The Red Umbrella by Christina Gonzalez Read Free Book Online Page A

wants to talk to both ofus.” Mamá tucked a tear-soaked strand of hair behind my ear.
    I nodded, knowing that at home I was safe. I sat up in my bed and looked outside as the sun began to set. This awful day was almost over, and once Papá arrived, everything would get better … somehow.
    “Lucía! Sonia!” Papá called out.
    “Aquí
, Fernando. In Lucía’s room.”
    Papá walked into the room and knelt by my bed. He took my hand and gave it a kiss. “Oh, Lucy, how I wish you’d been spared from seeing …”
    I nodded, not wanting to think or talk about what I’d seen.
    “Why, Fernando? Why’d they do it?” Mamá stood and walked toward the window.
    Papá placed my hand against his cheek. “To set an example. Scare anyone who might think of going against the revolution.”
    Mamá shook her head and played with one of her diamond earrings. “He was a pharmacist, for heaven’s sake,” she muttered, “not a threat to anyone.”
    Papá looked back toward her. “They don’t care. A dialogue. That’s all he wanted. He was organizing a group to talk about some of the changes being made, the rights being taken away that he felt weren’t in keeping with the original ideals of the revolution. He wanted a simple, peaceful protest to give voice to what so many feel is a betrayal of what the revolution wassupposed to do. But that was too much for them.
¡Cobardes!”
    A giant lump formed in my throat at the thought of Papá doing something against the government. “Papá, promise me that you’ll never do anything like that … ever. Please!”
    He turned to face me again, his eyes moist with tears. “Don’t worry, Lucy. Nothing is going to happen to me or to any of us. I’ll do anything to protect this family. But I need—”
    “Hi, Papá.” Frankie trudged into the room.
    “Come here,
mi hijo
. How do you feel?” Papá picked Frankie up and gave him a hug.
    “Mamá says I have a fever.”
    “I know.” He carried Frankie over to my bed and sat next to him. “But you feel good enough to listen to some important things I have to say. Right, little man?”
    Frankie nodded. I could see how much he loved to be included in family discussions.
    “I was just going to tell your mother and sister that, from now on, I want all of us to sit outside on the porch, every evening. It’ll show that we have nothing to hide from the CDR. We’ll smile and act like everything is fine.”
    “Isn’t everything fine?” Frankie asked.
    “Of course it is,” Mamá answered.
    Papá shook his head. “No, Frankie, everything isn’tfine”—he reached out and grabbed Mamá’s hand—“but it will be.”
    Mamá’s shoulders seemed to drop a little and she smiled.
    “I still don’t like the idea of either of you going to any meetings, but otherwise we’re going to do everything else our neighbors do,” Papá continued. “And, Lucy, going to the dance on Saturday will help, too.”
    “But I don’t want to go anymore,” I said.
    Papá pulled me toward him and gave me a kiss on the top of my head. “You have to, Lucy. We need to show that we’re not keeping you away from the revolution.”
    “Fernando, if she doesn’t want to, is it really that important? She’s been through a lot.”
    “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t needed.” Papá stood up. He paced around the room rubbing his temples. “Sonia, you should know that an army captain came by the bank today. He mentioned that he was surprised to hear that my children weren’t involved with the Jóvenes Rebeldes or Los Pioneros. He insinuated that if I couldn’t teach my children how to be good revolutionaries, then maybe the government should take on that responsibility.”
    Mamá covered her mouth. “You don’t think the rumors are true, do you, Fernando?”
    “What rumors?” I asked, looking at my parents to try to understand the coded language they were speaking.
    Papá ignored my question. “I don’t know if it’s true.Eduardo at the bank swears