The Liars of Mariposa Island by Jennifer Mathieu EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Authors: Jennifer Mathieu
- Publish Date: September 17, 2019
- Language: English
- Genre: Teen, Young, Fiction
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 4 MB
- Pages: 352
- Price: Free
- ISBN: 1626726337
My brother Joaquin knows the Callahans are back on the
island just by the look on my face. And there’s no doubt he’s
pissed about it.
Squatting on our screened-in porch in front of our door,
working to repair the loose doorknob Mami has been after him
about, he glances up at me and he knows. He just does.
Good, noble Joaquin. Always trying to do the right thing
for Mami and never winning.
His efforts end in explosive
arguments or him cursing her later behind her back, working
himself up into such a frenzy he needs to listen to music on his
Walkman at top volume or guzzle a Budweiser to calm down.
Such a waste of energy if you ask me. Better to ignore her.
Hide from her. Agree with her even if you don’t. It isn’t that
hard to do, really. Not if you do it often enough.
I don’t even have to say anything to him and he figures out
the Callahans are back. After all, school ended last week. It’s
been just a few days since Joaquin walked across the
auditorium stage at LBJ High School in a rented burgundy cap
and gown, and later Mami, Joaquin, and I enjoyed a
celebratory dinner at El Mirador, compliments of Joaquin’s
boss, Carlos. The Callahans always show up a week after
school lets out. It’s been that way since the summer after I
finished seventh grade.
“Hey,” Joaquin says, lifting the bottom of his white T-shirt
to wipe the sweat off his face. He squints up at me.
“Hey,” I answer back. “I have a babysitting job tonight.”
Joaquin stands up, arches his back. He flips the screwdriver
he’s holding in his hand over once. Twice. Both times he
catches it without even looking. He keeps his gaze on me.
“It’s so hot, Elena,” he says. “Why the hell do the Callahans
come to Mariposa Island every summer? Why don’t they go
to, like, the coast of Maine?”
I shrug. “Who can understand the ways of the rich?”
“Fine,” he says. “But I have a shift at the restaurant tonight.
So I hope you won’t be home too late. Someone has to be here
to pour Mami into bed.”
I roll my eyes. First of all, it’s almost always me who pours
Mami into bed. He knows this. And secondly, any chance he
gets to go after Mami, he does. One time in middle school, he
brought home pamphlets about alcoholism from the school
nurse and started marking Mami’s bottle of Bacardi with a
black magic marker. That lasted about two weeks. Honestly,
he can be so dramatic sometimes.
“Mr. and Mrs. Callahan are just going out to dinner,” I say
as Joaquin resumes his squat and peers at the front doorknob
like he and it are about to engage in hand-to-hand combat. “I
have to get the kids into bed, and I’ll probably be done by ten
or so. Maybe ten thirty.”
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