Sliding Home by Joyce Grant

Author:Joyce Grant
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lorimer
Published: 2018-01-28T16:00:00+00:00

13

Sign Language

Miguel didn’t waste time asking his mother what the problem was. He slipped and slid down the hill and scooped up his sister. He paused just long enough to tell his friends that he needed to leave.

“Hush, Claudia,” he said to his sister, who had started to whine.

“But why do we have to go?” she cried. “You were just about to be the Mudball!”

“I know,” Miguel replied. “There will be other Mudball games. Don’t worry.”

“But I wanted to be the Mudball too!” She was crying for real now.

Miguel puffed as he carried her up the slippery hill. “We’ll come back another day.”

At the top of the hill, their mother took mud-soaked Claudia from Miguel’s arms. She spoke to her daughter soothingly in Spanish. She kissed the top of her head.

“So, what’s going on?” Miguel asked his mother. They had wiped off most of the mud with paper towels and were sitting on the bus.

“It’s the bakery.” She spoke rapidly and quietly in Spanish.

“Our bakery?” said Claudia. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing for you to worry about, kiddo,” said Miguel. “Mom, where’s the cell phone?” He found it in her bag and handed it to Claudia. “Here. Play a game.”

“Is it the gangs?” Miguel asked his mother.

“Yes,” she said. “I don’t want to talk about it in front of Claudia. But we need to get your father over here — soon.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. We have to talk to Mr. Raymond again. That’s where we’re going now. I need you to translate.”

Miguel thought of his friends back in the Pits, covered in mud and having a great time. They would probably head to Pits Pita afterward for lunch and a smoothie. But he had to go to a stupid lawyer’s office. It wasn’t fair.

“The gangs came to the bakery last night. They tried to set the building on fire,” Miguel’s mother whispered. Her knuckles were white as she gripped her bag. “Your father is safe, but we need to get him out of El Salvador right away.”

Miguel grimaced. All thoughts of Mudball were suddenly erased from his mind. Now he felt guilty for even thinking of having fun while his father was in trouble.

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