by Kate Banco
We continue down the paved road for at least five kilometers. We stop behind the other bus. I try to look out to see why we are stopped. It looks like they have stopped at a guard booth. On both sides of the guard booth is a twelve-foot tall metal fence topped with barbed wire. It doesn’t look like it is for keeping people out, more like keeping people in. It looks like what it is, a prison; they have brought us to a prison.
Why in the world would children be put in a prison? We haven’t done anything wrong. We were brought here. Most of us don’t even understand why life is so different in the States and why our parents brought us here. We were content where we were.
The busses pull through the guard booth and I see the guards inside are holding on to machine guns. I want to yell, ”Put down your guns, we are kids. We can’t hurt you.”
I wonder what would happen if I did start yelling at them, would they shoot me? Some of the guards look just like me. They either have ancestors from Mexico or they themselves crossed the border looking for work. I look at the guard in the eye to see if he’ll flinch and look away. He doesn’t look away at all, he moves his hand closer to the trigger. Maybe his father brought him here too, maybe he now hates Mexicans.
Our bus pulls up to a warehouse-style overhead door. The door goes up automatically and the driver pulls the bus inside. It’s a little cooler there, but not much. More guards are standing inside with machine guns. The sweat pours off of their foreheads and they look miserable. Some of the guards look friendly, but the majority are very scary looking. Memo’s bus pulls up next to us. Through the window, I can see he is searching for me from his seat. He looks frantic. Rosa is sitting in the seat next to him, she is too young to be worried. She doesn’t even know where we are or why. But then neither do any of us.
The doors to the bus screech as they swing open. We all stay seated because no one has told us what to do yet. We wait. The bilingual guard jumps on the bus and yells, “Vengan, no se queden allí sentados.” Come on, don’t just sit there.
We all start to stand up. Of course, we want to get off the hot, smelly bus but we are all afraid of what awaits us when we do. Adriana looks over at me and says, “Try to stay together okay?”
“Of course. We need to help each other get Memo and Rosa back,” I whisper.
She grabs my hand and squeezes it. As she lets go one of the guards sees us.
“You two novios?” He yells above everyone.
We both answer no at the same time. “Just friends, we are only friends,” I say.
As we get off the bus I hear Memo shout out, “Ricardo, Ricardo estoy aquí. Quiero estar contigo.”
I answer back, “It’s okay Memo. I think we’ll be together again soon. Listen to what they tell you and I’ll see you later.”
I know this might not be true but I have to try to keep his hopes up. It won’t do him any good to think we may not get to be together at all. I need him strong to stay healthy and to help Rosa.
I need to stay strong and healthy too. I need to watch out for Memo, Adriana and Rosa. We are family now. I hope I can do that. I don’t even know their last names or where they are from. Adriana looks like she might be fourteen years old and Rosa about four. Both younger than us.
We are told to get into two lines, boys and girls. It looks like they are going to separate us. It’s probably a good idea to protect the girls. They don’t know any of the young men here and some are seventeen years old and almost men.
I look over to see what is happening with Memo’s group. They have split them up by gender, then by age, Rosa is no longer with Memo. He yells over that they took Rosa and he can’t find her. He is screaming, “¿Dónde está Rosa? ¿Dónde está?” A guard places his hand on his shoulder and tells him to quiet down. Memo crouches down and tries to get away, but the guard grabs him by the arm and I hear Memo scream. I can’t help him from where I am but I try to yell over to him.
“Memo, calmate. Por favor.”
The guard next to me slaps me in the back of the head. “Be quiet. You are in a different area and you can’t communicate with him. Get used to the idea. There’s nothing you can do to help him. He’s on his own.”
“What, I won’t be able to see him? Why not? He’s my brother I need to take care of him. He’s only seven,” I say as I am filled with rage and I want to punch the guard. I remember one other time I’ve felt the same rage and it was the day my mother died. This is way too difficult.
I look to see if Adriana heard what the guard said and by the angry look on her face I see she heard and understands my anger. I hope we can talk and try to make a plan.
In each line we are given our kit and a towel. For the boys, there is a bar of soap and a towel. Each girl receives soap, shampoo and female items. The boys only have soap. Maybe they think we don’t need shampoo because they shaved our heads. This makes me think they will continue to shave our heads. The towel is coarse and small. Everyone has the same color towel, it will be difficult to keep our own things separated if we all have the same things.
At the next table, we are handed a packet with aluminum foil. None of us know what it is. One of the guards tells us to save it for later, we’ll need it. I try to read what the package says and read, “Blanket” and I have no idea what that means. We are also given another white paper suit with another pair of paper underwear.
The guard gives us instructions. He says to make our paper suits last as long as possible because they don’t give them out very often. If we get sick they don’t always give us a clean one. I hope they also explain this to Memo, but I doubt he will understand what that means. He’s never had to worry about clean clothes before. So many things he never worried about until now.
We are led down a dark hallway, boys on one side and girls on the other. At the end of the hallway we can see some light. It opens on to a huge area divided up by tall fences. They have the appearance of cages because that is what they are. Wire fences surround the area. It is broken down into smaller cages within the large cage. They start pushing us into a cage big enough for four people to lie down in. They put six of us in each cage. I don’t know how we will be able to all lie down to sleep if all of us sleep at the same time. I don’t see any toilets or sinks. By now I am very thirsty and the others probably are too. I can’t imagine how the younger kids are doing. They must be miserable.
Chapter 18
Oswego, New York
Dana texts us the next morning and asks if Joy stopped by our house. Our answer is, “Of course, she said she was on her way to your house when she left.” He is as irritated as we are about the meeting on Friday. We are all stretched so thin and want some time to study and relax when we have five minutes. Our morning runs help us to de-stress a little. We decide to meet up for coffee and pan dulce at the taco shop. I can see my family and we can also sit down with Dana and Marilyn and talk. We need time to talk away from Home Base.
Even though Marilyn lives at Home Base and knows so much more than we do about what is going on she, is frustrated about the meeting on Friday too.
“I have a presentation due on Friday. Thankfully, it’s not a group presentation but I still need to reschedule space. I’m meeting with the professor today to show him I have it completed and not asking for an extension because I didn’t do it. It’s an inconvenience, not the end of the world but it is aggravating,” Marilyn says with a sigh.
“It’s an inconvenience for all of us. On top of that your professor has to put in extra time so you can do the presentation. I wonder why we can’t do it on Saturday,” Dana asks.
“I guess we’ll find out on Friday, won’t we?” Marcos says.
“Hey, why don’t you come over to our apartment tonight for pizza. We haven’t had a fun night in a long time. I’ll invite my family too. I think we need a break and need to have more fun,” I say.
“That sounds like fun, how about you Marilyn? Ca
n you make it?” Dana asks.
“Yes, I’ll just let the driver know he can pick me up at your house. I’ll text him when I need him to pick me up,” Marilyn smiles.
“You know I can always drive you. I don’t know why Sam doesn’t want me driving out to Home Base. It would be so much easier,” Dana says.
“Security reasons. He doesn’t want anyone to follow us,” Marilyn answers.
“What about when Joy drives us out, or your driver. Anyone can follow them,” Dana answers.
“They all are armed, did you know that? Joy is armed, but so are the drivers. If anyone followed us they have a protocol they go through. First, they try to lose them, then they radio for help. Within five minutes another car is sent out to accompany the first car back to Home Base. If there continues to be a problem, the second car stops and confronts the people following. I’ve seen them practice. It is all worked out to the last detail,” Marilyn explains.
“What? Why would they do that? Who would follow us?” I start to worry.
“Nothing to worry about, but just so you know that’s why you aren’t allowed to drive me home. Not because he doesn’t trust you, but because he doesn’t trust other people. Remember, I was kidnapped,” Marilyn says.
“I’m sorry Marilyn. Believe me I’m so sorry. It must have been terrifying.” I say.
“It’s over now, not going to worry about it again. That’s why I stay close to Sam and Home Base when I’m not with all of you,” Marilyn says.
“We are glad you are safe and here with us,” Dana says as he leans over and gives her a kiss on the cheek.
“We’ll bring some soda and beer to go with the pizza. Anything else you’d like us to bring?” Dana asks.
“No, just you, Marilyn and drinks. That will be enough,” Marcos says.
“We’ll see you later tonight then, we have to go. Talk later.” I say.
The pizza dinner with Dana, Marilyn and my family went well. It was a good group to get together. We laughed and Dana and my Papá told stories about customers in the taco shop. My parents, Sandra and Junior left after telling the last story. We all laughed so much, we needed to laugh. Laughter helps to de-stress and brings everyone closer. I realize we have learned to laugh a lot in the past two years. It has been rough since I left my Tía Elena in San Felipe. The trip north, life with Tío Enrique, Fish Camp then testifying against Tío Enrique and his friends, and ending up on Orcas Island in Witness Protection. We all have had it rough. My family wasn’t the only one affected. But, it’s all over now. It scared me when I signed on to work with Sam Mason, it worried me I was taking a chance on revealing our identities and we would have to be relocated again. Now, I think Sam has our best interests in mind, at least I hope so.
Dana and Marilyn stay a little longer and help clean up. I know they want to talk about the mandatory meeting tomorrow. Dana sits down in a kitchen chair and says he wants to talk. We all take a seat at the table and listen.
“I don’t know what we are involved in and I’m a bit terrified. Do any of you feel like you are in way over your head?” He asks.
“Yes,” Marcos answers right away.
“Me too, I’m terrified,” I say.
Marilyn, who is the most experienced in the group speaks up and says, “I don’t think you are in danger. Sam helps people, he isn’t going to drug you and take you to Guantanamo if that is what you are worried about. He isn’t a bad person. I think you need to trust him. I realize it will take a while.”
Dana and Marilyn say good night and we all know we won’t sleep very much tonight. Marcos and I say our good nights and I plug in my earbuds to listen to a podcast. Tonight it’s about immigration and I drift off to sleep.
I wake up early and realize I did sleep the whole night. Marcos is already in the shower. I glance at my phone to check for text messages and emails. I see Joy has sent a text with a reminder about the mandatory meeting. Even though I’m worried about the meeting I smile and realize there is always an adventure around the next corner. Marcos and I leave the apartment and see our driver waiting out front. Dana is already sitting in the front seat.
“Good morning, guys. Early morning meetings are so much fun aren’t they?” Dana laughs.
“Hi Dana. We might as well get this over with and find out what is so important,” Marcos says.
“Dana, it’ll be fine. Marilyn assures me that Sam will have our best interests in mind.”
As we ride toward Home Base Dana, Marcos and I all stare out the window and wonder what will happen next. Are we in danger? Will we be asked to do something we don’t want to do?
We pull up to the guard booth and all hand our ID badges to the guard. He scans our badges and waves us through. The suburban pulls up to the house and we are greeted by Juan at the door. He walks us all in to Sam’s office. Sam and Mary Ellen are seated waiting for us. Joy and Marilyn are already there. They all greet us and settle in to wait for the meeting.
Sam stands up and begins by saying, “Thank you all for making it to this meeting. It is a very important issue. Our training sessions will need to move up and we may have to double up on some sessions. We are going to move this meeting to another location. Please follow me.”
We all look at each other and wonder where the meeting will be held. All meetings up until now have been held in Sam’s office. I wonder where the meeting could move to, what part of Home Base I haven’t seen yet. We follow Sam to a room at the end of the corridor. He opens the door that leads to a staircase, we form a line one behind the other and enter into what appears to be an underground conference room. On the wall we see TVs showing everything that is happening on the grounds of Home Base. We are asked to sit around the large conference table.We are all amazed at the view from the tinted windows, no one can see in but we can see out. We can see people walking to the outer buildings and they don’t even know we are watching. It is kind of creepy to think Sam and Mary Ellen could have been watching and listening to everything we say when we are outside. Sam looks over at me and turns on the speakers. We hear the two walking by talking about their shooting range scores and how they hope they can improve them today. We all look at each other and think the same thing. What did we say as we were walking down the same path a few days ago? Sam lowers some shades to block out the view and turns off the speaker.
“Okay, so now you know what can be seen and heard from this room. You don’t have to worry, none of you were out of line with any of your comments. All typical conversations new recruits have.” Sam says.
“If there had been anything to worry about we would have already spoken to you,” Mary Ellen says with a smile.
“I can tell you that’s the truth, I was talked to twice the first week I was here,” Joy admits. Sam and Mary Ellen look at Joy and smile.
“It was a needed conversation, Joy. But, you are one of our best now. Glad we had that conversation,” Sam says.
“Are you ready for an adventure? We need to move on a project and we need all of your help. You will be taking a trip over the weekend. I can’t explain the destination now, but we need you to go home and let your family and friends know you are taking the weekend for a little get away. You will be back in time on Monday morning for classes. Tell them not to worry and it’s like a romantic getaway, you are going to Niagara Falls.”
“Is that where we are going?” Dana asks.
“No, but use that as an excuse. You all can say the four of you are going away together which is the truth. Bring only your toothbrush and other personal items. No need to bring clothes, you have your uniforms here. If you have medications, vitamins or other personal items you need to bring those along. Otherwise, leave everything behind,” Sam instructs.
This is your first assignment and it’s a big one. Your help is needed, otherwise I wouldn’t ask you to skip training and jump in so quickly. Catch a ride back to town and gather your stuf
f, be back here by eleven. The driver will wait for you in town. Just text him when you are ready.”
“Should we be worried?” Marcos asks.
“Nothing to worry about, but you will get on-the-job training this weekend. You will all be together, we aren’t splitting you up, you and Margarita will be asked to use your Spanish skills. I hope we can count on you for that,” Sam says.
“Of course, always happy to help,” Marcos looks at me and smiles.
“Let’s get you back out front to catch a ride. Follow me,” Joy says as she waves at us to follow her back up the stairs.
Before I get the words out of my mouth Joy says, “Remember Margarita I only answer one question a day honestly so don’t waste your question.”
“How did you know I was going to ask a question?” I ask.
“Because I know you. You could hardly wait for Sam to finish so we could leave. I could see the questions popping out of your mouth and you were trying not to interrupt.”
“You know me well,” I say.
“What’s the question, make it a good one. You’ve only got one.”
“Will we really be back by Monday morning for classes? I’m worried that may be a half truth.”
“Well, if all goes as planned yes. If we have any unintended consequences pop up we may be a little late. But we always plan for the best results. The plan is to be back by Monday morning early. No more questions, get out there and get your ride.”
Dana, Marcos and I walk outside and the driver is waiting for us. He takes us back into town and drops us off at our apartments. Dana asks what type of excuse he should give my parents. He already missed work this morning and now he needs to tell them he plans to be gone all weekend too.
I tell him, “Just tell the truth, the four of us have decided to go to Niagara Falls. Tell them Marilyn is the one who really wants to go. She has wanted to go since she came to the States. They will understand that. They always dream about visiting nice places too.”
