Mangoes and Other Dangerous Fruit

Mom says that, as the oldest child, I have to look out for my two younger siblings. That I have to be smart. Since turning nine last week, I take this responsibility very seriously.

Which is why I'm confused when I look up from the fruit vendor cart and can't find my family anywhere.

"Mom?" My voice sounds so small, swallowed by the bustle of people around me. Wasn't she just here, telling little Jason to stop begging for ice cream?

Residents of this strange city step around me, eager to get to work or wherever. None of them look like Mom.

"Mom!"

No reply.

The fruit lady collects money from a man and hands him his bag of watermelon. Then she notices me and my pitiful wailing. "Donde esta tu mamá?"

I stare at her. I have no idea what she just said.

She crouches down to my eye level. "Niñita, necesitas ayuda?"

I begin to panic. Being lost is already scary, but being lost in a foreign country where I don't speak the language seems like a quick way to die. I can imagine Mom now, shaking her head at my stupidity. She'd say, "You should have paid better attention, Janie. I have my hands full with these two already. You need to step up!"

I nervously scratch at my neck, not sure what to do next. That's when my wrist brushes against the Travel Button, a gadget she'd gotten just for this trip. She'd pinned it to my collar and told me to press it if I ever got lost. I'd scoffed at the time. I've never gotten lost before. I was much too smart for that.

I was wrong.

I press the button.

"Transmitting. Receiving. Ready," it says with a clear but tinny voice.

The lady glances at the device, brows pinched, then focuses back on me. "Niñita, necesitas ayuda?" she repeats.

"Little girl, do you need help?" the Travel Button on my collar says.

It's a translator! Hope somersaults in my chest. "Yes! Yes, I'm lost!"

"Si. Si, estoy perdida," Travel Button translates without emotion.

The lady raises her eyebrows at the device pinned to my collar. "Increíble."

"Incredible," it says.

The lady presses her lips together, seeming to make up her mind about something. She stands and holds her hand out to me. "Vamos. Sé exactamente dónde llevarte."

"Let's go. I know just where to take you," says Travel Button.

"Where?" I demand, eyeing her hand with suspicion. Mom told me all about stranger danger.

Travel Button translates.

The lady says something else, and the device tells me it's a nice hotel where lost people often go.

Not sure what other choices I have, I gingerly put my hand in hers. She barks something at her helper, which my translator says are orders to watch the fruit cart while she's gone.

And then we're walking. She parts the crowds like one of those Navy destroyers I've seen on TV. We pass more food vendors and people selling hats. None of them bother her. In fact they seem to know her and wave hello.

Before long, we stop in front of the gleaming front gate of a Marriott resort. I raise a hand to shield my eyes against the sun so I can see the expanse of it.

The fruit lady is talking to one of the workers at the gate when I hear my mother's voice. "Janie! Janie, is that you?"

I whirl a round and there she is across the street, a death grip on my brother and sister in each hand.

"Ahead fifty feet," I hear a Travel Button voice say. But it's not mine, it's coming from Mom's direction.

A bus pulls up in front of her, and she's forced to walk around it.

"Turn left," her Travel Button recommends.

Mom circumvents the bus and rushes across the street, dragging my siblings along.

"Ahead 20 feet."

Then she's in front of me, squeezing me so tight I can barely breathe. "Thank God you're safe," she murmurs.

"Target located," her Travel Button says, not to be left out.

"I'm sorry I didn't pay attention," I mumble into her hair. "I didn't mean to get lost." My voice warbles, on the verge of tears. "I was trying to figure out what mangoes looked like."

"No, baby, I'm the one who's sorry." She pulls away and looks at me. "I should never have taken my eyes off you. Thank goodness these little things actually work!"

I peer at the little device pinned to her jacket. "How did you find me? This isn't our hotel."

"When you activated yours, it signaled mine. Then it gave me directions."

"Wow." I gaze at her button with new admiration. Then I remember my manners and tell my mom about the lady who helped me.

Mom straightens and thanks the woman profusely. Her Travel Button translates. I tell her about the lady's fruit cart. Mom gets a gleam in her eye. "I think it's time we sampled the local produce. Starting with mangoes!"