“I know what cremita is,” Alma said. Something in Alma’s voice sounded a little tired or a little hungry, but that didn’t bother Del at all.
“Well, great!” Del said. “I’m in charge of stirring. It’s the most important part. You can do it next time if you want.”
Alma nodded, and the two girls bounded downstairs.
Abuelita handed Del the big wooden stirring spoon. But Del got distracted looking at her earrings in the shiny metal above the stove, and she forgot to stir.
“Del? I thought you said stirring was the most important part,” Alma said.
“Oh no!” Del cried, looking back down at the pot. She expected it to be burnt or lumpy or sticky. But it was somehow creamy and perfect in spite of her mistake.
On the walk to the playground, Del looked up at a bird chirping in a tree. And she caught sight of something yellow and green and stripy.
“My sweater!” she said. She jumped up a few times, finally reaching a sleeve and pulling it down. “This has been missing for months! It’s my favorite!”
“I’ve never seen a sweater in a tree before,” Alma said.
“Magic!” Del said. “It’s really happening! And listen!” Del did a little dance on the sidewalk. She was staring at her shoes, tapping them and stomping them and making Alma laugh.
“I don’t hear anything,” Alma said. “I just see my crazy cousin dancing around.”
“Exactly!” Del said.
Del explained that all summer her sandals had made a very annoying squeaking sound. But this morning, there was not a single squeak.
At the playground, Del’s favorite swing was free, and all the chalk drawings she and Alma and Evie had made the other day were gone—except for Del’s drawing of Alma’s lake house. The pink chalk home was still there, with a little pink chalk Alma in one of the windows. Alma couldn’t stop looking at it.
“Wow,” Del whispered. “This is the best day ever!” Del wanted Alma to be excited about her lucky day. She wanted Alma to be the way she was last night—happy to be here on Twenty-Third Avenue together. She had the perfect thing to tell her to get her all excited again.
A secret. Alma and Del loved telling secrets. Just like Titi Rosa and Abuelita were always doing.
“I have a secret,” Del said. “I know you don’t know anything about magic because you haven’t been here for long enough, but these are magic earrings. The earrings are bringing the luck.”
11The Big Fight
-Alma-
“Well, I wouldn’t tell anyone that a pair of earrings is bringing good luck,” Alma said, “because it’s not true.” She was getting tired of everything good happening to Del.
“It’s definitely true!” Del said. “Look at my hair. It’s a whole inch longer. I’ve been saying I wished my hair would grow longer forever, and it never does. And last night it did!”
Alma looked at Del’s hair. It didn’t look any longer. Alma was getting especially tired of Del acting like she knew everything about everything. Alma knew things too. Alma knew all kinds of things!
“You just want the earrings to be magical,” she said. “Just like you wanted that lady to be magical. Even Evie knows earrings are never, ever magical.” Alma wasn’t sure this was true, but she liked sounding sure about it. She wanted to feel sure about something in this new life of hers.
Del’s face scrunched up. “Maybe you just aren’t able to see magic,” she said. “Maybe Abuelita and I can see things you can’t. Maybe when you’ve lived with us for longer—”
“You think you know everything,” Alma said.
“You think you know everything,” Del said.
They both crossed their arms over their chests. They both stomped their right foot one time. They both made a hmph noise.
Alma and Del didn’t look so similar, but sometimes it was very, very clear that they were cousins.
“I’m going home,” Del said. “Don’t follow me.”
“I’m going home,” Alma said. “Don’t follow me.”
Of course Alma and Del lived in the same building, so they both had to follow each other home. But they didn’t speak a word.
12On the Nightstand
-Del-
Family dinner was at Del’s apartment that night. At least fifteen people were coming, since so much of the family lived right on this very street. But Del decided to go to bed early.
“You don’t want dinner?” her mother asked. “Titi Clara is bringing lasagna. You love Titi Clara’s lasagna.” Del loved most everything about family dinner. But tonight that didn’t matter.
“We’ve barely seen you girls!” Alma’s father said. Alma’s mother and father had been so busy setting up their new home that Del had hardly seen them. They didn’t know how mad she was at their daughter.
“You don’t even want dessert?” Abuelita asked. She and Titi Rosa were busy making majarete. It wasn’t really a two-person job, but they said it was better when they did it together.
“More love that way,” Abuelita would say.
“No, thank you,” Del said. “I’m tired.”
“Must be all that magic,” Alma mumbled. Maybe Alma thought Del couldn’t hear her, but she could. Del stuck out her tongue. Alma turned to one of her drawings. Del noticed that Alma was always drawing. Del preferred the playground. And maybe since Alma had arrived, Del had made fun of the way Alma could sit in a corner for hours drawing a single face over and over. But it wasn’t like the way Alma was making fun of her now. Not at all. That was very, very different.
“You won’t even give the earrings a chance,” Del said. She thought Alma would be happy to move here. Del had never been happier about anything than she had been about Alma’s move. And she thought Alma would be happy about her good luck. She wanted to share it
