bad dream,â my mother groans. âEverywhere you turn, everywhere you look. That faceâthe beardâpasted on every telephone pole and wall. We have the wagging finger, but no soap, no soap operas, and no Armando!â
She used to listen to her favorite radio announcer, Armando, read the novellas every night in his deep, dramatic voice. It was her favorite show.
â
Querida
, you should keep your voice down. Our nosy neighbor across the street can hear everything you are saying, and you donât want to get on her bad side,â my father says almost whispering.
âDid you try to talk to her again about getting my pin back?â my mother asks.
My father shakes his head. âItâs like talking to a robot. No exceptions.â
âMy grandmother gave me that pin!â my mother cries, and then storms out of the room.
Alquilino has been staring into space, fiddling with his glasses; heâs thinking, trying to figure something out.
He and Gordo are so close but theyâre so different. Gordo acts and then sometimes thinks about the consequences. Alquilino thinks forever about the consequences and then sometimes acts. He turns things around and around so much that sometimes he canât make up his mind.
But I can tell by the way Alquilino pushes his glasses up on his nose that today heâs going to act.
âCome on, Gordo. I have a plan,â he says, and then he and Gordo walk into my motherâs bedroom. I follow a few steps behind, stopping at the door as they climb out the window to the flat roof.
LOCKED UP TIGHT
Our neighborhood is turning into a ghost town; almost every day the soldiers come with their guns and another family leaves. The soldiers seal the windows with their red tape, trapping the spirit of the families inside with their laughter, dishes, and photographs. Those empty houses, like the tombs of the Egyptian kings we read about in school, are dark and mysterious and begging to be explored.
Alquilino and Gordo have been sneaking out late at night to explore, but they never let me go with them.
âWe should do it tonight before the new people move in,â I hear Gordo say as they look down onto Angelitaâs patio. âWe can go in through that pantry window, itdoesnât have a latch. Thatâs the way Angelita gets in when she gets locked out.â
âBut the shutters are locked up tight,â Alquilino answers.
âWeâll just have to pry them open with a screwdriver,â Gordo answers.
I stick my head out the window. âYou donât need a screwdriver,â I whisper, and then climb out to the roof. âPepe showed me where the extra key is.â
âWhere is it?â Gordo demands.
âIâll tell you, if you let me go with you.â
Gordo reaches for me. âWhere is it, Julian?â he says menacingly, as I slip behind Alquilino.
âJulian, this could be dangerous.â
âI know, Alquilino, but this is for Mami, and I can help.â
Gordo shakes his head. âI donât think he should go. What if he does something stupid?â
âWhat if
you
do something stupid, Gordo? Youâre not perfect, and besides I know all their hiding places. Pepe showed them to me,â I say, and then duck, just in case.
Alquilino is scratching his chin again. âIf she didnât leave it in her jewelry box, then weâll have to search the whole house.â
âThatâs a big house,â I add. âThe more of us searching the better. Right, Alquilino?â
Alquilino nods at Gordo. âThat makes sense to me. I say he can go.â
âFine, but if he messes it up itâll be your fault.â
That night Iâm waiting under the covers, fully dressed, my flashlight checked and ready. When Alquilino gives the signal, we sneak out of the house, and then climb the tall fence into Angelitaâs patio.
Alquilino and Gordo link their hands. I step up and shimmy up