Mission Libertad (10 page)

“Do you have a Bible?” Luisito said.

“Yeah, under my bed,” Tommy said.

“Why do you keep it there?” Luisito said.

“That's where I keep all my important stuff,” Tommy answered. “Here,” he said, handing the book to Luisito.

Luisito leafed through the many pages with no idea of where to start.

“Do you know how to use it?” Tommy asked.

“Not really,” he said.

“What do you want to read?” Tommy asked.

“Exodus 32:1–35,” Luisito answered very matter-offactly.

“Hold it,” Tommy said. “You have never opened a Bible and you want to read precisely that Bible verse?”

“I saw a man holding it on a poster on the street,” Luisito lied.
What a save
, he thought. He actually had seen a homeless man with a sign when he went to the mall, but it said something about asking for food.

“Let's find out,” Tommy said, smiling and sitting cross-legged on his bed with the Bible on his lap.

“When Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron and said to him, ‘Come, make us a god who will be our leader,'“ Tommy read from the Bible at a fast pace.

“Wait!” Luisito interrupted. “You read it and then tell me what it's about because I don't understand anything you're saying.”

“I saw this in the movie
The
Ten
Commandments
,” Tommy said. “It's about the golden calf.”

“Golden calf?” Luisito said, shrugging his shoulders. “Makes no sense to me.”

“Wait, let me read the whole thing,” Tommy said, quickly skimming the passage.

“Okay, the Exodus is when God delivered the Israelites from Egyptian rule. He did this by parting the seas,” Tommy said. “The Israelites were slaves. Understand?”

“Okay,” Luisito said.

“This part of the book of Exodus talks about Moses going to the mountain for prayer with God. While he is gone the Israelites forget about the Ten Commandments and build themselves a golden calf. They worshiped the calf and did all sorts of sinful things and . . .”

“I don't get it,” Luisito interrupted. He was trying to make sense of why his grandmother needed him to tell this to a priest in Miami. Wouldn't he know this? Wouldn't he have read the Bible many times already? So far, Exodus dealt with a massive fleeing of the Egyptians through the sea and a golden icon. None of it made much sense to Luisito.

Then there was the other part of the message: “Your mother is waiting for you in Italy.” What did this Bible verse have to do with the Cuban priest's mother being in Italy? Unless she was coming to Miami and bringing a precious Bible with her? No, that didn't make sense because the message referred to Exodus, not to the whole Bible. Maybe his mother was escaping by sea from Cuba and waiting for him in Italy?

“Well, I am reading more,” Tommy said, running his index finger down the page. “They got busted! When Moses came back he and God were very upset at the way these people had behaved. They totally forgot what God had done for them.”

“It doesn't make sense,” Luisito repeated to himself.

“What doesn't make sense?” Tommy asked.

“Oh . . . why the man would be holding a poster with this information,” Luisito lied again. Could he trust his cousin to keep the secret? He wondered again why Abuela would want to keep this a secret when she had always told him to go to an adult in time of need. Maybe she was afraid that his parents would not want him to get involved.

“You know, Tommy . . .” Luisito was about to tell him when they were interrupted.

“To sleep, everyone!” José said, turning off the lights.

“We are in high school already, Papi!” Tommy said.

“No, excuses!” José replied. “
El
que
duerme
primero
duerme
mejor
—the one who sleeps first sleeps best!”

“Huh?” Tommy said quizzically. Luisito looked at him and they started laughing.

This morning the school hallway smelled of fresh lemon scent. Luisito took a deep, breath. He knew that in a few hours, with the change of class, the air would be permeated with a mixture of girls' perfume, jockey sweat, and chalk dust. As the bell rang, Luisito swiftly passed the other students rushing to their next class period. He heard some boys mention that the list of those who had made the soccer team was posted outside the physical education classroom.

Luisito looked at the glass-covered bulletin board to see if he had made it, but he didn't see his name. Then he saw Tommy's and Sherry's. The coaches had posted the lists for the boys' and the girls' team side by side.

“Hey, Lewis,” said Paul, a friend of Sonia's. “How come your name is not on the list? I thought all Hispanics were good at soccer. It's in your blood.”

A few other boys laughed and walked away.

“Remember me? I'm Paul,” he said, shaking Luisito's hand. “Why don't you try out for basketball? You look tall enough.” He handed Luisito a flyer with all the information.

“Thanks, I will,” Luisito said.

The next morning, Luisito headed off for basketball tryouts. He didn't know why he was doing this or what he was proving, but he wanted to join something.

He heard that the coach usually picked most of the older boys for the team, so his chances were minimal. He had never played on the school team in Cuba, but he had played at the park all the time with his friends.

There were about twenty boys at the tryouts. The coach had them dribble the ball from one side of the court to the other. They did layups and free throws. The coach had them sprint from one side of the court to the other to measure their speed. Finally, he separated the players in groups and had them scrimmage.

The coach, a big man who looked more like a football player than a basketball coach, gathered them to stretch after tryouts were over. He mentioned that it would be tough to pick the right team because everyone this year was so impressive. He would have to think about this thoroughly and by the end of the week he would post the list. The first practice was the next Monday, and the first game of the season was in two weeks.

“We had a good season last year, and we hope this year we can be undefeated!” Coach Jerry said.

“Yeah!” the boys cheered in unison.

Then Luisito grabbed his backpack and towel, and he headed toward the school office. He had to call Sonia to see if she could pick him up. He opened the glass office door and, when he looked toward the waiting area, there was Sherry, reading a book. She looked up and smiled.

“Hi, Sherry,” Luisito said. “What are you doing here?”

“We had a soccer meeting and now I am waiting for my mother,” she said. “I have dance class today.”

“I saw your name on the soccer list,” Luisito said, sitting beside her. “Congratulations on making the team.”

“Thank you!” Sherry responded with a big smile. “Did you try out for basketball today?

“Yes, it was tough.” he said. “Listen, I've tried calling you a couple times but you are never home after school.”

“Oh,” she said, sounding surprised, “I didn't know you had called. I have something almost every day after school. Here, give me your number,” she handed him a piece of paper.

Luisito went blank. He couldn't remember Tommy's phone number. He hardly used it. Then he remembered he had written it on something in his wallet. He felt like a clown taking it out of his wallet and copying it down for her. He gave Sherry the paper, which she folded and put in her purse.

At that moment, Sherry's mom walked into the school office. Luisito had seen her a couple of times from
a distance at Mass and had spoken to her over the phone, but he had never been introduced to her. Mrs. Jones was a very elegant woman, tall and slender, with dark red hair.

“Let's go, sweetie, I'm in a hurry,” she said without noticing Luisito.

“Mom, this is Lewis,” Sherry said, gesturing toward Luisito. “He's the Cuban boy I told you about.”

“Is this Thomas's cousin? The one who arrived from Cuba?” she said.

“Yes, I am,” Luisito responded. “How are you?”

“Fine, thank you,” she said as they shook hands. “By the way, does your father do garden work? We are starting a landscaping project.”

“No, he is isn't good with plants,” Luisito said.

“How about construction?” she asked.

Luisito shook his head.

“Well, what does he do?” she asked, puzzled.

“He is a medical doctor,” Luisito said.

“A doctor! I would have never thought of that,” she said. “I was sure I saw him bagging groceries the other day at the supermarket.”

“Yes, that's him. It's his part-time job. He works in a doctor's office in the morning. He is also taking more English classes and planning on getting his . . . ugh . . .
licencia?
” Luisito answered.

“You mean license?” Sherry offered.

Luisito nodded and smiled.

“Well, good for him!” Mrs. Jones said. “Say hi to Rosie for us.”

Sherry waved, and she and Mrs. Jones walked out the door as Luisito held it open for them. He replayed their
conversation in his head. He hoped he had spoken English correctly. Then he remembered he needed to call Sonia to pick him up. He asked permission to use the phone.

At that moment, Mr. Alvarez walked in the door and looked in his direction.

“Hey,
Cubanito
!” he said, patting him in the back. “Tomorrow we will be talking about the weather and vegetation of Cuba.”

“Great!” Luisito said. He walked out into the hallway and toward the main door to wait for Sonia. He saw a girl with long, curly, brown hair updating the bulletin board. She was just putting up a flyer when all the rest slipped out of her hands and fell across the hallway. Luisito ran to help her.

“Thank you,” she said, smiling at Luisito. “Aren't you the Cuban refugee?”

“I guess so,” Luisito said, not liking the tone of the word refugee.

“I am Cristina,” she said swinging her ponytail. “My family is from El Salvador. Why don't you join the Spanish Club? We meet every Tuesday after school.”

“I am trying out for basketball,” he said. “Thanks, anyway.”

“Is Sherry your girlfriend?” Cristina asked.

“We are friends,” Luisito said.

“Is this the first time you have met her mother?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said.

“I see . . . well, according to my mother, Mrs. Jones doesn't like Hispanics too much,” Cristina whispered to him.

“You mean . . .
¿que
nos
mastica
pero
no
nos
traga?
” Luisito said, not liking where the conversation was heading. The Spanish saying “she can chew us but not swallow us” meant she had a subtle prejudice against foreigners.

“That's what my mother says,” Cristina said. “But you didn't hear it from me.”

Luisito waved good-bye to her and left quickly. He wasn't sure if what this girl had said about Mrs. Jones was true, but she had looked at him rather strangely. When Luisito arrived home, he could hear his family all cheering at the TV set. He wondered what sport they were watching.

“Ese Reagan se la comió!”
Miguel said.

“What did Ronald Reagan eat?” Tommy asked.

“That is an expression,” Rosie said laughing. “It means he is incredible!”

“What an inspiring speech!” Elena said. “I hope he becomes president.”

Luisito went to the kitchen to see what was for dinner today. It was his mother's turn to cook, and she was following a recipe she had found in Rosie's cookbook. Rosie was beside her helping to chop up green peppers and other vegetables for the
sofrito
, or marinade.

“It's
fricassee
de
pollo
tonight,” Elena said proudly.

“Good, I like chicken,” Luisito said.

“How was your day?” Elena asked.

“It was good. I met Sherry's mother,” he said.

“Well, you don't sound too happy about that,” Rosie said.

Luisito explained what his classmate had told him about Mrs. Jones.

“Who told you that?” Tommy asked as he walked into the kitchen.

“Just someone from school,” Luisito said.

“It may or may not be true,” Rosie said, pausing in her work. “Mrs. Jones has always been very nice to me, but I've never dealt with her socially.”

“Don't believe everything you hear, son,” Elena said. “You have to know people and make your own judgments.”

Luisito poured himself a cup of milk and drank it while food was being prepared. His thoughts then turned to Sherry and her family. Would they not like him because he was from a different country?

That Friday, Luisito rushed to the gym to see the list of who had made the basketball team. There was a big crowd so he couldn't see the list. Some of the guys left quietly; others were high-fiving and congratulating each other. Luisito waited patiently for his turn to see the list.

“Hey, Lewis!” Paul called to him. “You made the team, man.”

Luisito felt a great relief.

“You too?” Luisito asked. He already knew the answer because Paul was one of the best players at the tryouts.

“Yep, can't wait to start winning!” Paul said, very excited.

Finally, Luisito had joined a school team. He would have his first practice next week and soon, maybe, new friends. He desperately wanted to fit in.

He looked down the hall and saw Sherry coming with books in hand to check the list. Maybe she was looking for his name, Luisito hoped.

“I made it!” Luisito said as she approached.

“That's great!” she exclaimed. “I knew you would.”