Whoosh! I felt the air blow away my worries, trees billowing in the distance. Mama was coming home, and I couldn’t wait to hear her reassuring laugh and tell her about what she missed when she was in the hospital. So much had happened, including strikes, Miguel leaving and how I’d been cooking, working in the fields and taking care of the babies. I can’t believe that we’ve been through so much, and we are still okay.
Since it was almost noon, I went to pray by the washtub grotto. There, I saw Isabel, clutching my doll Papa gave me in her nimble hands. Her head was in her hands, and when I walked closer to her, I noticed that she was crying.
“Isabel, que paso, what happened?” I asked her.
“Sum grils un mi cliss blsjs sj fj ws swjn” she mumbled.
“Isabel, I need to know what happened to help you,” I said, soothingly.
“Some girls in my class bullied me because I am Mexican,” said Isabel.
“Oh Isabel!” I said, wrapping her in a warm hug.
“Thanks Esperanza,” she said.
“Anything for my la reina,” I said to Isabel, lovingly.
When I went into our cabin holding Isabel’s hand, Hortensia was cooking some beans, and had made tortillas for us to eat. After dinner, Josefina whipped out peach pie for Isabel, her favorite desert. It really put a smile on her face. She smiled, as the whipped cream made a beard under her chin.
By the time we went to bed, Isabel was back to her euphoric self.
“Esperanza?” asked Isabel. It was now about a little after midnight, and I had no idea how or when she had woken up.
“Isabel!?” I said, surprised.
“Can we sleep with you?” she asked.
“Sure–wait, there is only one of you!” I said flabbergasted.
“There are actually seven of us,” whispered Isabel. “Please don’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t. Promise. Just tell me who the other six are!” I said.
“You know Chiliquitam, my kitty,” she said. “She and my dolly are two of the six.”
“Yes, I know your kitty. So who are the other four?”
“Well she had four kittens.”
“What!?”
“They are adorable!”
Then, Isabel grabbed my hand, and dragged me to a blue crate that we used for the asparagus season, when we had to store extra shoots. She lifted the green cover and out pounced kittens! They had lime green eyes, like their mother, and had cement gray fur, with black streaks.
“Awwww,” I said, my eyes filling with tears when I saw the kittens romping with their mother. It was so adorable!
“How ever did you get that crate?” I asked. Those crates were only found far in the fields and Isabel couldn’t go there because the guards around the perimeter wouldn’t recognize her. Before she could say asparagus, she would be on a train back to Mexico.
“Miguel snagged me an extra one,” said Isabel.
“Okay, they can sleep in my bed.”
“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you Esperanza!” said Isabel, happy dancing all around the room. We slept together, with the cats’ fur acting as an extra blanket.
“Esperanza,” said an elysian voice. It was probably around eight in the morning, and I assumed this voice was a worker telling me to get up for work.
“Wha?” I said, waking up. When I looked up, I realized that it wasn’t one of the field workers. It was Abuelita!
“Oh Abuelita!” I said, sitting up and hugging her.
“Mi princesa,” said Abulita.
“H-h-how did you get here?” I asked.
“Miguel brought me here.”
“Oh Miguel!” I said, hugging him tightly.
“And guess what I got! Your Papa, Mama and my savings!”
“Does this mean that…” I started.
“Si, mi princesa. We can now buy a house,” said Abulita.
“Madre?” asked a voice.
It was Mama, and she had just returned to our cabin.
“MAMA!” I yelled, running to her tall figure.
“Ah, Ramona,” said Hortensia.
She and Abulita joined our hug.
“Abulita?” I asked.
“Yes Esperanza.”
“Can Isabel’s family live with us?”
“I don’t see why not.”
I ran and ran and ran to Isabel’s school. She was outside, having lunch. I told her the news and she nearly knocked over her friends. She was excused from lunch and we ran back to our cabin.
She told her parents and they happily agreed.
In the evening, I walked out into the fields with Miguel. When we reached a tree that cooled us down from the hot sun, we sat there.
“So, when you and Isabel’s families are moving to a new home, can my family come too?” asked Miguel.
“Yes, you may,” I said back.
“As servants?” he asked.
“No. As family,” I said to Miguel, looking in his glistening eyes.
He then opened his arms, which were inviting me over for a hug. When we hugged, he whispered in my ear, “No matter what, you will always be my la reina, Anza.”
I smiled when he said that. I knew that this wasn’t going to be the end of our story.
The End
