Gaby, Lost and Found

by Angela Cervantes

  He backed up. “What’s going on?”

  “Please, just read my palm.”

  Marcos took her hand and peered closer. “Let me see … You have a strong life and head line on your right palm. Let me see your left.” He took her left hand in his. “You have deep lines on both hands.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Deep lines mean a strong soul.”

  “I don’t care about that. I need to know if I’m moving or not.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t see travel — what’s going on, Gaby?”

  “Thanks for nothing!” She got out of the car, slammed the door, and ran through the alley. She headed straight to the Parkway Bridge. She wished she could run to Alma, but she knew that was out of the question. Her father was probably already at Alma’s house, calling her an ungrateful brat.

  Gaby ran until she fell on a soft spot of grass under a tree. She sat down, leaned back against the tree, and listened to the cars zoom over the bridge. If there were creepy-crawly snakes or mice in the high grass, she didn’t care anymore. Nothing could hurt worse than knowing her mom wasn’t coming back.

  It was so unfair. Other people had their moms and dads. Why did it have to be so hard for her? She wished her mom had never left and that everything could be the same as it used to be.

  An engine roared from behind her. She turned to face the noise. A pickup truck pulled over along the curb and parked. She slinked down. If it was her father, then that meant someone — Alma or Marcos — had told him about the Parkway Bridge.

  Gaby hoped it wasn’t her father. She knew she couldn’t stay out all night, but she didn’t want to face her dad just yet either.

  A short, stocky man got out of the truck. It was definitely not her father. Suddenly, Gaby felt scared. She was all by herself, and no one knew where she was. Gaby thought of her mom. Was this what it was like when she had traveled to the United States? Her mom had been so alone and scared. Now, Gaby was scared, too.

  The man lifted a duffle bag out of the back of the truck and began shaking it out. What was he doing? That’s when Gaby heard high-pitched yelps. For the hundredth time that day, Gaby’s heart pounded. Once the man was done, he threw the bag into the back of the truck, got behind the wheel, and drove off.

  She crept toward the cries. She was about to take one more step when she saw a tiny black kitten at her feet. Gaby picked it up. It was as small as the palm of her hand. She counted five more squirming and mewing on the ground. “It’s okay, kitties.” It was unbelievable that someone would just abandon kittens as young as these. The next thing Gaby knew, she was trading the kitten for a rock and running after the truck.

  “What kind of monster are you?” She threw the rock. The truck was still in sight, but too far away for her rock to get anywhere near it. She picked up another one. “You can’t just dump animals” — she threw the rock — “and leave them alone out here!” She launched another. Gaby kicked dirt and gravel up until she lost her footing and fell hard on the ground. She would have stayed there, if it wasn’t for the sound of the tiny kittens mewing.

  They sounded more like small birds than cats. Gaby got up and dusted herself off. Carefully, she scanned the ground and gathered the kittens one by one into a nearby cardboard box. “It’s okay, gatitos.” She sat down on the grass. Her head hurt. “You’re with me now.”

  A sound of metal screeched. “Gaby!” Alma yelled.

  Gaby raised a free hand and shouted back, “Over here!”

  Alma and Marcos jumped off their bikes and raced to Gaby’s side. Alma shook her head and grabbed a kitten. “Why is it that every time I find you in trouble, there’s a cat involved?” She stroked the kitten with her fingertips.

  “I know. It’s crazy,” Gaby managed to say. “Some man dumped them … like they were nothing.”

  Marcos took a couple of kittens and kissed their heads. “We heard about everything, Gaby,” he said.

  “No one blames you,” Alma added. “Your dad came over to our house. He was really upset. Then my parents got upset at him. Then my parents called your mom and she was upset that you ran off and —”

  “Basically, every adult we know is freaking out. She gets it, Alma,” Marcos interrupted. Gaby gave a weak smile. Marcos and Alma. Her heart felt sore. She didn’t want to move to Dodge City with her father. It was bad enough her mom was never coming home; she didn’t want to lose her best friends, too.

  “Alma, I’m so sorry about what I said. I didn’t mean it. I love your family.”

  “Aha! I knew you guys were fighting,” Marcos said.

  “Really?” Alma snapped at him.

  “Do you forgive me, Alma?” Gaby asked.

  “Only if you forgive me, too.”

  “Hug it out! Hug it out!” Marcos directed. The girls hugged.

  “We’ve got to get you and these precious kittens home,” Alma said. “Are you ready to come home?”

  “Home? Where is that?” Gaby choked up. “My dad is moving us to Dodge City.”

  Alma helped Gaby up on her feet. “I have a better idea. You have to tell your dad that you want to move in with my family. It’s what you want, right?”

  “You two in the same casa?” Marcos shook his head and whistled. “There goes the neighborhood.”

  “It’s what I want, but my dad will never go for it.”

  “You have to try to convince him, Gaby.”

  Gaby looked down at the small kittens in the flimsy cardboard box. She had thrown rocks at a stranger for them. She had smuggled Feather out of the shelter to save her. If she could do all that, maybe she did have the strength to tell her dad that she didn’t want to go to Dodge City, and maybe this time he’d listen.

  When they reached Alma’s house, pizza covered one end of the dining room table. The aroma of pepperoni made Gaby’s mouth water. Except for the fruit Mrs. Sepulveda gave her earlier, she hadn’t eaten anything all day.

  Alma ran to the basement to find a sturdier box and old towels for the kittens’ bed, almost crashing into her mom as she came out of the kitchen.

  “Sweet Gaby, we were so worried.” She kissed Gaby’s forehead. “But I see you found some friends.”

  “Actually, they found me.” Gaby handed her a kitten.

  “Newborns!” Mrs. Gomez exclaimed. “So precious!”

  “Some dude dumped them at the Parkway Bridge,” Marcos said.

  “What a creep!” Mrs. Gomez exclaimed. She kissed the kitten and took it to the couch. “I’d like to dump him. Give him some of his own medicine. What do you say about that, gatita?” Mrs. Gomez held the kitten close to her chest. “Cats this young shouldn’t be separated from their mom.” She looked up suddenly at Gaby. “How are you holding up?”

  “I’ll survive.” Gaby shrugged. “Can we take them to the shelter tomorrow? Dr. Villalobos will know what to do.”

  “That’s a good idea.” She tucked a loose strand of Gaby’s hair behind her ear. “Your dad was here earlier, but he left to go look for you. I want to call him to let him know you’re safe, okay?”

  Gaby nodded. “Did Mr. Gomez go with him?”

  “No, Mr. Gomez went on his bike to ride around and talk to neighbors in case someone saw you.” She picked up her cell phone and walked to the dining room table. Gaby dreaded seeing her dad. He had already freaked out about one cat. What was he going to say about a whole litter?

  Alma returned with towels and a box. They set up a bed for the kittens. Gaby wished she could go to bed and then wake up to find that the entire day had just been a bad dream and her mom was on her way home.

  Mrs. Gomez got off the phone and yelled for them to start eating. Alma grabbed glasses filled with ice cubes and her mom put a pitcher of lemonade on the table. All of them took a seat and divvied up slices of pizza. Mr. Gomez came home just as Gaby was taking her first cheesy bite. He went around the table and kissed each of them on the top of their heads before sitting down.

  “Your dad said he was glad you’re sa
fe,” Mrs. Gomez said.

  “Is he coming over?”

  Mrs. Gomez exchanged a worried look with Mr. Gomez. “I talked to him. He said he had some things to do tonight.”

  Gaby’s head dropped. Was her father even worried about her? She took a deep breath. Mr. Gomez reached out and patted Gaby’s hand.

  Between bites of pizza, Gaby apologized for lying, and told them what happened with Feather at home, about her visits with Mrs. Sepulveda and Dr. V., and her talk with her mom.

  “All this time, I’ve been waiting for my mom to come home and then she tells me I have to be more patient. And meanwhile, my dad wants to drag me to Dodge City.” Even though her stomach growled, Gaby ignored the second slice of pizza on her plate.

  “No one cares about what I want.” She scooted back from the table. “I’m sorry, I can’t eat anymore.” She got up from the table and walked outside to the playground set that she’d played on since she and Alma were children. She climbed the ladder to the slide and sat at the top.

  Alma’s family had bought the swing set on Alma’s fifth birthday. The day it arrived, all the parents, including Gaby’s mom and dad, gathered to put it together. Once it was done, the children played for hours while the adults grilled hamburgers, talked, and listened to music that made everyone’s hips move. For years, Alma’s backyard was the hit of the neighborhood. Gaby and every kid on the block had gone down the slide, and Alma and Marcos had banged up their knees hundreds of times jumping off the swings in midair.

  A few minutes later, Alma and Marcos came outside and sat down on the swings. Gaby was grateful that they didn’t speak to her or try to make her explain how she felt. They swung in silence. Then, from inside the house, the phone rang. A lump as big as a mango formed in Gaby’s throat. It rang twice before Mrs. Gomez came to the back door and called for Gaby. “Your mom is on the phone. She wants to talk to you.”

  Gaby sat frozen. Alma and Marcos stopped swinging. She could feel their eyes.

  For months, she had raced to the phone to talk to her mom. Now, she didn’t want to hear what her mom had to say. She didn’t want to hear she wasn’t coming home.

  “Gaby?” Alma said.

  “Tell her I don’t want to talk,” she said.

  Mrs. Gomez hesitated as if she wanted to say something, but she didn’t. She went inside.

  “Why did you do that?” Marcos asked.

  She took a deep breath. “From now on I’m going to decide,” Gaby said softly, “what’s best for me.” Gaby closed her eyes and slid down.

  On the way to the shelter, Gaby dozed in and out of sleep. She had spent most of the night tossing and turning. Ever since her mother had been deported, it was usually question after question that kept her awake. Now, Gaby had answers, and she could respond to those questions like she was taking a true-and-false exam at school.

  Gaby’s mom will be home soon.

  False! In fact, her mom is never coming back. Ever.

  Gaby’s father will find a good job.

  True! Her father found a new job in a new city and is moving three hundred miles away.

  She moved closer to Alma to look at the box of kittens on her lap. The kittens were snuggled tight against one another. They had no problem sleeping.

  “Your mom called again before we left the house,” Alma’s mother said from the driver’s seat. “She really wants to talk to you. When do you think you’ll be ready to talk to her?”

  Gaby petted the kittens. “I don’t know.”

  They turned into the Furry Friends Animal Shelter parking lot. Dr. V. greeted them wearing a bright Japanese anime T-shirt. “You’re here!” he sang. Gaby suddenly felt happier.

  Dr. V. introduced himself to Alma’s parents and gave Alma and Gaby a hug.

  “Is Feather still here, Dr. V.?” Gaby asked.

  “Yep, her former owners haven’t shown up yet and I close early on Sundays.” He took the box of kittens from Alma. “So if they’re not here by four o’clock, they’re out of luck, which will be the third time they’ve failed to pick her up.”

  Gaby shot Alma a hopeful look. “Maybe they’ve forgotten about her.”

  “They’ve done it before,” Alma said.

  Alma took her parents to Spike’s cage outside. When Dr. V. and Gaby entered the clinic, Gaby rushed to Feather’s cage, but Feather wasn’t there.

  She gasped. “Where is Feather?”

  “She’s in the cat room.”

  “But that … that would mean … Feather could be adopted by anyone.”

  He gently placed the newborns into a crate lined with a soft blanket. “These kitties are lucky you found them.”

  Gaby went to help him. “Dr. V., what’s going on? Why is Feather in the cat room?”

  “I was thinking about what you said. You know, about you and your mom adopting Feather …”

  Gaby’s stomach churned.

  “I put Feather in the cat room so that she could be adopted, and guess whose name is at the top of the waiting list?”

  “Mine?”

  “Yep!”

  Gaby gazed at the newborns and frowned.

  Dr. V. watched her. “What’s wrong? I expected at least a high five.”

  Gaby sat down on the office chair. “My mom isn’t coming home.”

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  She wasn’t sure if she should tell him. There were some people, like Dolores and Jan, who disliked people like her mom. Still, she knew Dr. V. was nothing like Dolores and Jan.

  “I don’t want you to think bad about my mom, but before I was born my mom snuck into the country. You know, without legal papers?” Gaby glanced up to see Dr. Villalobos’s reaction.

  “Go on. What happened?” he asked.

  “Three months ago, immigration raided her work. She wasn’t even supposed to be there that day. It was her day off, but she was covering for a woman who had a sick baby at home. They deported her and now she says it’s too dangerous to make the trip back.” Gaby looked down at her hands. “So we won’t be able to save Feather, Dr. V. You’ll have to find someone else to adopt her. Someone who will love her the way I do.”

  Dr. Villalobos crossed his arms. “Feather will be fine. Cats always land on their feet. I’m worried about you” — he pulled Gaby up and gave her a hug — “and your poor mom. It must be killing her to be away from you. I can’t even imagine.”

  “Well, she could come home if she wanted. I mean, she’s done it before.”

  “Gaby, I don’t want to upset you, but if your mom says it’s too dangerous, then she probably knows better than any of us.”

  Gaby stared blankly at him. He was right. Her mom would know better than anyone. Didn’t her mom used to cry whenever she talked about her first journey to the United States?

  “I just want her home so bad,” Gaby finally mumbled. “I miss her so much.”

  “Of course you do.” Dr. Villalobos nodded. “Everyone needs their mom or dad. Even the dogs and cats in the shelter need their moms. Unfortunately, they get me.” He shrugged. “Look, sometimes, when I have a problem, I talk to the cats. Cats have great ears for listening.” Dr. V. led her out of the clinic and into the cat room. “Maybe a visit with Feather will help.”

  As soon as Gaby entered, Feather rushed to the front of her cage and mewed. Soon, there was a symphony of meows as all the cats sat up to greet her. Even Snowflake, who typically ignored everyone unless she wanted a ride on your shoulders, strutted over from the windowsill to rub against Gaby’s leg. It was like they knew she needed them more than ever.

  Gaby pulled Feather out of her cage and swayed with her like the way Dr. V. held Feather that first day at the shelter.

  “Dr. V., when Cinder was adopted you whispered something to her. What did you tell her?”

  From the doorway, he grinned with his whole face. “I told her that even though I’d miss her, I was happy for her, and that no matter how far away she went, she’d always be in my heart.”

  Gaby r
ubbed her face against Feather. She wished now that instead of hanging up, she had told her mom the same thing.

  The entire school day, Gaby watched Mrs. Kohler carefully for a hint that her punishment for catnapping Feather was near. During lunch and in the hallways, Gaby jumped whenever she heard Sister Joan’s voice. She was sure Sister Joan was going to sneak up behind her, snag her earlobe, and drag her to the dungeon.

  When the last bell of the day rang without any earlobe snagging, Gaby rushed through the hallway, weaving between students, to reach her locker, grab her books, and escape.

  “Hey, speed walker,” Alma yelled behind her. “Wait up!”

  Gaby had just slammed her locker shut when Mrs. Kohler appeared.

  “Gaby and Alma, we’d like to see you both in Sister Joan’s office,” she said. “Bring your things.”

  “But my mom is outside waiting for us,” Alma said. “She’s super impatient.” Alma and Gaby slung their backpacks on.

  “Actually …” Mrs. Kohler smiled. “Your mom and dad are with Sister Joan right now.”

  “Oh! Well, then, that’s a relief,” Alma said. “Isn’t that a relief, Gaby?” Alma flashed a fake smile at Gaby. “My parents and the principal in the dungeon together. I love surprises like this.”

  “Drop the sarcasm, Alma,” Mrs. Kohler warned. “And if I were you, I’d remove that scarf. Sister Joan is not feeling very lenient today.”

  Alma yanked off her scarf and stuffed it into her backpack. When they reached the dungeon, Alma’s parents and Dr. Villalobos were already seated. Sister Joan sat behind her dark wood desk gazing at Dr. V. with a wide, laughing smile. But as soon as she saw Gaby and Alma, the warning stare came out.

  “Please take a seat,” she said.

  Alma sat next to her mom. Gaby stood and looked around. Her father wasn’t there.

  “What are you doing?” Alma tapped the seat next to her. “Come sit here.”

  Gaby took her seat. Sister Joan faced Gaby.

  “I called your father,” she started. “He said he was unavailable to meet today, but he mentioned that he has found a job out of town and that you’d be moving with him. If that is the case, it’s going to be a real shame for St. Ann’s.” Sister Joan shook her head. “I still remember the day your mom showed up at our convent so many years ago. She arrived with a bucket of cleaning supplies in one hand and you in the other. While she cleaned, you’d sing a song in Spanish and it filled our entire convent with joy.” Gaby’s nose tingled and she felt a lump in her throat. She remembered those days, too. Back then, she accompanied her mom to all her cleaning jobs. Now the faintest trace of lemon-scented soap brought back memories of her mom scrubbing, waxing, dusting, and mopping.