How Tía Lola Learned to Teach (9 page)

Now it’s Tía Lola who is gazing lovingly at her niece. “You are an angel, you know that?”

“No, I’m not, Tía Lola. Miguel is the Ángel!” Juanita grins. She is proud of herself for thinking of this little joke.

But Tía Lola keeps shaking her head as if to say, I know an angel when I see one, even if her name is Juana Inés.

Mrs. Stevens thinks the idea of a school-wide
carnaval
celebration is
fantástico
. Every year, Bridgeport Elementary has a talent show or a candy sale to raise money for
field trips. So this year, let it be a
carnaval
. A great way to complement the Spanish lessons Tía Lola has been giving.

Soon the whole school is learning all about
carnaval
in Spanish class. How it comes right before Lent, a time of year when you give up fun stuff and fast, which means you don’t pig out on anything and you think about how to be a better person. But right before the start of this thoughtful time of year, you have one last celebration, called
carnaval
, in which you eat lots of yummy food and party and dance and have tons of fun. And the best part is that everyone dresses up in a costume, which is cool, like having another Halloween in the middle of winter!

Milton raises his hand. “Can we use our Halloween costumes?”

“Of course you can,” Ms. Sweeney says. She must see some worry flash across Ofie’s face, because she adds, “But you don’t have to dress up if you don’t want to. Am I right, Tía Lola?”

Tía Lola nods vigorously. “The point is to have a party. Everybody in the world loves a party!” The class claps wildly, proving Tía Lola right.
“En todas partes cuecen habas,”
she adds, but even Milton is too excited to ask Juanita for a translation.

Yes, Juanita is thinking, everywhere in the world people love to party. It’s kind of nice to have something happy the whole world can share—besides beans, which, Juanita hates to tell her aunt, are not among her favorite things.

“I’ve been thinking about your little friend Ofie,” Tía Lola says to Juanita on their ride home on the bus. They’ve already gone by the farm where Ofie gets off with her older sister, María, and the farmer’s son, Tyler. “You said her birthday was in August?”

Juanita nods. Ms. Sweeney wrote everyone’s birth date on the big calendar, but since Ofie’s was in the summer, Juanita didn’t pay that much attention. “I think it was like the last week in August.”

“That means her half birthday is in late February, which is about the same time as
carnaval
, so what I was thinking—”

“That’s a great idea!” Juanita interrupts Tía Lola. It’s as if Juanita were a mind reader, because she knows exactly what her aunt was about to suggest. Why not make the
carnaval
fiesta also be Ofie’s half birthday party?! And since the celebration is at school, Ofie doesn’t have to worry about having friends over.

But there is only one other problem. Mami has vetoed the idea of half birthdays. If you do it for one kid, every kid in the world will want one.

“I have a feeling your mother will make an exception in this case,” Tía Lola says.
“Toda regla tiene su excepción.”

“I know,” Juanita says. “We have that saying, too.” There is an exception to every rule, in Spanish, in English—in fact, everywhere in the world.

A day later, when Tía Lola boards the bus with Juanita, they sit across the aisle from Ofie and her big sister, María. “So what would you like to dress up as for
carnaval
?” Tía Lola asks the girls.

The sisters exchange a glance. “We don’t have costumes,” Ofie speaks up. “We’re not allowed to dress up for Halloween or beg for treats. We have to come straight home after school.”

“Those are the rules, I know,” Tía Lola says. “But we’re talking about wishes.”

The girls’ faces soften. They, too, love this special aunt. All their own
tías
are back in Mexico, Ofie has told Juanita.

“I would be a princess,” the older one, María, says shyly, then looks down, embarrassed.

“I would be a princess, too,” Ofie says, “or a mermaid.”

“Wonderful choices.” Tía Lola smiles approvingly.

“I was a princess last Halloween and a mermaid the year before that,” Juanita pipes up. “You guys want to wear my old costumes for the
carnaval
at school?”

The girls’ faces light up. “Really?” Ofie asks in an awed whisper.

“I don’t think they’ll fit us.” María is older, more doubtful. But her face betrays such longing, Juanita would hate to disappoint her.

“I can alter them, no problem,” Tía Lola explains. “I worked many, many years as a seamstress.” In fact, last
summer she sewed all the uniforms for Miguel’s baseball team.

“Can we really borrow them?” Ofie says, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

It’s only now that Juanita realizes she has left herself high and dry. Unless her mother buys her a new costume—and Mami is saving for a new house—Juanita will have nothing to wear for
carnaval
herself. But seeing these two sisters so happy makes her reckless. For a moment, she understands how fairy godmothers must feel all the time.

“So what are you going to wear as
your
costume?” Miguel asks Juanita after the girls have gotten off the bus. He’ll probably just dress as Big Papi in his number 34 Red Sox jersey.

“Whatever,” Juanita says, shrugging. “Costumes aren’t required for
carnaval
, right, Tía Lola?”

Her aunt nods slowly. “You don’t need a costume. You need a new name: Juanita Inés de los Ángeles.” Juanita Inés of the Angels.

The first
carnaval
at Bridgeport Elementary will be talked about for years to come.

The school’s hallways are transformed with garlands of brightly colored
papel picado;
the walls are covered with paintings of palm trees and parrots and humongous flowers as big as a kindergartener. Rudy and Tía Lola
have cooked up a storm in the kitchen. In the lunchroom, the tables line the walls, leaving an open area in the center. Each grade parades in, showing off their costumes—superheroes and pirates and baseball players and princesses and witches—blowing whistles and recorders, beating drums and tambourines, while families and friends hoot and holler and clap. It’s pandemonium, as Mrs. Stevens calls it—the fun kind.

Once everyone sits down to eat, Mr. Bicknell, the sixth-grade teacher, who also gives music lessons, blows a few notes on his trumpet. Lo and behold, out of the kitchen comes an angel carrying a birthday cake and heading straight for the table where a little Mexican mermaid is sitting with other second graders. Suddenly, Mr. Bicknell begins to blow “Happy Birthday,” and all the teachers and students and, of course, the angel join in, singing, “Happy half birthday to you.”

“
Feliz medio cumpleaños
, Ofie,” Tía Lola sings from her post by the kitchen door.

Everyone watches the little mermaid. At first she seems unsure, as if she is debating whether to confess it’s not really her birthday. But suddenly, they can see Ofie’s relief as she realizes this
is
her half birthday. Her face is luminous with happiness.

Having completed her mission, the angel returns to stand by Tía Lola. “That was so fun!” Juanita confesses to her aunt. “Did you see how surprised Ofie was? Thanks for letting me carry the cake.”

“It was you who thought of half birthday parties,” Tía
Lola reminds her niece. “You who contributed your old costumes. Who else should have carried the cake?”

You, Juanita is thinking. After all, it was Tía Lola who organized this amazing
carnaval
celebration in a little over two weeks. Not only that, she made sure every kid had a costume to wear … including her niece. Yes, earlier this evening Juanita had come sliding down the banister in her school clothes. She was trying to be upbeat and cheerful, but truthfully, she was feeling a little sorry for herself. She was going to her first
carnaval
party ever, and she didn’t have a costume to wear.

But there, hanging like a piñata from a plant hook in the living room, was the most beautiful angel costume! Tía Lola had sewn the gown from some old satin sheets, adding glittery trim to the collar and sleeves and weaving a sparkling halo out of the same trim. Then, from the papier-mâché for her piñatas, Tía Lola had fashioned two awesome wings.

Juanita had gasped. This was an outfit fit for a real angel!

“I told you that you are an angel,” Tía Lola whispered as she helped Juanita dress.

Now, gazing out at the lunchroom, Juanita smiles. Everyone looks so happy! Every kid seems to be celebrating a birthday or a half birthday or a quarter birthday. Every grown-up seems delighted to be allowed a night of childhood magic. Tía Lola was absolutely right, Juanita is thinking: Everywhere in the world, people cook beans and love parties and deserve to be happy. Juanita might not be an angel, but this
is
heaven.

lesson seven

Quien tiene boca llega a Roma
If you have a mouth, you can get to Rome

Miguel wakes up, feeling excited and happy before he even remembers why. Today is the first day of winter recess, and he and Juanita and Tía Lola are headed for New York City. Mami will drive them up to Burlington to catch a midmorning bus to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Papi will be waiting for them there, probably with Carmen hooked to his arm.