The Kite

Flyer

R o s n n n c K e lle r
T he Kite
Flyer
and Other Stories
Rosanne Keller

New Readers Press

ISBN 0-88336-560-X
Copyright © 1992
New Readers Press
Publishing Division of Laubach Literacy International
Box 131, Syracuse, New York 13210-0131
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or by any information
storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
Illustrated by Cheri Bladholm

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
T h e Kite
Flyer
and O ther Stories
 I
Table of Contents

7 The Kite Flyer

Can They Stay?

Powerful Medicine
47
New Birth on Pike Street
69
 T he
K ite
Flyer
L osing a Job

Anna is in the kitchen crying into a dish

towel. She is w earing a blue dress. She w ore
this dress for her daughter’s w edding. Her
m atching hat lies o n the table. Anna loves
that hat. She sew ed the flowers on it herself,
by hand. H er husband, Helmut, w alks into
the room.
H elm ut and Anna have b e en m arried for
26 years. H elm ut ow ns the shoe repair shop
1>elow their apartm ent. He w orks long hours.
I Ie even w orks on Sundays som etim es, w hen
the shop is closed. But today he took the
m orning off. He and Anna w ent to their
youngest daughter’s w edding.
 The w edding w as very small. It w asn’t
even in a church. And the bride and groom
only w anted their parents there. They d idn’t
invite anyone else.
In the old days, w eddings w ere grander.
A nna m ade herself a special dress for today
anyway. The bride and groom w ere a
handsom e couple.
And n o w they w ere gone.
My life is over, Anna thinks. She isn’t
thinking of the w edding. She is thinking of
seeing h er daughter drive away. Her last child
has m oved away.
This thought m akes her cry again.
“H ey,” says Helm ut from the doorway.
“This should be a h appy day. W hy are you
crying?” he asks.
“I’ve lost m y job,” cries Anna.
“What?” says Helmut. He laughs. “You
never had a job.”
Anna raises her h ead slowly. She looks at
Helmut. “Never had a job?” she w hispers.
“W hat d o you think I w as doing all those
years?”
H elm ut looks surprised. “You stayed
hom e. You took care of our children,” he
says, “and the house.”
“And you d o n ’t think that is a job?” Anna
w ipes h er eyes w ith the dish towel. She
d o e sn ’t w ant tears dripping on her new dress.
“You d o n ’t understand. All our children are
go n e,” she cries. “Life h asn ’t changed for you
at all. But m y life has turned upside dow n .”
“Listen,” says Helmut. “Children grow up.
They leave hom e. You’ve b e en a good mother.
They all tu rn ed out fine. W hy are you talking
about a job, anyway? You d o n ’t n eed a job.”
H elm ut looks at his watch. “W hen are w e
going to have lunch?” he asks. “I have to get
back to the sh o p .”
 Anna stands up. “Lunch?” she shouts. “Is
that all you have to say?” She picks u p her
hat. “O ur youngest child has m oved across
the United States. And all you think about is
eating and work?”
“She’s only m oved to Kansas,” Helmut
says. “T hat’s not so far. And I’m hungry.”
“T hen fix your ow n lunch!” Anna yells.
She slams the door as she runs out of the
apartm ent.
R un n ing A w ay

Anna runs along the sidewalk. H er blue,

high-heeled w edding shoes hurt her feet.
Tears stream d o w n her face. She d o esn ’t care
anym ore if the tears drip on h er dress.
H elm ut still thinks he is living in the old
country, she thinks. Could Helm ut fix his ow n
lunch? He has never fixed a m eal in his life.
That is w hat wives do.
In the old country, wives d idn’t go out and
work. They stayed hom e and took care of
children. They cooked and w ashed clothes.
They had n o choice.
 But in the old country, children didn’t m ove
away. Children m arried and still lived close to
their parents. Sometimes they even lived at
hom e. They w ere still part of the family.
 This w as true w h en Anna and Helmut
were young. T hey lived in the sam e tow n as
Iheir parents. They broke the tradition w hen
Ihey m oved to America. Life w ould never be
Ihe sam e again.
America is so big. G row n-up children in
America alm ost always m ove away. All of our
children are scattered like seeds, Anna thinks.
I'wo in California. Two in Texas. N ow the
youngest one will live in Kansas.
 Anna loved h er life w h en the children
w ere little. We w ere so busy all those years,
she thinks. H elm ut in the shop, m e w ith the
children.
N ow it’s just the tw o of us. Helm ut still has
his work. But w hat will I do, Anna wonders?
Anna sees the park just ahead of her. She
u sed to bring the children to this park. N ow
she often com es here alone to think.
Anna runs to the edge of the small pond.
She is tired from running. She sits on a bench
to rest. Breathing hard, she looks across the
water. She rem em bers the children playing
there by the pond. “I did w hat I was
su p p o sed to d o ,” she says out loud. “I did m y
job and I did it happily.”
“You did w hat happily?” says a voice next
to her. Anna looks and notices the older
w om an sitting there. It’s Greta. Anna know s
her. Greta is also from Germ any. She w alks
h er dog in the park every day.
Anna is asham ed that Greta heard her
talking to herself. “Hello, G reta,” she says.
“I’m, uh, just counting m y blessings.”
“You m ust have a lot of blessings. You are
out o f b reath ,” says Greta. She looks at Anna.
“W hat are you running from?”
Anna thinks for a m inute. “The future,” she
says. “I guess I’m running from the future.”
The older w om an shakes her head. “It’s
better to turn and face it,” she says.
 Anna d o e sn ’t say anything. She just closes
her eyes. But in her m ind she d o e sn ’t see the
future. She sees the past.
She thinks back to the first few years of
her marriage.
Anna w as 16 w hen she m arried Helmut.
They lived in East Germany. Things w ere
difficult there. Helm ut had to w ork hard as a
shoem aker. H e d idn’t m ake m uch money.
In six years, they had five children. Two
boys an d three girls. T hen they cam e to
America. They w anted their children to grow
up in a dem ocracy.
Anna takes a d eep breath and sighs,
rem em bering.
 At first, they had so little. But they w ere
happy. Anna loved being a mother. She did
not m ind getting u p in the night to nurse the
children. To bring them water. To kiss aw ay
b ad dream s. She even enjoyed sew ing and
taking care of their clothes.
Her favorite m em ories w ere of the family
meals. Anna loves to cook. The kitchen has
always b e en the heart of their hom e.
Anna thinks of Helmut. Sometimes he
com es into the kitchen w hile she cooks. He
sits and drinks coffee and they talk. T hose are
som e of their best times together.
Meals w ere noisy w h en the children w ere
hom e. They all talked as they ate. H elm ut told
stories. The children laughed.

1Q
 “You m ust be thinking good thoughts,”
says Greta. “You are smiling.”
Anna o p en s her eyes. “Children need their
mothers so m uch,” she says. “Some people
(hink it’s a burden. But it’s good to be
needed.”
“And you d o n ’t feel n eed ed n o w ,” says
( ireta.
Anna says quietly, “I feel like a m other
bird w ith an em pty nest.” She looks across the
water. T hen she frowns. “All m y husband
wants is his lunch.”
“Ah,” says Greta. She nods with
understanding. T hen she says, “We hear a lot
about em pty nests these days. But life goes on
after the children leave.”
“Being a m other is such an im portant job,”
Anna says. “It’s all I’ve ever done. Now I feel
like I’ve b e en fired from my job. I d o n ’t know
liow to d o anything else. W ho am I? W ithout
Ihe children, I’m n o body.”
“W hat about your husband?” asks Greta.
“He w orks all the tim e,” says Anna. “He
only com es upstairs to eat and sleep. He
t loesn’t understand. He thinks like a m an from
the old country.”
Greta gets u p to leave. “He is a m an from
the old country,” she says.
T he Kite

After Greta leaves, Anna sits for a long

time. She thinks about Helmut.
In the old country, m en w ere su pposed to
b e as strong as steel. They didn’t cry. They
d id n ’t show their feelings. Or talk about them .
Greta is right, Anna thinks. Helmut is a
m an from the old country.
Has he also done just w hat he w as
su p p o sed to do, Anna wonders? Has he also
b e en h appy to do it?
 Anna rem em bers the night w h en they left
Ihist Germ any. It w as dark w h en Helm ut
w oke h er up. “C om e,” he said. “Get the
c hildren dressed. It’s tim e.”
They w alked through the night. At the
border, H elm ut gave the guard a package.
After that, the guard preten d ed he didn’t see
lhem w alk through. Anna never knew how
I lelm ut did it. She only knew that they had
no m oney w h en they arrived in America.
Anna looks across the pond. It is as still as
a mirror. The trees and the sky are reflected in
the water. She walks to the edge. She looks
<Iow n and sees her face in the water.
 A nna picks u p a stone. She drops it into
the pond. It disappears w ith a splash. The
trees, the sky, and her ow n face are lost in the
ripples.
“This is like life,” Anna mutters. “You think
everything is clear. T hen som ething h appens
to confuse it.” She w atches a long time. The
ripples begin to sm ooth. She begins to see her
face again. Then she notices a m oving shape
reflected in the water.
Anna turns around. Just behind her,
som eone is flying a red kite. At first she thinks
it is a child. But as she looks closer, she sees
it is a woman!
The kite dances in the sky. Anna w atches
the w om an holding the string. H ow
surprising! A grow n w om an flying a kite!
Anything can happen, Anna thinks. T hen
she laughs. W omen d o n ’t always have to do
just w hat other p eo p le expect.
Anna walks over to the w om an. “Could I
fly the kite for a m om ent?” she asks.
Ilelm ut

H elm ut just looks at the d o o r after Anna

leaves. She never slam m ed the door before.
What is the m atter w ith her?
He goes into the kitchen. It seem s em pty
without Anna. The w hole house seem s empty.
It used to b e full of noise and children
everyw here. He sits dow n in the quiet
kitchen. It’s too quiet. Anna m ust feel this
way, too, h e thinks.
H elm ut know s w here she is. She always
goes to the park w h en she has a problem . He
puts o n his jacket. He w alks out the door. He
d o esn ’t slam it. He closes it quietly.
 Downstairs, he enters his shop. Several
pairs o f shoes lie on the counter. He n eeds to
repair them . But the shoes can wait. He finds
a piece of cardboard. O n it he writes Closed
u n til M onday.

H elm ut smiles as he puts his sign in the

w indow . He h asn’t had a w eekend off for a
long time. But this w eekend, the time off is
im portant.
He w alks dow n to the park. W hen he
w alks into the park, he sees Anna. He stops.
H e can’t believe w hat he sees.
Anna is standing in the grass w ithout her
shoes on. H er hat has blow n off her head.
The w ind is catching h er blue dress.
She is flying a kite!
As Helm ut w atches, he feels tears in his
eyes. Anna looks m ore beautiful than ever
before.
Anna turns and smiles w hen she sees
Helmut. She hands the kite back to the
w om an. T hen she picks up h er shoes. She
w alks over to Helmut.
“I’m sorry,” she says.
 “N o,” H elm ut says. “I am the one w ho is
s<>rry.”
“I just feel so useless,” says Anna. “W ithout
the children, I d o n ’t know w hat to do. I d o n ’t
need a job. But I n eed to be n e ed e d .”
I lelm ut looks at her a long time. “You still
have me. I n eed y o u .”

OC
 “I k n o w ,” says Anna. “I w as just thinking
ab o u t that.”
Helm ut takes A nna’s hand. “Come hom e.
I’ll fix us som e lunch.”
Anna stops. She stares at Helmut. “You are
going to fix lunch? You have never fixed a
m eal in your life.”
“But I know h o w ,” H elm ut says.
“W hen did you learn?” asks Anna.
“All these years I’ve w atched.” Helm ut
w inks at Anna. “I’ve had a very good teacher.”
H elm ut picks u p a flat stone. W hen he
throw s it, it skips across the water. T hen he
speaks again. “And I still have a lot to learn.”
 Can
They
Stay?
The D ev il’s H igh w ay

It is July, 1984. The sum m er is blazing hot.

Luis has already w alked 35 miles. His
lliroat hurts. His eyes burn. He is so thirsty.
I le reaches for the w ater bottle tied to his belt.
Ii is em pty. H ow can he go on w ithout water?
The Arizona desert is like an oven.. There is
no shade. Only cactuses and thin bushes. But
l.uis and the three other m en keep walking.
 The sun is like a ball of fire. It burns their
necks and their feet. We are not going to get
there, Luis thinks. We will die here.
Luis and his three friends left Mexico by
m oonlight last night. To Luis that seem s like
years ago.
If they are lucky, they will get to Highway 8.
Ju st n o rth o f th e h ig h w ay is a canal w ith
water. That is 40 miles from the Mexican
border. Forty miles across a desert. There is
n o w ater in this desert.
Many Mexicans cross the border into the
United States here. They have one com m on
dream . They w ant jobs so they can support
their families. They w alk north across this
desert. It is called “the Devil’s H ighw ay.”
There are m any dangers: the heat and the
thirst, the border patrol airplanes, the snakes.
The m en fear the rattlesnakes. But they
fear the border patrol m ore. If the border
patrol finds them , they will have to go back
to Mexico.
The w orst danger is thirst. If you run out
o f w ater too early in the trip, you will die.
Luis know s this.
“Stop,” says one of the m en. “Let’s sit dow n
an d rest.” Luis gets u n d er a bush near the
others. N obody talks. O ne m an passes around
his w ater bottle. They all share the little bit of
water. They throw aw ay the em pty bottle.
 Luis reaches in his pocket. He takes out
Ihe picture of his family. There is his wife,
I''Jena, holding little Maria. Carlos stands
proudly beside her. Carlos is five years old.
Maria is two.
Luis holds the picture tightly. He is risking
11is life for them .
In Mexico, Luis can only m ake about $3-50
a day. T hat’s not enough to live on. And he
can ’t always find work. Sometimes they have
ik >lhing. The farms in Arizona pay m uch
more. If only he can get to one.

31
 Before he left Mexico, Luis prayed a lot.
H e prayed he w ould find a job in the United
States. He prayed that no one w ould find out
that h e w as illegal. H e prayed that som eday
his family could join him. He prayed for a
better life for all of them .
Now, sitting u n d er the bush, Luis prays
again. This time he only prays that he will not
die. Suddenly the m en hear an airplane. They
can see it com ing from the south. “It’s the
b o rd er patrol,” w hispers one of the m en.
N obody says a w ord. But the questions
shout inside their heads. Will the border
patrol see our footprints? Will they arrest us?
Will they send us back to Mexico?
Luis pulls his feet u p close. Will they see
him through the bush?
The m en can see the plane flying low. It is
flying in circles. T hen suddenly, it turns and
flies away.
Luis w atches it disappear. He feels his
body relax. They will not b e caught. Not now .
Not yet.
The four m en start w alking again. They
n eed water. Luis’s h ead aches. His legs feel
like rubber. He feels dizzy.
Luis suddenly feels the hot sand against his
face. He has fallen. Sand is in his m outh and
in his eyes.
“Get up!” one of the m en says. But Luis
can’t get up. He is too w eak.
 “We d o n ’t w ant to leave you h ere,” another
in.in says. “We cannot carry you. Get up!”
I.uis gets to his hands and knees. He can’t
u.ind up. The sand burns his hands. Slowly,
he starts to crawl.
Then one of his friends shouts, “The
highway! The highway! I can see it! Just over
th ere.”
Two o f the m en pull on Luis’s arms. They
pull him along. They are walking as fast as they
can. They have reached the highway. Just on
Ilie o th er side is a canal— running w ith water!
Steady W ork

It is two years later, 1986. Luis is in Arizona.

He is tying grapevines to wires. The w ires
stretch betw een w o o d posts on a hillside.
Luis has done farm w ork all over Arizona.
He has picked beans. He has picked oranges.
N ow he w orks for a farm er w ho grows grapes.
“This farm er treats us like slaves,” says one
o f Luis’s friends. He is w orking near Luis. “He
does not even give us a place to sleep. I hate
sleeping on the gro u n d .”
But Luis does not com plain. For him, this
job is another step tow ard m aking his dream
com e true. He is m aking $2.00 an hour. Not
$3-50 a day. Soon he can send for Elena and
the children.
 Luis has alm ost enough m oney to pay for
ilie trip. Elena and the children can’t w alk that
icrrible 40 miles across the desert. They will
■i>me by truck.
II is n o t legal to bring them here. If they
,m* caught, they will be sent back.
Luis prays they will not be caught.
Luis dream s as he works. He will look for
,i steady job. T hen he w o n ’t have to m ove so
much. Maybe he and Elena can find a little
house.
That summer, it happens. Luis finds a steady
j<)l>. The job is at a farm in Chandler, Arizona.
 The ow ner of the farm is Mr. Dobbs. He
speaks a little Spanish. He d o esn ’t even ask if
Luis is American. He acts as if he d o esn ’t w ant
to know.
Mr. D obbs pays Luis $2.50 an hour. He lets
Luis stay in one of the farm sheds. It is dirty
an d small. The w indow and the hinges on the
d o or are broken. There are cockroaches
everyw here.
But Luis cleans the little shed. He fixes the
w indow and the door. Now he has a place for
his family.
The S eco n d M iracle

Elena and the children are at the Mexican

I>order tow n. They are very frightened. They
get into the big truck w ith som e other people.
II is a furniture truck.
First, the drivers help the p eo p le in. Then
1 1icyp u t furniture across the back. The truck
l<>oks like it is full of furniture.
'['here is not m uch air in the truck. It is hot.
II is dark. The people can’t see each other at all.
 There is no room to move. No one is
allow ed to talk. Elena can only hear
breathing. She feels fear around her.
Elena sits w ith h er arm s tightly around
Carlos and Maria. “D on’t cry,” she w hispers
to them again and again. “We m ust be very
quiet.”
Later, the truck stops. This m ust be the
border, Elena thinks. She can hear p eople
talking outside. Will they get through? It is as
quiet as death inside the truck. Elena can
hardly hear anyone breathing. She, too, is
holding her breath.
T hen Elena hears the engine roar. The
truck is m oving again. Elena know s they are
across the border.
 The children fall asleep. But Elena stays
.iwake. She is praying.
Hours later, the truck stops. Elena hears
Ilie back doors open. She hears people
moving the furniture. Have they b een caught?
“We are h ere,” som eone says. “In
( handler. In Arizona.”
Then Elena feels the fresh air on her face,
she takes a d eep breath. Freedom! She w akes
Ihe children. “C om e,” she says. “You are safe
I K >w.”

Some m en help them out of the truck.

I hen Elena sees Luis. She w ants to run to him.
'.lie sees the children running into his arms.
Elena falls do w n on her knees. “Thank
you,” she w hispers into her folded hands.
I hank you. Thank you.”
T he End o f th e D ream

Luis goes on w ith his w ork. Elena takes

care o f the children. She plants flowers
aro u n d the shed. She cooks delicious food.
The children are happy.
Everything is perfect, except for one big
worry. Will som eone find out that Luis and
Elena are illegal aliens? Will the border patrol
com e and arrest them? Luis tries not to think
about it.
 Luis is glad to get $2.50 an hour. But it is
not enough. N ow that his family is here, he
needs m ore.
O ne day Luis finds out som ething that
makes him angry. The legal w orkers are paid
ill least $3-75 an hour! Mr. D obbs has to pay
1hem that. It is a law in the United States.
Ihen, after a few m onths, they get more.
Some o f the legal w orkers n o w m ake $5.00
an hour.
Luis cannot com plain. If he does, Mr.
I )obbs m ight report him to Immigration. He
would b e sent back to Mexico. Luis feels like
.1 prisoner. H e know s he will never m ake
more th an $2.50 an hour. His dream is not as
In ight as before.
T hen one day, their w orst fear com es true.
Mr. D obbs com es to their shed.
“You m ust leave,” Mr. D obbs says. “The
I><>rder patrol is checking all the farms for
illegals. I k n o w y o u ’re from Mexico. I w asn’t
upposed to hire you. If they find you here,
I'll be in big trouble.”
Mr. D obbs shakes his h ead sadly. “I’m
orry, Luis. You’re a good worker. But you
luve to b e out of here by tom orrow .”
“W here will w e go?” asks Luis.
“Go d o w n to the imm igration office,” says
Mr. Dobbs. “I hear there is som ething called
Amnesty.”
“W hat does that mean?” asks Luis.
 “I’m not sure exactly. I think if y o u ’ve
b e en in the States for a while, you can stay.
You can w ork and live here. You get a w ork
perm it,” says Mr. Dobbs.
“W hat about m y family?” asks Luis. “They
have only b een here a year.”
“I d o n ’t know about that,” says Mr. Dobbs.
“They m ight have to go back.”
Mr. D obbs walks away. T hen he turns
back. “Listen, Luis,” he says. “If they give you
a w o rk perm it, you com e back here. I’ll hire
you as a legal w orker.” H e smiles and points
at Elena and the children. “T hen you can send
m oney back to them in M exico.”
Fam ilies B elon g T ogether

Luis an d Elena can’t sleep that night. “I

don’t w ant to go back to M exico,” says Elena.
“I d o n ’t w ant to stay here w ithout you,”
•ays Luis. “But there is no w ork for m e in
Mexico.” He puts his head in his hands. “W hat
are w e going to do?”
The next day they go to the immigration
(ilTice dow ntow n. They take Carlos and Maria
with them . They w ant to be together,
w hatever happens.
The office is crow ded w ith people. Most of
i hem are from Mexico. Most of them look
scared.
Luis takes a num ber and sits dow n with
his family. Luis has time to think. This m ay be
Ilie last time w e are safely together. Will the
lamily b e sent back today? Can I stay and
w< >rk? O r will w e all be sent back?
 Luis hears his num ber called. He and Elena
go u p to the desk. The children follow. The
officer behind the desk is a large m an. He
looks at Luis.
Luis thinks of m any lies he could tell. But
he know s he m ust tell the truth. H e tells the
m an about w alking across “the Devil’s
H ighw ay.” He tells of paying a lot of m oney
to get his family here. H e tells of w orking on
m any different farms. He does not tell the
nam es of the farmers.
The officer nods. T hen he says, “Fill out
these forms. You can stay and work. You
m ust pay taxes. This is the Amnesty program .
You can stay in the United States.”
The officer gives Luis the papers. “We
kn o w things have b een hard for you. We w ant
you to b e able to w ork for fair pay,” he says.
 “W hat about my family?” asks Luis. His son
I* .ins against him. Maria sits in Elena’s lap.
The m an looks through som e papers. T hen
lie looks at Elena and the children. Is he
In >wning?
O h no, thinks Luis. I have lost them . They
will have to go back to Mexico. This is w orse
ill.in “the Devil’s H ighw ay.” Luis feels like he
i‘i dying. But this time, not of thirst.
The officer smiles at Elena and the children.
We are n o t in the business of breaking up
l.unilies. They can stay w here they belong.
With y ou .”
Luis takes a d eep breath. He lets it out
lowly. H e turns to look at Elena. But she is
not in the chair. Elena is on her knees. In
Lnglish she says, “Thank y o u .”
Luis know s she is not saying this to the
i >11icer.
Elena’s prayers have b een answ ered.

Am nesty means “all is forgiven." The A m nesty program was

m ated by the Im m igration Reform and Control A c t o f 1986
iIIK :A). The program allow ed some illegal aliens to become legal
m-.idents o f the U nited States. They had to register with the
immigration office. They also had to m eet certain requirements.
The progra m ’s deadline for applying for am nesty was in
1968. Illegal aliens can no longer become legal residents through
the program.
i

*
Powerful
M edicine
E m ergency R oom

Dr. Cole has another cup of coffee. He is

very tired this Saturday. The hospital emergency
room is always busy on Saturdays. There are
so m any em ergencies. So m any accidents.
Dan Cole has b een a doctor for only one
year. But today it feels like a century. He
yawns and rubs his eyes. He is so sleepy.
Dr. Cole is drinking his coffee. Suddenly,
lie hears his nam e on the loudspeaker. “Dr.
Cole to the em ergency room .”
 The doctor runs dow n the hall. He sees a
w om an in a long, gray robe. She has a scarf
aro und h er head. It alm ost hides her eyes.
She is holding a small boy in her arms. The
boy is scream ing and crying.
A nurse pushes a cart u p next to the
w om an. “Please,” the nurse says. “Let the boy
lie dow n here.”
But the w om an will not pu t him on the
cart. She holds him tightly in her arms.
Dr. Cole and the nurse step away from the
w om an. They talk quietly.

SO
 “Dr. Cole,” the nurse says. “She w o n ’t let
us look at the boy.”
“W hat happened?” asks the doctor.
“He fell off a swing in the park and hit his
head,” says the nurse. She looks at the little
boy. “For a w hile he w as knocked out.
Som eone in the park called an am bulance.”
“Is this w om an his mother?” asks Dr. Cole.
“Yes,” answ ers the nurse.
“Do you know their names?” Dr. Cole asks.
The nurse looks at the clipboard she is
carrying. “The b o y’s nam e is Tim ur Taraki.”
Dr. Cole w alks over to the boy and his
mother. H e smiles and asks, “Mrs. Taraki, do
you speak English?”
The w om an only shakes h er head.
Oh, no, thinks Dr. Cole. “W hat country is
she from?” he asks the nurse.
“The am bulance driver said she is from
Afghanistan,” the nurse says.
Dr. Cole looks surprised. “H ow does the
am bulance driver know?” he asks.
“He speaks the sam e language,” says the
nurse. “H e w as talking w ith the m other w hen
Ihey brought the boy in. He h elped fill out the
papers. I think he is also Afghan.”
“That w as very lucky,” says Dr. Cole.
The nurse nods. “Yes, it’s lucky he w as on
duty,” she says.
 Dr. Cole turns to the w om an. He points to
his ow n chest. “I am a doctor,” he says slowly.
He speaks loudly. “I w ant to help you.” He
holds out his arms. “Please let m e look at
your child.” He places his hand on the cart.
“Put him here,” he says.
At last, the w om an puts the boy on the
cart. But she holds his hand. The boy keeps
crying.
Dr. Cole looks at the little boy’s eyes. They
d o n ’t look right. They are out of focus. Timur
is very pale. Dr. Cole feels the big lum p on
the boy’s head. “We will have to x-ray him ,”
he says.
 The nurse pushes the cart. They start into
the x-ray room . The w om an looks around.
She looks afraid. I “No!” she shouts. She tries to
take the boy from the cart. W hen they hold
her back she keeps shouting “No! No! No!”
Dr. Cole feels his anger growing. At least
she know s o n e English w ord, he thinks. This
w om an is foolish. Her son needs to be x-rayed.
He needs to stay in the hospital. D oesn’t she
see that b um p on his head?
“Please,” Dr. Cole says. He is so tired. His
h ead is aching. “Just let m e help the boy.”
The w om an suddenly runs from the room.
Dr. Cole and the nurse are too surprised to
move. T hen the nurse chases after the wom an.
A few m inutes later, the nurse com es back.
“She’s g o n e .”
“G one w here?” asks Dr. Cole.
“I d id n ’t see w here. I’m sorry,” the nurse
says.
Dr. Cole looks dow n at the boy. Timur is
m oaning. “Let’s get this kid to x-ray,” says Dr.
Cole. “Someone else will have to find his parents.”
T he F am ily

Fara runs from the hospital. She m ust get

her husband, Ahmad. T hose people are trying
to take their son. Ahmad will know w hat to do.
She runs out onto the sidewalk. There is a
taxi w aiting in front of the hospital. Slowly,
Fara tells the driver her address. She can say
h er address in English. She learned it w h en
they first cam e to this country.
I m ust get Ahmad, Fara thinks. I m ust get
hom e. W hat will they do to him? Timur m ight
die in that American hospital.
Fara pays the cab driver. T hen she runs
into the house.
 “Ahmad!” she shouts. “They have taken
our child!”
The family gathers around Fara. She tells
them w hat happened.
A hm ad looks very angry as his wife speaks.
“My son in the hospital? No!” he says. “Hospitals
are places w here p eople die. Tim ur needs to
be w ith his family! We m ust go to him .”
Fara tells Ahm ad it’s the hospital near the
park. A hm ad and his three brothers hurry out
the door. Fara w atches them go. She is afraid.
T he H osp ital V isit

The nurse on the children’s floor looks up.

She smiles w hen she sees the four Afghan
m en. They look grand w ith their dark beards.
O ne w ears cloth w rap p ed around his head in
a turban.
“You m ust be here to see Timur,” she says.
“H e’s right in h ere.”
The little boy is crying softly. He cries
louder w h en he sees his father and uncles.
O ne o f the m en takes Tim ur in his arms.
The nurse leaves them alone. It’s nice that
Tim ur’s family has com e, she thinks.
 A few m inutes later, the nurse looks up.
The d o o r to Tim ur’s room is closed. But she
no longer hears voices. That’s strange, she
thinks. Som ething is wrong. She walks over
and looks into the room.
It is empty! The w indow is open. The m en
are gone.
So is Timur.
K id nap p ed

Dr. Cole is leaving the hospital. He hears

his nam e again on the loudspeaker. He is
so tired he can hardly see. W hat now , he
w onders? The nurse tells him that the Afghan
boy is missing. Little Tim ur has b een taken by
a g roup of men.
“Find that am bulance driver!” Dr. Cole
shouts. “The one w ho brought him in. We’re
going to n eed him .”
“H e’s h ere,” says a nurse. “He just cam e in.
We’ve called the police.”
 A young m an w ith a dark beard follows
the nurse. He is w earing a w hite uniform. “I
am M oham m ad,” he says. “W hat can I do?”
“D o you k n o w the Taraki family?” Dr. Cole
asks.
“I only m et Mrs. Taraki today,” M oham mad
says. “She w as afraid of com ing to the
hospital.”
“Do you k n o w that Tim ur has been
kidnapped?” asks Dr. Cole.
“Yes. The nurses told m e,” says Mohammad.
“But I am not surprised. The Tarakis are from
a small village in Afghanistan. People there
w ould n o t trust hospitals.”
“N ow they really w o n ’t trust u s,” says Dr.
Cole. “H ow can w e tell them that their son
has b een taken?” He shakes his head.
The police arrive.
“D octor,” says M ohammad. “You d o n ’t
have to worry. I can tell you w here the boy
is. His father has taken him hom e. I am sure
of it.”
“They just w alked out w ith him?” asks Dr.
Cole. He can hardly believe it. H ow can the
Tarakis b e so foolish, he thinks? Their child
could die. “They have no right to do that,” he
says.
“But they think you have no right to keep
the b o y ,” says M oham m ad quietly. “Come, I’ll
take you to them . I can find their house.”
 Dr. Cole walks tow ard the police. “I m ust
tell them w here . . . ” he starts to say.
But M oham m ad stops him. “It w ould be
better not to take the police,” he says. “That
w o u ld m ake the family m ore afraid.”
T he H ealer

Dr. Cole an d M oham m ad w alk u p to the

Tarakis’ house. A m an opens the door. He
d o esn ’t smile. He stares at Dr. Cole from
u n d er his turban.
T hen three other m en join the m an at the
door. T hey all look very serious. Their dark
eyes are full of anger.
Dr. Cole feels his heart beat faster. He
swallows hard. He is frightened.
T hen one of the m en speaks.
 “W hat did h e say?” Dr. Cole asks
M oham mad.
“He said, ‘Welcome. May G od bring you
here alw ays,’” M oham m ad says.
“What?” Dr. Cole can ’t believe it. “They
think I’m going to hurt their son? But they
w elcom e me?”
M oham m ad grins. “It is our w ay,” he says.
“We always w elcom e a stranger. Even if h e is
an enem y.”
M oham m ad explains to the family w hy Dr.
Cole has come.
The m en bring Dr. Cole into the living
room . Tim ur is lying on the couch. He is
smiling. This is the first time Dr. Cole has seen
him smile.
Tim ur’s m other is sitting on one side of
him. O n the other side sits an old wom an.
She w ears a black robe and scarf. She is
saying the sam e w ords again and again. H er
voice is low and musical.
Dr. Cole looks closely at Timur. He notices
the b o y ’s eyes. They are clear and focused.
T hen Dr. Cole looks m ore closely. Tim ur’s
skin color is healthier than before. His cheeks
are pinker. There is a w arm cloth on the place
w here he hit his head.
The room smells spicy. It is the smell of
cinnam on. And there is som ething else sharp
an d sw eet in the air.
 Tim ur is h ap p y and w ide awake. That is
good.
“May I look at his head?” asks Dr. Cole.
M oham m ad translates the question. The
m en sp eak together. Ahm ad nods. Dr. Cole
lifts the cloth. The lum p is m uch smaller now.
“W ho is Tim ur’s father?” Dr. Cole asks.
M oham m ed points out Ahmad.
“W hy did you take Tim ur from the
hospital?” Dr. Cole asks.
 M oham m ed repeats A hm ad’s answer.
“Because in the hospital you treat only the
body. We believe that there are three
locations of health. Body, m ind, and soul.
The soul and m ind are no t separate from the
body. All w ork together.”
Dr. Cole looks at Tim ur’s father. He no
longer sees anger in A hm ad’s face. Ahm ad
speaks quietly.
“A child belongs w ith his family,” says
Ahmad. M oham m ad translates for Dr. Cole.
“And w e have a healer h ere.” Ahm ad points
to the old w om an. “She know s about herbs.
She know s that the fragrance of certain things
can heal. See how the boy looks better?”
Dr. Cole agrees that Tim ur does look
better. “But som etim es the bone of the skull
is cracked,” he says. “O r the brain is bruised.
This can b e very serious. We w ant to keep
him in the hospital. To m ake sure he is all
right.”
M oham m ad translates Dr. Cole’s words.
A hm ad frowns. “In our country, m any
p eo p le go to the hospital and do not return.
They die there.”
“D o n ’t p eople also die at hom e?” asks Dr.
Cole. “Sometimes they are just too sick to
live.” He is silent for a while. T hen he says,
“In the hospital w e can save lives, too.”
Ahm ad nods. “You are right,” he says. “But
children n eed to be w ith their family. That
helps them get well. Love is the m ost
pow erful m edicine.”
This m an is very wise, thinks Dr. Cole. He
is rem inding m e of im portant things. “Parents
can stay w ith their child in the hospital,” says
Dr. Cole. “You m ay stay in the sam e room
w ith Timur. Please bring him back to the
hospital. We n eed to w atch him for one night.
If everything is all right, he can com e hom e
tom orrow .”
“May Tim ur’s grandm other com e, too?”
asks Ahm ad. “She is his healer.”
Dr. Cole smiles. “I w ould very m uch like
her to com e.”

bs
 The old w om an says som ething to Dr.
Cole. M oham m ad grins. “She says you look
like you have a headache.”
“She is right,” says Dr. Cole. He puts his
h an d to his head.
“She says to sit dow n. She will cure it,”
says M ohammad.
Dr. Cole smiles. I’ll give the grandm other
a chance, he thinks. But w hat I really w ant is
an aspirin.

66
 He sits in a big chair. The old w om an
closes his eyes w ith her cool fingers. She
begins to ru b his tem ples. She rubs in
som ething that smells sweet. H er hands are
like the w ings of birds. O n his head, his neck,
his face. T hen the ache is gone.
“She says you n eed to go hom e and
sleep,” says M ohammad.
“Tell h er I will do that,” says Dr. Cole.
T hen he looks into her eyes. “As soon as
Tim ur is back at the hospital.”
Ahm ad speaks. M oham m ad translates.
“He says he will take Tim ur back to the
hospital. He thanks you.”
Dr. Cole feels relaxed and sleepy. “H ow
did the old lady do that?” he asks M ohammad.
M oham m ad smiles and answ ers, “Old
w isdom .”
 New
Birth on
Pike Street
'
P ike Street in B lack an d W hite

It is Sunday. Jong sits on the steps outside

his apartm ent building. His neighbor, Sasha,
sits next to him. “This w hole place stinks,”
Jong says.
Sasha nods. “It is not w hat I expected,”
he says. “W hen I cam e here from Russia, I
thought things w ould be different.”
 Jong leans back on the dirty, broken
concrete. It feels hard against his old bones.
He stares at the apartm ent building across
the street. It is just like his. The front of it is
dirty gray. He sees the shabby steps. Each
apartm ent building has shabby steps. Each
building is run-dow n and ugly. Inside, the
apartm ents are no better, Jong thinks. Outside,
they smell of garbage. Inside, they smell of
bathroom s.
 Kids are playing on the cracked sidewalks.
Their clothes are old. A rusty bicycle leans
against a wall. The bicycle has only one
w heel. Jo n g looks at the wall. Som eone has
painted a b ad w o rd in black spray paint.
“Pike Street is not the American dream.
That is for sure,” says Sasha. “O ur landlord is
a crook. He is never going to fix things up.
We asked him to repair our stove and broken
w indow . M onths have gone by. But nothing
is fixed.”

H'2.
 Sasha goes on. “I have painted all my
walls. I w ork as a painter, you know . My boss
gave m e som e leftover paint. So the landlord
d id n ’t even have to pay for the paint.”
They see a young w om an w alking slowly
u p the street. She’s very pregnant. “Look, here
com es our n ew neighbor,” Jong says. “She and
her h u sb an d are from Puerto Rico. They just
m oved into our building. D o you know her?”
“Yes,” says Sasha. “We m et last w eek .” He
thinks for a minute. “H er nam e is Maria. Her
h u sb an d ’s nam e is Esteban.”
 Maria w alks to the steps. She looks up at
Jong and Sasha. “H ello,” she says. She puts
her grocery bag on the step.
“Are you settling in all right?” asks Sasha.
“Yes,” says Maria. She w rinkles her nose.
She sniffs the air. “Som ething smells b ad ,” she
says.
“That’s just w hat w e w ere saying,” Jong says.
He looks at Maria. H er baby will b e born
very soon. Jo n g is sad that the baby m ust live
on such an ugly street.
Jong stares out at Pike Street. Cigarette
butts litter the steps. There are big holes in
the sidewalk. The holes are full of garbage.
O ne of these holes is right in front of their
steps. T h ere’s trash and broken glass
everyw here. W hat a terrible place for a child,
Jon g thinks.
“W hen I cam e here from Korea, I w as so
h ap p y ,” Jo n g says. “I thought America w ould
be beautiful. I thought it w ould be a dream
com e tru e.”
“I thought the same thing,” Sasha says. “In
pictures an d movies, the streets w ere
beautiful. They w ere lined w ith flowers and
trees.” H e looks at the door. The paint is
peeling off it. “The pictures show ed everything
clean and nice.”
“Im agine taking a picture of Pike Street,”
says Sasha. “Even if you used color film, the
pictures w o u ld look black and w hite.”
 “N o,” says Jong. “They w ould be gray.”
“And n obody cares,” says Sasha. H e shakes
his head.
“I care,” says Maria.
Maria picks u p h er grocery bag. She sighs
and goes into the building.
M aria’s F low ers

The next afternoon Jong is w alking hom e

from w ork. He turns onto Pike Street. Right
aw ay h e sees that som ething is different.
T he street is still dirty. There is still trash
everyw here. But the steps leading up to his
apartm ent are sw ept clean.
O n each step is a small flow er pot. Each
pot has a plant w ith bright red flowers. The
flow ers are so beautiful and simple. Jong
smiles as he enters the building.
 “W ho pu t the flowers on the step?” Jong
asks his wife Sung.
“I think it w as that young w om an from
Puerto Rico,” Sung says.

78
 Jong falls asleep that night thinking of the
flowers. He feels happy. W hat a difference a
few pots o f flowers can make!
P he w alks out the door
’' 1 next m orning
The
smiling. H e looks dow n to see the flowers.
He does see them . They are sm ashed all
over the steps. The pots are broken into tiny
pieces. Som eone stepp ed on the flowers and
crushed them . Jong can’t believe it.
He just stands there. He d o esn ’t know
w hat to do. He feels helpless.
T hen he hears the door open. Jong turns.
Maria is standing in the doorway.
Maria stares at the broken pots. Tears come
to h er eyes. “Oh, n o ,” she cries. “My flowers.”
She turns and runs back to her apartm ent.
T he Tree

Jo n g goes to w ork w ith a heavy heart. He

feels sick. He keeps thinking of the sm ashed
flowers. He m akes fists w ith his hands. But he
has nothing to hit.
W hen he goes hom e for lunch, Sung says,
“Maria has gone to the hospital. The baby is
com ing.”
Jo n g w orks hard all afternoon. He thinks
hard, too. He decides w hat h e will do.
 After w ork, h e w alks to the bank. He takes
out m oney. It is m oney he has b een saving for
a n ew refrigerator. T hen he takes the bus to a
garden shop. There they sell trees and flowers.
People stare at Jong w h en he gets back on
the bus. He is carrying a tree. It is not a very
big tree. It is in a five-gallon bucket. He has a
large bag w ith som e flow er pots in it. There
also are som e small plants w ith red flowers in
the bag. He bought a shovel, too.
 It is hard w alking the tw o blocks from the
bus stop. Jong carries the tree in one arm. It
rises four feet above his head. The bag and
shovel are in his other hand.
He does not go up to his apartm ent. He
goes right to work.
Sasha com es hom e from w ork. He finds
Jong digging. Jong is digging the soil at the
bottom of the hole in the sidewalk. He has
rem oved all the garbage from the hole. It is
piled beside the steps.
Sasha goes into the apartm ent building. He
com es back out w ith a garbage bag. He puts
the garbage inside.
Jo n g plants his tree. He w orks quickly.
T hen h e puts the plants in the pots.
Sasha gets a broom . He sw eeps the
sidewalk. He sw eeps the steps.
“O ne m ore thing,” says Jong. He gets a
bucket of water. He pours it on the steps.
Sasha sw eeps the w ater away.
Sasha and Jong stand and look at their
steps. “Now Maria’s baby will have a clean
place to com e hom e to,” Jong says.
“H ow will you protect the tree and the
flowers?” asks Sasha. “The last ones w ere
ruined. W hoever did it will com e back. You
can be sure of that.”
“W hoever it is will have to deal with m e,”
says Jong.
 After dark, Jo n g com es dow n from his
apartm ent. He has a pillow and blanket. He
sits at the top of the steps. He pulls the blanket
around him self and leans back on the pillow.

02
T he P lant Sm ashers

It is the m iddle of the night. Jong is very

sleepy. He just dozes off w h en he hears
voices. Four teenage boys are w alking u p the
street. They stop by the tree. “Hey Rico,” says
o ne of them . “Want to climb a tree?” They all
laugh. O ne of them reaches out and shakes
the tree.
Jong stands up. “W hat is so funny?” he
asks. He tries to sound brave.
“Is this your tree?” asks one of them.
 “Stop it, Mick,” says the one called Rico.
“The tree belongs to everyone on this
street,” Jo n g says.
“This street belongs to u s,” the biggest boy
says. “And n o body else.”
“T hen the tree belongs to y o u ,” says Jong.
“That’s stupid,” says the short boy.
The b o y nam ed Rico pushes him. “W hat’s
stupid about it, Mick?” he asks. “We never had
a tree h ere b efore.”
 “It’s yours,” says Jong. “But som ebody has
to w atch it.” He looks at the boys. “To w atch
and see that n obody hurts it.”
“I still say it’s stupid,” says Mick.
“I say y o u ’re stupid,” says Rico. “Hey, a
tree o n Pike Street. T hat’s cool.” He walks up
the steps. “Flowers, too, huh?”
“I thought w e got rid of these last night,”
says Mick in a loud whisper.
Jo n g stands very still as they climb the
steps. Is Rico m aking fun of him? He know s
w h o they are. They are the boys w ho ruined
Maria’s flowers. His heart is beating very fast.
“Are these our flowers, too?” asks Rico.
W hat should I do, Jong wonders? If I say
yes, will they sm ash the flow er pots again? If I
say no, will they hurt me? “Yes, they are
yours,” he says quietly.
T hen he says, “There is a young w om an in
this building. Tonight she is having a baby.”
Jo n g swallows. These are tough kids. Will
they understand? “I think this baby should
have a hom e with a tree and flow ers.”
“O ld m an, y o u ’re crazy,” says Mick.
“Shut up, Mick,” says Rico. He turns to
Jong. “Did you put these here?”
“Yes,” says Jong.
“Are you guarding them?” asks Rico.
“Yes,” says Jong. “But I n eed help. I can’t
sleep out here every night.”
 Rico slaps Jong on the back. “You d o n ’t
have to worry, old m an,” he says. “We will
guard this tree. You said it w as ours.”
Rico turns to his friends. “If any of you see
anyone touch this tree, tell them this.” He
bends his arm and points to the muscle. “They
will have to answ er to m e.”
Tw o days later, Esteban brings Maria hom e.
She is holding their new baby daughter.
Maria sees the tree. She sees the flowers.
“Oh, h o w lovely,” she says. She lifts the baby
up. “Look, little Carm en,” she says. “See how
beautiful your hom e is?” She smiles. Her smile
is w orth everything to Jong.
B arn R aising

Things are changing on Pike Street. More

flowers are o n front steps. Families com e out
together. They clean u p the trash. They w ash
do w n the sidewalks. Som eone even plants
flowers u n d er Jo n g ’s tree.
Sasha com es hom e one day w ith a can of
paint. He looks at the peeling paint on the
building door. He scrapes it off. T hen he
paints the door green.
 Jo n g sees Sasha across the street. He is
painting the door. Jong goes over. “Are you
the n eig hborhood painter?”
“I guess so,” says Sasha. “I offered to do
it.” Sasha stops painting. “T hen m y wife got
the idea to have a m eeting.” H e hands Jong a
piece of paper.
Jong looks at the paper. He can’t read it.
“W hat kind of meeting?” he asks.
“A neighborhood m eeting,” says Sasha. “A
Pike Street m eeting.”
“W hat for?” asks Jong.
“To find out w hat people can d o ,” says
Sasha. “W hat w e can all do together to
im prove Pike Street.”
Sasha sits d o w n to explain. “My wife read
a b o o k about the first imm igration to the
United States. Most of the people w ere farmers.
Everyone w orked together. W hen som eone
n eed ed a barn, everyone h elped build it. It
w as called a ‘b arn raising.’ My wife thinks w e
could have kind of a barn raising here. Right
here o n Pike Street.”
“We d o n ’t n eed a b arn,” Jong says.
“But w e d o n eed to im prove the place,”
says Sasha. “You know Mr. Olivas w ho lives
in the next building? I found out that he
w orks for a plum ber. Maybe he could help us
fix b ro k en pipes. Everyone can do som ething.
It just takes caring.”
 Jo n g smiles at Sasha. “Caring does m ake a
difference,” he says. He looks u p and dow n
Pike Street. He looks at the flowers, at the
tree, an d the clean, sw ept sidewalks.
“Young Maria w as the first to say ‘I care,’”
says Jong. “Now look at Pike Street. We all care.”
 About the Author
Rosanne Keller is a w riter w ho lives in
Mesa, Arizona. She has taught English as a
second language (ESL) and writing. She
has taught classes on how literacy affects
people. She also has w orked as a flagger
o n a road construction crew.
Ms. Keller m akes sculpture and loves
to travel. She often writes about the places
she visits. H er articles and stories have
ap p eared in m any publications. New
Readers Press has published several books
w ritten by Ms. Keller for ESL learners and
adult n ew readers.
In this b o o k ’s com panion volum e, The
Orange Grove a n d Other Stories, you can
read four m ore stories about p eo p le with
som e very hum an problem s to solve. Read-
along tapes are available to add another
level o f learning and enjoyment.
 T h e K ite Flyer
an d O th e r Stories
"The Kite Flyer" is Anna's story. Anna and H elm ut came to the U.S.
m any years ago. N o w that their last child is married and gone, Anna
doesn't know w hat she's supposed to do w ith her life anymore.
"Can T h ey Stay?" tells w hat happens w hen Luis and Elena, illegal
aliens from Mexico, receive w ord that the border patrol is out looking
for them.
In "Powerful Medicine," a wise old w om an from Afghanistan teaches a
young American doctor that healing can—and does —com e from
unexpected sources!
Jong, Sasha, and Marfa are not at all happy with the way their
neighborhood looks. But w hat can they do about it? Read their story
in "New Birth on Pike Street."

ISBN 0 - 8 8 3 3 6 - 5 6 0 - X

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P U B L IS H IN G D IV IS IO N O F L A U B A C H L IT E R A C Y IN T E R N A T IO N A L
SYRACUSE, N E W Y O R K
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