Sixty Days Read Online Free Page A

the same anymore.
    As we enter the main house, Lola and Mama are putting the finishing touches on dinner. As soon as they see us coming through the back door, they put me right to work. I end up setting the table while Mickey goes to take the rest of his stuff to his bedroom upstairs. Once he’s back, we are all set and ready to eat.
    “Shall we say grace?” Lola ask s, raising her eyebrow and clasping her hands. We all just smile and nod in agreement.  “Miguel, mijo, would you do us the honor?” she commands, making it sound like a question. But, Mickey knows better and does as his mother requests.
    “Sure,” he smiles. Clearing his throat he starts to say grace. “Padre Nuestro, bless this food we are about to eat. Thank you for giving us the chance to be here one more day and for blessing us every day. As for the hard weeks about to come, please, God, don’t let anyone kill me. Amen.” He smiles from ear to ear and I can’t help but laugh.
    “MIGUEL! Dios mío que yo voy a ser con este muchacho,” Lola exclaims angrily, but, you can see that she’s trying to hold back a smile.
    “Déjalo , Lolita, así son los muchachos hoy en día,” Mama says, consoling her. She turns her head towards us, a serious expression on her face, showing us that it’s not acceptable behavior. After a few moments, she, gives us her reassuring angelic smile. “Now, let’s eat before the food gets cold, buen provecho.”
    The food is glorious. It’s the typical Puerto Rican dinner. White rice with red beans, fried chicken, and tostones. Nothing better than the Puerto Rican food only my grandmother can make. Mama barely let’s anyone touch her kitchen. She’s the queen and the kitchen is her domain. She has taught me how to cook it doesn’t compare to her.  She could have been a great chef during her days if she had wanted to do so, but she dedicated her life to her husband and kids. She has always been the rock of the family. I truly don’t know what we would do without her.
    “So , did everyone RSVP for the jolly Gonzalez Christmas,” I ask sarcastically.
    “Pues claro, mi niña. They have all been waiting fo r it to happen for a while now,” Mama says, ignoring my tone of voice. “Dios! Tus tios, they were all excited to hear that we were finally going to do something al estilo Boricua. They have missed that. They’ve even taken time off from work for it.” You can see her excitement, her beautiful blue eyes shining with hope.
    “Good. I know they are. I mean, every time they get the chance to go to la Isla they get so excited that it’s almost like they’re four year olds at a big candy shop. It’s kind of hard to miss.”
    “ How is Arianna going to work out coming here when she has school to attend?” Mickey asks quizzically “I know that Lai’s excuse is that they are going to send all the work online until the winter break, but we all know that that’s just something we made up.”
    “I talked to Angel, he told me Arianna was already getting ahead of her school work . What she cannot finish ahead of time, she can do after the break and any other assignments she may have will be sent online. Apparently, there’s some inspiration from our little white lie,” Mama exclaims throwing a conspiratorial wink at me. I can see that she worries about Ari. Once her mother died, Mama helped my uncle Angel raise her and Mary, her sister.
    When Arianna got older, they moved to Texas where my uncle is currently taking care of one of the supermarket chains. “Tu tío, is going to bring Carla over!” As she says this you can see that her worries are over and her unique smile is once again lighting up her face.
    “That’s… interesting, I guess,” I say while shrugging, I really don’t know what else to say.
    Angel lost his wife a year after Arianna was born. Ever since then , he, with the help of my mom and Mama, has been doing his best with raising Arianna and Mary. Mary is a year older than me. Growing up,