Flight to Freedom Read Free Page B

never seemed such an immense amount. Now I understand the concept of infinity that our mathematics teachers have tried so hard to teach us.
Wednesday, 31st of May
    Home! Home! We are headed for home. And you, dear friend, are returning with me—a little dirtier, a bit more frayed, but happy just the same.
Later
    Mami took one look at me and burst into tears. “You have become a woman!” she said, but it did not sound as if she was happy about it. Ana Mari said my skin is as brown as a nut. She rubbed her little fingers on the calluses along the palms of my hands.
    I am too tired to write. My bones seem to have liquefied.
Monday, 19th of June
    I was told I would not be able to enroll in school next year because my family is planning to leave the country. “We do not want to waste resources on the useless,” one of the lead teachers told me. Useless? I receive top marks in most of my subjects. That’s what I wanted to tell her, but I had to bite my tongue as Mami has repeatedly ordered me to do. Besides, thisnews was not unexpected. It happens to many students. Marcos, our next-door neighbor, was kicked out of his last semester in high school because he refused to call his father, a Methodist minister, an antisocial scum in front of his classmates. I feel sorry for him because now he just hangs around the house and tries to do odd jobs. Marcos wanted to study dentistry, but because of his father’s religious beliefs, he won’t be able to.
Tuesday, 20th of June
    We received a letter from Pepito. Actually, let me make a correction. We received an envelope addressed to my parents, José Calixto and Cecilia, in his handwriting, but it was open and empty. There must have been a letter in the envelope at some point, but it either fell out or the government censors kept it.
    The empty envelope did nothing to lift Mami’s spirits. Though I thought a letter—or in this case, a missing letter—could be considered good news because it must mean that Pepito felt strong enough to write it, it seems Mami thought otherwise. She insists that he must be in a dangerous situation, andtherefore the government does not want us to read anything about his whereabouts. She tries to keep from crying, but the tears just roll down her face quietly. I wish Papi were here to console her. As it is, we have not heard from him since he left to work la agricultura.
Saturday, 1st of July
    I walked over to Ofelia’s, but she would not even open the door. “Scat!” she ordered. “I will get in trouble if my mother sees you.” When she said that, my stomach turned. My eyes felt hot. I asked her again, but she would not answer any of my pleas. She has become a person I cannot recognize since she joined the Communist Youth. I can’t believe she would give up on our friendship so easily.
Friday, 7th of July
    Abuelo Pancho’s face was the color of old ashes when he stopped by to tell us that Tío Camilo had been arrested for selling his farm products on the black market. Mami agreed to go with her father to the policestation to find out more details, and now they have been gone for more than three hours. Ana Mari is whining that she is scared, and I do not know what to do with her. I’m scared, too. What if Mami is also jailed?
    I wish Ileana would return. She sneaked out to her friend’s house as soon as Mami and Abuelo went to the police, and we have not heard from her since.
Saturday, 8th of July
    Because this was his first offense, Tío Camilo only had to pay a fine for selling his goods on the black market. He was also forced to spend the night in jail, though Mami and Abuelo Pancho tried everything they could to have him released. When he came to visit us this morning before returning to his farm, he looked like he had not slept at all. He was also very angry.
    â€œI did nothing that was morally wrong,” he bellowed. “These are my products from my farm worked by my