Becoming Naomi Leon

Naomi, Gram, and Owen are spending a typical weeknight together. Naomi Soledad León Outlaw is a fifth-grade girl at Buena Vista Elementary in Lemon Tree, California, right outside San Diego. According to her list of things she is good at, her talents include soap carving, worrying, and making lists. This evening, Naomi sits with her notebook open, chewing on a pencil, and worrying about her name. Boys at school tease her for having the last name Outlaw, and she’s making a list of ways to get them to stop.

Naomi’s younger brother Owen Soledad León Outlaw sits at a table zipping through his homework “like a horse on a tear” (4). Although Owen and Naomi are brother and sister with the same parents, they look almost entirely different. Where Owen is fair-skinned, Naomi is brown. Owen has blond hair. Naomi has dark hair. Naomi attributes their physical differences to Owen’s taking after Gram and their Oklahoma side, while Naomi takes after her father and the Mexican side of the family. Owen is a second grader and the smartest kid in his class. He was born “with his head tilted to one side and scrunched down next to his shoulder” (4) and one leg shorter than the other, which causes him to walk “like a rocking horse” (4). Other than these physical differences, Owen is in perfect health.

The siblings live with their great-grandmother, Mary Outlaw whose Mexican neighbors and closest friends call her María. Gram stands at the mirror, putting rollers in her hair as Naomi reflects on her list. While they work, Owen sneezes twice, which prompts Gram to predict, “company’s comin’ twice” (7).

As the children wonder aloud about who the second visitor might be, Naomi provides details about their neighbors at Avocado Acres Trailer Rancho. The children live in an Airstream trailer that Gram calls “Baby Beluga” because it looks like a small whale amid the trailers and avocado trees surrounding the property. Gram notes that their neighbor and her friend of 35 years is a guaranteed visitor. Fabiola Morales and Gram have watched Wheel of Fortune for 743 nights in a row. The women were seamstresses at the same company before they retired.

As the conversation dwindles, Naomi talks about her latest soap carving: a duck. Fabiola’s husband Bernardo had the idea to introduce Naomi to carving when she was very young. Naomi was nervous all the time, and her hands shook, which Gram thought would be solved if both Naomi’s hands and mind were occupied. Bernardo suggested carving because Naomi was “born to it” (13). Naomi started out with a paper clip, and as she grew more skilled, she was able to use sharper objects to carve. Now, she uses a knife with ease. As she reflects on her latest creation, someone knocks on the door.

The family knows right away that Fabiola isn’t the visitor, because the knock is too loud. Gram opens the door, looks suspiciously at the visitor, and falls silent. The children’s mother stands outside, holding all her belongings in a garbage bag. Gram lets her in, and the children don’t know who this strange visitor is until she says, “Children always know their mother” (19). At first, Naomi and Owen stand agape, staring at the woman they haven’t seen in seven years. Born Terri Lynn Outlaw, the children’s mother insists that Gram start calling her Skyla Jones, a name her new tattoo-artist-in-training boyfriend gave her.

Naomi realizes why she found the stranger’s voice vaguely familiar. She also finds her mother’s appearance fascinating. Skyla has maroon hair and matching lipstick applied in the perfect shape of an M on her lips. She smells strongly of gardenia perfume and wears red boots and a black leather jacket over jeans. Skyla gives the children a weak hug before Gram sends them to their rooms. Naomi leaves the door cracked to eavesdrop on the conversation.

Gram expresses her outrage that Skyla has returned after dropping the children off seven years ago and never looking back. Skyla brushes off Gram’s scolding and denies she did any harm after hearing Gram’s description of the trauma the children had to recover from after she left them with her. Skyla insists she “[has] rights” (23) when it comes to the children. Part of the argument drops down to a whisper and Naomi can no longer hear it. In the end, Skyla storms out of the trailer and speeds away in a red Mustang, saying she’ll be back later.

After Skyla leaves, Gram recounts what she’s already told the children about their mother. Terri Lynn was a rebellious teenager who was sent to live with Gram at 16 years old. A few years later Terri Lynn, or Skyla, fell in love with the children’s father, Santiago León, “a gentle, sweet man” (28). The two got married, had the children, moved to Mexico, and fell out of love just as quickly. The children know the story so well they help Gram tell it. When she finishes, Owen adds the latest event: Their mom has returned, and everything will be good now. Gram reveals that the situation is probably good and bad all at once, but she doesn’t elaborate, which leaves the children to wonder and worry.

Fabiola arrives and, seeing the look on Gram’s face, knows something is wrong. Gram simply says, “Terri Lynn was here. She’s come back” (32). Fabiola tells them all to come to her house immediately. The children realize the situation is serious when Gram leaves the house with her rollers on her head, and the women miss their 744th night of Wheel of Fortune—two things she has never done under normal circumstances. Naomi grabs her notebook, and Owen puts an entire roll of tape in his pocket before they all head out the door.

The children listen as Gram tells Bernardo and Fabiola her worries about Skyla’s temperament. She mentions the possibility that she could try to take the children away. They learn that Skyla permitted Gram to care for them in writing, but none of it was “legal-like” (37). Back at Baby Beluga, Naomi tosses and turns in bed. She tries to remember what she can about her mother and recalls nothing more than being abandoned by Terri Lynn in Mexico and rescued by her father. She remembers that Terri Lynn came to take them away from the shelter they were living in because of a storm, then abandoned them into Gram’s care in California.

The next morning, the children silently watch Skyla sleep on the foldout table in the kitchen and living area. While they eat breakfast, Gram shares that she and Skyla “had a heart to heart” (44) the night before, and Gram has decided to let her stay so that Skyla and the children can get to know one another.

That evening, Skyla arrives at the end of dinner with her arms full of shopping bags. She dotes on Naomi, giving her brand-new clothes and French braiding her hair. Naomi enjoys having Skyla braid her hair. When Grams asks her about gifts for Owen, Skyla says she’ll shop for him “next time” (47). Owen kindly asks her about a bicycle, and Skyla says she’ll consider it.

As she’s leaving to visit her boyfriend Clive, Skyla declares that she’ll join Gram for the parent-teacher conferences the following week. Later, Gram asks Naomi what she thinks about Skyla going to the conferences without Gram so they can spend quality time together. Naomi agrees to the plan.

At school the next day, Naomi receives many compliments about her French-braided hair. A new girl named Blanca Paloma joins Naomi’s fifth-grade class. Blanca rushes up to Naomi at morning recess, talking rapidly in Spanish. Naomi tells her that she doesn’t speak the language, and the girls have a conversation in English about Naomi’s family. Blanca tells Naomi that León means lion in Spanish. Blanca nicknames her, “Naomi the lion” (54). Blanca follows Naomi to the library for lunch. Blanca fits right in, striking up a conversation and asking everyone questions. At the end of the school day, the girls agree to meet in front of the school on Monday morning.