“Why doesn’t Gareth ever smile?” Jorge whispered to his friend Mike, pointing to their classmate. “He always looks like he lost his lunch money.”
“And he always wears that same shirt,” added Mike. “Weird kid.”
Jorge nodded. He was eager for the school day to end. “Want to come over later and watch Aladdin?”
“Sure! I like that bad guy, Jafar.” Mike rubbed his hands together with an evil sneer.
On his way to his desk, Jorge passed by Gareth, who was hunched over a little notebook. Jorge tried to see what Gareth was scribbling.
“Whoa! That’s a really good drawing!” he exclaimed. “Is that Green Lantern?”
Slamming the notebook cover, Gareth muttered, “Thanks. I made him up.”
“Cool!”
“Jorge,” said Ms. Ellis, their teacher, “time to sit down, please.”
All day, Jorge got more and more curious about Gareth. By the time he and Mike headed to the bike rack, he’d decided to make friends with him. Running up behind Gareth, he blurted out, “Want to come over and watch Aladdin with us?”
Mike’s face looked like he’d seen a spider in his cereal bowl. He mouthed the words, “What are you doing?”
Jorge ignored him. “You like Aladdin?” he asked Gareth.
“Nice design,” Gareth replied with a shrug. “First-rate hand animation. I guess I could come over for a little while.”
Mike was still shaking his head as they unlocked their chains. “Where’s your bike?” Mike asked Gareth.
Gareth shrugged again. He did that a lot. “I had an old bike, but one of the gears cracked. I walk to school.”
“You gotta get a new bike, man,” urged Mike.
Gareth looked at the ground. “My mom doesn’t have the money right now.”
“Parents always say that,” Mike said with a laugh. “Tell her it’s important.”
Jorge swallowed hard, embarrassed. “You can borrow my bike sometime, if you need to,” he said quickly. Gareth gave him a shy smile. “Mike and I can walk our bikes. Come on. My house is only like four blocks from here.”
The boys talked about comics on the way. By the time they got to Jorge’s house, they were like old friends.
Jorge led them into the living room and turned on the TV. Before the movie even started, one of Jorge’s dads switched it off. “It’s a beautiful afternoon,” Tata said. “Outside, all of you.” He stood with one hand on his hip and the other pointing out the door.
Jorge huffed, but Papá warned, “Don’t argue with Tata, please.”
“Come on,” Jorge said, dragging Mike and Gareth by their arms. “We can pretend we’re in Aladdin.”
“That’s the spirit,” said Papá.
The kitchen door led out through the garage. “What’s that?” Mike asked, pointing at a dark corner. “It looks like a giant burrito.”
The thing was gray on the outside, but when Jorge pulled back a corner they saw it was a purple rug with red and black speckles.
“Wow. That’s a nice rug,” said Gareth. “My mom loves that shade of purple.” He gasped. “Hey! Could we use this as a magic carpet?”
“Sweet idea!” Jorge crowed. “Papá? Can we play with this old rolled-up rug?”
Papá’s head popped through the doorway. “I don’t see why not.”
“You don’t want this, Mr. Rivera?” Mike asked. “It doesn’t have any holes.”
Papá shook his head. “We redecorated the den last year. I kept that in case we wanted it for another room, but we probably won’t use it.”
“Me gusta esa alfombra,” said Tata from inside the house. “Quiero mantenerla.”
“¡Pero no me gusta!” Papá called back. Glancing at the boys, he went inside.
Jorge could hear his dads arguing in Spanish. The only thing he made out clearly was Tata saying, “ . . . no deben jugar con ella.” But he got the gist of it.
“What are they saying?” Mike asked.
Jorge shuffled his feet. “Tata wants to keep the rug. We can’t play with it.” Worrying about the impression he was making on his new friend, he turned to Gareth. “Sorry.”
“Hey,” Gareth said with a shrug. “I’ve got five brothers and sisters. Being at a house where nobody’s fighting makes me nervous.”
Relieved he understood, Jorge was glad to change the subject. “Five siblings?”
“That sounds pretty nuts,” said Mike.
“Yeah, that’s the right word for it!” Gareth laughed.
Just then, the house door opened, and Tata came out. “Boys, you may play with the rug, but keep it on the patio so it stays clean.”
Jorge was fine with that rule. “Thanks, Tata! We’ll be careful.”
“Thanks, Mr. Cruz,” echoed Mike.
“Gracias, señor.” Gareth pronounced the words like they felt strange in his mouth. But Tata gave him a big smile.
“De nada, niños. Have fun.”
Jorge grabbed one end of the rolled rug. “Let’s take our magic carpet out back.” Mike carried the other half, and Gareth moved chairs on the patio to make room for their game.
“I’m Jafar and you’re Aladdin,” Mike claimed.
“Okay,” Jorge grumbled, “but next time I get to be Jafar.” He looked at Gareth. “You can be the Genie.”
Gareth crossed his arms, shrugging shyly. “I’ll watch just for now. I’ll think about what costumes we need for next time.”
“Costumes would be great!” Eager to play, Jorge stood on the rug sideways, like it was a skateboard. “Hey, Jafar!” he taunted. “Try to get me!”
Mike pretended to hurl something at Jorge. “Lightning bolt!” he shouted.
Ducking quickly, Jorge laughed, “Ha! You missed!” Mike made up all kinds of spells, but Jorge never fell off the magic carpet.
They’d only been playing a few minutes when Gareth slung his backpack over his shoulder and said, “Can I come back tomorrow?”
“You’re leaving already?” Jorge asked.
“Five siblings,” Gareth reminded him. “I gotta get home and help.” He darted from the yard and down the block.
“Strange kid,” said Mike.
“I like him,” Jorge declared. He started rolling up the rug. “I wonder if he’ll really bring costumes tomorrow. Help me put this back.”
When the rug was in place, they rode their bikes around the neighborhood in the cool spring air. At the corner of Gibson and First Street, Mike stopped suddenly. His tires sent up a spray of gravel.
“What’s wrong?” asked Jorge, trying not to crash into him.
“Shh. Look!” Mike pointed across the street. “Isn’t that Gareth, in the alley next to the thrift shop?”
Jorge nodded. “He’s digging through their garbage.” He felt odd about staring. “Come on, we should go.”
But Mike stood frozen. “What’s he doing?” They watched Gareth pick up something from the ground near a Dumpster. “Doesn’t that flower vase have a crack in it?”
Gareth put the cracked vase in his bag. Then he ran a few doors down to a rickety house with peeling paint, and opened the front door with a key. “That’s a rough place to live,” sighed Jorge.
The boys rode back home without talking much.
At school the next day, Ms. Ellis greeted the class with a smile. “Let’s talk about the word ‘appreciation’.” She wrote it on the board. “What are some nice things you can do to make your mom or dad feel appreciated?”
Jorge raised his hand. “I could do my chores without complaining.”
“Nice one!” said Ms. Ellis. She wrote Jorge’s idea on the board. “Come on, everyone. Call out your ideas.”
The girl sitting behind Jorge said, “I can make Mom breakfast.”
“Give your dad a hug.”
“Watch your baby brother for an extra hour.”
“Say, ‘I love you, Mom.’”
Ms. Ellis turned to the class with the chalk still in her hand. “Gareth? We haven’t heard from you. How can you show appreciation to a parent?”
Without looking up, Gareth mumbled, “It’s my mom’s birthday. I’m giving her a decoration for the house.”
“Oh, that’s lovely!” said Ms. Ellis with a warm smile.
Jorge pictured the cracked vase Gareth took from the trash. He felt very sad. The rest of the day, all he thought about was Gareth and his mom’s birthday present.
“What’s up?” Mike asked at lunch. “You look down.”
“I feel bad about Gareth.”
“Me, too,” Mike admitted. “But we can’t exactly buy him a new house.”
“I know, but isn’t there something we can do?”
“It would just embarrass him,” said Mike.
Jorge almost hoped Gareth had forgotten about playing Aladdin. But when the final bell rang, he was waiting by the bike racks, holding a black garbage bag.
“I got some costumes,” he reported cheerfully.
Mike and Jorge grimaced at each other. “Where’d you get them?” Jorge asked, guessing they were from the alley by the thrift shop.
Instead of looking ashamed, Gareth had a gleam in his eye. “A master never reveals his tricks.”
Mike pulled his bike off the rack. “What’re we waiting for? Let’s go make Aladdin awesome!”
As soon as they reached Jorge’s driveway, Mike snatched the bag from Gareth and started rummaging through it. “Is there a cloak for Jafar in here?”
“I thought I got to be Jafar today,” Jorge objected.
“So, you’ll wear the cloak.”
Laughing, Gareth grabbed the bag back and pulled out a frayed red tablecloth. “You mean this cloak?”
“That’s perfect!” Mike exclaimed. “And what’s that for?”
Gareth was holding a faded yellow pillowcase. “We can cut it in strips and make a turban.”
“You found all kinds of good stuff,” said Jorge. “I’ll get the magic carpet.” He ran into the garage with the others following.
The rug was gone.
“Maybe they threw it out,” suggested Mike.
“¡Papá!” Jorge bellowed. “¿Dónde está la alfombra?”
It was Tata who poked his head out. “We decided to use it in the guest room.”
Jorge was so furious, he clenched his teeth. “You said we could play with it.”
“We’d better go,” Mike whispered to Gareth. Jorge didn’t even turn to say goodbye, but stormed past Tata into the house. The rug was laid under a glass table in the guest room.
Jorge spun to find Papá and Tata staring at him. “We kept it out of the dirt, like you said,” he snapped. “It’s not fair!” Tears filled Jorge’s eyes.
“Why not?” Tata asked. “It’s our rug.”
“But it would still be rolled up in the garage if I hadn’t found it.”
Papá shook his head. “Rugs are meant to cover floors. You’ve got plenty of other toys.”
“You ruined our game!” Jorge sobbed and ran to his bedroom. He lay face-down on his bed, recalling the argument with his dads over and over. “We were using that rug,” he thought bitterly. “They don’t need it. They’ve got tons of rugs. It’s not like all our floors are bare and this is the only rug we’ll ever . . . ”
Jorge sat up and dried his eyes. A brilliant idea was starting to form in his head. He texted Mike. “Meet me on my driveway.” Then he went out to find his dads.
They were in the kitchen. Tata stood at the stove, cooking chopped banana peppers and onions in a large caldero. Papá sprinkled adobo spices on a pork loin.
“That smells good,” Jorge said sheepishly. “May I please have a ride to my friend’s house?”
“May we have an apology first?” asked Papá.
“Sorry I was rude,” sighed Jorge.
“That’s okay,” Papá and Tata said together.
Tata turned off the flame and set down his spoon. “Can’t you bike to your friend’s house?”
“Not with the rug,” Jorge said.
“The rug?” Papá looked confused.
Jorge grinned. “It’s like you said. I have lots of toys. But you guys have lots of rugs, too. You know my new friend, Gareth? His family doesn’t have much money. His mom’s birthday is tomorrow, and she loves purple. I thought we should give the rug to someone who really needs it.”
Papá put his arm around Tata’s waist. “We raised a good one, cariño.”
“Yes, we did,” Tata agreed, quickly wiping tears from his eyes. He pulled Jorge over to him and tousled his hair. “I’m proud of you, Jorge Rivera-Cruz,” he whispered before heading out to the garage, where Mike was waiting.
Jorge explained his idea. “Why didn’t I think of that?” Mike joked. Together, they rolled up the rug, and put it in the back seat of the car. Papá came running out with a big white ribbon to tie around it. It really looked like a present.
The boys held the rug across their laps in the back seat on the way. “Are you sure we should just leave it on the porch?” Mike asked. “Won’t they think it was delivered to the wrong house?”
Jorge thought about that. He pulled a notebook and a pen from his backpack. With Mike peeking over his shoulder, he wrote:
To Gareth’s Mom- This rug is from Gareth. He traded with us for costumes for our Aladdin game. My parents said it’s OK. Happy Birthday. Your friends, Jorge & Mike
“Genius,” Mike admitted.
When Tata pulled the car in front of Gareth’s house, the boys dragged the rug up the cracked sidewalk. They laid the roll across the doorway. Jorge folded his note and tucked it into the end of the rug.
“Let’s scram before they see us,” Mike urged.
They both got to school early on Monday. Jorge was jumpy. “Should we ask him if she liked it?”
“I don’t know,” said Mike.
“Me either. Let’s just play it by ear.”
When Gareth showed up, he practically bounced down the hallway. “My mom loved that carpet,” he gushed. “She cried, she was so thrilled. Are you sure your dads don’t mind, Jorge?”
“No, it’s…”
Gareth kept right on talking. “I’m gonna find even better costumes for you guys. Maybe some props, too. Want to do an Aladdin play, like they have on Broadway?” Before Jorge could reply, Gareth waved. “Okay. See you in class.”
For a few seconds, Jorge and Mike stared at each other. Finally Jorge said, “I didn’t think he could get that happy.” He shook his head. “Amazing. I guess that really was a magic carpet.”
