With the Fire on High

Emoni and Malachi, along with Emma, Angelica, and Laura, are waiting in line to see Disney on Ice. Angelica warns Emoni that Tyrone will be angry if he hears that she has seen Malachi again. Malachi introduces Emoni and the others to his Aunt Jordyn, who works on the security staff for the show and was the one who got them free tickets. The show itself, according to Emoni, is “magical,” with Disney characters dancing on the ice. Afterwards, Malachi and Emoni take a cab back to her house. She drops a glass, and Malachi bandages her cut after she hurts herself picking up the shards. She tells Malachi that she likes him but that she is not interested in sex.

Emoni’s mobile phone was confiscated at school. Consequently, she only finds out when she gets home, from Mrs. Palmer, Tyrone’s mother, calling the landline, that Emma came down with a fever and that she had had to pick her up. Mrs. Palmer drops off Emma at Emoni’s house. She is critical of Emoni and ’Buela, saying that “I certainly won’t be dropping work every time you and your grandmother are too negligent to take care of Emma” (256). Emoni is angry at the way Mrs. Palmer treated her. When ’Buela returns she reveals that she hadn’t really been going to the doctor all the times she said she had but had just wanted some private time to herself.

It is Christmastime, and Emoni describes how she combines the Puerto Rican and American ways of celebrating it. This means staying up late on Christmas Eve and eating pernil, a pork dish, with ’Buela and then going to Angelica’s on Christmas Day.

Emoni asks her boss, Steve, if she can have the week off work when she goes to Spain. He says he is “going to look for other workers” (267), which means cutting her hours. Money has always been tight in Emoni and ’Buela’s house, with ’Buela’s main income a disability allowance, and with Emma to look after. As such, with reduced hours at the Burger Joint, Emoni reasons that she needs to find new work. Emoni soon quits her job at the Burger Joint because the pay from the few hours she worked there “wasn’t worth the round-trip fare” (271).

The day of the flight to Spain, and Emoni packs and says her goodbyes. She says that “this is the most excited and scared I’ve been” since she gave birth to Emma (276). They fly to Madrid, and it is the first time Emoni and many of the others have been on a plane in their whole lives. Emoni falls asleep next to Malachi on the flight. After landing, the class takes a five-hour bus trip to Sevilla. On arrival, Chef Ayden explains that they will be staying with host families and serving as apprentices in local restaurants. Emoni is staying with the same host as Leslie.

Leslie and Emoni are staying with an old woman named Mariana whose children have left home. Emoni and Leslie are sharing a room, and Emoni asks Leslie if she is homesick but only gets a sarcastic response. Emoni discovers the next morning that she will be working with a young female chef named Amadi in a restaurant that makes modern Spanish food with elements of North African cuisine.

In Chef Amadi’s kitchen, Emoni is tested on her knowledge of spices. Amadi says that she has heard from Chef Ayden how talented Emoni is. She also sets Emoni the challenge of cooking hen for the lunch customers.

Emoni rises to the challenge and, over four hours, cooks hen for several customers. Many of them compliment her on her work, and one explains how her cooking has turned around what began as a bad day. The class meets up at a paella restaurant later to discuss their respective days’ work. The others are shocked and impressed that Emoni prepared a whole meal by herself on her first day.

Chef Amadi makes Emoni smell various herbs to decide what should be paired with the rabbit she is serving. Leslie later reveals to Emoni that she is the first person in her family to have graduated high school and that her home life is difficult.

The class is excited because results of college applications are starting to come in, and they are checking them on their phones. Chef Ayden gives them a free morning to explore the city, so Emoni goes for a walk with Malachi. Emoni and Malachi visit Sevilla’s cathedral. Emoni is impressed at first but then becomes angry when she sees a gold statue of Christopher Columbus because, she thinks, no one remembers the enslaved people who had to dig for that metal. Malachi and Emoni next visit Sevilla’s castle, the Alcazar” and they learn that part of it was built by Muslims in the eighth century. Malachi tells Emoni he has been studying Islam, and she asks him to get ice cream with her after dinner.

In the evening, instead of going home, Emoni goes for a walk with Malachi. She reflects on Malachi and his relationship with Leslie. They are about to kiss when a child grabs Emoni’s purse.