Immigrant Girl
The scorched earth cracks beneath our feet as we surge
ahead. Our eyes scanning the horizon for
movement. My mother stops and we all
grow still like meerkats gauging the threats surrounding us. My little brother’s
body quivers with fear and the cold of the desert’s night. I wrap my arm around
him in support. I know my mother leads us to hope and opportunity, but the
journey is so dangerous. The village we have left is riddled with insects of
both natural and human kind. They plague
us with their drugs and power and poisonous bites. A constant state of poverty gives way to
desperate measures and here our current state of being.
America, a beacon of hope for our family. We’ve lost so much
to the gangs and violence. The last straw came two weeks ago when my father did
not return. I found him the next day on the side of the road on my way home
from school. The image burned into my mind of the caked blood matting his hair
around the wound that destroyed him. His haunting eyes peered at me from the
tall grass beckoning me to run as fast and as far as possible. They would come
for me. They had threatened often
enough. They would make me their w***e,
vicious and bitter with the life I might have had.
I shake my head to clear me of these disturbing thoughts. I
swat at my eyes the moisture that threatens as we start to move again. We must
make it to Brownsville where my Aunt and Uncle wait for us. We traveled with a
larger group, but we split from them in the early morning in hopes that a
smaller group would be less detected. My mother stops again. I feel the eyes of the twilight on my back.
Flashlight beams dance ahead of us and we race to the nearby brush. I hear the
rattle first. Crouching down we all turn to face the newest threat. I grasp for
a large stone and attack. The creature
didn’t have a chance. I have come too
far to be detained now. Neither man nor
beast will stop me. My family will not know one more loss to this land.
The light beams turn in our direction. I hear whispers and wonder if they are friend
or foe. I hold my brother tightly and kick the snake’s corpse away. I hear my
mother’s name spoken. She looks to us with raised brows and hopeful eyes. She
signals us to hold as she creeps around the brush to meet the unknown. Rapidly
in hushed tones I hear the words of elation exchanged. Could we have a turn of fortune, in such a
forlorn stretch of land? Our family has found us! They’ve come to show us the
way.
I guess I’ll become a
Dreamer now.
I know I’m not the only one.
I hope you are glad that I joined you.
And that I’ll never
have to run.
LKBillips