Sleeping with the Light On by David Unger

Author:David Unger
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Groundwood Books Ltd
Published: 2020-09-14T19:45:51+00:00

6

Blackouts

•

The blackouts happen every night. The telephone in the restaurant hardly ever rings. Otto and Augusto stop working for us. La Casita opens only for lunch. Mamá cooks and Papá is the waiter.

Felipe and I cannot go to school. Guatemala City is too dangerous. We are on an endless vacation.

“Davico, no more sitting on the windowsill!” Papá says.

“But why?”

“We must keep the shutters closed, even when we open the restaurant for lunch. We want things to be safe.”

“Why?”

Papá digs into his pocket and pulls out a flat piece of metal. “Look what I found in a wall when I went shopping this morning.”

Felipe has been reading a comic in one of the restaurant chairs. He comes over.

“Is it an old coin?” he asks.

“No,” Papá breathes out. “It is a bullet.”

“Is it from the tanks?” I ask.

“No, it’s from a gun.”

“Was someone shooting at you?” Felipe asks, examining the bullet.

“Oh, no,” he says. “It was stuck in a wall waiting for me to take it.”

“Are we at war?” I ask.

“We aren’t at war yet. But the buildings are full of bullet holes. Thank goodness for the American reporters. Otherwise, we would have to close.”

“Are the reporters the gringos?” I ask.

My father looks at me funny. “Where did you learn that word?”

“From the shoeshine boy.”

“A shoeshine boy,” my father repeats. “Maybe he knows more of what is going on in this country than the president. Who is going to protect us?”

I don’t want my father to ask questions. He should know the answers.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.