How Tía Lola Learned to Teach (15 page)

“And if you don’t believe me, you can ask all the kids out there,” Miguel concludes. “They’ll all tell you the same thing.”

The judge lays down his pen. He takes a deep breath, as if he wants to bring up his verdict from deep inside him. “I don’t have it in me to break a whole community’s heart. Or yours,” he adds, nodding at Juanita and Miguel. “We’ll find a way for your
tía
Lola to stay,” he promises. “Meanwhile, I’m going to grant her an extension of three more months so her lawyers can get her residency papers in order.” He nods at Carmen and Víctor.

From deep inside Miguel comes a shout of joy. Juanita’s cry follows. Soon their whole group is laughing and high-fiving and hugging each other. Tía Lola hurries to the window and waves her yellow scarf, a victory sign for the cheering crowd.

“Order in the courtroom!” The judge is now standing at the podium, gavel in hand, as if he means to bang it on their heads to quiet them down. The room goes deathly still. “Before you take off,” he says, pausing for effect, “what was the name of that restaurant?”

As they walk down the hall, Tía Lola slips her arm around Miguel. “I think your words made all the difference,” she whispers. “I saw that judge’s face change as you spoke. You probably reminded him of himself, and his heart was moved. Thank you, Miguel. You are my hero.”

And you are mine, Miguel thinks, but that’s just too corny to say out loud in front of all these people. Instead, Miguel quotes another favorite saying of Tía Lola’s:
“De tal palo, tal astilla.”
The wood is where the splinter comes from. Like father, like son. Like grandmother, like grandson. In other words, if he’s a hero, he got it from his aunt!

lesson ten

Ser contento es gran talento
Being happy is a great talent

On the third Saturday in June, just before school lets out, Bridgeport Elementary will have its end-of-the-year picnic.

Usually only staff, teachers, and students and their parents attend, but this year the whole town is invited. There is something special to celebrate: Tía Lola is on her way to becoming a permanent resident of the United States of America! She will be able to stay for as long as she wants.

And something else to celebrate: the town has learned so much Spanish that half the time, instead of calling out “Hi!” people greet each other on the street with
“¡Hola!”

“¿Cómo estás?”
they’ll ask, instead of “How are you?”

“Muy, muy bien.”
Everyone seems to be doing very, very well.
“¡Qué buena noticia lo de Tía Lola!”
And what good news about Tía Lola!

“Did you hear that the judge is coming to the picnic?”

“¿Es verdad?”
Could it really be true?!

“¡Sí, señor!”
Yes, sir!

Papi and Carmen are also coming, and they’re bringing Abuelito and Abuelita with them. Abuelita has sufficiently recovered from her winter
quebrantos
to make the trip. Whatever is left of her ailments will be cured by seeing
both
her grandchildren.

Coming with them, curiously eager to get back to Vermont, will be Tía Lola’s lawyer, Víctor Espada. Víctor has been calling daily with news about the progress of Tía Lola’s application, news that isn’t really new, since he calls every night with the same information. Tía Lola talks briefly, and then she puts Mami on so Víctor can tell her the news as well. For the next hour, Víctor and Mami talk and talk. They also seem to laugh a whole lot.

The only sad part of the happy ending of the school year is that Ofie and her sisters won’t be able to come to the picnic. Unlike Tía Lola, their parents didn’t come with visas, and now the whole family is being deported back to Mexico.

Mrs. Stevens calls an assembly to make the announcement. “I’m sorry,” she says, as if it were her fault. “The girls are temporarily staying with a friend of the family while their parents’ deportation is being
processed. We are in touch with them. They are all well, I promise.” Mrs. Stevens then reads a letter written by the girls in which they thank the school, the principal, the teachers and staff, the students, and most of all, Tía Lola. “They send many hugs and hearts and kisses,” Mrs. Stevens closes. She holds up the letter. Several big red hearts are visible at the bottom. “I’ll post the letter on the entrance bulletin board so you can all read it.”

Before dismissing the assembly, Mrs. Stevens tries to raise the school’s flagging spirits by bringing up what they’re all now calling Tía Lola’s picnic. “It’d be wonderful if we came up with some surprise for Tía Lola. So be thinking about some ideas.”

But in spite of the excitement about the picnic, a gloomy cloud hangs over the school for the rest of the day. Especially in Juanita’s classroom, where Ofie’s empty desk is a constant reminder. Once again, Juanita has trouble concentrating on her schoolwork. But it’s not because she’s daydreaming about some made-up story. This time it’s real life that is troubling and absorbing.

“When I grow up,” Juanita announces that night at dinner, “I’m going to be a lawyer.”

Mami is all smiles. “Just like Víctor, eh?”

“Carmen, too,” Miguel reminds her.

“But why do you want to be an
abogada
?” Tía Lola questions.

“So I can help people like Ofie and her family stay here,” Juanita replies.

“A genius for a son and an angel for a daughter.” Mami sighs. “How lucky can I get!”

Tía Lola quickly makes her sign of the cross. “Just to be sure,” she explains when Mami looks over at her. After all, Mami is bragging about her children.
“Más vale prevenir que lamentar.”

“I guess it
is
better to be safe than sorry.” Mami checks her watch and begins clearing the plates.

As he is helping dry the dishes, Miguel asks, “Mami, is it my imagination, or do people who speak Spanish really love sayings?”

Mami looks thoughtful. “I think we just notice them more when they come in a new language. I mean, there are hundreds of good sayings in English. We use them all the time, automatically.” Mami pauses, and Miguel can tell she is trying to come up with some examples.

Just then the phone rings. In a moment, Tía Lola is calling out, “Linda!”

Mami dries her hands hurriedly. Then, recalling that she still hasn’t come up with some sayings in English, she apologizes. “I’m drawing a total blank. But you know what? I’ll ask Víctor. He’s really good at stuff like that.”

In fact, Mami and Víctor come up with a whole list of sayings. Talking to him seems to loosen up Mami’s creative juices. After she hangs up, she even thinks up a dozen more on her own. Before saying good night to Miguel, Mami hands him several pages filled with proverbs and sayings.

That’s why the next day, when Mrs. Stevens visits his classroom to collect proposals for Tía Lola’s surprise, Miguel raises his hand. The one thing Tía Lola really wants is to learn English. The three things Tía Lola really, really loves are making piñatas, teaching at Bridgeport, and using sayings. Miguel has put all these things together and come up with what his
mami
would call another one of his brilliant ideas.

Hanging from the big sugar maple in the playground is Miguel’s brilliant idea for a surprise for Tía Lola: a piñata that is an exact replica of Bridgeport Elementary. When Tía Lola arrives at the picnic, she lets out a cry. Now she knows why she was forbidden to enter the art room for the last week or so.

But she has her own amazing surprise, covered in a bedsheet. When she unveils it, everyone gasps. No way! It also is a schoolhouse piñata, although not exactly a replica of Bridgeport. This building is painted purple, and instead of
BRIDGEPORT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
, the turquoise sign above the door reads
LA ESCUELITA BRIDGEPORT
. An extreme makeover of their little school, in color and in
español
!

“Great minds think alike,” Mami and Víctor say at the same time. Then they both burst out laughing, and for a few minutes, it looks like they might not be able to stop.

“Order in the picnic!” the judge declares, which just makes everyone else join in the laughter.

Abuelito and Abuelita sit on folding chairs near the food table, which is crammed with dishes Abuelita brought up from New York City. It’s as if she feared starvation in Vermont. By the end of the afternoon, she might well assume that all Vermonters are starving: there won’t be a crumb left to scrape into a take-home container.

Looking out at the gathering, Miguel can’t believe how happy he feels. Before him are most of the special people in his life. What’s more, the golden days of summer stretch ahead, with game after game of baseball in the field behind his house. And the best news of all is that Tía Lola will get to stay. Their family won’t be torn apart again.

Juanita is also feeling lucky, especially when she thinks of Ofie. Someday, if she doesn’t become a lawyer, she wants to write a book about a little Mexican girl who comes to a farm in Vermont and gets to stay. Just thinking about that ending makes her heart flood with happiness.

“Okay, it’s time,” Mrs. Stevens announces. “How shall we do this? Shall we begin with our piñata or Tía Lola’s?”

It’s no use taking a vote. Some people call out, “Tía Lola’s!” including Tía Lola, and others shout, “Ours!”

“Why don’t you decide?” Mrs. Stevens asks the judge. After all, he is the highest-ranking official at the gathering.

“Oh, no!” Judge Reginald shakes his head. “I don’t want to decide a single thing today, except what I’m
going to eat next.” He heads toward the food table, where Abuelita is already on her feet, ready to dish him out some more of her
puerco asado
. “This has got to be the best roast pork I’ve ever tasted,” the judge declares. “And I’m willing to swear on a stack of Bibles,” he tells Abuelita, who already believes him, given the proof of a third serving.

“Okay,” Mrs. Stevens says, handing Tía Lola a broom. “You go first. After all, you are our guest of honor.” There’s no need to blindfold Tía Lola, as only she gets to swipe at the piñata the school made for her.

My oh my! Who would have thought a woman Tía Lola’s age would be such a powerhouse? In a matter of three hits, the schoolhouse explodes.

Raining down are dozens upon dozens of folded-up pieces of paper.
“¿Qué será?”
Tía Lola picks a few up, intrigued. “Fortunes?”

Mrs. Stevens laughs. “No, no, Tía Lola. This was your nephew’s idea. He said there were three things you really love: Piñatas, so we made you one. Teaching at Bridgeport, so we made your piñata our schoolhouse. And sayings, so each student has chosen a saying in English for you, with a short explanation. That way, you can learn more English. You have all summer to study them.”

You’d think Tía Lola had just gotten a treasure chest full of gold! She goes down on her knees, picking up all the scattered pieces of paper and putting them in one of the shopping bags she brought for the food containers.
“Gracias, gracias, gracias,”
she keeps saying as she drops each one in.

Now it’s Tía Lola’s turn to present her piñata. First, she has some words she wants to say in English. “When I come to the United Estates, only I have three people in my
familia
here: my big niece, my little niece, my nephew. But now I have a big
familia
of friends. Thank you, all the students and teachers and Señora Stevens, for allowing me the
oportunidad
to learn how to teach at
la escuelita
Bridgeport.”