Free Mission Libertad by Lizette M. Lantigua

closer.
    â€œThis is my cousin Lewis,” said Tommy.
    â€œHi, Lewis,” she said, waving.
    Luisito waved but was unable to say a word.
    â€œGot to go,” said Sherry. “Nice to meet you!”
    Again, Luisito stared and waved.
    â€œWhat happened to you?” Tommy asked when she had left. “First time I’ve seen you speechless. You like her or something?”
    Luisito just nodded and stared.
    â€œShe is Sherry Jones,” Tommy said. “She goes to my school and is on the soccer team. All the boys in my class like her, but they think she is a bit stuck up.”
    â€œStuck to what?” asked Luisito.
    â€œNo, what I meant is that . . . she thinks she is all that,” said Tommy.
    â€œAll what?” Luisito asked.
    â€œShe ignores most of the boys, so they think she isn’t very nice,
comprendes
?” said Tommy.
    â€œYes, I get it,” Luisito said. “She has the most beautiful red hair.”
    â€œHey, speaking about soccer, do you want to try out with me this year?” Tommy said.
    â€œMaybe,” Luisito replied. “Her name is Che-rrrr-y?”
    â€œNo,” Tommy said laughing. “Softer on the shhhh and don’t roll your r’s.”
    Wow, I will have to practice that one
, Luisito thought.
What
ever
happened
to
all
the
Marias
I
used
to
know
, he wondered.
    He wrote to Abuela that night and told her he had met the most beautiful girl with ginger hair and sparkling green eyes. He hoped he would hear back from Abuela soon. He knew he had to deliver the message she had whispered in his ear right before they left Cuba.
    â€œTell the Cuban priest at the Our Lady of Charity shrine in Miami this,” she had said,”Exodus 32:1–35. It’sa Bible verse. Memorize it. Also, tell him that his mother awaits him at the Italian Embassy.”
    When he had arrived in Maryland, Luisito had written Abuela’s message down and hidden the piece of paper under his mattress. He was afraid that as time passed he would mix up the numbers or forget something. What could it all possibly mean?

16 DIECISEIS
    Summer in the United States is wonderful,
Luisito thought. In Cuba there was always work to be done, but here Luisito and his cousins slept in, spent the day watching summer TV programs, played outside, and watched TV again until late at night.
    During the day the adults were at work. Luisito felt so grown up. In Cuba, even when he stayed by himself he always had a neighbor come by to check up on him. Rosie did have two rules: no guests over while the adults were not home, and Sonia was not to drive them anywhere without permission. These were rules that his seventeen-year-old cousin didn’t take very well, as the boys could tell by the disco music playing full blast in her bedroom.
    â€œThere she goes again!” Tommy said from the black vinyl reclining chair next to the TV. “Turn it down!” he shouted. “I can’t hear
Gilligan’s Island
!”
    â€œDisco music is much better than that TV program,” Sonia yelled as she lowered the music playing on her eight-track stereo. Then she came out to the living room, dancing and pointing alternately down to the ground and up to the sky. “It’s
Saturday
Night
Fever
, baby!”
    â€œGreat, when she lowers the music the program ends,” Tommy said. “I am so bored!”
    Luisito couldn’t understand how his cousin could be bored with all the games he owned, plus all the great television programs.
    â€œI’m going to call my friends from the neighborhood,” Tommy said.
    â€œDidn’t your mother say we couldn’t have anyone over?” Luisito said.
    â€œI am not going to let them inside the house. We can play basketball outside,” he said.
    â€œOkay, that sounds good,” Luisito answered. Tommy started calling his friends, and before long they were ringing the doorbell.
    â€œThis is my cousin from Cuba. His name