Read Online Year of the Tiger by Heather Heffner - Free Book Online
Authors: Heather Heffner
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quiver.
“Quit scaring her, Bill. Thank you, honey.” The other two smiled at me and pulled their partner away. They marched back to a black van, thumbs sticking out of their bulletproof vest pockets.
Later, Papi took me out to the Ribs Rodeo Diner—just me, and only me. He laughed when I asked if I could have a virgin strawberry daiquiri, and said he could go for one, too. They came with squishy strawberries and pink umbrellas.
“Papi, you’re not breaking the law, are you?” I concentrated hard on sucking a strawberry up through the straw, not sure if I wanted to hear the answer.
“My daughter, sometimes, there are higher laws.” He leaned across the table and squeezed my hand. “Ernesto and Virgilio have little daughters here, too. It’s not fair to separate them, is it?”
I considered. “Yeah. They can’t go back to Mexico. Mexico’s hell. That’s what Mami says.”
“Bad things happened to your mother in México, that’s true,” Papi said, holding the tiny umbrella under his index finger and flicking it, so it spun like a pink ballerina in the center of the table. “I’m sorry that’s all she knew. But really, México is a beautiful place. I think back fondly on our village tucked away in the bean fields. Everybody cared for one another there. We were all one big family. One year, however, a horrible drought took its toll on the farmland. My brother and I drove to the next town to bring back clean drinking water. We were coming back in the dead of night when our truck broke down.
“It was then that my brother and I heard rustling in the trees above. We looked up to see a pair of big golden eyes staring back. My brother swears it was a jaguar. Whatever it was, it was good luck. That night, it rained so heavily, the waters rose and carried our old truck all the way back to the village.”
He began laughing at my star-struck expression.
“You’re making that up!” I accused.
“I’m not!” He chuckled again. “Water is life, Raina. Water is life.”
The pink umbrella hadn’t stopped spinning.
***
His affectionate rumble faded, and I came to in the shower, tears lost in the pounding water.
“Papi,” I cried. I missed my father. Why had I forgotten that day? Why had we all forgotten the man before the casinos, the drinking, the women? He’d been so brave. He’d worked so hard to keep families together. Why had we left him all alone?
I thought I heard someone enter the baths. Suddenly, the water turned ice-bitingly, bone-numbingly cold. I groped for the shower door, but it was frozen shut. The water continued to pound my head like a downpour of icicles. Frost collected on my skin, turning it an awful, bruise-dark purple. It spread down my arms, my belly, my legs. I couldn’t move. I was a statue, my body frozen solid.
Surprised murmurs. A girl’s scream. I heard a thud, which sounded awfully enough like a body. Someone was in danger. I had to go to Colleen! How dare water be used against me? I shuddered, my anger bubbling up, and then I shattered the glacial waterfall.
I crashed to the wet bathroom floor, legs and arms shaking. My fingers slipped on tile—tile damp with watery blood. My breath came out in short gasps, still shocked by the cold. But it didn’t matter. I blinked in disbelief. I could see again. I could hear.
A girl lay very still, facing the opposite way. I slipped, my purple feet too clumsy to move properly. There was only girl in the palace with flame-red hair. Only one girl who had kindly guided me to the shower, who had risked her life for me the past week…
My eldest sister, Marisol, appeared in a bathrobe. “What’s going on?” She looked from my purple face to the fallen girl. “Oh my God, Raina!”
“S-s-sh-he,” I tried, teeth chattering.
Marisol looked toward Colleen in amazement. “She’s dead! I mean, really dead!”
I crawled to Colleen’s side. No. Marisol had never liked Colleen. She didn’t know what she was talking about. I had
“Quit scaring her, Bill. Thank you, honey.” The other two smiled at me and pulled their partner away. They marched back to a black van, thumbs sticking out of their bulletproof vest pockets.
Later, Papi took me out to the Ribs Rodeo Diner—just me, and only me. He laughed when I asked if I could have a virgin strawberry daiquiri, and said he could go for one, too. They came with squishy strawberries and pink umbrellas.
“Papi, you’re not breaking the law, are you?” I concentrated hard on sucking a strawberry up through the straw, not sure if I wanted to hear the answer.
“My daughter, sometimes, there are higher laws.” He leaned across the table and squeezed my hand. “Ernesto and Virgilio have little daughters here, too. It’s not fair to separate them, is it?”
I considered. “Yeah. They can’t go back to Mexico. Mexico’s hell. That’s what Mami says.”
“Bad things happened to your mother in México, that’s true,” Papi said, holding the tiny umbrella under his index finger and flicking it, so it spun like a pink ballerina in the center of the table. “I’m sorry that’s all she knew. But really, México is a beautiful place. I think back fondly on our village tucked away in the bean fields. Everybody cared for one another there. We were all one big family. One year, however, a horrible drought took its toll on the farmland. My brother and I drove to the next town to bring back clean drinking water. We were coming back in the dead of night when our truck broke down.
“It was then that my brother and I heard rustling in the trees above. We looked up to see a pair of big golden eyes staring back. My brother swears it was a jaguar. Whatever it was, it was good luck. That night, it rained so heavily, the waters rose and carried our old truck all the way back to the village.”
He began laughing at my star-struck expression.
“You’re making that up!” I accused.
“I’m not!” He chuckled again. “Water is life, Raina. Water is life.”
The pink umbrella hadn’t stopped spinning.
***
His affectionate rumble faded, and I came to in the shower, tears lost in the pounding water.
“Papi,” I cried. I missed my father. Why had I forgotten that day? Why had we all forgotten the man before the casinos, the drinking, the women? He’d been so brave. He’d worked so hard to keep families together. Why had we left him all alone?
I thought I heard someone enter the baths. Suddenly, the water turned ice-bitingly, bone-numbingly cold. I groped for the shower door, but it was frozen shut. The water continued to pound my head like a downpour of icicles. Frost collected on my skin, turning it an awful, bruise-dark purple. It spread down my arms, my belly, my legs. I couldn’t move. I was a statue, my body frozen solid.
Surprised murmurs. A girl’s scream. I heard a thud, which sounded awfully enough like a body. Someone was in danger. I had to go to Colleen! How dare water be used against me? I shuddered, my anger bubbling up, and then I shattered the glacial waterfall.
I crashed to the wet bathroom floor, legs and arms shaking. My fingers slipped on tile—tile damp with watery blood. My breath came out in short gasps, still shocked by the cold. But it didn’t matter. I blinked in disbelief. I could see again. I could hear.
A girl lay very still, facing the opposite way. I slipped, my purple feet too clumsy to move properly. There was only girl in the palace with flame-red hair. Only one girl who had kindly guided me to the shower, who had risked her life for me the past week…
My eldest sister, Marisol, appeared in a bathrobe. “What’s going on?” She looked from my purple face to the fallen girl. “Oh my God, Raina!”
“S-s-sh-he,” I tried, teeth chattering.
Marisol looked toward Colleen in amazement. “She’s dead! I mean, really dead!”
I crawled to Colleen’s side. No. Marisol had never liked Colleen. She didn’t know what she was talking about. I had
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