Look Both Ways in the Barrio Blanco by Judith Robbins Rose

whole truth. In my world, where
family comes first
, Miss saved me from always being last.
    We finished our hot dogs. I wanted cotton candy, but as I gathered up my trash, Miss touched my hand. Instantly I missed Mamá. Like she was leaving me all over again. Water came to my eyes.
    Miss whispered, “I need to ask you something.”
    The lump in my throat kept me from answering.
    “I’d like to be Rosa’s mentor, too.”
    The green beast stood on its hind legs and roared, breathing fire through my throat, into my head. My eyes burned. “Wha —?”
    “I’m worried about Rosa. Her being with that boy.”
    My face got hot. “I wish I’d never told you that.”
    “No, it’s good you told me, because —”
    “Rosa can get her own Amiga!”
    Miss squeezed my hand, but I pulled it away. She sighed. “I can see you’re not ready for this.”
    She sat back and stared at nothing.
    The beast settled in my chest.
    But he kept one eye open.

AFTER my last
educational opportunity
with Miss — the one where she dragged me to watch a play by
William Shakespeare —
I didn’t want to be at home the next time she showed up.
    Shakespeare is a dead guy who’s
responsible
for the most boring three hours of my entire life. In this play, some lady drops a hanky, gets strangled for it, dies, comes back to life, and tells everybody she killed
herself —
then dies again.
    That’s the whole show. I’m not even kidding.
    And now Miss wanted to take me to the
ballet
? I wasn’t even sure what it was. At Halloween, I’d see little girls dressed in pink tights, wearing tiny crowns and scratchy, poofy skirts. Angélica said the ballet was ladies dancing on their tippy-toes to old music, which sounded really stupid.
    So when Miss’s name flashed up on the phone, I let it ring. Maybe she’d think nobody was home and go to the ballet without me.
    Rosa stopped feeding Suelita. “Who is it?”
    “Miss.”
    The phone rang.
    “Answer it!”
    “I don’t want to talk to her.”
    The phone rang.
    Rosa moved to get it.
    I snatched it up.
“¿Bueno?”
    “Jacinta? It’s Kate. Sometimes it’s cold in the theater, so bring a sweater. Not that ratty one. Something nice.”
    “Miss, I can’t go.”
    Pause
. “Because —?”
    “I — my dad’s at work — we have to watch Suelita.”
    “Rosa’s there?”
    Trapped
. Rosa glared at me, a spoonful of rice motionless on the way to Suelita’s open mouth.
    “Yesss.”
    “Then you can go! Are you dressed?”
    “No.”
    “Get dressed! These tickets are expensive.” Miss was always telling me how much things cost. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
    Click
.
    It was Rosa’s turn to yell. “You can stay with Suelita, fix dinner, and do laundry.
I
will go with Miss!”
    “She’s
my
Amiga!”
    “Not if you won’t go with her!”
    “I’m going!” I stomped into our bedroom and slammed the door.
    I wasn’t ready when Miss arrived, so she drove fast — even though she knew it scared me — speeding to “make up some time.” She broke the silence. “You look nice.”
    Since Miss wouldn’t let me wear Mamá’s sweater to the ballet, I’d had to borrow Rosa’s. Crossing my arms, I stared out the window. The Rocky Mountains towered on the left. I heard Miss’s voice in my head. “You’ll never get lost if you remember the mountains are west!”
    That was the
educational opportunity
when Miss had handed me a map and we drove all over Maplewood. She forced me to give directions. To the store, to the library, to my school. She made me say,
Go south
, or
Turn east
, instead of saying,
Go right
, or
Turn here
, like everyone else does. Always pushing me to learn stupid stuff.
    So I was still frowning when she drove into a parking garage. She pulled into a space and switched off the motor. I expected her to sprint across the parking lot like always. Instead she turned to me, her voice tired. “Could you at least
try
to appreciate this educational