Gilberto, and
my Uncle Raymond both disappeared ten days ago.”
I gawked in disbelief. “Oh, come on, Lupe, get real. There’s no
way…”
Angry tears jumped to her eyes. “See? I knew you wouldn’t believe
me.” She marched to the door and yanked it open. “You can go now.” The
rock-hard gleam in her steady gaze punctuated the finality of her words.
At that moment I really didn’t know what to think of her outburst but I
put up an obliging hand. “Calm down. It’s just that…well, that’s a pretty
amazing statement.” I patted the chair next to me. “Why don’t you sit down
here and start at the beginning. I’m sure there’s a reasonable….”
“There is a witness.”
“To the…ah…abduction?” It was an effort to conceal my skepticism.
“Yes. He claims he is the only one who got away from…from the sky
people.”
Her preposterous statement sent a shock wave through me. “Okay. I’m
ready to hear more.”
She closed the door, returned to the sofa and sat with clenched fists
to her lips for another long minute before saying in a barely audible voice,
“I feel like I am dying inside. I honestly don’t know what to do or where to
turn for help.”
I shifted uneasily. “So…I gather you haven’t reported this situation to
the authorities—sheriff, Border Patrol, INS?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Her quick glance reflected a mixture of exasperation and chagrin.
“Don’t you understand? I can’t. If la migra , you know, the INS finds
out what I’ve done…they’ll deport me.”
The thought that there was still time to cut and run did occur to me,
but she looked so distraught, I was unable to move an inch. “Lupe, why don’t
you start at the real beginning of the story?”
She hung her head, avoiding my eyes. “You have probably figured out
that I’m not here legally. My green card is counterfeit and so is my driver’s
license.”
My heart sank like a stone, but I maintained a stoic expression. “Go
on.”
“I came across with my stepfather, but he…he got into some trouble….”
Her voice trailed off.
“What kind of trouble?”
“Smuggling drugs. He shot a Border Patrol agent…and now he’s in
prison.”
“Christ.”
“I had everything planned so carefully,” she said, nervously
kneading her hands. “I have worked like a slave to send money home all these
years to help the rest of my family have a better life, but much of it went for
my mother’s sickness.” Her thick dark hair fell across her face when she bowed
her head again and fingered the silver crucifix at her neck. “It was never
enough, Kendall. Never enough. No matter how much I sent. God finally took
her last month.”
I put my hand over hers. “I’m so sorry.” Words seemed totally
inadequate.
She swiped away fresh tears. “You know, it’s bad enough that I was not
there with her when she died, but now I have to live with what I have done.”
Renewed panic lit her eyes so I kept my voice low, soothing. “What exactly did
you do, Lupe?” Her hangdog expression had me holding my breath.
“I paid a coyote to bring them across the border.”
I
cocked my head. “Your brother and uncle?”
She
nodded.
My insides went hollow. “How much?”
“Three thousand dollars.”
“Oh, man.” I’d read stories like this where the smugglers accepted the
money and then abandoned the people in the desert. “Why would you even consider
becoming involved in something like this? Why couldn’t your relatives wait and
apply to enter the country legally?”
She flicked me a look of disbelief. “ ¡Dios Mio! That could
take years! Do you know how hard it is to find any kind of decent paying work
in my homeland or to put food on the table? Do you have any idea of what it’s
like just to even survive there?” Her Hispanic accent grew more pronounced as
her agitation increased.
I stared at her a few seconds before answering quietly, “I guess