Tortilla Sun by Jennifer Cervantes

Author:Jennifer Cervantes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Published: 2010-08-20T04:00:00+00:00

15

$9.50 Under Budget

Each new day pushed scraps of sadness out of our lives and invited little bits of joy back in. Maggie seemed to absorb the joy the best. Maybe it was Nana’s tortillas, or maybe she was too young to stay sad for long. Mostly, I think it was the stories Nana whispered to Maggie at night before bed.

One Friday night, Maggie lay in my bed. I learned part of being a good big sister meant sharing my room. Maggie rested her head in Nana’s lap and made circles in the air with her yarn for Frida to chase.

“Do you have any new stories about Gip?” she asked Nana.

I sat at my desk and doodled on a story card, unsure of what to write.

Nana stroked Maggie’s hair slowly.

“Sí. What kind of story would you like to hear?”

“What about one with Gip and Izzy’s dad?” Maggie rolled her head to the left and glanced at me before turning back to Nana. “Do you have that kind of story?”

I set my pen down and waited. I never grew tired of Nana’s memories.

Nana folded her small hands in her lap. “Well, one summer, Gip wanted to reset the tile floors in her house, but she couldn’t do it alone. Gip didn’t have much money that year. She received many quotes from different tile layers, and with each new one she would throw her hands in the air and say, ‘Can you believe the money these people want? Do they think I’m the queen of England?’

“One night, I went to Gip’s with Izzy’s mama and papa for a small dinner, and there she was—on her hands and knees with a chisel and hammer—tearing up the whole floor.”

I smiled a little at the memory of Mom tearing up our kitchen counter. Maybe Gip had given her the idea.

Nana laughed. “We had all thought we were coming for dinner, but really we spent the whole night tearing up that old floor until we had no choice but to fix the mess we’d made.” Nana scooted Maggie’s head onto the pillow and tilted her chin upward so she could look her in the eye.

“And that’s the kind of spirit Gip had. She always found a way. And that same week she and Izzy’s papa went all over Albuquerque searching for leftover tile from building supply stores. She’d said that if he could help her stay under budget, she’d pay him all the money that was left over.”

“Didn’t she want her floor to match?” I asked.

Nana shook her head. “She didn’t want perfection, just comfort.”

She continued. “After about a week, Izzy’s papa had found tiles on clearance that were a bit damaged, but Gip didn’t mind. She said they would just add to the uniqueness of her home.”

“Did he get all the tiles under budget?” I asked.

“No. But he never told Gip the actual cost. Instead he asked a few villagers if they would donate some money for her new floor, and when it was all said and done, he had more than enough.

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