We had to go up five flights to my uncle’s apartment.
“Sorry, folks,” Uncle Jorge said. “There’s no elevator.”
All those stairs were asking for Zapato Power. I try to save my shoes for superhero jobs but sometimes I can’t resist.
Uncle Jorge’s apartment had two bedrooms. He put our suitcase in the first one where there was a single bed for Mom and a sleeping bag for me. It had pink butterflies.
“I borrowed it from Juanita,” Uncle Jorge said.
While I was looking over my pink sleeping bag, Mom pulled Uncle Jorge out into the hallway and whispered something I couldn’t make out. Could I hear what Mom and Uncle Jorge were saying if I rubbed the buttons on my wristband? Before I could try, the doorbell rang.
“That’s Angela!” Uncle Jorge grinned. He opened the front door and a woman with dark hair, who looked a lot like Juanita, walked in. She was carrying a large covered tray that smelled delicious.
“I hope you’re hungry!” Angela said.
Right away, I noticed that Angela had dimples in her cheeks, making her smile look extra happy.
Juanita came into the apartment carrying a smaller tray. She put it down on the table and whipped off the foil like a magician doing a scarf trick.
“Arroz con leche,” she said. “My favorite dessert!”
“Mine too!” I said.
“And mine.” Uncle Jorge kissed Angela on the cheek. “You’re as sweet as your rice pudding.”
The way Uncle Jorge was acting reminded me of the mushy story coming out of the blond lady’s earbuds on the bus.
I looked over at Juanita to see how she felt about this. She kept smiling like it was no big deal that Uncle Jorge kissed her mother. I wondered what it would be like if my mom had a special friend. Sometimes it was lonely with just the two of us. Dad was a soldier and a hero. We both missed him a lot.
“Tengo hambre,” Juanita said, sitting down at the table first.
I was hungry too. I stuffed myself with chicken, beans, and rice pudding. Everybody did. Then we leaned back in our chairs to talk about the next day.
“I’m sorry,” Uncle Jorge said. “I have to work.”
Uncle Jorge was a manager at a restaurant. Angela owned the bodega next door, and she had to work too.
“Juanita is on winter vacation, just like Freddie,” Angela said. “She will take you sightseeing.”
“¡Excelente!” Mom said. “Only first we need to deliver something for a friend from Starwood Park.”
Mom got Mr. Vaslov’s white envelope out of her purse. She showed the address to Juanita.
“Can you find this apartment?”
Juanita nodded. “Sí. We can stop by on our way.”
Mom put the envelope on a table by the front door. “Let’s not forget in the morning.”
When Juanita and Angela went home, Mom sent me to bed. I wasn’t used to sleeping on the floor in a pink bag. And I wasn’t tired. Besides, there were voices outside my room keeping me up—Mom’s voice and Uncle Jorge’s voice. They were whispering again. I got out of my sleeping bag and rubbed the buttons on my purple wristband until they got warm. It was like turning up the volume control on the TV. I could hear everything through the door.
“I’m nervous,” Uncle Jorge said.
“You’ll be fine,” Mom said.
“I can’t express my feelings,” Uncle Jorge said. “I get tongue-tied.”
“Write her a letter,” Mom suggested.
“¡Buena idea!” Uncle Jorge snapped his fingers. “And I’ll put the ring inside.”
“You won’t have to say a word.” Mom laughed.
I turned off my Zapato Power hearing. There was no need to listen anymore. I knew what was going on. Uncle Jorge was going to ask Angela to marry him. I was going to have a new aunt and a new cousin!
