Who's Buried in the Garden? by Ray Villareal

Author:Ray Villareal
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arte Público Press
Published: 2009-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

When I arrived at home, the first thing I heard was the now, all too familiar sound of El Jarabe Tapatío. My sister had played the CD a million times.

My mom, wearing a large, black felt sombrero was dancing with Ana. The sombrero was a souvenir from our trip to Mexico when we visited Güelito Pérez.

“Hi, Joshua,” Ana said. “We’re practicing the Hadaba Tipo Tipo.”

“Ana! It’s Jarabe Tapatío,” my mom corrected her.

“Oh yeah, I forgot.” Ana stopped the CD. “Did you bring me some books on tarantulas?” she asked hopefully.

“No, I didn’t get a chance,” I muttered. I headed toward the stairs.

Ana’s face fell. “But you promised, Joshua. You said you’d check some books out for me.”

I paused at the foot of the stairs. “I said I would if I had a chance, but I didn’t, okay?” I hurried up to my room and slammed the door shut, hoping no one had noticed that I’d returned from the library empty-handed.

Ana’s eyes welled with tears. “Mom, Joshua promised to get some books on tarantulas for me, but he didn’t. I need to know how to care for Sunflower or else she’ll die.”

My mom removed the sombrero and sat it on the couch. “Joshua Ramírez, ¡ven para acá!” she commanded.

I poked my head out the door. “Mom, I didn’t see any tarantula books at the library. Honest.”

“Come here!”

I took the stairs down slowly. “The guys and I had a lot of research to do, Mom. You know, for that biographical report I told you about. I didn’t get a chance to look for any books for Ana. I swear.”

My mom stared skeptically at me. “If you spent so much time at the library doing research, why didn’t you come home with any books? I didn’t see you carrying anything when you came in.”

I didn’t answer.

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Who are you writing your report about?”

“Sally Ride,” I answered right away. “You know, the astronaut.”

My mom’s face grew puzzled. “Sally Ride? What an unusual choice—I mean, for you. Why did you choose her?”

I don’t think she was convinced I was being truthful. “She was just someone we talked about in class and … um … I thought I’d like to research her life a little more.”

I could feel my insides churning. I hated lying to my mom, and I wasn’t quite sure why I was doing it. Except that too much was going on in my mind, and my instincts for self-preservation were taking over. “I didn’t find that much information on Sally Ride, so I thought I’d look her name up on the Internet.”

It amazed me how easily the lies flowed from my mouth. I was becoming as good a storyteller as Artie.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get any books for Ana,” I said, “but I’m sure she can Google some stuff about tarantulas.”

My mom stared at me for a few seconds. Finally she turned to Ana and said, “Joshua’s right, mija. I’ll help you find the information you need.”

“Okay, Mom, but Joshua shouldn’t make promises he’s not going to keep.

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