by KG MacGregor
Anna shrugged. “I don’t know…seeing Andy. What if he’s mad that it took us so long to get him out?”
“Arturo would have said. By the way, if I faint when he comes out, I want you to throw me over your shoulder and carry me out of here. I don’t want to wake up in this place.”
An unseen receptionist buzzed them into a lobby and appeared moments later behind a glass enclosure. “May I help you?”
Lily stepped closer to a microphone embedded in the glass. “We’re here to pick up our son, Andres Kaklis. Your records might show him under another name, Andres Casillas. I have the necessary paperwork to take custody.”
The woman disappeared into another room for what felt like an eternity. Anna’s impatience turned to irritation after fifteen minutes. “I swear to God, if she comes back and tells me he’s not here—”
A door opened behind them.
“Ma!”
Anna whirled to see Andy fly into Lily’s open arms. His hair curled in every direction, as if it hadn’t been combed all week. And was it her imagination or had he lost weight? From behind, his jeans looked loose and his gray pullover hoodie swallowed him.
Lily beamed with joy as they rocked from side to side. Without breaking their embrace, she dipped her head to look him in the eye. “I’ve never been so glad to see someone in my whole life.”
“You’re not half as glad as I am.”
The seconds piled up as Anna waited her turn. Andy hadn’t even looked in her direction, stoking her fear that he blamed her for something. Or maybe he’d been seething all this time over her broken promise. For not believing in him and treating him like an irresponsible kid. She was determined to make up for all of it. Andy had gotten through this awful ordeal on his own. No two ways about it, he was far more mature than she’d given him credit for. He absolutely deserved her trust and respect.
When he finally turned to face her, he broke into a broad smile and his eyes welled with tears.
“Hey, pal,” she said softly. To her relief, he didn’t hesitate at all, leaping from Lily’s arms into hers. She pulled him into a hug, cupping his head against her shoulder as they both began to sob. Whether he knew it or not, he was comforting her. “God, I love you so much. Do you hear me? I love you, Andy.”
“I love you too, Mom.”
There were so many things she needed to tell him but that one mattered most.
She loosened her hold and steered him toward the door. “We’ve come to take you home, pal. Are you ready?”
He sniffed loudly and nodded. “Yeah, but can we please stop and get a pizza? I’m starving.”
* * *
Despite the chilly air, Lily cracked the window in the back seat of the SUV to let some of the garlic smell out. Watching Andy scarf down a large pepperoni pizza by himself might have been funny were it not for the fact that he truly was ravenous. He’d confirmed the worst of the horror stories, of being served frozen and spoiled food, and going to sleep hungry every night.
Anna had cracked the window on the other side. “Sorry about the garlic, Jack. I’ll make it up to you.”
“Not a problem.” He pulled to a stop in front of the airport lobby well ahead of schedule. “I’m glad I got the chance to drive you and hear your story. It does my heart good to see a family reunited.”
Dustin met them in the lobby and escorted them to the plane, which was being serviced by a fuel truck. “Come aboard and relax. We’ll be ready to roll in a few.”
“Wow!” Andy was clearly impressed. “This is majorly dope.”
Lily let him choose his seat first, then sat facing him. “That seat folds all the way back into a bed if you get sleepy.”
“Are you kidding? I’m staying awake so I can enjoy every minute of this. Our own private jet. I feel like a rock star.”
Anna laughed. “You’ll definitely have a few stories to tell about what you did over spring break.”
“No shit.” He immediately slapped a hand over his mouth.
“It’s okay, pal.” She flashed Lily a conspiratorial look. “I think under the circumstances, that one’s pretty mild. You should have heard some of the stuff I said.”
“That’s right, Andy. And your mom hardly ever swears so you know she meant business.”
Lily saw no reason to rush Andy back to school on Monday. After almost a week in custody, it wouldn’t hurt to have him checked out by a medical doctor, despite his insistence that he was fine. The crowded, unsanitary conditions of ICE detention centers made for a breeding ground for viruses and bacterial infections.
And then there was the matter of Andy’s mental health. It could be several days or even weeks before problems began to manifest. Complicating matters further, the signs could be almost anything—irritability, anxiety, difficulty sleeping or concentrating.
“By the way,” Anna said as she reached into her handbag, “Tony recovered your phone and your wallet from the ICE detention center in LA. I already called your grandpa and Serafina while we were waiting for your pizza, but you should give Jo-Jo a call.”
“He’s not going to believe this.” He snapped a selfie before scooting to the back of the plane where he had privacy.
“And make sure he tells Aunt Kim and Uncle Hal,” Lily added. She leaned across the aisle and whispered playfully, “Do you want to look over his shoulder and check for swear words or should I?”
“You mean to see if he spells them right?” Anna laughed, but then lowered her voice. “I honestly don’t care if he swears, as long as he doesn’t do it around the customers.”
“What customers? Last I heard you were selling the business.”
“Mmm…I might be having second thoughts.”
Lily answered haughtily, “I guess that means I have to find someone else who can keep me in this lifestyle to which I’ve grown accustomed.”
“Knock yourself out, woman. But you won’t find anyone anywhere who’ll love you more than I do.” Anna punctuated her challenge with an air kiss.
Lily answered in kind but made a mental note to encourage Anna later to think through the Premier Motors situation carefully before making an emotional about-face she might regret. This was no time for snap decisions.
“Sweetheart…that’s your phone,” Anna said.
Lost in thought, Lily hadn’t heard it ring. “It’s Arturo.”
“Tell him we have the package. I always wanted to say that.”
“Hi! Anna says to tell you we have the package. We’re getting ready to leave for LA.”
“That’s great. How’s Andy? Did he get that pizza?”
Lily peered around her seat to see Andy smiling as he furiously texted. “He did. He ate the whole thing in one go. Though I think he missed his phone more than his family. We’ll all be glad to sleep in our own beds tonight. Arturo, we can’t thank you enough for taking on his case. If Anna and I can ever help you in the future, I hope you’ll ask.”
“Thanks, I might just take you up on that.” He definitely sounded like a budding politician. “I wanted to touch base about Andy’s friend Santos. It turns out they’re pretty keen on cutting him loose.”
“I bet. Nobody wants to take responsibility for him, especially if he has enemies inside.”
“Exactly. But here’s the problem. His uncle’s his only relative in the US and he works at a hospital in LA. Ten days on, four off. It’ll be eight days before he can get to Miami, and DHS refuses to put Santos on a plane by himself.”
During the quiet pause that followed, Lily anticipated the request he seemed hesitant to make. “You’re saying someone needs to receive custody because he’s a minor.”
“Correct. And with you being an officer of the court…”
It was a huge ask, since they were eager to get home and end this fiasco. The pilots were ready, the plane was fueled, the flight plan filed. She hated to say no—they were so grateful to Arturo—so she decided to pass the buck and let Anna do it.
“And by the way, I spoke with his probat
ion officer. Santos has definitely stayed clear of his old gang. She thinks he’s a good bet.”
“Umm…hold on a sec, Arturo. I need to talk this over with Anna.” She muted her phone and explained the situation to Anna. “Bottom line is he wants us to turn around and go back to Homestead so we can pick up Santos and take him back to LA. What do we tell him?”
“I think it’s Andy’s call.”
She put it to Andy, who didn’t dither at all. “I don’t think anybody’s ever given Santos a break. Let’s go get him.”
* * *
“You guys ready for dinner?” Lily asked from her seat at the front of the cabin.
“Yeah,” Andy replied, drowned out by Santos’s “Yes, ma’am.” Andy snickered and called him a suck-up.
Despite his vow never to return to Florida, he was glad his moms had agreed to fly back and pick up Santos. He felt bad that only a few days ago he’d thought Santos deserved to be kicked out of the country just for joining a gang. If he’d grown up where Santos did, he might have joined one too.
Andy had done a lot of thinking about his life during his time in detention. He didn’t remember much from before he was adopted but it couldn’t have been good. Most of his childhood memories were happy times with his Kaklis family. Being around kids like Santos and Ruben made him realize just how lucky he was.
The charter airline had called in a second crew that was ready and waiting when they arrived back at Homestead. Instead of having to stay the night, they were able to collect Santos and return for an evening flight to LAX, due to land around midnight, which was only nine o’clock Pacific Time. A long day for sure but a day Andy would never forget.
Santos wasn’t likely to forget it either. When he’d walked out of Homestead with Ma, Andy had met him with a fat beef burrito that was “cooked all the way through, man.” Now the two of them had claimed the back end of the cabin so they could talk out of earshot of his moms and the flight attendant Josie, who was preparing a gourmet dinner.
“What do you call ’em? They both the same,” Santos said.
“That one’s Mom, the one with the dark hair. Her name’s Anna. Don’t let her sweet face fool you. She’s a badass.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “She look like a boss.”
“The other one’s Lily. I call her Ma. Used to be Mama when I was little. She’s kinda low key but I’ve seen her be a badass too, especially in court.”
“Yeah, she basically told me if I fucked up she was sending me back to jail. Like now I gotta go to school or start looking for a job.” Still wearing the shorts and T-shirt they’d issued at Homestead, Santos sat wrapped in a blanket against the cabin’s cool temperature. “Which one your real mother?”
“Both of them. Neither of them.” Andy was used to such questions. He’d learned long ago that some queries, like this one from Santos, were out of genuine curiosity, while others were a pretext for making fun of his parentage. “My natural mother was killed by the police in San Francisco. Accidentally…or so they said. Ma says they were reckless ’cause she wasn’t even doing anything.”
“That’s a lie, man. You shitting me.”
“Swear to God. I don’t remember anything about her though. I was living in a foster home ’cause she wasn’t taking care of me. That one”—he pointed to Lily—“she’s my real mother’s sister. And they’re married, so they both adopted me. I’m legally their son.”
“You lucked out, man.”
“Tell me about it.” As he told about the rest of his family, he couldn’t help but notice Santos’s somber look. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Naw, just me.” He stared out the window, his silence all-consuming until he finally said, “Don’t tell nobody, okay? My ma’s not my real ma neither. She my sister…my half-sister. We got the same father. My real ma was murdered in Honduras and that’s why he brought me to live with her. I was about four. I used to didn’t know. Some days I wish I still didn’t.” He added a sarcastic laugh. “She only told me ’cause I was being a pain in the butt and she threatened to send me back. Wait till she hears ICE almost did it for her.”
Andy’s rough start didn’t hold a candle to that, but he still felt a strange kinship with Santos that he hadn’t shared with anyone. The difference between them was exactly what Santos said—luck. A few years ago his quest to learn more about his personal history had been satisfied when his moms sat down with him to go over his records. The only specifics were that he’d been neglected and possibly abused, and he’d lived in six different foster homes by the time he was four years old. His life changed forever when he moved to LA and became a Kaklis.
“ICE thought I was some guy named Andres Casillas. Whoever that is, he better hope those motherfuckers don’t catch him.” Andy jumped at the sound of his ma clearing her throat as she swiveled her chair to face Santos. “Oops, sorry.”
She ignored him and addressed Santos, “How are you feeling, Santos? Any pain in your belly?”
“It’s okay. Sometimes it hurts when I cough.”
“I think that’s normal. The doctor said you needed to keep the area clean and change the bandage every day. Do you have bandages at home?”
“My uncle say he can get some. He works at a hospital.”
“Oh, right. You looking forward to going back to school on Monday?” She let him dangle in awkward silence for several seconds and then laughed. “Why do I get the feeling school isn’t your favorite thing?”
“I’m just not very good at it.”
Anna turned too so the four of them were facing each other. “Here’s a news flash, Santos. Everybody struggles in school sometimes. Even this guy.” She pointed to Andy. “The key is finding the thing that really interests you and pouring your whole heart into it. Right, Andy?”
“If you ask me, the key is to get help when you need it. I should have done that with math. Instead I just acted like everything was okay, like I was too cool to need help. Then I got behind and it was hard to catch up again.”
“I think it’s a little of both,” Lily said. “We should set up a meeting with your PO and talk about what’s next. One of my colleagues at the courthouse has a program for kids your age so they can get a GED and start a career path. I bet I can pull some strings and get you in it. You interested?”
“Yeah.” He corrected himself immediately. “I mean, yes ma’am. I don’t want no more trouble. I’m done with that.”
“Tell me about this gang stuff at Homestead. Arturo said you got stabbed because of a gang fight.”
No way was Andy going to volunteer what Santos had said about needing to take sides. “It was my fault, Ma. I gave him my rugby shirt to wear ’cause he liked it and it was too big for me. I didn’t know it was gang colors. If I’d been wearing it, I might have been the one who got stabbed.”
Lily shuddered and blew out a breath. “Don’t even say that. You’ll give me nightmares.”
“I’m done with gangs,” Santos repeated, pounding the arm of his chair for emphasis. “I promise. I won’t go nowhere ICE be picking up kids.”
Anna, in her typical badass fashion, said, “I’m done with ICE. If it were up to me, I’d shut down the whole force. Or I’d at least make it illegal to take minors into custody, especially off the street.”
That gave Andy an idea. “Hey, you could help Ruben too! Ruben Ibarra. He’s at Berks.”
Santos made a face. “That little pipsqueak that kept kicking my seat?”
“Cut him some slack. He’s only seven. His dad had a green card. Instead of letting him go, they arrested him and said he assaulted an ICE officer. Ruben says they just made that up. It’s not fair how they lie.”
Lily traded looks with Anna. “Tony told us about that, remember? They charge people with a bogus crime so they can justify deporting them.”
“They do. I seen it,” Santos said. “Or they lock you up for nothing and hold you so you miss your check-in day. That’s it then—you broke the law.” He snapped his finge
rs. “Bam! You deported.”
“And the stupid judges always believe whatever they say,” Andy grumbled, before it dawned on him his own ma was a judge. “I’m not saying all judges are stupid. That judge in Phoenix though, he believed every lie that came out of that lawyer’s mouth.” He looked to Santos for backup. “Remember those two a-holes who drove the van? They told the lawyer they checked out my story that my name was Kaklis, that my ma was a judge. They said they couldn’t verify it. They didn’t even try.”
“’Course they didn’t. Just like they said I was hanging out with F-Thirteen. I know the guys in F-Thirteen—they weren’t even there that night. ICE just looked me up and lie. That’s how they do all Latinos.”
“He’s right, Ma. They treat us Latinos like crap. That’s why I want to help Ruben and his dad.”
“I understand, Andy. But we don’t know the facts there.”
“Except the facts are whatever ICE says they are. And the judges act like ICE agents are…impallible.”
“I think you mean infallible,” Anna said. “They don’t ever make mistakes.”
“Yeah, that.”
Lily would be the first to admit the judicial system had serious flaws. “Andy, I hear what you’re saying—and you’re right, it’s not always fair—but judges have to work with what they’re given. That’s how the law works. The real problem is that detainees aren’t given attorneys who’ll push back. Or the attorneys they have are so overworked they can’t mount an effective defense. If you’d had access to appropriate counsel, the judge would have received evidence of who you were and you’d have been released on the spot in Phoenix.”
“Then somebody needs to fix it ’cause court ought to be fair…even if you’re not a citizen.”
“I agree completely,” Lily said. “Tell you what…I’ll call Tony tomorrow and ask him to look into Ruben’s father’s case. Ibarra, right? Even if we can’t help him beat the assault charge, maybe we can get Ruben released.”
“Cool!”
Santos snorted but smiled. “He still a pipsqueak.”
* * *
Anna closed the bedroom door and leaned against it. The thrill of having Andy home again—and of watching Georgie, Eleanor and Serafina listen raptly to his story—had kept her going for the last couple of hours, but the crash was imminent. “I don’t know how either of us is still standing. Twenty-one hours, three states, three time zones.”
