The Start

I guess i should start, at the beginning. I said bye to a street , a street I no longer remember and have only tiny blurry memories of. I know the road was dark gray like dark smoke. I remember my house door it was green built with old metal scrapping. I was eight. Everyone was getting into a mexico city cab. I looked back and told myself “make it memorable, say goodbye” So I did. I turned and looked both ways before getting into the cab. I  looked a moment too long and tried to take in everything about that place. We  headed to the bus station. From there I don’t really remember much. The simple details are Godzilla, 101 Dalmatians , and another movie i don’t remember. I don’t remember the people around me, the people sitting next to me. The roads passing by or mexico turning blurry. The bus made restroom stops in improvised diners. I remember this particular one that sold menonita cheese. I thought the name was funny my sister and I laughed, the diner had orange trays. I remember my sister and I calling each other “menonita”.

I can probably affirm that about seventy-five percent of the people in that bus were going to attempt crossing the border. But i don’t remember their faces, their clothes, I just don’t remember.

We reached our stop. I don’t remember it. I remember a hotel, where the guy renting the rooms asked where we were  headed, My mom said “Colorado”

“tan lejos” he replied. “who’s the little lady”  he said looking at me and i smiled.

I remember the  shower, a head shower that i was happy and felt grown up to use. I remember sand and heat. I remember the heat from that place and the outside brightness. I remember going to a store; buying a telephone card. I remember my mom calling someone.  That’s all i remember.

We left all of our possessions behind, in the hotel drawers. We accidently left  the cadenitas our grandmother gave us before we left.

A car picked us up, it was an automatic car, the ones where once you get in the seat belts adjust to your body. I was amazed. It was brown. Two men took us to the border where another guy met us. I don’t remember his name. He was tall, white, dark hair. He had a goatee. I don’t remember his name, but i bet he was cute. We walked for a long time. He was going to take us one way but decided against it. He recommended that if we were to do this again we should use darker clothes, he gave me his shirt. His shirt was black. I don’t remember what color my shirt was. I remember a fence, a blue fence. A tall fence with people around it, with women hanging from it. But the fence ended and that’s when the journey began.

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