The Red River Monologue

“Aghhhhh!”, I yawned such a satisfying yawn while I stretched every inch of my body. I crawled out of bed, to the cold stone floor, but this was my brimstone, “Caliente! Caliente! Don’t touch the lava!” I yelled to myself. The cracks in the foundation were the opening to the dragon’s layer, and I refused to touch the lava. Normally, I would be trampling over one of my 5 siblings to stumble upon my brother, Carlos and jump on him until he woke. “Carlos! Carlos!” …no reply, “BB?” Each morning we would run outside to play. Our front lawn was more of a dry dirt road with pebbles, and the only green you would see is the cacti over the stone wall, with a slight greenish discoloration of our gate. And of course, that led to my favorite snack, the
I hear voices. I get excited because in that moment I knew I was not alone. I followed the trail of the sounds quickly yet quietly until I found the source. Down the shared alley, there was a big commotion. The most familiar voice I heard, was my mother’s. “Mama, I found you! Ma-“ and then I stop. She was not her usual happy self. She sounded shaky, almost broken. Tears fell like rain, she was screaming “Why, Charlie? Why? How could you do this to us?” Pa-Pa looked frantic. “Drinking is no excuse for your actions, my kids are everything. You know I will always choose my children!” , she continued. Even without speaking you could see his hurt and shame. He never cried, yet he had relentless tears. I looked in his eyes, those big brown eyes and what I saw I could never forget. This was the look of a man that had just lost his
And then we huddled into a taxi, leaving him behind. “Please stay! Please don’t go!” He was pleading for us to not leave him behind. His voice had carried even while we drove away. The hurt mama tried to contain told me something was so wrong, something happened, and my father was the culprit. None of us were speaking to each other.
For the first time, everyone was split up. My father’s family fled to my mother’s side for support in helping us get out. The series of events that followed seem to blur. My papa was in Villa Matamoros, Brandy and I went across town to my aunt’s. Abuela took my infant sister, Esperonza. My mama took Carlos and my eldest sister Crystal on a bus that was headed for America. Rachel saw fit to run off with her