Angela 3. David A. Bedford

the effects of the commercialization of our health care system, someone like that. Be thinking about a topic you would like to explore.”

      “Mrs. Perez, that will be a lot of work,” objected Yves, although with good humor.

      “Yes it will,” she answered. “But you will have all year to work on it. You will learn a lot in the process, not the least of which will be how to do college-level research and reporting. You’ll be glad you had this training.”

      She went on to give them the upcoming deadlines for assignments and talked about the first composition and put up on the screen a page from Bill Bryson as an example of well-written prose and an engaging style. Then the students began writing on their first text and the teacher circulated, reading what they were producing and giving suggestions.

      After class the friends gathered briefly in the hall. Alcides laughed: “It’s not going to be easy for me. English is still new and I have problems with the spelling.”

      “In a few days we can all get together and compare what we are doing,” Angela said. “I’ll ask my mom if we can study at my house.”

      Her friends from the previous years smiled, knowing they would be welcome there and Emilia, Juan Carlos, and Alcides were pleased at the idea. Then they all went in different directions. Angela headed to dance class, feeling excited. She was the first to arrive and Ms. Amberg met her happily:

      “Hi, Angela. This is going to be a great year. We have three big shows and parts for all of you. Maybe more parts than dancers!” she joked. Just then Jo, another senior dancer who at times felt highly competitive towards Angela walked in, closely followed by a knot of other dancers, including Sonya. When all the students had arrived and sat on the floor, Ms. Amberg greeted everyone and said:

      “We have a twenty per cent increase in male dancers this year. Last year we had five and now we have six!”

      The girls giggled happily and then applauded raucously. The boys smiled.

      “We have three productions this time around and there will be parts for all the dancers.”

      They all looked at her expectantly.

      “In November we will do a choreographed review of Americana for Veterans Day. In March there will be big dance scenes from operas and musicals and then the first week of May the school musical will be South Pacific, which has several dance numbers and of course needs male dancers.”

      The girls cheered again, happy to have more boys in dance. The boys, Angela observed, seemed delighted to be among so many girls.

      “Now all of you begin saving up because I am planning on a big field trip next month. It will be overnight so there will be some hotel costs and several meals. We will have some fund raisers to help out.”

      She explained a little more about the field trip and then set them to doing stretching exercises. After that was practice at the barre, followed by a sequence of jazz steps everyone enjoyed. Angela was tired, relaxed, and happy, still feeling the wonder of music and movement, when her mom, Susan Fournier, picked her up. She recounted the day’s events happily all the way home.

      When the front door opened, the first to appear was Thelonius, the black Burmese cat, who wound his way around Angela’s ankles and then Susan’s, purring loudly. Amy, Angela’s little sister came bounding behind Thelonius and jumped up to put her arms around Angela’s neck.

      “Hi, Angela! How was school? Did you like your classes? Did you meet new friends? I did!”

      “That’s great, Amy,” Angela answered, laughing because she was reminded of herself pelting people with questions to find out about them. “I like my classes and I met new friends, two whose parents came from Mexico and one who came a couple of years ago with his family from Argentina.”

      Amy let go of Angela’s neck and settled back on the ground. “Where’s Argentina?”

      “A long way from here. A quarter of the way around the world in South America.”

      “Wow!” Amy reacted, pondering just what all that could mean.

      “Gigi!” It was her brother Andrew, who would be going back to San Antonio in a few days to start his junior year at college.

      Angela hugged him. Then they all filed into the house. After putting her things in her room, Angela joined the rest in the kitchen, where preparations were being made to start cooking dinner. As Susan pulled ingredients out of the refrigerator and pantry, Andrew teased Amy by calling things by their wrong name to her loud protestations.

      “And this is an onion,” he said, holding up a lemon.

      “No it isn’t! It’s a lemon. Andrew, you’re weird.”

      “Give her a break,” ordered Susan.

      “Ok, Mom. You’re right, Amy. It’s really not an onion… it’s an alligator.”

      Amy stuck her tongue out at Andrew. Watching them all, Angela was overcome by giggles, frustration, and affection. She tapped Andrew on his shoulder. “Here,” she said. “Let’s peel potatoes for Mom.”

      Dinner was delicious and Andrew behaved himself, chatting comfortably with everyone. Angela felt happy to see that he was feeling stable and upbeat. He had seemed calmer and less angry this summer about their parents’ divorce. Everyone went to bed in a good mood, for once.

      ***

      The following morning, Fiona met Angela outside the front door.

      “We’ve got trouble,” she announced.

      Chapter 3

      “What’s going on?” Angela asked, her thoughts going immediately to the KittyKats.

      “Come see.”

      The two girls entered the school and walked to the first hallway on the right. There they saw the KittyKats in their familiar coordinated attack formation, reminiscent of the velociraptors in Jurassic Park, surrounding Juan Carlos and Alcides.

      “… don’t need foreigners taking our jobs!” Kitty was saying. Angela was shocked. She had no problem with Sonya being foreign, I guess because she thought Sonya would be too much competition for me. But that’s so inconsistent!

      “My parents are doctors and were given permanent residence because the country is short on doctors, especially in small places like this.”

      “I’ll believe it when I see your papers,” Kitty retorted, to the amused assent of her gaggle.

      “You have no right to see anyone’s papers,” said Alcides, with an equanimity and lack of anger that clearly frustrated Kitty.

      Juan Carlos jumped in: “I am an American. I was born in Dallas. My parents are naturalized U.S. citizens.”

      “A likely story…” Kitty challenged.

      At this Fiona could take it no longer. “Kitty!” she said. “Where are your papers? Show me your passport.”

      “I don’t have to. I was born here and so were my parents and grandparents.”

      “A likely story. I’ll believe you when I see your papers,” insisted Fiona.

      “You don’t have the right to ask me for an ID!” Kitty shouted.

      All of a sudden everyone went silent. Kitty had been trapped in her own words and she knew it.

      “There’s a difference between people who have been here for generations and immigrants. We set the rules,” Kitty attempted to cover, while Ashley struck poses, trying to get Alcides’ attention. Kitty frowned at her, then nodded at Kat. The girls started to close in on the boys. Alcides looked amused, while Juan Carlos showed apprehension. Suddenly Fiona and Angela moved inside the circle in front of the two boys, while Benjie, who had just joined them, covered their backs