Getting It by Alex Sanchez Read Free Book Online Page A

avoid coming upstairs. It annoyed Carlos how his pa and ma had gotten so weird about each other.
    Carlos said good-bye to his ma and carried his overnight bag down to the car. Lupita sat in front arguing with his pa about Henry’s binky bottle. Henry was strapped into a kid seat in back, crying. Carlos climbed in beside him and put his music player headphones on.
    Like every Saturday they drove to McDonald’s. Over lunch, Carlos told his pa and Lupita, “A friend helped me paint an accent wall in my room.”
    â€œWhat’s an accent wall?” his pa asked.
    It surprised Carlos that his pa, a construction foreman, didn’t know “It’s when you paint one wall a different color.”
    His pa raised an eyebrow. “Only one wall?”
    â€œThat sounds pretty,” Lupita commented, and fed Henry a French fry.
    â€œIt looks cool,” Carlos said. “Then we painted a headboard onto the wall.”
    â€œThat’s clever!” Lupita beamed.
    His pa frowned. “Where did your mother get the money for a headboard?”
    â€œShe
didn’t”
Carlos muttered. “I said, my friend and I
painted
it on.”
    Carlos didn’t say any more after that, not mentioning the framed praying mantis or the bamboo stalks.
    After lunch, they went to the park, where his pa and Lupita playedwith Henry. Carlos sat on a bench, bored, and wondered why he’d even bothered to come along.
    After the park, they went to the mall to buy new clothes and shoes for Henry.
    â€œHe’s growing so fast!” Lupita exclaimed, fitting Henry into a new pair of pants.
    â€œYeah, too fast,” his pa griped.
    â€œI need some new stuff too,” Carlos told his pa. “Can I have some money?”
    His pa pressed his lips together, unsmiling. “Look,
mi’jo,
at the rate Henry is going through clothes, I can’t right now. Why don’t you ask your ma? I already sent her the check for this month.”
    Carlos turned away from his pa, his face burning. He understood Henry needed clothes, but what about
him?
“I’m going to the car,” he announced and walked out.
    On the way home, they stopped for a DVD rental. Carlos wanted an action movie, but instead his pa got a crappy “family” film that Henry could watch.
    For the rest of the evening, Carlos kept to himself, bored out of his mind. When it came time to sleep, he lay restless on the bed beside Henry’s crib. The nightlight illuminated the gazillion brightly colored toys that filled Henry’s room. It wasn’t fair that Henry should get so much stuff while Carlos couldn’t even get some clothes money.
    Next morning, he slept late and woke up feeling too cranky to say much.
    His pa watched him warily. When he dropped Carlos off at home, he handed him a ten-dollar bill. “Here. I’m sorry it can’t be more.”
    Wow, ten whole dollars?
Carlos thought sarcastically.
Big whoop.
But he took the money anyway.
    When he got to his room, he went to his computer, eager to catch up with his friends and take his mind off his turdy life.

Fourteen
    C ARLOS KNEW his friends were still pissed at him for not telling them what was going on with Sal. Although they’d stopped hassling Sal, they still gave Carlos crap, telling him, “Hey, there goes your Hoover,” or, “I think you’re starting to lithp.”
    Although the comments irritated Carlos, he also felt a little guilty for not being honest about what he was doing. Sunday afternoon he invited the group over to hang out. When they reached his bedroom doorway, the boys gazed in awe around the clean, redecorated room.
    â€œHoly crap!” Playboy gasped. “What happened?”
    â€œI decided to fix it up.”
    â€œHow come you painted only one wall?” Pulga asked. “You run out of paint?”
    â€œIt looks cool,” Toro said. “Can you help me paint my room like