Robbin IS

“tucked the six-pack ring back into my pocket. A different kind of trick was called for today. I leaped for the handhold above me, hard as I could. I slapped at the wall. I stretched my fingers as far as they would go.”
― Carlos Hernandez, Sal and Gabi Break the Universe

“The next night was quite different. They came at sundown to a settlement. The houses were brown and homelike”
― Alice Dalgliesh, The Courage of Sarah Noble

“Since she couldn’t break me with her eyes, she went back behind her desk, sat down, and pressed a button on her phone. “Mr. Milagros,” she said, “are you there?” A second later, a crackly walkie-talkie voice with a thick Cuban accent said, “Para servirle.” “How is the chicken cleanup going?” “¿Bueno?” he began, stretching the word out to three seconds. Usually, “bueno” means “good,” but the way he said it then meant “welp.” And that’s all he said. “Mr. Milagros, are you still there?” “Para servirle.” Principal Torres massaged her forehead. “Me puede servir by telling me about the mess you had to clean up.” “¿Bueno?” She waited five Mississippis, tapping each second out on the desk with her finger. Then, carefully controlling her voice, she asked, “What does ‘bueno’ mean?” He sighed. “It’s like this. I went back to the locker to clean it up. Made up a whole new bucket of cleaner for it, bien fuerte. Like, I could mop up a dead body with it, because basically that’s what it was, a dead chicken body. If a student accidentally tripped and fell in my mop bucket, ooh, sería un desastre! It’d turn that kid into Kool-Aid.” “The chicken, Mr. Milagros. Did you clean it up?” The walkie-talkie crackled as Mr. Milagros put his thoughts in order. “¿Bueno? I was going to. I was all ready to. But when I got to the lockers, no chicken.”
― Carlos Hernandez, Sal and Gabi Break the Universe

“Annnnnnd I didn’t even get close. I fell.”
― Carlos Hernandez, Sal and Gabi Break the Universe