Salsa Stories by Lulu Delacre

Author:Lulu Delacre
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2000-10-15T04:00:00+00:00

The next morning, I woke up in my own bed. Papá must have carried me home. Seated at the foot of the bed Mami was singing Las Mañanitas. Still half asleep I realized it was my birthday.

“This evening we’ll have your favorite meal,” Mami said when she finished the birthday song. “Mama Rosa is coming to help me make you chiles rellenos.”

“Gracias, Mami,” I whispered. I was about to ask if I was still getting my piñata. But when I remembered how upset Mami had been the night before, I thought it was better not to ask.

“Now get dressed, and after breakfast you’ll go with Papá and help him with his errands. I need to clean the house.”

I spent the morning of my birthday with Papá at the hardware store. He was buying materials he needed for a construction job. The store was close to the market, so while Papá payed, I ran to the piñata stand. The donkeys and the horses, the cats and the dogs, the rabbits and the fish, and the silver star dazzled more brilliantly than ever. But something was wrong. The corner where my huge bull had once stood was now empty.

My piñata was gone!

The burning desert sun was high when we got back home. Inside the kitchen, I found Mami roasting poblano chiles on the flat iron pan. When she finished, Mama Rosa filled them with cheese.

“Roberto,” said Mami. “Go wash up and get me three, big ripe tomatoes from the garden. I need them for the pico de gallo.”

Slowly I went out to the garden. While I was excited about my birthday dinner, I knew that without my piñata, my birthday wouldn’t be the same.

Outside, I found Papá talking with one of our neighbors who was attaching a rope to the roof of his house. Papá leaned over a large bag and slowly removed what was inside. At first I saw a horned head appear. Then I saw a big red body.

“Papá, Papá!” I ran up to him. “It’s my piñata! The exact one I wanted!”

“I know,” he said. “Mami and Mama Rosa bought it this morning.”

I started to run to get Pablo, but stopped when I heard his shout from behind me. He raced toward us, followed by about twenty other children from the barrio. They all lined up single file to hit my birthday piñata with a wooden stick. When everyone was there, Papá put a blindfold on the first child in line. All the other children watched and chanted, “Dale, dale, dale …”

By the time the bull had lost a horn and a leg, it was finally my turn. Papá blindfolded me. “¡Dale, Roberto!” my friends cheered. “Hit it!” I aimed high and hit the piñata. I heard a muffled thud and took off my blindfold to see only a single orange had fallen.

“My turn!” cried Pablo. He gave two heavy blows, and with the second one, a shower of juicy oranges, hard candy, peanuts, and sugarcane pieces came pouring down from the piñata’s swaying shards.

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