After she hangs up, and Ming is no longer cheering her on, Juanita begins to get cold feet. She can’t help remembering how her brother got mugged last spring when they were visiting Papi, and Miguel took off on his own to Madison Square Garden.
That night, as Tía Lola is tucking her in, Juanita pours out her heart to her aunt. Tía Lola doesn’t lecture Juanita about how, now that she is ten, she shouldn’t entertain such juvenile ideas. In fact, Tía Lola totally understands. “I think everybody should run away at least once in their lives, preferably when they are young and have a lot of energy. Running away takes a lot of energy, you know?”
Juanita wouldn’t know, but she nods.
“You can get very homesick, too.” Tía Lola scrunches up her face, thinking really hard. “Hmmm. Let’s see. How can we have the best parts of running away—the freedom, the adventures, the excitement—without the bad parts: the danger, the homesickness, no one to get our meals or tuck us in at night?”
Juanita is sure glad she confided in her aunt. Running away sounds a lot more complicated than Juanita first thought. “Maybe I can run away somewhere close by, so I can come home whenever I want. What do you think, Tía Lola?”
Tía Lola thinks this is a brilliant solution. “And I have just the place for you to run away to.”
“You do?”
“Tía Lola’s B&B!” Her aunt enumerates all the pluses of this plan: the B&B is empty during the week; Juanita already knows the colonel and the Swords, so she won’t have to break important rules, like not talking to strangers; meals will be provided; she won’t have to miss school and end up flunking fourth grade.
Juanita already feels a lot better about this revised plan. But what about Ming? “She’ll be so disappointed.”
“I’m sure Ming is having second thoughts, too,” Tía Lola guesses. “I think it’s just that she misses you so much, she’ll do anything to get to see you.”
Juanita misses Ming, too, but she doesn’t want to have to run away to New York to get to see her. It’d be so fun if Ming came here instead, and they ran away together to Tía Lola’s B&B. But Ming’s parents have never accepted Mami’s invitation to visit. “It’s like Vermont is mainland China,” Mami has remarked to Juanita.
“So, what’re we going to tell Mami?” As strict as her mother is being, Juanita would not want to worry her.
“You’re thinking very responsibly, like an eleven- or twelve-year-old.” Tía Lola is impressed. “Let’s see. Most runaways leave a note behind. So you can write your mami and tell her where you’ll be and how she can reach you. It’s also a good idea to include when you might be back. Just so nobody moves into your room.”
Juanita sits up, alarmed. “No one is moving in here!” Just because she is running away, she’s not giving up her room.
“I know,” Tía Lola agrees. “But that’s why it’s important to write a note.” Her aunt pushes back the hair from her little niece’s face and plants a kiss on her forehead. It occurs to Juanita that if she runs away, she won’t be getting this special kiss every night.
“Can’t you run away with me, Tía Lola?” Juanita knows she sounds like a big baby, but running away won’t be half as much fun if her aunt doesn’t come along.
“Remember, I have to be here with your brother,” Tía Lola reminds Juanita, whose face falls. “But after your mami gets home, I could ride my bike into town and spend the night with you. After all, you’ll be the first runaway ever at my B&B. I wouldn’t want you to get homesick and have to come right back.”
No way! Juanita should be able to run away from home now that she is ten.
Juanita never realized that running away took so much planning. Which one of her stuffed animals will she bring along? Which favorite book? What outfits will she wear during her time away? And all of these supplies have to fit in her backpack along with her schoolbooks. The plan is for Juanita to get off the bus with Essie and Cari instead of riding it all the way out to their farmhouse after school.
Meanwhile, Mami seems to be improving. Along with emphasizing the responsibilities of being ten, Mami is also allowing Juanita some privileges: like letting her stay up a little later or watch certain movies with adult topics, like dating or murdering; or even permitting her to wear a lip gloss she got as a birthday present that has a little color in it.
But once you’re caught up in an interesting plan, it’s hard to abandon it. Besides, it’ll be fun to stay at Tía Lola’s B&B as a guest. It turns out that Juanita can have any guest room she wants. Then, on Friday, she will have to move upstairs with Essie. It’s parents’ weekend at the college, and all the rooms are filled.
Wednesday morning, Juanita leaves her runaway note taped to her bedroom door:
Dear Mami,
I am running away from home to Tía Lola’s B&B. I love you very much, so PLEASE don’t think that I am doing this because I want another mother. I just need some time to get used to being ten.
If Ming calls, please explain to her that I need to be a little older before I’m allowed to run away to New York City.
Okay, that’s all, except for I should be done with running away by Friday, and then I’ll stay to help with Tía Lola’s B&B over the weekend, and then I’ll come home.
xoxoxo,
Nita
P.S. Please don’t let ANYBODY move into my room!!!
That afternoon, Juanita gets off the bus with Essie and Cari. “Hey, Nita!” Miguel calls out. “This isn’t our stop.”
“I’m running away,” Juanita says breezily over her shoulder. It takes all her self-control not to turn around to watch the shock on her big brother’s face.
Juanita follows the Swords into the house. Colonel Charlebois is snoring away in the front parlor, Valentino asleep at his feet. “We have to be quiet,” Essie says, like Juanita is a dumb five-year-old who can’t figure this out. It turns out that Victoria won’t be back from middle school until a little later. Meanwhile, Víctor is at the college; some part-time coaching has opened up. But he has left his own note posted on the refrigerator.
Essie rolls her eyes as she reads it out loud: “ ‘Hi, girls. Welcome home. After a snack, please begin your homework.’ ”
Juanita can’t believe that even as a runaway, she’s going to be reminded to do her homework!
“But I’m in kindergarten. We don’t get any homework.” Cari pouts like she’s being left out of something fun.
“You’re complaining that you don’t have homework?” Essie looks at her little sister like she’d be too dumb to do homework even if she had some. Then, just like that, Essie tosses the note into the trash can.
“You’re not supposed to do that!” Cari heads toward the trash can, but Essie blocks her way. “Victoria hasn’t read it!”
“Oh, grow up, Cari! We can tell her what it says. Right, Juanita?”
Juanita doesn’t know what to say. She kind of agrees with Cari that you shouldn’t throw out a parent’s note until your older sister, who is responsible for taking care of you, reads it. But Juanita wants to be part of the grown-up world that Essie is including her in.
“Let’s go pick out your bedroom.” Essie has grabbed a bunch of cookies and is bounding up the stairs, making a lot of noise for someone who is trying to be quiet so as not to wake up the colonel.
Upstairs, Juanita goes into a tizzy of indecision over which room to pick. Her favorite is the bridal bedroom. But Essie keeps saying she’s going to throw up if she stands in it one minute longer. The tropical jungle room is so much like her own room, Juanita would be throwing away a rare opportunity to sleep somewhere different if she chooses it. As for the baseball room, whose glories Essie keeps pitching, it’d be like sleeping in Miguel’s room.
Just then Victoria gets home and comes upstairs in search of her sisters. “Where’s Papa?” she wants to know. “Didn’t he leave a note?” That launches Cari into how Essie threw the note away and wouldn’t let her retrieve it from the trash can. Victoria gets all stern and t
ells Essie that she knows she’s not supposed to do that. Soon they are having an argument, just like the ones Juanita and Miguel have. But it’s really boring to watch a silly argument when you are not involved in it yourself.
Juanita slips away downstairs, tiptoes past the parlor, sits down quietly at the kitchen table, and begins her homework.
By suppertime, Tía Lola has joined them. Víctor has some good news to share. It’s not yet a hundred percent for sure, but it looks like his part-time coaching job at the college might become full-time.
The Swords cheer. Papa might soon have both a job and a B&B to run! Maybe they won’t be starving after all.
“So, are you gonna tell Linda you don’t want to be a lawyer anymore?” Essie is talking with her mouth full, but her father is too excited to notice.
“Soon as I have the offer in writing.” Papa might not want to be a lawyer, but he still thinks like one, worrying about written proof and stuff. “In fact, I’ll be enlisting your help in broadcasting the news.”
“What’s broadcasting?” Cari wants to know.
“Broadcast is like when you sow seeds.” Her father makes a gesture. “Throwing something out there for everyone to see and know.”
“Throwing something out,” of course, reminds Cari of what Essie did to Papa’s note. This is too tempting an opportunity to pass up. Cari blabs. Another argument. This is getting old, Juanita is thinking.
While the Swords argue, Tía Lola and Juanita go upstairs to resolve the sleeping arrangements. Juanita still hasn’t decided which room to pick. What does Tía Lola think?
“Let’s see. You’ve got your own tropical room, and your brother’s room is a lot like the baseball room. So, really, the most adventurous choice would have to be the bridal bedroom.” Surely Essie can’t look down on that. Adventure would be Essie’s middle name if she had one.
“Tía Lola, I’m so glad you’ve come,” Juanita admits, stopping just short of saying that she wishes she were back home in her own bedroom. After making such a big deal about running away, she has to hold out, at least for one night.
At bedtime, Víctor stops by to wish her good night. He apologizes for his daughters’ arguing. “Sometimes they can be a pain in the fundillo, you know?” Juanita has to agree that the Swords can be a pain in the butt sometimes. “But they’re good kids. They’ll settle down once they get used to Vermont. Meanwhile, I want to thank you, Juanita. You’ve been such a help, not to mention a great example.”
Juanita’s heart swells with pride. Maybe, even if Víctor and Mami end up marrying, Juanita will feel like she does right this moment: loved and appreciated for herself alone. Just this feeling is worth having run away from home for.
On Friday afternoon, all the children get off the bus in town, including Miguel. Parked in front of Tía Lola’s B&B are several cars with out-of-state plates, including a car with New York plates. If only it were Papi’s rental car and Juanita had her whole birthday weekend to do all over again!
She takes a deep breath. It’s autumn. The air smells like wood fires and minty evergreens. Juanita feels a sudden rush of happiness. Yes, even with her parents divorcing and having to move away from friends like Ming, Juanita is so lucky to be ten and living in a beautiful place with so many new friends and Tía Lola to help with the difficult parts now and then.
Entering through the kitchen door, Juanita hears a familiar voice she can’t quite place. Could it be? It’s only when she hears the adult voices with their Chinese accents that she is sure! “Ming!” she screams. And then she is running toward the front parlor just as her friend is running into the hallway, screaming back, “Juanita!”
Thank goodness, the colonel has already woken up. Otherwise, he’d think he was back in a battlefield, shouting orders to his men, having to fight some war all over again.
That night, the two girls are tucked in together in Juanita’s canopy bed back in her own bedroom in her very own house.
“This is the coolest bedroom!” Ming has pronounced several times. “If I had a bedroom like this, I’d never run away from home!”
Juanita decides not to remind her friend that it was she, Ming, who recommended running away. But, of course, that was before Ming had come for a visit and seen Juanita’s fabulous bedroom.
The lights are off, but there’s a soft glow coming in from the hall. Mami has peeked in several times, saying, “Girls, tomorrow’s a long day.” But the two friends can’t help talking into the wee hours. There are so many stories to tell. Ming recounts how her parents finally decided to come up for a visit.
“Your mom called up my mom and told her you were going to run away to New York if I didn’t come to see you.”
So, it was Mami who thought up this special treat for Juanita! Her birthday has indeed stretched out to a whole second weekend.
“My dad called up your dad for driving directions,” Ming goes on. “He also asked for the name of a hotel where we could stay. Your dad told my dad about how Tía Lola had started a wonderful B&B. Except my dad couldn’t find it listed anywhere. But there was this other B&B right on your road, so my parents called there.”
“Oh no!” Juanita says. “That’s Mrs. Beauregard’s B&B! She isn’t very friendly. I’m so glad you didn’t go to her place.” Tía Lola’s B&B was already full, so they couldn’t stay there either. Thank goodness Ming’s parents finally accepted Mami’s invitation to stay in the farmhouse. This way, the girls could be together.
“But the strange thing is that Mrs. Beau-whatever-her-name-is told my dad that Tía Lola’s B&B had been closed down by the authorities.”
“That’s a lie!” Juanita cries out. Then, remembering that she is supposed to be asleep, she whispers, “It just opened this weekend. And it’s already sold out.”
“My dad said the owner sounded kind of weird. Anyhow, your mom said for us to meet up in town at Tía Lola’s B&B. I’m so glad we finally came to visit.”
The two girls go on talking, fighting back sleep because it’s so wonderful to be together again.
“There’s so much I want to show you,” Juanita whispers to Ming. She starts to enumerate all the things they will do tomorrow, including visit Stargazer’s store, drop in on Rudy’s, explore Colonel Charlebois’s attic, maybe even go out to her teacher Mrs. Prouty’s horse farm.
By the time she leaves on Sunday, Ming will have fallen in love with Vermont. If she ever needs to run away from home, she will know where to come.
How Cari’s Kindergarten Teacher Almost Didn’t Get Married
Cari loves her kindergarten teacher. Not just likes, not just is relieved she isn’t a mean teacher or a strict teacher, but really la-UH-uvs her nice, curly-red-haired fairy-tale teacher. And what is very special is that her teacher seems to love her back in equal measure!
Every morning Cari wants to bring Ms. McGregor a present. Papa explains that now that he is not working as a lawyer, the family has to budget. Cari will have to think of presents that don’t cost money.
With Tía Lola’s help, Cari makes an easy-as-pie apple piñata, which Ms. McGregor shares with the whole class. Cari also brings her teacher a bouquet of late-blooming asters from Juanita’s flower bed; a pumpkin Miguel grew in a patch in the garden; a discarded candied guinea pig Tía Lola says looks too much like a skinny rabbit; some shiny buttons from one of Colonel Charlebois’s old uniforms that he’d gladly donate to the cause (that’s the way he talks); and a pebble that Victoria says is good luck because it has a white ring all the way around it.
But Cari is running out of ideas that don’t cost money.
Thank goodness, Tía Lola comes up with a solution: “Why don’t you draw whatever you want to give Señorita McGregor and just tell her to use her imagination?”
This is an excellent idea! Cari starts out by drawing a picture of Ms. McGregor holding hands with a little brown girl with dark, straight hair and big brown eyes.
The very day Cari gives Ms. McGregor this special drawing, her teacher makes an
announcement to the class: she is getting married. Cari is so excited and claps right along with everyone else.
But a minute later, she’s not so sure she is happy about this. If Ms. McGregor gets married, then she’ll be busy with Mr. McGregor, or no, wait a minute, she won’t even be Ms. McGregor anymore. Cari’s not real sure how it works with last names, but she has heard Tía Carmen say that she is probably going to change her name to Guzmán when she marries Miguel and Juanita’s papi. That way, if they have a baby, Tía Carmen can have the same last name as her child. There’s another thing Cari isn’t happy about. Ms. McGregor, who might not be Ms. McGregor anymore, could have a baby, and then she’ll definitely have her hands full, as everyone knows that you need both hands to hold a baby—or so Cari has been told every time she has been given one to hold.
Every night since she heard about the wedding, Cari has made a wish on a birthday candle that Juanita gave her. It’s one of those trick candles that Essie got at Stargazer’s store to put on Juanita’s cake. You make a wish, then blow and blow, and they don’t blow out! Cari assumes that this being a birthday candle, it preserves its wish-granting properties. So, before going to bed, Cari goes in the bathroom with Victoria, who lights it—Papa has given them permission to do this in the bathroom sink only. Then Cari closes her eyes and wishes that Ms. McGregor won’t get married. Cari tries blowing out the candle, but it flickers and flares up again, so she gets to make the same wish again and again.
“Wow, that must be some wish,” Victoria finally says, startling Cari, who opens her eyes. There is a half-concerned, half-curious look on her big sister’s face. Victoria is hinting that she wants to know what all this wishing is about. But Cari can’t tell. Wishes have to be kept secret, or they spoil on you. And this is one time when Cari really, really needs for her wish to come true.