Juan’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he checked the screen. “Miguel? What’s wrong?” His kid brother rarely called during the middle of the day.

“Juan! You won’t believe the letter I just got.”

With his body tensed, Juan barked, “Don’t play games, what’s going on?”

“I just received an acceptance letter for med school!”

The tension bled out of Juan as he leaned back against the cheap vinyl lounge chair.

His brother’s voice was jubilant as he continued, “You’ll never believe from where.”

Juan knew that his brother had applied to a bunch of schools. “I don’t know. Uh, University of Miami? They’ve got a good—”

“Yale Medical School! Effin’ Yale, bro. Can you imagine? A kid from the barrio attending the Ivy League?”

“Miguel, that’s awesome!” Juan beamed as he listened to his brother read to him the exact wording of the acceptance letter.

Juan knew the moment would be coming when he couldn’t maintain the façade of Mom’s “insurance” being able to pay for school. And when it came to medical school, especially an Ivy League one, he didn’t have a spare fifty thousand dollars a year to just toss around. He and his brother had had that talk when he started applying at the end of his junior year at Georgia Tech.

“Oh, and don’t worry about the cost. I’m covering it. I’ve identified a ton of scholarships I can apply for. Some strictly for Latinos, some other promising ones—I only wish we were Jewish, then there’d be a boatload more. And of course, there’s always loans. I don’t want you to worry about a thing, bro.”

Juan nodded with his cell phone to his ear. “Hey, I’m really proud of you. And I’m sure Mom is smiling down on you right now. Keep me posted on how the scholarships work out. I appreciate you applying, but I’ll still do what I can to help—”

“No you won’t. I’m already pretty sure you were full of shit about Mom’s insurance. I’m not letting you take on any more of my burden.”

A warm feeling of pride swelled within Juan. Miguel had always been incredibly smart.

“I’m able to do this, bro, trust me. I won’t be stupid about this chance.”

“I know it. I love you hermano. Keep in touch.”

“Love you too, bro.”

Just as he hung up, a voice came over the PA.

“Good afternoon passengers. This is the pre-boarding announcement for American Airlines flight 4359 to Rochester. We are now inviting those passengers with small children, and any passengers requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time.”

Finally.