Breaking Through Read Online Free Page A

too young." She chuckled and lit a cigarette. The waiter, dressed as a cowboy, brought us the menu. I glanced through it, noticing the high prices and a long list of different kinds of steak. I always thought steak was steak.
    "What kind of steak do you like?" Mary asked, putting down her menu. Roberto had a blank look on his face. She waited for an answer. I hated her patience at that
moment. I expected her to tell us. At home we had no choices; we ate whatever Mamá cooked.
    Breaking the long silence, I finally said: "I'll have whatever you have."
    "I am going to have New York steak," she answered.
    "Me too," I said quickly.
    "Good. What about you, Roberto?"
    My brother's face turned red. He glanced at me from the corner of his eye, brought the menu up to his face, and said: "I'll have the same."
    "And to drink?" she asked.
    "Just water, please," Roberto answered.
    "Me too," I said.
    "Well, I am going to have a glass of red wine. It goes well with steak," she said. I did not quite understand why red wine and steak went together. Then I noticed that Mary placed one hand on her lap and the other on the table. Papá and Mamá taught us to always have both hands on the table. Roberto must have noticed it too, because he kept changing his mind. One minute he would have both hands on the table, the next minute only one. He finally settled on one, just like Mary. I figured it was the right thing to do, so I did the same. The next thing that caught my attention was that Mary's napkin had disappeared. Roberto's napkin and mine were still on the table. At home we did not have napkins. After taking a
sip of wine, Mary lifted her napkin and wiped the corners of her mouth, and then her napkin again disappeared underneath the table. I thought she had dropped it. I pretended to drop mine. As I leaned down to pick it up, I saw Mary's napkin was on her lap. I placed mine on my lap and kicked Roberto under the table at the same time so that he would notice. He caught my signal and placed his napkin on his lap too. During the rest of the meal, Roberto and I did exactly what Mary did. I figured she must have noticed what we were doing because she did things very slowly, giving us time to follow. Roberto and I did not enjoy our meal, but we had a good time being with Mary.
    Roberto and I continued going to school and working in the fields after school and on weekends. We missed our family and worried about not being able to send them money to help them out. We were barely making ends meet ourselves. But things were about to change.
    One day after school, Roberto came to pick me up at El Camino Junior High as usual. I heard the screeching of tires as he turned the corner and came to a halt.
Something must be wrong,
I thought.
Why is he in such a hurry? I hope it's not bad news from Mexico.
When I saw him beaming, his two large front teeth more visible than ever, I was relieved. "Guess what, Panchito?" he said, out of breath. Before I had a chance to ask, he blurted out, "I got my job back! I'll start Monday."
    "At Main Street School?"
    "Yes! Mr. Sims offered me the job back. He told me that the man who replaced me didn't work out. He was fired. I feel bad for him, but it's great for us, Panchito. It's my ticket out of the fields and to more money."
    I was happy, but sad too. It meant that I would have to work in the fields after school by myself. My brother noticed my excitement disappear. "You can help me like before," he said, putting his arm around me. "And, who knows, maybe I can get you a job there too. Come on, cheer up!" That evening we celebrated with extra helpings of ravioli and vanilla ice cream.
    We picked carrots that weekend. All day Sunday at work I could hardly wait for the day to end. I savored the thought of helping Roberto clean Main Street School and not having to work in the fields any longer after school. I glanced over at Roberto, who was emptying his bucket into a sack. He towered above the long row of full sacks