Lesson 9:Searching for My Father

Level: X
DRA: 60
Genre:
Realistic Fiction
Strategy:
Visualize
Skill:
Cause and Effect
Word Count: 2,703
6.2.9
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Online Leveled Books
1032404
H O UG H T O N M IF F L IN
6_025018_OL_LRSE_CVR_L09_Searching.indd 1
2/12/10 12:00:56 PM
by Edwin Hernandez
Illustrated by John Martin
Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior
written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. Requests
for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers,
Attn: Permissions, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777.
Printed in China
ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02501-8
ISBN-10: 0-547-02501-7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0940 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers
retains title to the materials and they may not be resold. Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited.
Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into
electronic format.
Chapter One
Destination: Puerto Rico
As soon as the in-flight movie ended, Matino Torres raised
his window shade. The island he had come to see was now
entirely visible beneath him. They would be landing soon and
then his search would begin in earnest. Matino had high hopes
for this trip. He wanted to find answers to the questions he had
about his father, who had died three months earlier.
While the flight attendants prepared for landing, Matino
remembered his father’s funeral. He had stood beside his
mother in church during the service. He loved his father, but he
did not cry that day. He had felt too many confusing emotions.
Matino had kept his feelings hidden. No one in his
family knew how confused he was then — and still was
now. Cancer had taken his father. But, Poppi, Matino thought
sadly, why did Roberto Clemente have such a hold on you when you
were alive?
2
6_025018_LR2_4OL_Searching.indd 2
1/16/08 4:59:36 PM
Matino’s cousin Enrique removed his headphones.
“Where’s the airport?” Enrique asked his mother in Spanish.
Julia Oliveras was Matino’s aunt on his mother’s side. A poet,
she taught creative writing in Brooklyn, where Matino and his
family also lived. She had invited her nephew Matino to come
with her and Enrique to Puerto Rico. Every year, during spring
break, she went back to visit family and friends.
“In Carolina,” Julia answered, closing the novel she had
been reading and carefully inserting a bookmark. “Carolina is
close to San Juan. We’ll be there soon.”
Matino knew something about the city of Carolina. It was
where he would find the Roberto Clemente Sports City — and
hopefully the answers to his questions.
3
6_025018_LR2_4OL_Searching.indd 3
1/16/08 4:59:40 PM
Chapter Two
First Night in San Juan
Aunt Julia’s sister Isabel met them at the airport. She was a
tall, immaculately dressed woman who never forgot her humble
beginnings in the barrios of Gurabo, the city of stairs. Now she
owned a small house in the outskirts of San Juan, where they
would stay during their visit.
After they arrived at Aunt Isabel’s house, they unpacked.
Then, they sat on the patio in back. The night air was permeated
with the scent of tropical flowers. During dinner, Matino heard
for the first time the sound of tiny Puerto Rican tree frogs
singing their hearts out.
His Aunt Isabel placed a pitcher of chilled tamarind juice
on the table. “My husband Francisco once told me that if these
frogs were taken off the island, they would never sing again.”
4
Francisco had left Puerto Rico in search of work many
years earlier, but could not bear to be separated from all he
loved. Matino’s mother had told him his uncle had died from a
broken heart. At the time, Matino was too young to understand
what that meant. But now, at age 13, he thought he knew.
Matino and Enrique bunked down in the spare room.
It faced the street and gave the boys a clear view of San Juan’s
skyline. The next-door neighbor’s TV was playing loudly. As he
lay in bed, Matino heard the unmistakable sounds of a baseball
game in progress. The announcer was speaking in Spanish.
Fans roared when the batter hit the ball deep into the left
field stands.
Matino recalled the autographed baseball his father kept
on a shelf in their living room. It was a reminder of one of the
greatest moments in his father’s life — the time he first met
Roberto Clemente. Clemente was number 21 for the Pittsburgh
Pirates. He was a Hall of Famer. And he was the most legendary
Puerto Rican baseball player.
Matino closed his eyes and rolled over in bed. Enrique was
already asleep and lightly snoring. His cousin was not very
interested in sports. Matino, on the other hand, took after his
father, who loved baseball. But sometimes it seemed to Matino
that baseball was the only interest he and his father had shared.
5
6_025018_LR2_4OL_Searching.indd 5
1/16/08 4:59:47 PM
Chapter Three
The Streets of Old San Juan
The next morning, the boys’ Aunt Isabel took them on a
walking tour of Old San Juan. Aunt Julia went, too. The two
sisters strolled leisurely along arm in arm while Matino and
Enrique went on ahead. The steep, narrow streets were paved
with bluish cobblestones. Isabel pointed out that the stones were
originally used as ballast aboard Spanish galleons.
After Enrique complained one too many times about
the heat, Aunt Isabel led them to her favorite outdoor market.
An old man selling piraqua greeted her graciously as she
approached his cart. Enrique ordered one of the lemon snow
cones. Matino preferred grape. While their aunts rested on a
nearby bench, the cousins slurped their cones and wandered
past the vendors displaying an array of wares.
“I really want to go to Sports City today,” Matino said
between slurps. “Will you come with me, Enrique?”
6
“Okay, but tomorrow we go to the beach.”
Isabel was disappointed when she heard her nephews had
made other plans. “Don’t you want to see El Morro, niños?” she
asked. “You would have so much fun exploring the ramparts
and dungeons and garitas. You know, those are the sentry posts
where Spanish soldiers kept watch.”
“We have a whole week to see those things,” Matino said.
“I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you two to venture off
on your own,” Aunt Isabel said. “You don’t know your way
around. You might get lost.”
“Don’t worry about us, Tía,” Enrique said. “We are only
going to Sports City. Then we’ll come right home. You know,
we take the subway to school back home. Plus, we speak very
good Spanish.”
The two aunts finally relented. “Be back by six o’clock and
no later,” a stern Aunt Julia commanded. She and Isabel made
sure the boys boarded the right bus and waited until the bus
departed before resuming their stroll.
7
Chapter Four
Lost in Carolina
The boys found an empty seat near the front of the bus.
“So what’s the big deal about Sports City?” Enrique asked.
“It sounds like nothing more than a giant gym.”
“It was Roberto Clemente’s idea,” Matino said looking out
the window. “My father promised to take me there, but then he
got cancer.”
“Your dad really liked Clemente, didn’t he?”
Enrique inquired.
“He was my dad’s one and only hero. The great
number twenty-one . . .”
The boys settled back in their seat. The freeway out
of San Juan was in excellent condition, and traffic was
light. Matino figured the journey shouldn’t take more
than half an hour. But after about twenty minutes, the
bus began slowing down. Matino noticed clouds of
smoke rising from the engine.
The driver turned off at the next exit. “We have to
make an emergency stop,” he said over the intercom.
“The engine has overheated. I’ve notified the
dispatcher. Another bus is on its way. Sorry, folks.”
The driver parked the bus in a small shopping
center. Before getting off, Matino asked him how
close they were to Sports City.
8
6_025018_LR2_4OL_Searching.indd 8
1/16/08 4:59:55 PM
“Couple of miles,” the driver answered. “But it’s going to
be a hot day. You would be better off waiting for the next bus.”
The boys joined the other passengers, who had found
shade under a stand of palm trees. But after nearly an hour of
waiting, the boys decided to walk. While Enrique bought some
cold drinks from a nearby store, Matino got directions from a
fellow stranded passenger. They walked on the sidewalk along
the main road for a while. Then they took a side road.
“Are you sure we’re heading in the right direction?” his
cousin asked. He drank from a lukewarm bottle of juice.
“Yes, Enrique. The man said this road is the way.”
9
6_025018_LR2_4OL_Searching.indd 9
1/16/08 4:59:59 PM
“But what if it’s the wrong road, and we end up
totally lost?”
“It’s not the wrong road! He said turn right at the gas
station. There’s the gas station. So we’re turning right. Okay?”
There were no shade trees on this road, no shopping
centers, and no tourists. The pavement soon gave way to dust
and gravel. Repair shops and storefronts of all kinds lined both
sides of the road. Behind the shops, small houses spread out
toward distant fields of sugar cane and tobacco.
Another hour passed, and Sports City was still nowhere in
view. “I think we’re lost, Enrique.” His cousin nodded.
Up ahead the boys spotted an old truck on the side of the
road. A man sitting on a crate waved to them. The back of his
truck was loaded with fresh fruit and vegetables and covered
with a rigid canvas roof. “Ripe bananas,” he said, “and the
sweetest melons and mangoes on Earth.”
Matino and Enrique lost no time in stocking up on fruit
and asking the vendor how to get to Sports City. The man
wasn’t sure. He looked one way and then another, squinting
his eyes and furrowing his brow as he studied the landscape.
Unable to make up his mind, he advised the boys to ask at the
gas station they had passed earlier.
Matino glanced at his watch. It was already noon. They
were losing precious time. At this rate, they would have to turn
around and return to Aunt Isabel’s house without ever seeing
Sports City.
10
11
6_025018_LR2_4OL_Searching.indd 11
1/16/08 5:00:06 PM
Chapter Five
Vera Saves the Day
Disgruntled, the boys wearily resumed their search.
They had only gone a few steps when a police officer on a bike
came up behind them. She slowed down and stopped.
Matino didn’t even say hello. He called out, “Excuse me.
Do you know the way to Sports City?”
“Yes. I’m going there. I will ride slowly. Jog along and
follow me. It is really not much farther. In fact, if you look just
past those trees, you can see some of the buildings there.”
Matino felt so relieved he cracked open the biggest
smile he could find. Enrique looked doubtful, but nodded
in agreement.
12
6_025018_LR2_4OL_Searching.indd 12
1/16/08 5:00:09 PM
“My name is Vera,” she said. “My father works at Sports
City. I am having a late lunch with him before I go to work.
So why are you two going there?”
“It’s Matino’s idea. He’s on a quest,” Enrique teased.
“A quest? Tell me more, Matino. I’m interested,” Vera said.
Matino liked the sound of Vera’s voice. He felt he could
trust her even though they had only just met.
“My father was born in Puerto Rico,” he said. “When he
was 11, he went to some kind of baseball camp right here in
Carolina. The man who ran the camp was Roberto Clemente.”
“Roberto Clemente?” said Vera. “He is one of my heroes.
A true legend. A superstar!”
13
6_025018_LR2_4OL_Searching.indd 13
1/16/08 5:00:13 PM
“My father said Roberto didn’t act like a superstar. He was
just a nice guy trying to teach the kids how to catch and hit
and run bases. My father always told us his time with Roberto
changed his life forever. To tell you the truth, I sometimes wish
he had never met him.”
“What do you mean?” Vera asked.
“Yes, tell us, Matino,” his cousin said, taking an interest in
the conversation.
“My father had little time for us. When he wasn’t working,
he was helping out in the neighborhood, bringing groceries
to old people, raising money for one community project or
another, whatever. People would call him in the middle of the
night and wake up the whole family.”
“What did they want?” Enrique asked.
“Whatever he could give them — money, advice, shelter.
Sometimes they just wanted someone to listen to their
problems. One day my mother got really upset at my father.
She said, ‘You take our money and give it to complete strangers.
How are we going to pay our bills?’”
Matino continued. “I really admired my poppi, but I guess I
didn’t like sharing him so much.”
“I can understand that,” Vera said. “Oh, look. We’re here!”
They entered a large parking lot. A sign said, “Ciudad
Deportiva Roberto Clemente,” the Roberto Clemente Sports City.
14
6_025018_LR2_4OL_Searching.indd 14
1/16/08 5:00:16 PM
Chapter Six
The Roberto Clemente Sports City
While Vera went to get her father, Matino and Enrique
checked out the statue of Roberto Clemente near the
front entrance. The statue stood on a stone pedestal and showed
him at bat, looking poised and ready to hit a homer.
“Okay, so the guy was a famous baseball player,” said
Matino. “But why did my father try to be so much like him?”
Enrique shrugged.
“Matino! Enrique! This is my father, Ignacio Martinez.”
The boys turned. Vera held her father’s
arm as they walked toward the statue.
Señor Martinez was a very imposing
figure. He wore an expensive straw hat
and a fine suit of clothes. He greeted
the boys and warmly shook their hands.
“Welcome to Ciudad Deportiva,” he
said. “I am one of the directors. Would you
and your cousin care for a guided tour?”
The boys readily accepted his offer.
With Vera at his side, Señor Martinez
showed them some of the many facilities
the sports complex offered young people.
Over lunch at one of the City’s outdoor
cafés, Señor Martinez and his daughter told their guests about
Roberto Clemente’s life. The boys were spellbound.
15
“He loved baseball and wanted to give Puerto Rican
children a place to develop their athletic skills,” Vera said.
“More importantly,” added her father, “he wanted to give
them opportunities to succeed in life. Roberto believed hard
work and personal integrity were the keys to success.”
In his mind Matino heard his father’s voice: “You must work
hard, Matino, if you want to achieve your dreams. Think of number
twenty-one.”
Señor Martinez ordered dessert for everyone, then
continued his story. “Roberto once said, ‘I want to be
remembered as a ball player who gave all he had to give.’
He would defy racial discrimination, stand by his friends, and
always help those in need.”
Kind of like my father, Matino thought.
“How did he die?” Enrique asked.
16
“On New Year’s Eve in 1972, Roberto decided to help
earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He helped load food and
medical supplies onto a plane. Then he got on the plane, to
unload the shipment in Nicaragua. But the plane was old. Soon
after it took off, the plane crashed into the Atlantic. Roberto’s
body was never recovered.”
Matino had taken in every word of the story. But now it
was time to go. Vera offered to take the boys to the nearest bus
stop. Before they left Sports City, her father hurried back to his
office. He returned with two new baseball jerseys, displaying
the number twenty-one.
“That was Roberto’s number,” Señor Martinez said. “May it
bring you both good luck.”
The bus ride back to San Juan went smoothly. Before
they reached the freeway, the bus cut through the sparsely
populated countryside. At a local bus stop, Matino saw some
children playing baseball on a side street. They had only
rudimentary gear. The batter, with just a broomstick for a bat,
looked determined to hit the ball with everything he had.
17
For a moment, Matino imagined he was seeing Roberto
Clemente as a boy, playing ball in the streets of his hometown.
Then Matino thought of his father and how Clemente had
inspired him to help others. The bus roared away from the stop.
The consequences of his trip were already beginning to affect
Matino. For one thing, he began to see his father in a whole new
light. He was starting to understand what his father had tried to
accomplish and why.
Feeling unexpectedly proud of himself, his father, and the
legacy of Roberto Clemente, Matino pulled on his new baseball
jersey. Number twenty-one. It fit him perfectly — like a glove.
18
Responding
TARGET SKILL Cause and Effect Think
about the consequences of Matino’s father’s
admiration for Roberto Clemente. Then copy
the chart below. In the left column, write details
from his father’s life. In the right column, list the
effects on Matino.
Cause: Details from
Father’s Life
He liked baseball.
?
Effects on
Matino
?
?
Write About It
Text to Self Do you think taking a trip can
change a person’s life? Why or why not? Write
a response to these questions. Use details to
support your opinion.
19
6_025018_LR2_4OL_Searching.indd 19
1/17/08 11:56:58 AM
TARGET VOCABULARY
array
poised
consequences
rigid
defy
rudimentary
immaculately
sparsely
permeated
venture
TARGET SKILL Cause and Effect Tell how events
are related and how one event causes another.
TARGET STRATEGY Visualize Use text details to
form pictures in your mind of what you are reading.
GENRE Realistic Fiction is a present-day story with
events that could take place in real life.
Write About It
In a famous quotation, Aung San Suu Kyi said,
“Please use your freedom to promote ours.”
What freedoms do you value most? Why? Write
a letter to the editor of a Burmese newspaper
explaining the freedoms you have and why they
are important to you.
20
6_025018_LR2_4OL_Searching.indd 20
1/17/08 11:57:01 AM
Level: X
DRA: 60
Genre:
Realistic Fiction
Strategy:
Visualize
Skill:
Cause and Effect
Word Count: 2,703
6.2.9
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Online Leveled Books
1032404
H O UG H T O N M IF F L IN
6_025018_OL_LRSE_CVR_L09_Searching.indd 1
2/12/10 12:00:56 PM