Look Both Ways in the Barrio Blanco Read Online Free

But I’m not much of a cook. Maybe you’ll teach me.”
    Happy butterflies in my stomach
. She was talking
future tense
.
    Rosa butted in. “I know how to cook, Miss! I can teach you!”
    My Miss turned her sparkly eyes on Rosa, so my sister began to tell about the food she makes.
    Both of them showed their big white teeth.
    And the green monster grew in me.
    The night started pretty bad. First I couldn’t find Mamá’s sweater. Miss kept looking at her watch while I dug through the front closet. She was tapping her foot by the time I remembered I’d shoved the sweater in my backpack on my way home. But I needed Mamá’s sweater. For protection.
    And I expected Miss to be driving something
cool
. Something I could brag to Angélica about at school the next day. I stood in the parking lot, looking around for a red sports car — maybe even a convertible. But when Miss pushed the button on her keychain, the lights flashed on an ugly brown minivan. What boys in our neighborhood would call a
beater
.
    She wouldn’t even let me sit in the front seat next to her. “The air bag could break your neck.”
    “I’ll be twelve in two months!”
    “My van, my rules.”
    Miss was being
annoyin
g — like Rosa — but annoying was familiar. I relaxed.
    A little.
    It’d started to rain, and it was already dark. And because we’d left late, Miss drove fast. Faster than Papi ever did. He needed to be careful. If
la policía
stopped him, he’d get a long bus ride and have to swim back.
    The shiny black streets reflected the red glare of stoplights and taillights. Car dealerships and fast-food places flew by. My skin prickled at so much dangerous color.
    Like having Christmas and a sick stomach at the same time.
    I thought of Suelita and Rosa safe at home, snuggled together on the sofa, the soft light of the television bouncing off their faces in the dark.
    But with Mamá gone, there’s no one at home to cuddle me
.
    Everything in the van squeaked and rattled. The bare metal of the windshield wipers scraped half circles into the glass.
    “You should have a red sports car.”
    “I need something to haul my kids around.”
    “How many kids do you have, Miss?”
    “Two. Boys. A little older than you.”
    “If you were my Amiga, it’d be like having a daughter,” I hinted.
    The light ahead flicked from green to yellow to red. Miss’s brakes squealed like an animal being stepped on. The sound made my teeth hurt. Even wearing my seat belt — which Miss had insisted on — I pitched forward.
    While waiting for the light, she picked a piece of sofa stuffing from her skirt and flicked it away. Air from the heating vent caught it. The fluff floated up and attached itself to her shoulder. “Jacinta, why do you call me ‘Miss’?”
    “What else would I call you?”
    “How about ‘Kate’?”
    “No, Miss. That wouldn’t be polite.”
    She looked at me in the rearview mirror. “Then ‘Miss’ it is.”
    “How come you didn’t work today?” I asked.
    “I did.”
    “I watched
5News at Five
. I didn’t see you.”
    “They’ve got me doing features for the early-afternoon show.”
    “But you were at the youth center after school today.”
    “I finished early. I don’t always have a live shot.”
    “Why not?”
    She sighed. “Because some days they have real news.”
    That made me angry. Like maybe the stuff in my neighborhood wasn’t important enough for TV.
    Rosa always said I could talk the hind leg off a donkey, although talking its ears off would make more sense. But I couldn’t think of anything else to say to Miss. I wasn’t even sure I liked her that much. I was almost glad when she started asking questions again. Until I heard the question.
    “Do you know what you want to be when you grow up?”
    I knew what I
wanted
to be. I wanted to be a movie star. But kids in our neighborhood didn’t get to be movie stars. So I just said, “No, Miss.”
    She nodded. “As long as it’s not TV news.”
    “You