Before We Were Free Read Online Free PDF Page B

back in the hat and try again.”
    I look over at Oscar. Sometimes he is sort of smart. He’s about Sammy’s height but with a permanent suntan, as the American kids sometimes describe our color of skin. Oscar is actually only half Dominican, on his mother’s side. His father, who’s originally from Italy, works at the Italian embassy, which is why Carla and I have always thought Mrs. Brown is more patient with Oscar than with the rest of us “natives.”
    It sounds like this Secret Santa game could be fun, although now that Carla is gone, there’s only one other person whose Secret Santa I want to be. I lift my chain out from inside my blouse and put the little cross in my mouth. Somehow it makes me feel closer to God. “
Por favor,
please, please, let it be Sammy,” I plead.
    But when I unfold my piece of paper, the name on it is Oscar Mancini! I consider folding the paper back up and pretending I picked my own name. But it seems like a mean thing to do, especially at Christmas.
    The Secret Santa idea is short-lived. The next day in class, Mrs. Brown announces that due to some parental complaints, she is going to have to cancel the game. The class groans. “I know, class,” Mrs. Brown says, pulling herself up as if someone has hurt her feelings, but she can’t say who. “I’m disappointed, too.”
    At recess, we all find out from Amy and Nancy what has happened. Some Dominican parents complained to the principal about having Secret Santas.
    I’m not surprised the complaints have come from Dominican parents, many of whom don’t like the idea of Santa Claus’s replacing the three wise kings. But it turns out that the objections aren’t religious. Instead, some parents feel that there’s enough tension in the air. Kids sneaking around and leaving secret messages might be taken the wrong way.
    “Oh, come on!” Amy says, rolling her eyes. “What are they talking about?”
    “It’s the embargo,” Oscar explains. Everyone looks over at him. None of us are really sure what an embargo is.
    “Many countries will not have anything to do with us anymore,” Oscar continues. “Including the United Estates,” he adds, nodding at Amy as if she ordered the embargo herself.
    “That’s ridiculous,” Nancy says. “If we didn’t want anything to do with you, why would we be here?” She rolls her eyes at Amy, who rolls her eyes back at her.
    Oscar considers this for a moment. “I don’t know,” he finally admits. “But my parents are preoccupied and that is why they do not wish anything sneaky to go on.”
    “So, it was
your
parents who complained!” Nancy says, hooking her arm into Amy’s. The two girls stalk off toward where Sammy is bouncing a basketball with some of his new friends.
    “Secret Santas are not sneaky!” Amy calls over her shoulder.
    Whatever Secret Santas are or are not, I sincerely hope that my parents aren’t among the complainers. But at supper that night, when I mention that the Secret Santa game has been canceled, the relieved look on their faces makes me suspect they also spoke to the principal.
    “There are enough secrets”—Mami stops while Lorena brings in the flan dessert and clears the dinner plates—“enough secrets in the world already,” Mami says as if she herself isn’t always asking us to add to that amount!
    In class, Mrs. Brown tries explaining how an embargo works. Sometimes a group of countries disapproves of what another country is doing, and they refuse to trade or do business with that country until the situation improves.
    “As you know,” Mrs. Brown is saying, “the United States has now joined the embargo.”
    Oscar turns and gives Nancy and Amy an I-told-you-so nod.
    A dozen hands go up. Lots of the American students have questions. Is it okay for them to be in a country that is being embargoed? Are they behind enemy lines? Will they be taken prisoner?
    Mrs. Brown shakes her head and laughs. “Heavens, no!” she reassures them. “It’s not like