What if Tío Diego had died today from breathing in smoke? What if the whole building had burned down? It would have been all my fault.
I’ll work at the boring bodega every afternoon and every weekend until I go to college, and I’ll study all my boring subjects, get good grades, and become an engineer like my parents want me to. No more art for me. No more fun. I’ve made up my mind.
Mami hands me a stack of papers. They’re the drawings I made at Tío Diego’s house. My fingers tremble as I hold them, and all I want to do is grab a pencil and draw some more. But I can’t.
“Where did you get these?” I ask.
“Lolo.”
“Huh?”
Lolo watches us from his bed. He stares at me like he’s saying, Don’t quit, Miguel, never quit.
That’s easy for him to say. He’s not the one who almost killed Tío Diego.
Papi clears his throat. “Hijo, what you did was irresponsible.”
“And dishonest,” Mami says.
“We’re very disappointed in you.”
“Those aren’t the values we taught you.”
I keep my head down. “I know. I’m sorry. It will never happen again. I promise.”
Mami puts a hand over mine. “We believe you,” she says.
“But there are always consequences for our actions,” Papi says.
I nod. I know what I should say now, that I’ll quit art, that my sketch pad is already in the trash, and I’ll forget about my dibujitos forever.
But the words get stuck in my throat. Lolo sits up and looks me in the eye.
He’s right. I need to stand up for myself. I turn to Mami, then to Papi. “I know what I did was wrong. I shouldn’t have lied to you, and I shouldn’t have left Tío Diego alone. But I won’t give up my art.” I stand and pluck my sketch pad out of the wastebasket.
“Miguel.” Mami closes her eyes and sighs.
I won’t let her finish. I can’t. She has to hear me out. They both do. “You can punish me. I know I deserve it,” I say. “No TV, no video games, no hanging with Benny. I’ll work even more hours at the bodega, but I will not give up my art. This is important to me, and I can’t live without it.”
Papi glances at Mami and shakes his head slowly. “Miguel,” he says.
I have more to say. They must listen to me! “I feel terrible about what happened, and I take full responsibility. I love Tío Diego, I love the two of you, I even love the bodega, but I also love art. It’s my dream to create comic books. I don’t know if I’ll make it as an artist. Maybe I’ll do something else too. Maybe I’ll be an engineer, or a vet like Dr. Gómez, or a bodega owner like you, but I will always be an artist first. I will not give that up, no matter what you say.”
“We agree.”
“And another thing—wait, what?”
“Under no circumstances are you to give up your art.” Papi’s voice booms firmly.
Now I’m confused.
Mami takes my hand and pulls me back down between them. “We should have listened when you said art is your passion.”
“We shouldn’t have told you to give up your dreams,” Papi says.
“We took a big gamble when we came to this country, and when we started our own business,” Mami says.
“But it was worth it, because we were following our dreams,” Papi says.
“And our biggest dream is for our son to pursue what he loves.” Mami sniffles.
“Hijo, we’re sorry you couldn’t trust us enough to tell us the truth.” Papi squeezes my shoulder. “But don’t ever lie to us again, ¿entiendes?” He wags a finger at me.
My heart is pounding, and I think I want to smile. And jump up. And hug my parents.
So I do it. All of it.
“Come over here, Lolo, join this family hug!”
CHAPTER 27 Lolo
Preciosa and her kittens like the back storeroom.
I mostly stay in the front, greeting customers or napping in my box. But it’s nice to visit the little ones every now and then.
“Tío Lolo, watch me!” the spunky one says. She jumps from shelf to shelf. Soon her brothers and sister follow her, and they all end up on my back.
