Predict

What will happen to make Carmen feel better?

Papi pulls out a handkerchief and hands it to me.

My father, the gardener, looks at me intently for a few moments. Then he asks, “Carmita, do you remember our mango tree in Cuba?”

“Yes,” I sniff. I am curious now.

“Do you know what it means to graft a tree?”

I nod. “You take a branch from one tree and attach it to another tree. The branch and the tree grow together. Right?”