miserable.
        In the next room, she heard her mother’s angry voice. “Maya! Come out!”
        Maya was silent.
        “Maya! You listen to your mother!”
        Again, Maya did not respond.
        The bedroom door flung open and slammed against the wall, making Maya flinch. She was not just startled, but fearful of what violence her mother might inflict. Stepping in, her mother, Simpática, leveled her gaze on Maya and spoke in Spanish.
        “Take off those clothes!”
        From the bed, Maya dared question this. “Why?”
        “Maya!”
        “Mom! Why? What are you going to do?”
        “Maya!” her mother screamed, sounding like an injured animal.
        When Maya had the audacity to lay still, Simpática stepped forward and slapped the girl on the face, making a loud pop.
        Maya was jolted and already felt a welt rising on her cheek. “Ouch, Mom!”
        “Maya! You obey your mother! That you remove those clothes!”
        Maya knew there was no defying her mother when she was like this, so she reluctantly stood and slipped out of the dress and dance shoes.
        “Y el flor!” Simpática shouted.
        Okay!” Maya whined, unpinning the flower from her hair.
        When the costume and shoes were in a heap on the floor, Simpática snatched them up and walked out of the room.
        “Mom! What are you going to do?”
        Without speaking, Simpática marched to the kitchen, pulled a container of lighter fluid and matches from a drawer and went out the front door.
        “Mom! What are you doing?”
        Maya followed her mother out the door, down the stairs, and to an open area behind the apartment. Simpática threw the dress and shoes to the ground and squirted lighter fluid on them.
        “Mom! Why are you doing this?”
        Simpática turned to her daughter with fierce eyes. “Maya, you mus’ always obey me. You can never leave me!”
        Maya pleaded. “But, Mom, I wasn’t leaving you! I was just going to be in the parade for an hour. Then I would have