“No. I’m going to prepare it.” Jason crossed his arms and looked at Lupe matter-of-factly. “I’m a really good cook now.”
“Oh, really,” Lupe said, like she didn’t believe him.
Jason nodded.
“Since when?” Lupe raised an eyebrow.
“Since the last time you knew anything about me,” Jason fired back. I burst out laughing, then stopped when I saw the look on Lupe’s face. I thought it was pretty funny. Lupe? Not so much.
After school, Lupe and I walked back to the motel, talking about Mrs. Welch and kicking rocks with our feet.
“Maybe we should do something,” I said to her. “With all this 187 stuff, we can’t be the only kids feeling bad.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Like start a club at school or something. Kids against 187.”
Lupe stopped walking. “You want to start a club against 187 at school? You know what people will think?”
That we’re brave? That we care? I thought, but I didn’t have a chance to say it because Lupe answered her own question.
“That we’re illegal.”
Oh.
Lupe put a hand on my shoulder. “Look, I know it sucks. But things are going to get better. This ridiculous bill is not going to pass. In three months, this will all blow over and everything’s going to go back to normal.”
I looked into Lupe’s sure, confident eyes and hoped she was right.
Just as we got back to the motel, Hank’s car pulled into the lot.
“I went down to the paper during my lunch break to talk about placing an ad,” Hank said, getting out of the car.
“So how’d it go? Did you put in the ad?” I asked. He shook his head as my parents and the weeklies all came over.
“What happened? Was it too expensive?” my mom asked.
“No,” Hank said. “It was about one hundred dollars a week for a small color ad right in the Metro section.”
“That’s not too bad. That’s five customers,” Lupe said.
Hank had a forlorn look on his face. “Yeah, but they didn’t want to sell it to me. They said it wasn’t just about the initial payment. It’s about my ability to pay long term.”
Billy Bob put his hands on his hips. “This is outrageous! Fred and I will march right back down there with you and straighten this out!” They grabbed their keys from their pockets and put their sunglasses on.
“You’d better go down without me,” Hank said, sighing.
“No,” Mom said firmly. “We will not advertise in a newspaper that discriminates against people based on the color of their skin.”
She looked into Hank’s eyes.
“We will find another newspaper,” she decided.
Hank found me by the pool later that day. I was sitting on the edge, my feet dangling in the water.
“Why the long face?” he asked me.
I kicked the water, thinking about how I said scapegoating wrong in class and how the paper turned him down. It was so unfair!
Hank rolled up his pants and sat down next to me, putting his feet in the water too.
“I’m mad at the paper,” I confessed, making a face. “And I’m mad at my teacher. She corrected me in front of the other kids, and they all laughed.”
“I’m sorry.” Hank peered down at the water, his shoulders slumped forward, and traced his fingers along the surface. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve been having a tough time at my job too,” he said.
I sat up straighter.
“Remember the Head of Security position?” Hank turned to me. I nodded, peering at him hopefully. “They picked this other guy,” he said with a frown.
“What!” I kicked the water hard with my feet, and it splashed a little on both of us. How could they? Hank was the best security guard they had. He always got to work early and helped out on the weekends if they needed him. “Did they say why?” I asked.
“They said I took too many vacation days,” he said, shaking his head. “That I wasn’t serious enough about my career.” He dried his wet hand on his T-shirt. “Even though the other guy took the same number of vacation days.”
Unbelievable. I could count on one hand the number of vacation days Hank took—and they were never to go on actual vacation. They were always to help out at the motel.
Hank sighed. “Ah, it’s probably for the best,” he said. “I don’t even like that place that much. You know, ever since the Pete Wilson ads came out, my supervisor has been making really mean comments about our Mexican customers. I should just quit and try to find another job.”
That’s when it hit me, like a splash of cold pool water!
“Hey, why don’t you work here?” I asked.
Hank chuckled, like it was a joke.
I clapped my wet hands together. “I’m serious!” I said. “The motel is getting so busy, and my parents are always cleaning. We need another manager for when Lupe and I are at school.”
“It would be nice not to have to drive to work every day,” Hank said with a dreamy smile, kicking the water with his feet.
“It would be amazing! All the customers love you! Plus, you have so many great ideas, like putting the AS SEEN ON TV sign up!”
Hank put a hand to his chin. “I do have a lot of ideas!” he chuckled.
“It’s settled, then,” I said, jumping to my feet and reaching out a hand to pull Hank up. After Hank and I dried ourselves off, we ran out the back to tell my parents the good news.
“That’s wonderful!” my mom exclaimed.
“Hey, you know what that means? We can finally get our medical insurance! We’ll have six employees!” my dad said. “Us, Mia, Lupe and her dad, and Hank—that makes six!” My dad went straight to the phone to call the insurance broker.
“First thing tomorrow, I’m going to get myself a new shirt and some nice trousers. Look like a real manager!” Hank announced.
“Great idea!” My mom beamed. “I’ll go with you.”
My dad put the phone down. “Wait a minute, why do you two need to go shopping?” he asked.
“Gotta dress for success, my friend,” Hank said to my dad, putting a hand on his back.
“We’ll only shop from the clearance rack,” Mom added quickly.
I could tell from the lines on my dad’s forehead that he wasn’t wild about this idea. But it was hard not to feel excited. The Calivista was a real business now! And we’d just made our first hire!
I found my dad out by the pool later that night, gathering the leaves from the water with his net. I picked up my little leaf net that my mom bought me from the dollar store and started helping him.
He was unusually quiet.
“Are you worried about Hank’s salary?” I asked, chewing my lip. I knew I probably should have checked with my parents first before hiring Hank, but I just couldn’t resist. And they knew he was perfect for this job! “Don’t worry,” I said. “Business is booming. Just yesterday, I rented out twenty-five rooms! And Hank will more than make up for his salary, he’s so good with people!”