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English.
    â€œSee you!” I heard his voice echoing me in English.

Chapter 3
    Boy, what just happened, anyway? Here I had just agreed to have lessons with Vinny Davila. I couldn’t believe it and inside my stomach it felt like butterflies were doing flip-flops. I couldn’t get over the fact that he needed my help. At home I looked at myself in the mirror. I know he thinks I’m smart, but maybe he thinks I’m pretty too. I wished my eyes were bigger like Vivian’s and that my nose was nice and straight like Consuela’s instead of looking like a button on my face. Oh, well, I was glad Vinny liked my drawings. I had done two big drawings to celebrate Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays. I had copied the scenes from a magazine, but naturally I had added my own special touches so that they wouldn’t be plain old copies. When I thought of the girls at school, especially Vivian, I got a case of the giggles. Wait till she hears that Vinny Davila, who she moans and groans over, has asked me to help him! Too much!
    The more I thought about this whole business, the more anxious I got wondering how to work it out with Mami. I had to think very carefully now and plan things so that they would turn out just right. I had one lucky break—Papi was home. With him here I could at least argue my case. Getting my parents to listen without my brothers hearing us was next to impossible. In our small apartment there was always somebody in the living room or kitchen and everyone could hear what you said. I decided to bring it out in the open, and the best time would be tonight when everybody would be in a good mood because Papi was home.
    At supper Mami and Papi were talking about the trip. I listened, waiting for the right moment.
    â€œI already wrote to my sister Julia,” Mami said, “and to my father. God, to think we have three children growing up without knowing their own family. Julia’s boys are almost Tito and Johnny’s ages, and my brother Tomás’s boy and girl are a little younger than Felita. Imagine how happy my father is going to be. He keeps on saying in his letters that all he wants before he dies is to see his grandchildren.”
    â€œRosa, that man is as healthy as an ox,” said Papi. “Not many men outlive two wives and then get married for a third time at age seventy. He’ll live a long time yet.”
    â€œI know. My father is something else all right! But it’s going to be so good for all of us. This family reunion has been long overdue.”
    â€œI can’t wait to meet my cousins,” I said, thinking it was a good time to start, “but I wonder if they know how to speak English?”
    â€œFelita”—Mami looked surprised—“you know that in Puerto Rico people speak Spanish. That’s the language there.”
    â€œWell, Felita has a point,” said Papi, “because they teach English in school. And anyway, what with all the traveling back and forth from the Island to here, I’m sure by now most people know some English.”
    â€œI sure hope so.” I sighed.
    â€œFelita, but you understand Spanish,” said Tio Jorge, “and you also speak it pretty good. All them years talking to your grandmother must have taught you something.”
    â€œYeah, but Abuelita’s been dead for two years and I don’t hardly speak it anymore.”
    â€œYour brothers are in the same situation, and they don’t look worried to me. Do you, boys?” Papi looked at Johnny and Tito.
    â€œI haven’t even thought about it, Papi,” said Johnny. “Besides, I understand almost everything, and I’m taking it in school. Remember?”
    â€œI’m doing real good in Spanish. It’s one of my best subjects,” Tito said. “I’ll make myself understood in P.R. No sweat.”
    â€œFelita, are you really worried?” Tio asked. I nodded. “Well, then we