Renata was in charge of making dinner for the family, which consisted of herself and Grandma. She had no memories of her mama, who had lived with them until Renata was three. Then she died of drugs. Daddy, well, people didn’t talk about him. Nobody told her this, but Renata was sure Mama drove him away. She liked to imagine that he went on to a big career in television.
Renata had no other family in the United States. Grandma’s parents passed on when she was little. Her brother was a carpenter and her sister a goatherd. Both lived deep in the Mexican jungle. They hadn’t spoken in years. Not having relatives is the price you pay to live in the land of opportunity. That’s what Grandma always said. She intended for her granddaughter to go to a fine Ivy League college so that someday Renata could buy the two of them a house on Long Island. She planned to raise Renata right, not like she did with Mama. Grandma was stricter this time around. She insisted on chores, good grades, and no back talk.
When Renata came home from school, she spent her first hour visiting with the old people who sat in their lawn chairs in front of the building. They fawned over Renata, and on Thursdays, Mrs. Alvarez made her Rice Krispie treats. If it was cold or rainy and her friends weren’t outside, she’d do her assignments right away. After homework, Renata did housework. Monday was laundry and sheet changing. Tuesday was vacuuming. Wednesday was grocery shopping. Thursday was bathroom cleaning. Friday was dusting and polishing. Making dinner came after the daily job. They lived in a studio apartment in subsidized housing. Grandma could afford a bigger place, but she was putting money away for a down payment on a house. With such a small space, no task was ever too hard. Renata liked doing chores. They made her feel important. After all her work was done, she watched TV and waited for Grandma.
Grandma took care of a much grander apartment that belonged to Christy Hayes, the sports lady who was on all the billboards. When Grandma first went to work for her, she did everything—the cooking, cleaning, and shopping. Last year, after Christy married Michael, Grandma was promoted to be the boss of all the other cleaners and cooks at their Fifth Avenue apartment. The place had more rooms than Uncle Bill’s penthouse on Family Affair. That was one of Renata’s favorite shows on TV Land, the best channel on cable because it showed all the great sitcoms from the olden days. On school holidays, Renata usually stayed home alone and read or watched old shows and the Cooking Channel or Home Shopping Network. Sometimes, Grandma took Renata to work with her. A few times, Christy was there. She was a pretty lady and would always ask Renata questions about herself, which made sense to Renata because naturally Christy would want to get to know such a likable and gifted child. Christy always sent Renata presents for Christmas and birthdays, really big ones like an iPod and a computer. She even funded her college account because she didn’t want Grandma to worry about saving for higher education. The reason Christy could afford to do all that was because she was working real hard at the kind of job Grandma aspired for Renata to have someday. Not a domestic job, a professional job.
After she’d finished changing the sheets, Renata sat on the couch and wrote in her diary, as she did every day:
DEAR DIARY,
ITS AFTER 8 AND GRANDMA’S NOT BACK YET. IT MUST BE BECAUSE MICHAEL AND CHRISTY ARE SLOBS. THEY HAVE GRANDMA PLUS A BUNCH OF OTHER SERVANTS AT THEIR HOUSE AND GRANDMA NEVER GETS HOME BEFORE 9. I BET MICHAEL THROWS HIS CLOTHS ON THE FLOOR WHEN HE GETS UNDRESSED. HE PROBABLY SPLASHES WATER OVER THE EDGE OF THE TUB AND EATS WITH HIS FINGERS. I BET CHRISTY HAS A MAID JUST TO WIPE HER BUTT JUST LIKE THE QUEEN DOES. REALLY, THERE IS SUCH A JOB AS A BUTT WIPER, WHICH IS WHY I’M GOING TO COLLAGE SO I’LL NEVER HAVE TO BE ONE. GRANDMA SAYS SHE HAS TO TAKE SPESHAL CARE OF CHRISTY BECAUSE SHE’S ALL ALONE IN THE WORLD. I TAKE CARE OF GRANDMA BECAUSE SHE HAS HIGH BLOOD PRESURE. NO ONE TAKES CARE OF ME, BUT THATS OKAY BECAUSE I’M A ROLLING STONE.
YOURS VERY TRULY,
RENATA RUIZ
Renata’s favorite book was Harriet the Spy. It was Harriet who had inspired her to watch, listen, observe, and keep notes about things. So far, she had filled three journals. Renata wasn’t as daring as Harriet, who would actually break into people’s houses to spy on them. In the projects, that could get a girl killed.
The buzzer went off and Renata took the chicken out of the oven. “First, I must chop the chicken into small pieces, like so,” she said, chopping for the imaginary home audience. Renata often practiced having her own show on the Cooking Channel when no one was looking. She would set Grandma’s vanity mirror on the kitchen counter and look into it like it was a camera. Placing the chicken, chopped tomatoes, and onion into a glass dish, she continued. “Now I’ll add the Ortega salsa, diced green chilies, and
