Mission Libertad by Lizette M. Lantigua Read Free Book Online Page A

said.
    â€œAm I late for breakfast?” Luisito said.
    â€œBreakfast! It’s lunchtime,” Tommy said, smiling. “Come on, my mom is grilling hamburgers outside.”
    Luisito followed Tommy out to the patio. The grownups were sitting on the patio furniture and Sonia was now turning the hamburgers on the grill. Tommy had told Luisito that she was seventeen years old. She was wearing a t-shirt that didn’t quite reach her waist, jogging pants, and flip-flops. Luisito remembered that in Cuba, many girls had flip-flops because they couldn’t buy shoes and their t-shirts were too small. If they only knew that in the United States it was fashion.
    â€œ
¡Oye, dormilón!
” Miguel called to his son.
    â€œSleepyhead! That’s what my dad calls me, too,” said Tommy.
    â€œHow does it feel to wake up in America?” José said, smiling.
    â€œGreat!” Luisito beamed.
    â€œBefore you know it he is going to be speaking English fluently and he will be a little
Americanito
,” Rosie joked.
    Sonia handed Luisito a glass of milk and a hamburger, and he watched as his cousins poured some tomato sauce called
ketchup
all over their hamburgers. Luisito copied them. It occurred to Luisito that if he had to ask for food in this country he wouldn’t even know what to call it. In Cuba, he had mostly eaten rice, beans, and eggs.
    â€œWe are going to take you today to visit the Baltimore waterfront,” Rosie said. “Would you like that?”
    â€œI don’t really want to see any more water,” Luisito said.
    â€œI understand,” Rosie smiled. “How about if you go to the movies with Sonia and Tommy while I take your mom to the store to buy some clothes for you all?”
    â€œYou can sit close to me and I will translate,” Sonia said. “We can go see an action movie—that way I don’t have to translate too much!”
    They all laughed. Luisito didn’t really care what movie they went to see because everything was a new adventure. He took another bite of his hamburger and realized that he wasn’t too fond of this ketchup invention. He leaned back on his chair underneath the blue-and-white patio umbrella. For the second time in his life, his stomach was full and he was content.
    â€œEat, Elenita,” Rosie said gesturing toward the hamburgers. “You hardly ate.”
    â€œI can’t eat,” Elena said.
    â€œWe were just talking about that last night,” Miguel explained. “It is hard to eat so much knowing Abuela and our friends in Cuba have so little.”
    â€œI understand,” José said.
    â€œWell, let’s talk about Luisito’s new school,” Rosie said, changing the subject. “I took a week off so I can help you get the paperwork for working permits and get Luisito settled in school. We could combine the things we need to do with some sightseeing. There are many historical places here we could show you.”
    â€œLet’s take him to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington!” Tommy said.
    â€œWe’ll think about it,” Rosie said, smiling. “Now, off to the movies with you! Oh, and Sonia, stop at the grocerystore on your way, please. We’ve run out of shredded coconut for our famous flan.”
    Sonia was all smiles as the three drove off in her small candy red car. She spoke Spanish with a heavy American accent and used many hand gestures to explain things to Luisito.
    When they arrived at the supermarket, Luisito was stunned. It was like a fairy tale! As by magic, the door opened by itself! He walked into a large warehouse full of food—more than he had ever seen—and people were taking loads of it in little carts to their cars.
    Were they looting? Were they allowed to take all this food home? There were no lines outside the store, and inside there were aisles and aisles of all sorts of foods to buy. He picked up a banana and was about to peel it when