Going Home (10 page)

“Also I want you to know that you will be treated here as if you were my very own child. You can come to me for anything that you need, anything at all. Understand?”

Oh, great, I thought, now I have to go to church to have fun. Boy, was I in an exciting place! But, no matter what I thought, I knew I had to be polite, so I said, “Thank you, Tia.” After hearing that speech and putting together what I had already seen of Tia Maria, she is the last person I'd want to come to for anything, anything at all!

That evening as darkness was setting in, I lay on a cot next to my parents, trying to sleep. The noises were so loud that I kept jumping up. Here the coquis, the tiny green frogs that sing all over the Island, were almost drowned out by what sounded like a parrot talking in a weird language. Every couple of seconds it would stop and then begin laughing hysterically. Crickets were blasting away like they were having an argument and wanted to outshout each other. Bull-frogs were singing duets with what sounded like crows. At first I thought I'd never get to sleep, but soon I got used to the harsh noises and after a while it sounded like an orchestra was playing me a lullaby.

But the next day when I went to take my shower, I saw this huge brown bug flying right at me. I couldn't believe my eyes! It was a cockroach with wings. When it flapped its wings it sounded like whispers,
whifft
...
whiffttt
! Ugh! It was horrible! Then I looked up and thought I would faint. Over the shower a whole bunch of them were clinging to the ceiling. They looked absolutely disgusting. I ran out screaming with fear and told Mami there was no way I'd go into that shower.

“There's nothing to worry about.” Mami tried to calm me down by telling me the bugs were completely harmless. “They don't bite or do you any harm. They only come out like that in the summer. We used to have them in the city when I was a girl, before Abuelo put screens and modern bathrooms in his house.”

So now I'd have to live with these huge, ugly, disgusting flying cockroaches on top of everything else. I mean first there are no kids my own age around here to play with, then Tia Maria keeps talking about religion all the time ... and of course Tio Jorge hardly talks at all.

At least back in San Juan there were a lot of people around and all kinds of places to visit and things to see. Here there wasn't anything I could look forward to. I was real tempted to ask Mami if I could go back home with them. But I felt too embarrassed to say I wanted to leave, so I took a deep breath, looked at Mami, and said, “Either they go or I go. I'm not staying here with those cockroaches. I mean it!”

“Don't worry, Felita, Tio Jorge will spray the bathroom today and Papi will seal up all the cracks so that they can't get in, okay?”

“I hope so.”

“It will be all right. I promise you that Tio Jorge will spray every day from now on.”

 

Late that afternoon things started looking up. Tio had invited some people over to meet us and among them were two girls around my own age.

“Felita, this is Provi and Gladys,” said Tia Maria, introducing us. Me and the girls went out in back and sat down on the small patio.

“My mother says you're gonna be here all summer. Is that right?” Provi asked me.

“Right. I'm staying with my granduncle.”

“Is this your first visit to Puerto Rico?” Gladys asked.

“Yes, we just finished visiting with my other relatives on my mother's side in San Juan.”

“How do you like it so far?” asked Provi.

“I like it. We had such a great time ... we went all over the Island and took in the sights.”

“They told me you're from New York City,” Gladys said. I nodded. “Well, this is even different from San Juan, or any other city. It's real quiet. But we like it.”

“My grandmother was born here. She used to tell me all about this village and what it was like when she was a girl. Even though she lived in New York for many years, she always talked about her life here.”

“Is she still alive?” Provi asked.

“No, she died two years ago. She's my Tio Jorge's sister. I mean she was.”

“It would be nice if you would join our youth center over at Santa Teresa's, our church,” said Provi. “It's Catholic. Are you Catholic?”

“Yes, I am. Tia Maria told me about it. I'm going with her this Friday.”

“Oh, good!” Provi looked pleased. “You'll like it. We got lots of activities and play games and all. Besides, there's not much else to do here in the summer, so joining the center is a good idea.”

“Felita! Felita!” I heard Tio Jorge calling me. “There are some guests who want to say good-bye to you.” Finally, after I said good-bye to most of the people, I said good-bye to the girls.

“We'll see you Friday, Felita, at the church. It'll be nice.”

At last I had something to look forward to.

 

That evening Mami made a long list of all the things she thought Tio Jorge and me would need.

“Rosa, we don't need half of these things.” Tio was annoyed at her. “What are we supposed to do with more juice containers or dish towels? Or any of this junk? We got all we need and we'll be taking most of our meals over at Maria's. I don't see why you like to waste money!”

“Tio, please, don't argue. I know what I'm doing!” Mami was determined. “I'm not leaving you two here without the necessary things to make you comfortable.” When Tio Jorge tried to argue back, Mami put up her hands. “It's settled.” Tio walked away. When Mami got stubborn, he knew there was no way anyone else could win.

Even though I had brought some drawing materials with me from home, I put more stuff down on Mami's list. I asked for more oil crayons, colored pencils, and drawing pads, as well as a set of water-colors. To my surprise she agreed to get everything for me. Usually she fusses over what we spend. I was sure glad she was in a buying mood.

The next morning, after we had shopped in a large town called Rio Grande for the stuff on Mami's list, we all drove to Luquillo beach. It was beautiful there with rows of palm trees giving lots of shade. We went swimming in a bayside area where the water was shallow. The sand was almost white and the water such a clear green that you could see way down to your toes.

My brothers were going out of their way to be real nice to me. They carried me on their backs, let me win in tag, and made sure I always caught the ball. It was a wonderful afternoon and I kept on wishing it would never end. But soon Papi told us all it was time to leave. Tomorrow they had to get up early to catch the plane home.

Early the next day, as we were saying our good-byes, Mami took Tia Maria and me aside.

“Felita, you mind Tia Maria, you hear? I want to hear nothing but good reports about you, understand?”

“Don't worry, Rosa,” said Tia Maria. “I am a God-fearing woman and I'll take care of Felita like she was my own little girl. But if she does anything wrong, I'll make sure to let her know.”

“My Felita is a good girl and I know she won't be a problem,” said Mami. “But in case she is, please tell Tio Jorge and he'll let us know about it.”

Even though I was annoyed at Mami for asking for good reports on me, I was also pleased that she'd said I was good. Mami reached over and hugged me. “I'm going to miss my baby so much. Don't forget to write, Felita. I want to hear from you at least once a week, you hear?”

Papi came over, lifted me up, and gave me a big hug and kiss.

“You are going to have a wonderful experience here, Felita. Now, I want you to listen to Tio Jorge and be a good girl, okay?”

“So long, Chinita ...” Johnny hadn't called me that in ages. It used to be his nickname for me when I was little. “I'll miss not having to baby-sit for you.”

“You show these people what us Puerto Ricans in the Big Apple are all about, Felita,” Tito whispered to me, “and don't be coming back no hick. Educate them, you hear?” I had to laugh at Tito, and he made me feel less sad.

“Remember how much we all love you.” Mami gave me a final hug.

“She'll do just fine here!” Tia Maria stood close to me as we watched them all drive off. “Now, Felita, this is not the city. You are in the country now and there isn't all the excitement you're used to. But there are other things you can do—read, sew, and of course go to church. And remember, you can come to me to talk, anytime.”

“Thank you, Tia.” I walked away fast, not wanting her to see how homesick I felt already.

My parents and brothers had been gone for almost a week. Every day since they'd left, Tio and I had followed the same boring routine. We got woken up at about five o'clock by the roosters just as the sun came up. They kept on crowing and making a terrible racket for at least a couple of more hours. At about seven Tio would check the shower for those flying roaches and spray before I went in to wash up.

I still hated those awful bugs. But there were a lot of other kinds besides—black spiders that were really dangerous and centipedes that bit. This was one place I knew I couldn't walk around in with bare feet, that was for sure. And, even though we had screens on all the windows and doors, the bugs always managed to get in somehow. We were always spraying or having to swat at them with our trusty flyswatters, which had turned out to be one of the more useful items on Mami's list.

Then we ate breakfast in our own cottage and got ready for the walk that Tio Jorge had planned the night before. He always promised to show me a lovely view or a farm where he was sure the owners would let me pet the animals and maybe even ride a horse. But so far we hadn't seen anything like he promised.

One morning after walking for a long time and not finding the place Tio Jorge was looking for, two mean guard dogs tried to attack us. It was a good thing they were behind a barbed wire fence, or else they would have attacked us. As if that wasn't bad enough, Tio started in with one of his speeches about how things have changed. “It”s a disgrace the way people put up fences and have guard dogs! There's no place where people can walk freely anymore.” And he went on like that nonstop.

I really liked my Tio Jorge much better the way he used to be back home when he hardly ever talked. He never gave me a hard time there, but now he was always grumbling and complaining like Tia Maria. He was definitely getting on my nerves.

To try and make things better after one of these walks, Tio Jorge always took me to his property and told me where everything was going to be built—the house, the dog kennel, the vegetable garden, the chicken coop—everything! By the second day I already knew this by heart and was sick of hearing it again. But what really made me furious was Tio's stupid quiz game, where he asked me the name of flowers and birds in Spanish and English. When I was little this used to be fun, but not anymore. For example, he'd say, “Felita, tell me what is the name in Spanish of the spider plant?” I'd just act like I didn't hear him. You'd think he'd shut up, right? But he'd keep on going. “You know it's called mal padre. I'm surprised you forgot such an easy one.”

After an hour or so of this, I'd just walk away and head down the road toward the cottage. No way was I gonna play his stupid game! When I got home, Tio was usually right behind me. By now he wasn't saying anything to me. I guess he took a hint to leave me alone.

By then it was time for the main meal of the day, which we all ate from about twelve thirty to one o‘clock over at Tia Maria's. One thing I have to admit is that she was a real good cook and the food was always delicious. After eating, everyone took a nap. Once I got up I'd be all refreshed and ready to do something that was fun, but there was never anything to do. Tio Jorge didn't even have a T.V. He said he was going to buy one when he finished his house. At first I used to watch T.V. at Tia Maria's, but she was always watching her boring soap operas or reruns of old series like
Bonanza
or
Mission: Impossible,
where everyone was speaking Spanish.

The things I liked to do best in Barrio Antulio were to play out in the backyard with the animals and do my drawings. Today was no different. I went out to play with the guinea hens. They had bushy gray feathers speckled with white that went down around their feet. They looked like they were wearing woolen socks. One hen in particular was very talkative and kept following me around. I named her Lina, after my little cousin. There were also four rabbits. Three of them were all white and the fourth had black markings. I named him Vinny because he was different from the others. I also had learned how to handle Yayo the rooster. He could be mean all right. Every chance he got he'd sneak up on you and try to take a nip out of your leg. But with me he'd learned to take care, because whenever he came too close, I'd swat him with a branch.

Late in the afternoon I took out my sketching materials and sat out on the back patio. I'd been thinking a lot about my friends, especially Vinny. I missed him and Gigi the most of all. I felt like writing and telling them how lonely I was and how much I wanted to go home, but I knew I could never do such a thing. It would be too embarrassing. After all, everybody back home thought I was on this great vacation just having a wonderful time in P.R. How could I write and tell them that nothing was happening at all? I was happy at least I'd sent them the picture postcards so that they knew I had done some good things.

Right now they were probably all outside, playing like crazy and having fun. The more I thought about home, the worse I felt. Things had been going so good just before I left between me and Vinny, I just hoped and prayed he didn't find some other girl this summer that he liked more than me. Sooner or later I had to write to him and Gigi, but at this moment, I preferred later.