"Antonio, please lie down. Get some rest. The guards are not here to harm us. They're here for our protection," Mami said.
She tried to comfort me into to giving up my post at the entrance of our tent. My sister had fallen asleep hours ago but I couldn't. I had to make sure my family remained safe. Naïveté cost dearly in a place like this. So I stayed on the defensive and prayed we would soon be accepted into the States.
This hell hole had been our reality for seven months, and there was no sign of us being any closer to leaving. How much of this living could a human being take? The days were too hot. The mosquitos ate us alive on a daily basis. Food being scarce made hygiene unimportant to everyone, and on top of all our troubles, my sister Alejandra had begun to blossom. The fact she was only twelve was laughable.
Because of this, the guards had become a problem; they constantly followed her around, looking for any opportunity to get her alone. Being at her side whenever I could was now my daily routine. When I could not be with her, then she didn't go. This for the most kept her safe and out of harm's way.
One guard though, was more persistent than the others. No matter how close I stayed to her, he always found a way to be near her. He chose not to be vulgar like the other guards in his so called courtship. No, his way of pursuit was much more effective.
He brought her luxuries we had gone without for the last several months. Things we had no use for here. I never caught him giving her gifts she would always just have them. There was nothing to be done. The wrong move would land us all back on a boat to Cuba. So instead of growing angry, I remained in control of my rage and tried to keep my family out of harm's way. Staying up late at night, while my mother and sister slept was just one of the ways.
"Mami go back to sleep. Rest. I will lie down soon enough when the guards change." I replied.
She sat up and wiped sleep from her eyes. "Is he on tonight?" She asked.
"Yes. He's passed our tent twice in the past hour," I said.
When the guard in charge of our section changed my relief manifested itself in a brief sigh.
"The filth was keeping an eye out for your sister no doubt." She turned to Alejandra and lightly rubbed her cheek. Alejandra moaned in response, snuggling closer.
"The guards have changed. We have no more worries tonight," I said.
I crawled on my pallet; the thread bare blanket welcomed my aching body. I stared at the ceiling. Soon after my eyelids closed under the weight of exhaustion.
Before I drifted away loud angry voices outside shook me back to awareness. The voices spoke in a language I didn't understand. Our tent was ripped open and guards poured inside.
I tried to rise and a guard kicked me hard in the ribs. An unmistakable crack echoed in my ears.
I sucked in air to prevent myself from crying out. A foot was placed on my throat to ensure I stayed down. Another guard grabbed Alejandra, hefted her over his shoulder and left. When I struggled the guard increased the pressure on my neck.
"Be still or I'll break it." He hissed down at me.
A man with gray eyes arrived in the mist of the chaos. The way he carried himself blasted his boss status. In their language the leader spoke to the one who held me. The guard immediately snatched me up by the hair and a blade replaced his shoe. The one in charge smiled at mommy and rolled up his sleeve. Mommy, who huddled in a corner, paled.
"Carmen, we've looked for you for some time now."
Mami turned her gaze on me and I shuddered. The fear in her eyes told we were in the presence of El Diablo.
"We will not hurt him, if you tell me what I want to know," he said.
The lead guard grabbed the only chair among our sparse belongings and sat down.
"Anything." Mami croaked.
When the tears began to roll down her face. I wanted to kill him. The man who held me must have become excited by her fear, because he applied a slight amount of pressure and the knife's tip pierced my throat. A trickle of a warm sticky liquid crisscrossed down my neck. At the sight of my blood mami cried out and rushed over to me. The leader backhanded her and sent her flying to the pallet.
"Ethan is only having fun, do not get over excited. Do I not seem like a man of my word?" The leader asked as if he was surprised and put off by her reaction.
He tilted his head and waited for an answer. Mami, choked on a sob, and nodded. The leader rose from his seat and knelt in front of her.
"Carmen, where is it? It was not in the house and nowhere on the land. He must have given it to you."
He smoothed the hair from mommy's face and shushed her when she whimpered. I struggled to gain my freedom. "Don't touch her, bastardo!" I yelled.
The guard hit me with the handle of the knife. The blow stunned me and provoked my surroundings to spin.
"Don't worry. Your mother will not be hurt. If she tells me all she knows, I will happily leave you unharmed," He replied, his eyes colder than ice.
"Please! I don't know what it is, you ask of me," she cried.
"Of course you do," he snapped. "Think!"
"I swear, when I left I took nothing with me but my child." Her eyes begged to be believed.
"I'd hoped it would not come to such unpleasantness," he said.
The guard stood and dusted off the front of his uniform and that was the last thing I saw before my surroundings faded to black.