How to Leave Hialeah

Drift

13 6 Drift Rebeca led her brother to the canal she’d found two months earlier, a place that before that day she’d resolved never to tell him about. He’d called dibs on the bike they’d stolen from their cousins, so she was on foot. He rode next to her, standing on the pedals and circling around her as she jogged toward the canal. When he saw the dust kicked up by the tires settling on his clean sneakers, Jovany said, This better be good. The canal ran underneath an overpass that the city had abandoned and left unconnected to the main expressway, so the spot was quiet despite being surrounded by an exploding Miami. Steep dirt slopes led down to the water, and tall weeds spiked all along the banks. This canal wasn’t close to any houses—they’d been liv- D r i f t 137 ing with their uncle Juanfe and his family for almost two months before Rebeca had even found it. Once she could see the rusted guardrail, Rebeca started counting , in her head, the number of palm trees she’d used to mark the spot along the canal—six down from the overpass—where less than half an hour earlier she’d found the dead body. Rebeca ran up to the rusty part of the rail and pointed into the water. —Look, she said. Jovany came up behind her. The body was so close to the water ’s edge that it looked as if it were resting its head on the shore. He was still face down. She’d guessed it was a man because of the short hair. He wore jean overalls that had dark brown smears between the legs. These canals had no current—they were oily and silent enough for mosquitoes to walk on them—but one of the dead man’s arms fanned away from him, away from where Rebeca stood next to Jovany. She crossed her arms over her chest, determined not to hold her brother’s hand. Jovany said, Oh my God. She could not read his look—if he was happy or scared. Ever since he’d started at Edison Junior High and left her behind in the fifth grade at their old school, she’d had trouble interpreting his smile. He jumped over the guardrail. —I saw it today after school, she said. I wanted to wait for you, before I got closer. She had pedaled harder than she thought possible on the bike ride back to grab Jovany. She’d found him in their cousin Rosario ’s bedroom, the one Juanfe had declared theirs until their mom came back. She’d stood with her hands gripping the doorframe, watching her brother unlace the pair of sneakers their mom had given him before leaving to go after their father. Jovany had been so focused on the shoes that he jumped when she finally said, I found something. Her hands still ached from gripping the bike’s handles, and she felt a blister budding on her thumb. She stepped over the guardrail toward Jovany. She swallowed, her throat rough from running beside him. —Oh my God, he said again, softly this time. You’re not scared? She wrinkled her face at him, trying to look mad that he’d even asked. 13 8 D r i f t —No, she said. As they started down the steep sides of the canal, dirt and small rocks rolled into the water. Careful, he mumbled. She held out her hand to him, but he grabbed her by the wrist. Now that they were closer, the air smelled something like mildew and spoiled food. Rebeca covered her nose and mouth with her hand. Jovany went ahead of her and said, It’s not that bad. She dropped her hand from her nose and put the inside bottom of her thumb in her mouth so that she could suck on the blister. The skin tasted salty. —Should we tell somebody? she said. Jovany looked up to where they had left the bike, then he looked at his sister, squinting. She felt her face getting hot, so she looked down at his sneakers. Their mother had left almost four months ago, but Jovany cleaned them so often they still looked new. But now, she saw him kick the dirt. He said, Who would we even tell? Rebeca didn’t know if she was supposed to answer him, or what...