Read Online The Tequila Worm by Viola Canales - Free Book Online

movie hasn’t even started. And anyway, I’m not taking them off. They’re there to sanctify our car and protect us against accidents.”
    “
Mama
, the car’s parked. It’s not moving,” Lucy said. Berta and I grinned at each other.
    “Well, you never know. Something could always happen. Look, I’ll move them all the way to the right.” Mama carefully set them on the corner of the dashboard.
    “Aren’t you going to turn them around so they can watch the movie?” I winked at Berta.
    Mama turned her two
santos
to face the huge white screen as she always did, and we laughed. I leaned over to Berta and whispered, “I can’t wait for the kissing, the tequila drinking, and the shooting to begin. Wonder what Mama’s
santos
will think then!” But Berta didn’t laugh.
    Then Lucy and Noe fought over who got to take the metal speaker that hung on a pole outside and attach it to their window. Berta and I looked at each other: once we had been the ones fighting over this. Mama grabbed the speaker, hung it over the top of her window, and turned the knobs.
    A man’s voice burst forth: “Fresh popcorn, cold Cokes, hot dogs, chocolate bars, and pepperoni pizzas are waiting for you at the concession stand!” I used to love going to the concession stand, for there were four magic horses next to it. The horses flew on swings back and forth, back and forth, making me feel as though I were flying through the stars.
    “Let’s go ride the horses, Sofia!” said Lucy.
    “Yeah!” said Noe.
    “Okay, let’s take them,” I said. Berta rolled her eyes and opened her door.
    Berta and I tried to keep up with Lucy and Noe. They were leaping and laughing way ahead of us.
    “Hey, Berta, what’s wrong?” I said.
    “Nothing, why?”
    “You seem so . . . quiet.”
    “No. It’s just that I’m here to see the movie. This kid stuff bores me.”
    “You want to
see
the
movie
? Boy, I feel I’ve missed a lot.”
    “Yes, you have.”
    “Like what?”
    “Oh . . .”
    “Oh,
what
?”
    She was silent.
    As I watched Lucy and Noe fly away on their magic horses, I noticed that Berta looked older, pretty, and somehow her teeth didn’t even look big anymore. They went perfectly with her face now. Her curly, light brown hair was neatly tied back with a red ribbon, and she had on a bright blue dress with glass buttons in front. She was even wearing makeup.
When did all this happen?
    I looked down at my torn jeans, my white T-shirt, my old white sneakers. My hair still looked like Apache hair, as Papa liked to call it—long, dark, and wild.
    Then a loud horn blew. Berta told Noe and Lucy to get off the horses—
now!
That she didn’t want to miss the movie. Back to the car.
    Papa and Mama stayed in the front seat while the four of us took the Mexican blanket from the trunk and spread it on the asphalt mound next to the car.
    Just as I thought, it was another one of those singing
charro
movies Mama loved.
    But this was our green light to start gobbling whatever we’d brought along with us. Sometimes it was a bucket full of corn on the cob or
Maguacatas,
the boiled pods from our ebony tree, or mesquite beans or bean tacos or
pan dulce
. But this time we felt really, really lucky, for Papa had stopped at Whataburger’s and bought hamburgers and Cokes.
    After we had finished eating and then made spiral toys from the paper cups, I looked up at the screen and saw that the
charro
was singing another boring song. I rolled my eyes. But Berta was watching with a dreamy expression.
    I couldn’t believe it. We
hated
these movies. “I’m going to the car. You all are making way too much noise,” Berta said. I laughed but carefully watched as she got into the backseat.
    Berta was glued to the movie, just like Mama. Papa smiled and waved at me. He leaned his head against the car door and closed his eyes. I wondered if taking Mama to the movies was another example of his learning to dance.
    I joined Lucy and Noe in our usual game of gazing up at