The Red Umbrella Read Online Free

… for a boy. But don’t worry about that. What about the meetings? Yousure you can’t go with me? My mother says everyone should go.”
    “Maybe in a few days. When my parents settle down a little.”
    “Yeah, I guess.” Ivette sounded disappointed. “It’s just boring not being able to gossip with anyone. The boys were cute, but the girls there had no sense of style. Most of them were wearing the ugly
brigadista
uniforms. Ugh.”
    I laughed. Ivette always had a way of making me feel better. “And you, Miss High Fashion, what were you wearing?”
    “Are you kidding? I had this pretty yellow and white dress that matched my purse perfectly. No one says you can’t rebel in style.”
    Ivette chuckled at her own joke.
    “Ooh, and I almost forgot to tell you the
chisme.”
Ivette lowered her voice. “Did you hear about Laura Milian’s dad?”
    “No, what?”
    “Seems Little Miss Perfect’s father got arrested last night in some big roundup. They picked up a bunch of anti-revolutionaries. Her father’s such a lowlife. What a stupid
gusano.”
    “What was he doing?”
    “I heard that he was writing lies about Castro. You’d think after they shut down his precious newspaper he’d have learned his lesson. It was the talk of the meeting. They said—”
    Frankie pulled on the phone cord. “Hang up. You’ve been talking for hours.”
    “Hold on, Ivette. Frankie’s being a brat.” I pushed him away.
    “Mamá, Papá, Lucía isn’t helping!” Frankie yelled from the bottom of the stairs. “Mamá! Papá!”
    “Ivette, I gotta go. My parents think I’m setting the table, and Frankie’s ratting me out.”
    “Okay, okay. Call me tomorrow.
¡Besos!”
    I hung up the phone and looked up toward Frankie’s room. The door had remained shut. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know what they were still talking about.

Chapter 4
    C RIME TO H AVE F OREIGN M ONEY IN C UBA N OW
    — T HE V ALLEY I NDEPENDENT , M AY 6, 1961
    After two full days of drenching spring storms, the darkest clouds parted and I began a campaign to recover my freedom.
    “Please, Mamá, Frankie can go, too. We’ll get groceries. Don’t you need something? Anything?”
    Mamá grabbed a pencil and began making a list.
    I grinned. Finally, I was going to escape from house arrest.
    “Okay,
vámonos.”
Mamá folded the paper and tucked it into her skirt pocket. “Call your brother.”
    “What? No, I meant I’d go for you, not with you.” The moment I said it, I braced myself for a tongue-lashing. I could already hear the words.
¡Qué falta de respeto!
What disrespect!
    Mamá simply raised an eyebrow and continued to fasten her light blue pillbox hat into place.
    I followed as she walked to the hallway mirror to put on some lipstick. “Please, I need to be with my friends. What if they open up the schools tomorrow and I miss my chance to have fun? I can’t take being cooped up anymore!”
    “Lucía,
por favor
, it’s barely been three days.” She popped her lips together. “You act like you haven’t seen them in months.”
    “It might as well be! You and Papá treat me like a baby! I’m fourteen. Kids my age are leaving home to join the revolution and you act like I’m still a little kid. Pretty soon you’ll make me hold your hand when we cross the street!”
    This time Mamá was not going to let it slide. She spun around. “Lucía, you watch your tone! I will not have you disrespecting me. When I was a child, I would never speak to my mother in that way. You have no idea what your father and I are going through.”
    I turned and rolled my eyes. What
they
were going through? What about me? My only consolation was knowing that someday I’d be free of all their stupid rules and worries.
    “Frankie, let’s go. We’re going into town.” Mamá pulled back the curtain, revealing the overcast sky. She took a deep breath. “I know you’re upset, Lucía. Look,if we have time, we’ll go by Machado’s Pharmacy and see if they have any