Flying Lessons & Other Stories

Content Warning: The source material contains depictions of racism.

Merci Suarez, the narrator and protagonist of “Sol Painting, Inc.,” longs to take over her father’s painting business one day. She has a long-term plan to transform his company into an empire so big that Home Depot will not be able to keep up with her. She even plans to make chic business cards that list her as CEO. Her brother, Roland, affectionately called Roli, is five years older than Merci and loves science.

When the story begins, the two kids and their father, Papi, are getting in the company van to go to a painting job when they witness men cleaning out their neighbor’s apartment. Doña Rosa, the elderly woman who lived there, has passed away without anyone knowing for two days. The scene scares Merci because all she can focus on is the woman’s ghost haunting the apartment building, but she tries not to show it. Meanwhile, the happenings in Doña Rosa’s apartment give Roli the opportunity to talk about the science of putrefaction and human decomposition.

As Merci tunes him out, she reveals the challenges of having Roli for a brother because he excels at school, while she struggles with academics.