Chapter 28 Summary

There are children who wear red berets and red neckerchiefs marching like little soldiers. They are the Pioneers. Carlos and his friends always shout derogatory comments to these mini-soldiers as they walk by. One day, his mother catches them and later she will tell him that this moment convinced her to get them out of the country.

During those days, there were many rumors, and one of them was that the state was herding children into trucks and shipping them to unknown places. When she hears the boys being disrespectful to the regime, she is certain that they will one day say it to the wrong person and get sent off to Russia.

Life is really changing in Cuba now. The Chinese hot dog man with the world's best hot dog is gone. The Jamaican pastry man with his delicious pastries is gone...