Our First Night
Written by Short Latina
The cold air burns my cheeks and I can’t move my face. My toes are numb and I can hardly keep walking, but my papa keeps leading us down a bright street. There are stores that sell expensive cars and have bright red ribbons on them. We walk a couple of more blocks and before I ask if we are almost there, we stop in front of a brown brick building with a red roof that extends to the street. “Ya llegamos, here it is,” my papa says this as he extends both arms pointing to our new home and it looks like a hotel! This makes me smile and excited to lie on my new warm bed.
I can’t believe we are now going to live in a hotel, I think. I loved living at my grandmother’s house and our two story home before that, but maybe this place has a pool. We struggle to push each suitcase pass the doors. We arrive to an elevator. My papa presses the button and we step inside. We can hardly fit and I am being crushed by one suitcase, but soon, the doors open. Papa takes his keys out from his pockets and opens the door to the apartment he has been preparing for our arrival.
I look inside and I see red, green, blue and pink lights. They reflect on the white walls, coloring the room red. I see that the lights are coming from a small Christmas tree in the middle of the room. Papa waits to turn on the lights so that my brother and I can enjoy our little holiday decoration. It could pass as an ornament and as my brother wiggles out of my mother’s arms and runs to it, I ask, “why is it so small?” I don't know if I grew ten feet or if my dad somehow shrank a Christmas tree and brought it in this room. “This is our Christmas tree!” papa says with excitement. My mom, says “esta chiquito”. My dad looks down as if he really thought this would make us happy. “I like it,” I lie. In reality I am worried the Three Kings will not be able to find our Christmas tree and completely forget to give us our gifts this year. They will probably laugh at this little Christmas tree. “You can’t even fit a shoe under there!”
Papa turns on the lights, and we see the empty white walls, the stained grey carpet and one window facing a brick wall. Papa stands in the middle of the room and give us the grand tour. He points to a stove and says, that's the kitchen. He points to a door and says "that's the bathroom." I start to walk in a really small circle and look around for the door that might lead me to my room. I see a closet door and hope this might be it, but when I open the door, I find a closet full of my father’s clothes and shoes. I don't know what to say. I don't see chairs. I don't see a table. I don't see my bed. I don’t see anything but this tiny Christmas tree.
Papa pulls out three covers and tells us we will sleep on the floor tonight. “Like camping.” he says. I try to think about where my toys will go or where I can put my clothes and if maybe this is only for tonight. I realize there is no TV. I look to mama to see if she can fix it. Maybe she will make papa get a better place. But she seems calmer than I expected, almost content. She explores the single stove and opens the cupboards to see what we will need to buy.
I start to think of all of my toys at home. I think about my bed and my tent in my room and my kitchen set and my dolls, my tiny pink couch and my small black and white TV. I miss it all and my bottom lip begins to quiver, my breathing starts to rise and the tension on my eyebrows hurts my head. I am not allowed to cry without reason, so I start to think of what to say if the tears come. Mama grabs my hands and says “mañana.” Tomorrow is a promise I was often told but usually unfulfilled. Papa tells us that he saved all his checks to buy us new clothes and new shoes and new furniture. I don’t know where all the furniture will go.
Papa sees my face and he notices my panic and asks me if I want American cereal only sold here. I nod and choose to forget about our current situation. My mother starts to make my bed by folding the blanket twice and places it on the grey stained carpet floor. Papa hands me a bowl of black Cheerios with little white dots. I take a bite and realize they are tiny Oreos! My favorite cookie. I take another bite and for a moment, I forget that I don’t have my own bed.
I finish my cereal standing and ask mama for my toothbrush. She tells me she will buy me one tomorrow. She tells me to rinse my mouth with water and tells me to lie down. I ask her for my pajamas but my dad says, “mañana.”
The four of us lie down together. I realize we are finally together again. I stare up at the ceiling as everyone joins me. My brother is between my mom and dad and I am at the edge of the grey cover. I feel like I am about to fall into a crevasse and fall into the pit of gross carpet stains, but then, mama pulls me in with a hug. We sleep together on the floor, hugging each other, holding on to each other. The floor is not so terrible after all. I look at the tiny Christmas tree and smile. “It looks bigger when you lie on the floor,” I say out loud. We all laugh in the darkness and I can feel everyone smiling again.
