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Our Dream
Our dream
Jose was the fastest out of all the wetbacks trying to cross the border, leaving behind their old miserable lives, life as a gardener is not as good as he wanted, Jose deserved more. Five dollars the hour was not enough to feed six mouths including his, Jose knew that there was a better life up there, just right behind that fence. As he was removing sweat from his dirty face, he could feel his legs aching for all the time that he had been running across that desert. Their screams were reaching his ears, he could hear them complain and scream in pain. Miguel and Luis had been his best friends for the last 20 years. They had lived everything together, from the day Jose and Rosa got married, to the day that their six kids were born all through Rosa´s sickness until the day she finally rested in peace. Anyway, they couldn’t turn back; they knew that by leaving they were not only living their sons and wives, they were leaving a part of themselves behind. They knew what to do as soon as they arrived to the dreamed land, they would find some full-time jobs and save as much as they could, but some police siren interrupted the daydream. Oh no! What are we going to do now? said Miguel. Nothing, just keep on running we can to loose them, yelled Jose. We have to loose them, Jose thought. They couldn’t go back, and even if they could, there is no hope on that side of the fence, the crisis was coming on to them and he wasn’t about to let the police crush his dreams. Oh no he was going to beat them and after that… Luis is down! Miguel’s scream brought Jose back from his thoughts; he felt chills coming up his spine as he looked at his friend on the ground. He was so lost in his own mind that he didn’t even hear the gun shot. He felt like he couldn’t move, he didn’t feel his legs and he could hear his heart beat so fast he thought it might explode. Tears were filling up his eyes and coming down his face, this was too much, this was not supposed to happen. The sound of the sirens was getting louder and closer.
“We have to leave”
“Are you crazy? We have to safe Luis.”
“ Miguel, look at him! He is gone,” Jose said as he wiped his tears.
He grabbed Miguel and they both kept running. They ran for miles, they thought it had been hours. The sirens were gone and yet they kept running. Jose dropped to the ground and Miguel followed. They were exhausted.
“I can’t believe Luis is…”
“I know,” Miguel replied.
They both cried and remembered their good friend; they cursed the police and their decision to shoot. They were only looking for a better life a brighter future. Was that so bad? Was it such a terrible crime, that Luis had to pay with his life? They fell sleep thinking about all this and recalling nice memories of Luis that even brought smiles to their faces.
They next morning they went out to continue their journey, following their original plan; that’s what Luis would’ve wanted. They each got jobs; Miguel had a harder time. People in El Paso were judgmental and didn’t seem to trust him, but in the end he found a nice old lady that needed a driver because she didn’t like to drive. She was willing to pay him very well for she was a widow without any kids and, by the look of her house, had a lot of money.
Jose, on the other hand, got lucky right away. He went into a music store; they had instruments of all kinds. He started playing a guitar, he had learned to play since he was little and he was very good. The owner of the store heard him and offered him a teaching job. Jose would give guitar lessons to kids or adults and get very well paid.
“You are going to be an old lady’s driver? Man that’s amazing, old ladies are always gold mines specially the lonely ones.”
“How about you? Earning money for playing guitar all day? That’s the dream.”
“You know,” Jose took a deep breath and said, “…I think we did it, we got our dream”
