I don’t know how it came up. We were at breakfast and I guess the news was on. Something came up about illegals like it always does. There was a story about a mom who tried to smuggle her kids in to get away from gang violence.
I think I just said, “Hey, like Santos.” Eli started interrogating me. Told me he’d kill my ass if I lied. Pulled up his shirt to show me the gun tucked into his pants. So I told him about Santos. How he was in a gang but wanted to get out. How he had to collect money from businesses for protection. How his family moved and he had a chance to leave.
He looked upset but less than I thought. Just said, “Damn illegals,” and went to his office for the day.
I invited Santos back to my room. I told him I was sorry I made him sleep on the floor. He just said it’s OK and brought his things back. He held his arms open for a hug. That was almost worse than him being mad. Just forgave me and moved on. I told you I’m not the good guy in this story.
“I heard about why you left,” I told him once he got settled.
“Yeah.” He looked at his feet. We didn’t say anything for a while and his big toe was poking through his sock, so I threw him a pair of mine. He said thanks and we just sat there for a while.
When we got outside to work, it was too quiet. So I grabbed some seeds and threw them as hard as I could over a pickup truck at Santos. He looked confused, then I think he figured it out. He picked up a hose off the ground and I dodged the spray while he dodged the seeds.
Then that made me think of the time we had a food fight. I got all sad and just sat on the ground. I don’t get why my brain does that to me sometimes. Having a perfectly good time and then all of a sudden I get all sad.
Santos came over and sat by me, laughing. I smiled back cause I didn’t want to be a downer. We finished up our work and showered. It was my turn to make dinner, so I started a pot of spaghetti on the stove while Santos got dressed.
You know those screams where you can tell someone’s afraid for their life? Not the “I just saw a spider” type screams, but sheer horror? I heard one of those screams coming from down the hall.