department if you ask me.” I chuckled.
“Then why was Carlo more interested in Maya than me?” she asked.
“Because he was stupid, and the last thing you want is a stupid boyfriend,” I assured her.
Anna laughed. “You’re right. Come stand next to me and I’ll show you how to do some hip snaps.”
“Hip snaps?” I asked, because it sounded painful.
“Yes, like this.” Anna demonstrated the move, and the coins on her hip scarf shimmied and jingled.
“That move is so hot,” I said as I moved closer to her and tried. I knew I looked silly, because my hips wouldn’t snap the way Anna’s had.
“No. You have to bend your knees like this, tuck your pelvis forward, squeeze your butt and then shift from one hip to the other,” Anna instructed.
I did the move right twice but felt as if something got dislocated. “Oh, my God. I think I broke my hip,” I said.
“No, you didn’t. Your body is just not used to moving in that way,” she said and encouraged me to keep trying. Anna and I were having a blast dancing, posting videos and being obnoxious. We were in the middle of dancing when Anna’s older sister, Maya, entered the room unannounced.
“It’s one-thirty in the morning. Why are you guys up so late?” Maya asked.
“We’re having a party and you’re not invited,” Anna said.
“I wouldn’t party with your bony behind, anyway.” I could tell right away that Maya had caught an immediate attitude.
Anna shook her hips and rattled the coins in Maya’s direction as a sign of defiance.
“You know, Anna, for someone who almost died recently, don’t you think you’re overdoing it a bit?” Maya asked.
“No, she isn’t,” I said. “She is only showing me how to dance, Maya. Do you have a problem with that?” I asked.
“I have a problem with everything. Especially you, Viviana.” Maya was kick-starting some drama.
I was happy that Anna was back home from the hospital and doing well. I still couldn’t believe she’d accidentally ingested crystal meth. Seeing her lying in a hospital bed with tubes and needles connected to her arms wasn’t a nice experience. I thought for sure she was going to die and I’d get blamed for it. I was just so glad that didn’t happen. Besides, I didn’t know what I’d do if my favorite cousin wasn’t around. I loved my cousin Anna but totally hated her sister, Maya. Anna was so much easier to get along with. She didn’t judge me or treat me as if I was beneath her the way Maya did.
“Don’t come in here taking out your anger on us because Misalo has dumped you,” I snapped back at her. I wasn’t about to let her nasty comment go unanswered.
“I’m not taking anything out on you guys. All I’m asking is for you to be quieter. I’m trying to get some rest.” Maya tried to come off as if she wasn’t trying to be confrontational, but I knew better.
“Anna, you don’t have to listen to her. We are not being loud,” I said.
Maya decided to play dirty. “Do you guys want me to get Mom involved? Because I can.”
“Fine, Maya. We’ll keep it down.” Anna gave in to her sister.
“Thank you,” Maya said and paused briefly. “By the way, it is good to see you up and moving around again,” she said as she exited the room and shut the door.
“That girl needs to get a life,” I grumbled. “I don’t see how you can stand living with her.”
“Maya is just Maya. She always feels like she has to be the mature one,” Anna explained.
“Well, she should try being a kid sometimes. I mean, seriously. She could’ve come in here and asked if she could join us and had fun being silly,” I said.
“That’s not Maya,” Anna said as she selected another song for us to dance to. She turned down the volume and began shimmying her hips again when the music began. I watched as Anna lost herself in the rhythm of the music.
“Come on. Stop pouting and dance with me,” Anna said, snapping me out of my daydream.
I smiled, rose to my feet and joined her.
* * *
The following morning I was sitting at the kitchen table, eating breakfast with Aunt Raven, Maya and Anna. Uncle Herman was at a friend’s house, helping out with some type of home-improvement project. I was enjoying the buttermilk pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage links and hash browns Aunt Raven had prepared. I really didn’t have anything exciting planned for my day, with the exception of just hanging out and doing whatever. Living in the suburbs was so much different than living in the city. The suburbs were totally boring. I just didn’t see how people functioned when there was absolutely nothing going on. At least in the city there was always something to enjoy—a block party, a festival or a barbecue—and if nothing like that was going on, you could always just hang out on the street, where it was guaranteed that something would come up. Heck, out here I couldn’t even get away and walk along the lakefront, something I enjoyed doing when I was staying with my mom and her trifling boyfriend.
“So, Viviana, how well were you doing in school?” asked Aunt Raven. The question came out of nowhere and caused me to stop chewing my food and glare at her.
“What do you mean?” I asked as I swallowed my food. I wasn’t sure what she wanted to know.
“Well, you and Maya are the same age. What high school were you attending?” she asked, rephrasing her question.
“Why?” I didn’t understand why she even cared to know that information.
“Well, you’ve been staying with us for a few weeks, and since it looks like you’ll be staying here for a while longer, I have to see what I can do about getting you registered at Thornwood. You may luck out and get to take some classes with Maya,” she said. Obviously, Maya and I were hiding our disdain for each other very well.
“Can we talk about this later? School is a rather touchy subject for me,” I said, wanting her to drop the conversation.
“No. I feel that this is an appropriate time to discuss this. You have nothing to be ashamed of,” she assured me.
At that moment, I wanted to push away from the table and storm out of the room, but I knew that wouldn’t go over very well with my aunt.
“Seriously, can’t we just talk about this issue later?” I tried pleading with her in hopes she’d catch my drift.
“What is wrong with you, Viviana? It’s just a simple question,” my aunt said, pressing the issue.
“Yeah, Viviana. I’d also like to know what school you went to,” Maya interjected. “Were you on the cheerleading squad? No. Scratch that question. You don’t look like the cheerleading type. Maybe you were on the school dance team? You seem to know how to dance like a—”
Aunt Raven cut her off before she finished. “Maya!”
“What? I was going to say like a trained professional,” Maya smirked. I could tell from her condescending grin that her comment was loaded with sarcasm.
“Now, Viviana, what’s the name of the school where you were last registered?” Aunt Raven wasn’t going to let our conversation rest. I really didn’t want to tell her, because I was carrying a secret I was certain she’d find inexcusable.
“Roberto Clemente,” I answered, not wanting to offer any more information than necessary.
“So, you should’ve finished your junior year, right?” My aunt had asked the question that I had hoped she wouldn’t. I stopped eating my food and exhaled loudly. I shot my eyes over at Maya, who was glaring at me as if she were