Contents ( 66)
- Cover
- Books by Valerie Fraser Luesse
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Map of Florida
- one
- two
- three
- four
- five
- six
- seven
- eight
- nine
- ten
- eleven
- twelve
- thirteen
- fourteen
- fifteen
- sixteen
- seventeen
- eighteen
- nineteen
- twenty
- twenty-one
- twenty-two
- twenty-three
- twenty-four
- twenty-five
- twenty-six
- twenty-seven
- twenty-eight
- twenty-nine
- thirty
- thirty-one
- thirty-two
- thirty-three
- thirty-four
- thirty-five
- thirty-six
- thirty-seven
- thirty-eight
- thirty-nine
- forty
- forty-one
- forty-two
- forty-three
- forty-four
- forty-five
- forty-six
- forty-seven
- forty-eight
- forty-nine
- fifty
- fifty-one
- Epilogue
- Keep Reading for a Preview of Valerie Luesse’s Next Book!
- Prologue
- one
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Ads
- Back Cover
“Gina, quien es este joven?” the woman asked.
“Su nombre es Peyton, Mama,” Gina answered.
What followed was a long back-and-forth conversation, all in Spanish, between Gina and her mother, who at first looked concerned but then began nodding in agreement as Gina went on. Finally, Peyton heard his friend say, “Key West.”
Her mother put a hand to her forehead and exclaimed, “Key West?”
“Sí, Mama,” Gina said. “Su forma de honrar a su padre—que está muerto.”
Gina’s mother clutched the string of pearls around her neck. Then she came to Peyton, reached up to hold his face in her hands, and said, “I thought you a man up to no good, but you a boy with no papa. You all alone.”
Peyton smiled down at her. “Not anymore.”
She kissed him on each cheek. “You right, Peyton. You not alone anymore. Tonight you sit at Mama Eva’s table.”
“Thank you very much.”
The others made room for Peyton and Gina at the kitchen table, and Mama Eva served them steaming bowls of stew with Cuban bread.
Peyton tasted a spoonful. “Oh, man, this is good!”
“Gracias, Peyton.” She kissed him on top of his head as she ladled more into his bowl.
“It is her ropa vieja,” Gina explained. “She starts cooking it early Saturday morning and lets it simmer all day. Then we all come here after our jobs so we can spend some time together.”
Peyton copied Gina as she took a piece of warm, crusty bread and dipped it into the meaty stew, the richest he had ever tasted.
Mama Eva’s kitchen could have used a revolving door, given all the relatives who were constantly moving through it, dipping food from huge pots on the stove, pulling pieces of bread from the loaves in the center of the table, pouring wine, laughing, and talking. Then they went into the living room to listen to Cuban music on the record player or moved outside to the porch so they could enjoy the night air.
Except for Gina’s grandparents, everyone could speak English and did so now that they had decided Peyton came in friendship.
Out of the blue, a young woman who looked about Gina’s age sat down across the table from them and plopped a small notebook down. “I would like to interview you,” she said to Peyton.
“Interview me?” he said as he pulled another piece of bread from a loaf on the table.
“Rosa, that is a wonderful idea!” Gina said. “Peyton, this is my sister Rosa. She just got a job with the local newspaper and needs a good story. You would make a wonderful story!”
“Me? But I haven’t done anything interesting—not till this week anyway.”
“You think all the other people with their stories in the newspaper do interesting things all day long?” Gina countered. “No. They do interesting things now and then. Or maybe once in their whole life. Last week, there was a story about a mailman who rescued a cat from a rooftop. You think he saves cats all day every day? No. Just that once. But it made a good story, mostly because the mailman is allergic to cats. You are far more interesting than the sneezing mailman.”