CHAPTER 1 Don’t tell Granny Buena okay Ava wiped her face on the sleeve of her sweatshirt She hoped it wasn’t obvious that she’d been crying most of the way back from school Her cousin Nadeem paused on the steps of their grandmother’s house She couldn’t quite read the expression in his large dark eyes This was strange since Ava and Nadeem usually guessed each other’s thoughts without having to speak a word If you don’t want me to say anything to Granny I won’t Nadeem said after a pause But I’m going to tell my mom so it’s not as if you can keep it a secret for long anyway Ava knew he was right Ever since Nadeem’s dad had died a few years ago his mom Noora talked to Granny pretty much every day 1
Well then I guess we should tell her and get it over with Ava took a deep breath and opened Granny’s front door When they dropped their backpacks and sweat shirts in the entryway Granny Buena appeared from the kitchen She looked like a queen would look Ava thought if queens wore purple aprons Maybe her air of elegance came from her curly silver hair proud posture and gleaming jewelry Or maybe it came from something else something deep inside Granny welcomed Ava and Nadeem with a delighted smile that faltered when she caught the expressions on their faces La la la Her lilting accent was kind of Spanish kind of not What’s wrong ninyos miyos Ava couldn’t trust herself to speak Instead she made eye contact with Granny and passed an invis ible mic to Nadeem We’re okay Nadeem said But yeah something happened today at school He gulped and Ava realized she wasn’t the only one who felt like crying Oh my dears Granny opened her arms wide Ava flung herself into that perfumey soft hug which would have been a whole lot softer if Granny 2
hadn’t been wearing her usual bunch of big bumpy necklaces Granny’s hand came up to pat her hair and the tight knot in Ava’s chest began to loosen Come now children Tell your nona Buena everything Granny led them into the living room and settled onto the sofa laying aside her purple apron and tucking in the ends of her flowing dress She patted the cushions beside her invitingly and the kids sat close to her on either side As my own grandmothers used to say mal de muchos es konsuelo she said in a reassuring tone Sharing your troubles is a comfort in itself Ava and Nadeem were used to adults sharing quirky bits of wisdom like this Nadeem’s Muslim mom Noora had a traditional saying for every occasion occasion like A person’s tongue can give you the taste of his heart which made Ava wonder queasily what a heart is supposed to taste like or If you’re a friend of the captain you can wipe your hands on the sail which was just one big unanswered Why As for Granny Buena it seemed like she couldn’t go more than five minutes without quoting an old Sephardic Jewish proverb in Ladino the language of her childhood childhood Ladino was a cool brew of Spanish Hebrew and Arabic with a cinnamon sprinkle of Turkish 3
