Once Again

Chapter 7

It's night when I wake up to yelling, from the man who wore shades, but he does not have them anymore.

"From here, we shall walk to our destination. Now lets go," he motions us forward. We had been traveling for a day and a half. We are now in a place with lots of sand. I get off the truck with Luis's help. He holds me steady as I fade out of my daze.

"Prepare to walk for hours. Possibly miles." He smiles meanly. He is teasing us. He has a mean face. He is not very old either, maybe Papa's age. I walk with Luis and Chano, ahead of Mama & Papa. Doña Sarah walks with Don Seve. The girl & her mom walk next to them. She is thin & tall. Her mom is also thin, but she is shorter than the girl. The man leads the way as we get closer to the edge of the desert. It now become plain land. Just ahead I see water. The moonlight reflects on the surface, glistening in the night. We get closer & we see other families there. Next to them is a man just like this one.

"I got 3 families," he says to the man at the river. The tall dark man looks over at us. I hide behind Mama, holding on tight to her dress. Luis is next to me, holding my free hand. He also is scared. The tall man motions us forward.

"You have reached the border, whether its back to your town or to a new place. You decide. We will not help you much after y'all go over to the other side, but we will not help you if you decide to stay either. You'll find your own way back to your town. Careful: the Immigration agents roams the area 24/7. We will not help you if you get caught. You are on your own. We are not held responsible." The man walks away back to his truck & so does the one who brought us. They drive away. I look at Mama, who has tears in her eyes. All the others look just as mad and sad as we do. Mama turns to Papa & looks at him.

"I told you that coyotes could not be trusted. Now we are here, not knowing where we are going." She has an edge of anger in her voice. Papa doesn't look at her. Chano is under his arm, frightened. Luis is still holding my hand. A man in the other group, short & old, starts a commotion.

"What are we all doing here just standing? Did we just spend all this money to stop here? Lets get going." The man reaches the edge and gets into the river first. A lady, who is old like him, follows him. She doesn't seem to know how to swim. He holds her tight. Others join them, many carrying their luggage on their heads or shoulders. Papa tells us to follow him. We get our stuff & go to the edge. Mama holds Daniel tight to her body as Papa leads her in the water. Chano holds my hands and helps me in. The water was deep & cold. I shiver. Papa is behind us. I had forgotten about Luis. He isn't with me right now. I did not realize when he let go. I look around, hoping to see him. I do not. As soon as I turn around, I hear a pop, & people start screaming. A gun went off. The old man who got in first holds his chest as he flops lifelessly. More gunshots are heard and people scatter in the water. I hold onto Chano as tight as I can. We were barely halfway across the river. We couldn't go back. We kept swimming. More people were dying. The screaming had gone down. Bodies were flowing everywhere. The gunshots died off. Only a few families & us were left. We reached the other side. Once there, there were people waiting, with guns & big trucks. They pointed their guns at us, but they didn't shoot.

"Only those with money will live," a man spoke up. He was bald & had crooked teeth. No one stepped forward. I saw Papa reach into his pocket & came forward.

"I have money for my family & I." He hand the money to another man, who counts it. The man nods.

"Get in the truck," he pushes Papa and Mama. I follow Chano. Another man comes forward with an envelope. He gives it to the man & pushes him towards the truck. He sits next to us. I look out the window. I see dead bodies in the water & families standing on the land.

"Anyone else?" the man asks, loading the gun. No one comes forward. The man points guns at their head. One by one,he shoots them. I look away and hold onto Mama, who has tears in her eyes. I turn to her and cry also. I never saw Luis in the water or on this side. I lost him, somewhere. He was dead, i thought. The man walks back into the truck and starts it. I sigh. I made it alive. I am in the U.S. Without Luis.