Mission Libertad by Lizette M. Lantigua Read Free Book Online

other hand, he had never had a brother, and sharing a room could be fun.
    â€œMom, I thought he was sharing my room?” Tommy said quickly.
    â€œLuisito, would you like that?” Rosie asked.
    â€œSure, great!” Luisito said, smiling.
    â€œCome on, let’s go!” Tommy gestured toward Luisito.
    The house seemed so big that Luisito wished he had a map. He looked around and imagined how many families would live in a house this size in Cuba. There were stairs to go up and stairs to go down. He soon learned that the downstairs was the basement. It was a whole apartment and colder than the rest of the house! It had a living room, a small kitchen, and two bedrooms. The first floor contained the large living area, the kitchen, the dining room, three bedrooms, and two bathrooms.
    Luisito thought this was all there was to the house, but there was more: a laundry area and a staircase that led to the attic, which was furnished with a desk and two bookcases. A model train that Tommy had built with his dad several Christmases ago was set up on the floor. There was also a telescope that the boys looked through to see a beautiful sky filled with stars, just as in Cuba.
    Luisito couldn’t wait to write to Abuela and tell her all the things he was discovering.
    â€œPapi and I come here the most. This is our space,” Tommy said.
    Although Luisito had only taken English as a school subject and never really practiced it, he started finding he could understand more than he thought.
    â€œÂ¡Que bien!”
Luisito said.
    â€œTommy, you can show him the train set tomorrow. Now it is time to rest,” Rosie called, and the boys came downstairs and settled into their room.
    Luisito looked around Tommy’s room at all the large posters of the American football stars and pictures of big dolphins everywhere.
    â€œYou sure like fish!” Luisito said, smiling.
    Tommy proudly picked up a football helmet and showed it to Luisito.
    â€œThat’s not just any fish—that’s the Miami Dolphins mascot, silly!” he said, laughing. The boys laughed and talked awhile longer, repeating phrases and often gesturing with their hands.
    Luisito lay down in his new bed—the most comfortable he had ever slept in. He pulled a fluffy blanket over himself. Luisito was not used to air conditioning. He closed his eyes and thought that from now on he would never wake up all sweaty from the heat of those Havana summer nights. This was the life!
    Then a sudden feeling of guilt overwhelmed him as he realized that his Abuela would have to sweat tonight in her bed. She would probably be scared to open the window since she would be all alone in the apartment. Hetossed and turned a few times. Abuela had entrusted him with a special mission. He had to get to Miami soon and relay his message to a particular priest there. He repeated Abuela’s message over and over in his head. He was afraid he might forget it, but he was more afraid to write it down for fear someone would read it. He couldn’t make anything out of her message, but the Cuban priest Abuela told him he should speak to at the shrine would know what to do. Abuela’s older brother, Tío César, had been a priest in Cuba for many years before his death. Abuela had many connections with the Cuban clergy.
This
priest
must
be
someone
she
knows
very
well
, Luisito thought. He hoped he could persuade his family to go to Miami for Christmas.

11 ONCE
    The next morning Luisito woke up ready for breakfast. He looked at Tommy’s bed, but Tommy was already gone. Someone had left a t-shirt and a pair of shorts beside his bed. Luisito put them on and hurried down the stairs. He didn’t know which way to go, so he began opening doors.
    The first was a bathroom, then a laundry room with two big machines and several brooms and mops. Then he saw Tommy on the other side of the hallway.
    â€œ
Oye
, I thought you would never wake up!” Tommy