I need to do some research for school.”

“Now?” Mamá said. “But it’s late…”

“The library is open until nine o’clock. I’ll be fine. It’s safe here.”

“Take some quarters and call here when you’re finished. Papá will come to walk you home.”

Perfecto. Here I was trying to get away from home, from everything to do with Papá, and now I was going to be stuck walking home with him?

“He doesn’t need to. I can walk back by myself.”

“Dani, if you want to go to the library, Papá is going to walk you home.”

“But, Mamá…”

“Enough, Daniela,” Papá growled from the living room. “Listen to your mother.”

My eyes began to prickle with tears of anger and frustration.

“Okay, okay, I’ll call. Hasta luego.”

I stalked out of the apartment, not quite slamming the door, but shutting it harder than usual.

It was a beautiful evening. It had cooled off from the intense heat of the day, and a breeze rustled the leaves on the trees that lined our street. The tips of some were starting to turn yellow, just a hint of autumn, which was strange for me to see in early September: a reminder that I was no longer in the Southern Hemisphere. I just wished I were walking down the street hand in hand with Roberto, instead of by myself. Or arm in arm with Gaby, talking about anything and everything, the way we always did. I tried to calculate the time

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