Mari and the Curse of El Cocodrilo by Adrianna Cuevas

Author:Adrianna Cuevas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-10-03T00:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

“I . . . I think we’re okay,” Juan Carlos says, straightening up and catching his breath.

Keisha still holds on to my arm and examines Dr. Younts with narrow eyes.

I clear my throat. “Juan Carlos said you were the person to ask if we’re curious about something,” I say, my heartbeat still thudding in my cheeks.

Dr. Younts’s eyes twinkle, and my breath calms down.

“I love curious people!” she says with a smile.

We walk with Dr. Younts down the hall, and I start to feel better as we get farther away from the Luck Eater and the snapping mud crabs. “I was wondering,” I say to Dr. Younts. “Do you think it’s possible to talk to dead people?”

I feel silly asking this. For me, the answer is an absolute yes.

“Oh, of course it is.” Dr. Younts nods emphatically. “The dead speak to us in many ways.”

“Sometimes right in your face in the middle of a park,” Keisha mutters, and I poke her with my elbow.

“Well, is there a way to make it easier to talk to dead people?” Juan Carlos asks.

Dr. Younts opens a door and ushers us through into a meeting room filled with toddlers dragging their parents by the arm and shouting “Story time!”

She pauses and places a hand on her hip. “Certainly. The dead are attached to the objects of this world—things that were important to them, things that were precious. Think of family heirlooms or mementos. If you have something like that, it will be easier to communicate with whomever you are trying to contact.”

I look from Keisha to Juan Carlos. I don’t have heirlooms. My family couldn’t bring anything with them when they left Cuba. Abuelito had one suitcase with one change of clothes. Abuelita came over with only the dress she was wearing. They had to leave everything behind.

I sigh, feeling defeated. Dr. Younts puts her hand on my shoulder, her eyes sparkling.

“Keep asking questions. Keep being curious. All the best people are!” she says with a wink before heading to the front of the room.

We’re instantly surrounded by squirming toddler limbs as Dr. Younts announces that it’s story time.

“Should we stay?” Juan Carlos asks.

Keisha nods. “We wanted to come to story time anyway. And I’m afraid if I walk too much right now, I might throw up in a fish tank.”

We settle on the floor between a clump of nose pickers and a group of moms sneaking Goldfish to their kids despite the center’s no-snack policy.

“So do you have anything in your family that’s important, like Dr. Younts was talking about?” Juan Carlos asks.

Before I can explain, Dr. Younts makes an announcement. “We have a special guest today at the center, here to tell us a story from another land filled with sea creatures. I think you’ll enjoy it.”

A woman in a long purple dress with silver hair piled on top of her head in a loose bun appears from behind a fish tank and sits in a chair at the front of the carpet.

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