Yeny and the Children for Peace Read Online Free PDF Page A

asked.
    Juan looked at her strangely. He knew how her parents feltabout these big meetings. No one else seemed to notice his weird look, though, and Yeny decided to ignore it.
    â€œOf course you can help,” said Beto. “You too, Juan. David and I are on the publicity team. That means we have to tell as many kids as possible about the Peace Carnival. There are other teams for food, music, and games. Our team’s meeting again on Saturday morning. Wanna come?”
    Yeny promised she would be there. Now she only had to convince her parents to let her go. She didn’t think it would be too hard. The publicity team was probably small, and surely the grupos armados wouldn’t care about some children planning a party, right?
    â€œDo you really think it’ll work?” Juan asked on their way home from school.
    They hadn’t had a minute to talk since that morning. The whole day, Yeny had been dreaming about the party and the friends she would make. People at school were polite to her, but Joaquin bugged her so much that no one seemed to want to be her friend. The neighborhood party seemed like her only hope to fit in here in the city.
    When she hadn’t been dreaming about new friends, Yeny had been thinking about how to convince her father to let her help plan the Peace Carnival. Now, when Juan asked if she thoughtit would work, she was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t know if he meant kids creating peace, or her parents letting her go to the party.
    â€œI have no idea,” she said, which was an honest answer to both.
    They were taking a different way home this time, part of Juan’s plan for Yeny to get to know the city. But all the buildings still looked the same. This neighborhood was house after house painted orange and yellow, and topped with metal roofs. It was going to take her a million years to find her way here.
    â€œYou’re not planning to sneak out are you?” Juan asked, glancing at her sideways as they turned onto another wide, dusty street.
    â€œI want to go,” Yeny said, “but not by myself. I’m going to talk to my parents again. I think they’ll feel better when they know we’re only talking about a party. You’ll come too, won’t you?”
    Juan was quiet.
    A block away, two men in green uniforms strode into the street. Yeny froze, then grabbed Juan’s hand and darted down the nearest street. They ran and ran, and when they stopped, Yeny was shaking.
    Juan put an arm around her shoulders and tried to calm her down. “They weren’t the men you saw in your village.” It was the third time this had happened, and Yeny had panickedevery time. “It’s only a few policeman talking to each other. They weren’t looking for anyone. Didn’t you see them laughing and smiling?”
    Yeny closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew Juan was right. Her father had told her this too. But when she saw men in green uniforms, she couldn’t think straight. She could only run.
    Juan stayed close to her as they walked down the unfamiliar street. “We’ll go home a different way,” he said. “I haven’t had a chance to show you this part of the neighborhood yet, anyway,” he added, as though it were convenient that she’d suddenly darted down this road.
    There weren’t many houses here. And there wasn’t much shade, either. Most of the buildings were garages that repaired cars, and little stores that sold candy and cigarettes. She saw someone leave one shop with a shiny packet of cookies, and she felt suddenly hungry.
    â€œHey, Banana Girl!”
    Yeny recognized Joaquin’s voice, but she and Juan kept walking.
    â€œDon’t you answer when people talk to you?”
    Something small and sharp bounced off her shoulder, and Yeny whipped around. “What’s your problem, Joaquin?”
    â€œNo problem,” he taunted. “Just saying hola.”

    He