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Authors: Jennifer Cervantes
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Pirates
.
Mr. Castillo spoke softly. “He played in the pros.”
I pressed it against my body. “Dad was a professional baseball player?” I said, barely above a whisper. “Was he famous?”
“A star on the rise. You should’ve seen him smack a ball across center field.” Mr. Castillo swung an imaginary bat and gazed toward the stained-glass window.
I shook the dust from the jersey and held it to my face, breathing it in.
Still gazing out the window he said, “It was hard on all of us when he drowned in the river. But he saved your mama. If only I had been there that day….”
“Drowned? To save Mom?” I jumped over the edge of the basket, knocking over a stack of boxes nearby.
Mr. Castillo looked back at me suddenly and rubbed the back of his neck. His black almond eyes drooped with sadness. “Didn’t you … I thought … I’m sorry. You need to talk to your nana.”
Tears trembled in the corners of my eyes making everything blurry. I was tired of no one telling me the whole truth. I darted from the shed into the twilight.
“Izzy, wait! Let me drive you.” Mr. Castillo called after me.
Darkness was fast approaching, but I didn’t care. My feet hammered the earth. I sprinted past the church, through the plaza, and down the hills behind the
adobes
.
Why hadn’t Mom told me the truth?
The words echoed in my head all the way to Nana’s house. I gripped my dad’s jersey tighter as I made my way past the rose garden. When I reached the house, breathless, I threw open the back door, and shouted for Nana.
I found her in the living room folding towels. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I held up the jersey. “He drowned? Saving Mom?”
Nana stood up. A look of acceptance crossed her face. Had she known I would find his things? Was she only waiting for me to discover the missing pieces?
“Please, Izzy. Sit with me.”
I didn’t move.
“Please.” She motioned toward the sofa. I sat down next to her, clutching Dad’s jersey on my lap.
She traced over the hem of the jersey. “He was just twenty years old when the Pittsburgh Pirates recruited him. He’d only been in college for two years.”
A thousand fireworks went off in my head at once. Nana’s eyes glanced around the room as if she were looking for the right words. Then she turned to me and spoke slowly.
“Let me start at the beginning.” She smoothed her hand over the top of mine. “Your papa loved our culture and my cooking. He learned Spanish and wanted to build a house here in the village.” Nana shook her head. “Your mama got so mad when the doctors told her she couldn’t move with him to Pittsburgh after he’d been recruited. But he just traveled back and forth and said this was the best place on Earth to live.”
I released Nana’s hand. “Why couldn’t she move?”
“She had a few complications during the pregnancy and needed to stay in the care of her doctor in Albuquerque.”
“So Mom just lived here in the village while he was away?”
“Well, she didn’t want to. But she stayed here because your papa wanted her to be close to me and the doctor just in case.”
Suddenly I realized that if Dad had saved Mom that meant she had to have already been pregnant. Which meant he’d saved me too. I gripped the jersey tighter. “What happened?”
“Well you were a fussy baby even in your mama’s tummy and this worried your mother.” Nana glanced toward the burning candle on Mary’s altar across the room. Cranberry scents filled the air. “Your mama found a doctor in Albuquerque who specialized in these kinds of things.” Nana’s eyes drifted toward the streamof moonlight bathing the
Saltillo
floor, as if she could still see the moments in time she was describing.
“Keep going.”
“Your parents were picnicking on the Rio Grande. It was an unusually hot spring day. The wind was strong enough to push angels from clouds.”
She took a deep breath. “Your mama waded in, just to cool
Pirates
.
Mr. Castillo spoke softly. “He played in the pros.”
I pressed it against my body. “Dad was a professional baseball player?” I said, barely above a whisper. “Was he famous?”
“A star on the rise. You should’ve seen him smack a ball across center field.” Mr. Castillo swung an imaginary bat and gazed toward the stained-glass window.
I shook the dust from the jersey and held it to my face, breathing it in.
Still gazing out the window he said, “It was hard on all of us when he drowned in the river. But he saved your mama. If only I had been there that day….”
“Drowned? To save Mom?” I jumped over the edge of the basket, knocking over a stack of boxes nearby.
Mr. Castillo looked back at me suddenly and rubbed the back of his neck. His black almond eyes drooped with sadness. “Didn’t you … I thought … I’m sorry. You need to talk to your nana.”
Tears trembled in the corners of my eyes making everything blurry. I was tired of no one telling me the whole truth. I darted from the shed into the twilight.
“Izzy, wait! Let me drive you.” Mr. Castillo called after me.
Darkness was fast approaching, but I didn’t care. My feet hammered the earth. I sprinted past the church, through the plaza, and down the hills behind the
adobes
.
Why hadn’t Mom told me the truth?
The words echoed in my head all the way to Nana’s house. I gripped my dad’s jersey tighter as I made my way past the rose garden. When I reached the house, breathless, I threw open the back door, and shouted for Nana.
I found her in the living room folding towels. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I held up the jersey. “He drowned? Saving Mom?”
Nana stood up. A look of acceptance crossed her face. Had she known I would find his things? Was she only waiting for me to discover the missing pieces?
“Please, Izzy. Sit with me.”
I didn’t move.
“Please.” She motioned toward the sofa. I sat down next to her, clutching Dad’s jersey on my lap.
She traced over the hem of the jersey. “He was just twenty years old when the Pittsburgh Pirates recruited him. He’d only been in college for two years.”
A thousand fireworks went off in my head at once. Nana’s eyes glanced around the room as if she were looking for the right words. Then she turned to me and spoke slowly.
“Let me start at the beginning.” She smoothed her hand over the top of mine. “Your papa loved our culture and my cooking. He learned Spanish and wanted to build a house here in the village.” Nana shook her head. “Your mama got so mad when the doctors told her she couldn’t move with him to Pittsburgh after he’d been recruited. But he just traveled back and forth and said this was the best place on Earth to live.”
I released Nana’s hand. “Why couldn’t she move?”
“She had a few complications during the pregnancy and needed to stay in the care of her doctor in Albuquerque.”
“So Mom just lived here in the village while he was away?”
“Well, she didn’t want to. But she stayed here because your papa wanted her to be close to me and the doctor just in case.”
Suddenly I realized that if Dad had saved Mom that meant she had to have already been pregnant. Which meant he’d saved me too. I gripped the jersey tighter. “What happened?”
“Well you were a fussy baby even in your mama’s tummy and this worried your mother.” Nana glanced toward the burning candle on Mary’s altar across the room. Cranberry scents filled the air. “Your mama found a doctor in Albuquerque who specialized in these kinds of things.” Nana’s eyes drifted toward the streamof moonlight bathing the
Saltillo
floor, as if she could still see the moments in time she was describing.
“Keep going.”
“Your parents were picnicking on the Rio Grande. It was an unusually hot spring day. The wind was strong enough to push angels from clouds.”
She took a deep breath. “Your mama waded in, just to cool
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