么么家的樓下是一個地下室，么么的媽媽把它收拾了一下，租給了一家波多黎各人，路易一家人。路易是老大，下面全是小妹妹。他其實是我弟弟的朋友，可我知道他有兩個表親，他的T恤從不掖進褲子里。
路易家的小表姐比我們大。她住在路易家裡，因為她自己的家在波多黎各。她好像是叫瑪琳或瑪芮斯，或者跟這差不多的名字。她總是穿暗色的尼龍絲襪，化很多妝，那是她推銷雅芳的時候不花錢得來的。她沒法出門——得照看路易的小妹妹們，可她常常站在門道里，一直唱著歌，打著響指。她只唱一首歌：
蘋果桃兒南瓜派喲，
你在戀愛我也在喲。
路易還有一個表兄。我們只見過他一次，可那次很轟動。我們在巷子里玩排球，他開著一輛又大又氣派的黃色凱迪拉克過來了，白壁輪胎，鏡子上系著一條黃綬帶。路易的表兄把胳膊伸在車窗外面。他摁了幾下喇叭，許多張臉從路易家的後窗露出來，接著，出來很多人——路易、瑪琳和所有的小妹妹們。
每個人都朝車裡看，問他怎麼弄來的。車裡有白色地毯和白色皮座。我們都求他帶我們兜兜風，並問他是從哪裡弄來的。路易的表兄說上車吧。
我們每個人都得抱個路易的小妹妹在膝蓋上才擠得下，可這沒事兒。座位又大又軟像沙發一樣，汽車的後窗上有隻小白貓，汽車停下或轉彎的時候，它的眼睛就會變亮。車窗不像普通的車窗那樣要搖上去，而是有一個按鈕會自動地代你開關。我們沿著巷子兜了街區六遍。路易的表兄說，如果我們不停止玩車窗和撥弄調頻收音機的話，他就要讓我們走著回去。
我們第七次開進巷子的時候聽到了警笛聲……開始很輕，後來就很響了。路易的表兄馬上就地停車，對我們說，統統下去。接著他猛踩油門，汽車飛出去變成一團黃色。我們還沒反應過來，停在巷子里的警車同樣飛快地追了上去。我們看到街區那頭的黃色凱迪拉克想要左轉彎，可我們的巷子太細了，汽車撞在了一根燈柱上。
瑪琳尖叫起來，我們朝街那頭跑過去，警車的警報器在那裡閃著炫目的藍光。那輛黃色凱迪拉克的鼻子皺得像美洲鱷的一樣。除了流血的嘴唇和淤青的額頭外，路易的表兄沒什麼大礙。他們給他戴上手銬，推進警車的后座。他們開走的時候我們都揮手送別。
Downstairs from Meme''s is a basement apartment that Meme''s mother fixed up aed to a Puerto Ri family. Louie''s family. Louie is the oldest in a family of little sisters. He is my brother''s friend really, but I know he has two cousins and that his T-shirts ay tucked in his pants.
Louie''s girl cousin is older than us. She lives with Louie''s family because her own family is io Rico. Her name is Marin or Maris or something like that, and she wears dark nylons all the time and lots of makeup she gets free from selling Avon. She ''t e out——gotta baby-sit with Louie''s sisters——but she stands in the doorway a lot, all the time singing, clig her fingers, the same song：
Apples, peaches, pumpkin pah-ay.
You''re in love and so am ah-ay.
Louie has another cousin. We only saw him once, but it was important. We were playing volleyball in the alley when he drove up in this great big yellow Cadillac with whitewalls and a yellow scarf tied around the mirror. Louie''s cousin had his arm out the window. He honked a couple of times and a lot of faces looked out from Louie''s back window and then a lot of people came out——Louie, Marin and all the little sisters.
Everybody looked ihe car and asked where he got it. There were white rugs and white leather seats. We all asked for a ride and asked where he got it. Louie''s cousin said get in.
We each had to sit with one of Louie''s little sisters on our lap, but that was okay. The seats were big and soft like a sofa, and there was a little white cat in the back window whose eyes lit up when the car stopped or turhe windows didn''t roll up like in ordinary cars. Ihere was a button that did it for you automatically. We rode up the alley and around the block six times, but Louie''s cousin said he was going to make us walk home if we didn''t stop playing with the windows or toug the FM radio.
The seventh time we drove into the alley we heard sirens……real quiet at first, but then louder. Louie''s cousin stopped the car right where we were and said, Everybody out of the car. Theook off fl that car into a yellow blur. We hardly had time to think when the cop car pulled in the alley going just as fast. We saw the yellow Cadillac at the end of the block trying to make a left-hand turn, but our alley is too skinny and the car crashed into a lamppost.
Marin screamed and we ran down the block to where the cop ca''s siren spun a dizzy blue. The nose of that yellow Cadillac leated like an alligator''s,and except for a bloody lip and a bruised forehead,Louie''s cousin w