"500 Pesos," by Jayden H.

I come from my mother’s or my fathers anger. I don’t know and it doesn’t matter because everyone thinks badly of me. But not my flaca who was always in my life who made us feel like children again when girls would try to talk to me they tried their hardest to win over me but not my flaca who already had my heart. We would always dance to Mexican rock on my mother’s old stereo and we would dance till out feet gave out. Each Sunday after mass we would go to this taco place that were selling tacos for 20 pesos and after that we would go the park to catch up and to talk about our week. Now the house is quiet and I come home with out seeing my flaca who left. I’m not angry nor very happy but my heart is aching and my eyes start to fill with water every time I talk to her on the phone. My flaca went to the United States a month ago with her sister, but its felt as if it had been years.

 “And how is your new house?" I asked.

 “Well I like it but it's been hard because there’s no work and you already know how my little sister is, but I heard from your mom that you’re sad and that she's angry’’

 “Don’t listen to my mom you already know how she is and her craziness’’ I told her.

 “Yeah I already know how she is, and when are you coming?” My flaca asked. 

“I'm working everyday but I still don't have enough to go”. 

“Then why don't you sell my things? Sell my washer, my bed, and don't try to tell me you can't do that since it's mine, I gave you permission.” Said my wife 

Going to her was the only thing I wanted but my pride broke at the thought of asking her for help. “ Well, I’ll see what I can do,” I said before the call was cut off.

That same night my mom invited me to eat. My hands were frozen on my bicycle and my hair was getting in my face because of the wind. But when I arrived my mom welcomed me with a hot coffee and a piece of pan dulce. 

“Your wife is in Los Angeles. Now it’s your chance to leave her, there are many women in our town.” My mom said, 

“What are you talking about?” 

“Look Paco I know how you are. You get sad over a woman who left you. A woman who now doesn't have a job and can't even have children.. That woman is no use to you.” My mom said. 

“You’re talking nonsense, She's my wife and she left because I told her it was a good opportunity.” She looked at me and went to her room without saying anything else. I took the coffee and spit it out. It was out. It was black coffee. When I saw my reflection I only thought of her. My flaca always knew I didn’t like black coffee. I left the coffee and went back home on my bike.

“I’ll give it to you for Fifty pesos” I said to the man 

“Is it new?”

“Yeah”

He gave me the money and I gave him the bicycle. It was the same every day. The bed, the blender, the stove and the washer, I even sold my stereo. Everything was taken one by one. With each thing that left I could already see my hands filling up, I can already imagine her face. I decided to count all the money. Once I got home bill by bill my heart starts to race. I only needed enough to see her, when I counted the last bill I started to cry out of happiness. I ran to the phone and I called her.

“Why are you calling so late?” She asked 

“I HAVE ENOUGH TO GO SEE YOU”

“ARE YOU SERIOUS!” She yelled so loudly she woke up her younger sister. “When are you coming to Los Angeles?" She asked. 

“I’ll see in the morning I'll call Jose once I wake up to see how much I have to give him to get me over the border”

“I still can't believe it. I can't wait to see you, I've missed you so much.” We stayed on the phone until I ran out of time, I couldn't sleep all night out of excitement. The first thing I do as soon as I wake up is go to the phone and ask if Jose is home so I can give him the money and plan out the whole process. 

“Four hundred eighty nine, Four Hundred ninety, four hundred ninety five, five hundred!” Jose shouted. “You have enough money compa.” He said 

We started to talk about what's going to happen and what I need to pack for the trip. Today is the day where I’m going to finally see my flaca. I never told her what day or what time I’m going to be in Los Angeles cause I wanted it to be a surprise. I make my way over to Jose’s house and there's other people there for the same reason I'm there for, we talked about the whole process and what's going to happen. We make our way to Jose’s truck and we lay low in the bed of his truck and he covers us with a sheet of wood and he covers that with a tarp. Once we started to move I felt every bump and every rock on the dirt road. I was used to long trips on the road so this trip shouldn't feel very different. I wasn't afraid but  I wasn't very comfortable since we were all packed in sardines. Many of my coworkers always dreamed of going to the United States, they talked about the family they wanted to raise and the many opportunities they would have there. The whole time I couldn't stop thinking about how I’m I’m going to begin a new chapter of my life with someone I love. 

With every mile that passed all I I could think about is the life I had in Mexico drifting away. I knew the consequences, would I ever be able to return back? We come to a sudden stop and all I can think about is that we have been caught but we see Jose's face and he tells us to get out. 

“Welcome to Los Angeles,” he said. I asked him for his phone so I could call my flaca. 

“Hello, who is this?" she said. 

“I made it, meet me at McDonald's.”