Tortilla Sun by Jennifer Cervantes Read Free Book Online

across the grass to Mateo.
    He leaned on his elbows and squinted into the sun streaming through the trees and stared at the ball closely. “So, do you believe in magic?” he rolled the ball back to me.
    The grass felt cool beneath my hands. “What kind of magic? Like wishes and stuff?”
    “Nah, more like stuff you can’t explain any other way. Like the way Socorro can see the future. Hey—” Mateo was distracted by something behind me. “Speaking of … look.” Mateo snapped upright.
    I turned to where Mateo pointed. There in the distance Socorro glided up the stone steps into the church. “She looks pretty busy.”
    I didn’t feel ready to talk to Socorro. Not about her hair and for sure not about my stories.
    “Well, then let’s wait for her,” he said.
    I felt trapped. If I said no, Mateo would think I wasn’t brave. I stood up and brushed the grass off my shorts. “I can’t.”
    Mateo jumped up. “Why?”
    Looking at my watch I sputtered, “I gotta go. My mom might call tonight.” It wasn’t a complete lie. She had said she’d try and call whenever she was near a phone. But she hadn’t called. What if she never did? What if the summer was forever? I rememberedher words the night she spoke to Nana back in California:
Do you think she’ll forgive me?
    Mateo sighed. “Oh, well when do you want to go see her?”
    I put my hands on my hips. “You don’t believe she’s going to call.”
    “I didn’t say that.” He stepped back in surprise. “Why would you think that?”
    “Well, she is. Tonight!” I scooped my ball from the grass and squeezed it until my knuckles turned white.
    Mateo rested his hand on my shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?”
    “You don’t even know me and I don’t want to go on your dumb treasure hunt!” I whipped around to make my way back to Nana’s.
    Mateo followed on my heels. “Hey, wait up! I was just saying that maybe it’s a sign that Socorro showed up.” He lagged. “And my treasure hunt isn’t dumb!”
    I left Mateo behind and ran back to Nana’s. I didn’t need him to like me. And what was so great about his treasure hunt anyway? I gripped the baseball. Why hadn’t Mom called?
    A small breeze curled around my arm, urging me away from the path toward the river.
    Bella
, it said with a whisper.
    “You have the wrong girl. My name is Izzy!”
    Nana’s house glowed in the distance, and I pulled away from the wind before it passed overhead.

9
Tortillas are Like Life
    The postcard arrived two days later. The picture on the front showed a waterfall swallowed up by the green jungle. A bright green-and-orange bird floated in the sky.
    Dear Izzy
,
    The rain forest is amazing. I saw a baby croc and a spider monkey this morning. The
quetzal
birds are incredibly bright. They have bright green heads and crimson bodies (like the one on the front). Sometimes they look like they are suspended on strings in the sky. Did you see the full moon on Sunday night?
    Love, Mom
    It was strange and kind of comforting to think that even though Mom was far away we shared the same sun, moon, and stars. Itsurprised me she noticed the moon though. She was always too busy to pay attention to that sort of thing. One time, the moon was so fat and big I thought I could reach out and touch it from our apartment balcony. I called to Mom to come and see, but she just nodded with her face in a book and said, “Yes, isn’t it pretty?”
    I traced my fingers over the picture of the waterfall. Why hadn’t she called? Didn’t she miss me at all? I had so much to tell her.
    I sat at the desk to write her a letter.
    Dear Mom
,
    I got your postcard and even though I can’t mail this to you, it makes me feel like I am talking to you. Are you having fun? Sometimes the wind talks to me. It wants me to follow it. What do you think it wants to tell me?
    Beyond the high windows in the distance, a bright yellow hot air balloon floated by, tiny as a bumblebee.
    “Izzy?” Nana called from the