The Children of Sanchez by Oscar Lewis Page A

in and there was a lot of movement going on but we didn’t understand anything then. We were put out of the room and then we heard a baby’s cry. I always liked to hear a baby crying and for me it was a very nice thing to have a sister. But she slept in the bed with my parents, and when my mother carried her around all the time, nursing her, and calling her “my pretty little daughter,” I began to have an ugly feeling. My mother noticed that I was jealous and said, “No, no, son, you know you are my favorite. Don’t believe anything else.” It was true, because when she went out selling she always, always, took me with her. We left Roberto with my grandma and I went with
mamá
. Knowing how much she loved me, I would ask for everything I saw and would go into a temper if she didn’t buy it. She used to say, “
Ay
, son, I love you very much but you are very demanding. I wonder what you will be like when you are big.”
    One day my
mamá
and I were going to the Granero bakery for cake crumbs. She was talking to her
comadre
, Consuelo’s godmother, when I noticed blood running down
mamá
’s leg. I asked her if she had cut herself and she looked down and saw the blood and said, “I guess I really did cut myself.” She went home to bed and sent for my father.
    Later, the same lady who had brought Consuelo arrived, and again we heard a baby cry. My brother and I must have looked like a pair of scared rabbits for my
papá
came out and told us not to be frightened, that the lady had brought us a new sister in her suitcase. When I saw Marta for the first time I thought she was very ugly. I said, “
Ay, mamá
, you should have better asked the lady for a whiter, prettier one.”
    My father was very, very happy when his daughters were born. He really would have preferred to have had only girls. He was always more affectionate to my sisters but I didn’t notice it so much then because while my mother was alive my
papá
still loved me. As for Roberto, I don’t remember exactly. My
papá
never did like very darkpeople and it was probably on account of Roberto’s dark skin that my father disliked him. But when we were little he was not so severe with us. He spoke to us with a different tone of voice. I guess the worst thing that happened to me and my brother was to grow up, because I was very happy until I was eight.
    It was at about that time that I became aware of sexual intercourse. It happened that my
mamá
was lighting the charcoal fire and had sent me next door to borrow the fan blower. I ran off to our neighbor’s house and went in without knocking. There was Pepita in bed with her husband, with her legs up and he with his pants down and everything. I felt embarrassed, I couldn’t tell exactly of what, but I felt that I had surprised them doing something bad. Pepita looked upset, they stopped moving but didn’t change their position. She said, “Yes, take it, it’s over there on the brazier.” Then I went home and it occurred to me to talk about it to my mother.
Ay
! what a spanking she gave me!
    After that, I wanted to experience it for myself and tried to get the girls of the
vecindad
to play “
papá
and
mamá
” with me. My mother had a girl to help her in the house, and I played that game with her, whenever we were alone. One day she went to the roof to hang up clothes and I followed her. “Come on,” I said, “let’s do it.” I tried to raise her dress and pull down her pants, and just as she was about to give in, I heard someone tapping at a window. Our house, at that time, faced a stocking factory, and when I turned around to see who was tapping, there were all the factory workers, men and women, at the windows, pointing at us and laughing. Someone shouted, “
Cabrón muchacho
, just look at the little bastard.” Did I leave that roof quickly!
    The first day my mother brought me to school I was frightened and burst out crying. When the teacher wasn’t looking, I ran right back