Lessons I Never Learned at Meadowbrook Academy by Liz Maccie Page A

as we stood in silence.
    â€œWell, okay. I guess I should be going. My brother is going to kill me.”
    â€œTu hermano.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œHermano, it mean brother.”
    â€œOh, that’s cool. Hermano.”
    â€œWhere live you, the hotel?”
    â€œNo,” I giggled. “I live in a house in West Orange. Do you live in the hotel?”
    â€œNo, no. Me padre…me father and me go to Mexico, mañana.” He thought for a second. “Me llamó Roberta. When someone Spanish say what name you are, you say, Me llamó Roberta.”
    â€œMe llamó Roberta,” I said back.
    â€œGood, that good.” Carlos walked over to the light switch and turned it off. The room was in darkness once again. In shadows I could see him move toward the back corner of the room. I had no idea what he was doing.
    â€œHere, come here,” he finally called out to me.
    I felt really nervous, but I decided to follow him. He got down on his knees, lifted up one of the tablecloths, and climbed under. I contemplated it for a second, but decided to climb under after him.
    Carlos had a flashlight, which he turned on, to reveal his secret hideaway. He had sodas, bags of chips, Hersey bars, a couple of books, and a pillow from the hotel. He handed me one of the books, and the title read: La Rojo Cabreza . I opened it and flipped through the pages; it was written in Spanish.
    â€œI’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t know how to read Spanish.”
    Carlos took the book from me and pointed to the title. “It say, The Little Girl With Red Cape .”
    â€œLike Little Red Riding Hood ?” I asked.
    â€œI no understand.”
    â€œWe have a girl who wears a red cape and gets eaten by a wolf, wait…no, she doesn’t get eaten by the wolf, but other people in her life do, like her grandma and stuff.”
    â€œSí, sí. A wolf. Me madre…me mother, give to me.”
    â€œIs your mom here, with you and your dad?”
    â€œNo. She in Mexico. We go tomorrow.”
    Carlos looked away, and I felt like I had said something wrong, which was not uncommon for me to do. There was an awkward pause and then he said, “I see you and you mom…at the aqua…the water?”
    â€œYeah, the pool. She doesn’t let me go alone. She’s a drag.”
    â€œWhat drag?”
    â€œNever mind.”
    â€œYou and you mom. The same. You eyes and you…” He pointed to his nose and his mouth. “How you say?”
    â€œNose and mouth.”
    â€œSí, eyes and nose and mouth. The same.”
    â€œI guess,” I said.
    From outside the room, I could faintly hear Anthony calling my name.
    â€œOh no. That’s my brother. I have to go or I’ll get in trouble.”
    â€œHere, you have.” Carlos handed me the book about the girl in the red cape.
    â€œI can’t take your book. Won’t your mom be mad?”
    â€œFor you and you mom.”
    â€œOkay,” I said with some hesitation. “Thank you.”
    â€œDe nada.”
    I got up from under the table and worked my way out of the dark room with the book under my arm. I opened the door and saw Anthony turning the corner. When I caught up to him, he assured me of how much trouble I was in and how badly I was going to be punished. Sure enough, my mother threw a fit and my father grounded me for disappearing.
    I hid the book Carlos gave me under my pillow. When everyone was asleep that night, I snuck into the bathroom and flipped through La Rojo Cabreza . Somewhere toward the end of the book, a thin slip of newspaper fell out. I picked it up and noticed it was in English, not Spanish.
    It read: In loving memory of Maria Suzette Gonzalez. Mrs. Gonzalez peacefully died in her New Jersey apartment after losing her fight to ovarian cancer. She is survived by her husband, Esteban Gonzalez, and her only son, Carlos Gonzalez. She was a valued housekeeper at the Claremont