Chapter 1
Blaring horns honking through the streets as cars are hurtled together. I'm awoken by the nauseating sounds of annoyance. My sister, Catalina, smiles at me apologizing for the bumpy road ahead of us.
A new journey we're on, a path to forget the broken promises that we're made and the sacrifices we can't take back.
"I'm sorry, we're almost there okay." I roll my eyes, she apologizes to people even when she has nothing to be sorry about. It irks my nerves by her inability to just say what's on her mind. Sometimes I think silence is better suited for us.
"Why are you sorry? It's just a traffic jam." She sighs but continues on as the congestion of the cars finally move forward to their destination.
Another two hours and we finally made it here. The middle of nowhere in Woodsberry, Oklahoma. It's small, with barely any stores that are recognizable besides several moms and pops shops. The closest mall is 25 miles in the next town, a little bigger than here.
We pull up on our driveway, people are outside curious to see their new neighbors. I get out and all eyes are on us. My sister and I, it seems we're the only brown faces they've seen.
"Help me with the boxes, Nadia." I ignore her, a pair of eyes on the other side of the street look at us with indifference. I feel a sense of urgency to leave this place already. Except, it's been settled; my sister foolishly placed all of her money here. How stupid can she still be?
"I don't see any of us here."
"Maybe they're on the other side of town, but please come help me, Nadia. We have to get settled in if we want to sleep in our bed tonight." If that's the case, I don't see the movers here and I doubt they'll make it on time.
"Why bother, our beds won't be here tonight."
"Please help, I don't want to ask again." I suck it up and start taking down the boxes from our car. It doesn't take long to put them down, fairly quick, the house is okay, nothing special to remark. My room is smaller than the one my sister picked out.
A couple of hours pass and the movers never made it with the rest of our stuff. My sister keeps calling the moving company asking where our things are. No straight answer from them besides half a refund if we don't get our stuff back.
What a load of bullshit.
"I called and they said this is normal to be late a day or two. What if we don't get our stuff back. We should expect half a refund."
"Yes, there's nothing else we can do," again, a load of crap. She's always been the passive type amongst the two of us.
"Maybe if you didn't act like a weak—"
"Stop it."
This is how it's been since we left our home, our lives, everything we knew behind all for something better. I can't help the anger I feel that is slowly bubbling inside me.
"Please... just try, for me." That voice, she sounds like our mom. I miss her so much, I miss our dad. But she looks and sounds like our mom. I was never fortunate to have the beauty our mom held.
"Fine. I'm going to bed."
"The pizza will be here any minute!"
"I'm not hungry."
I should be nice to my sister, I shouldn't be so hard on her. It's not like we had a choice in the matter. Everything changed because of something our parents did: it's hard to forget about them when they're the ones who brought unfortunate consequences because of their choices.
Even in death, parents find a way to screw their kids over. Nothing is as ever simple as it seems. A new day is what I need to forget about everything, everyone.
The sounds of a screaming woman catch my attention as I try to run towards my home across the fields. Plenty of sugar canes blocking my view from my home. No matter how far I run, I can't seem to manage to reach my home. The screams become persistent, almost terrifying.
When I reach the door handle, I open it to see the horrible fate placed on my family. A pool of their blood and their bodies entangled with bullets in their chest. When I turn around, my mother stands in front of me with blood falling down her face.
"Por que?"
I gasp out loud standing right up from the makeshift bed I made last night. My chest hurts as I panic trying to ignore this nightmare that's persistent to haunt my dreams every night.
The same question that repeats itself. Nothings changed since that night. I can't help the way I feel, this dread that hangs over me. No matter how far we run, the past always finds a way to catch up to us.
"Nadia, get ready!" I hear my sister yell out from the kitchen. I check the clock and it's 7:30 in the morning. Not enough time to get ready. I put on jeans and a black sweatshirt that says AZTECA. My hair up in a ponytail with my hoops, winged liner, and beige lipgloss. Something simple, nothing drastic due to the time crunch.
I walk into the kitchen where my sister is dressed in her professional attire. A new accountant for this oil company in this town. From what it seems, the owner is the richest person here. I don't doubt my sisters' charms worked her way to the top. We have to use every advantage we have in this world as women, especially Hispanic.
"You have your stuff?" She asks while looking at the newspaper. I never understood why she reads them. There always something negative to read, someone is always dying, lying, or stealing in this world.
"Yea."
"Okay, let's go."
It doesn't take long to get to my new school. Woodsberry high school. Home of the tigers, I don't see many brown faces. I already feel like an oddity here by the neighbors who watched my sister drive off.
"Have fun on your first day."
"Sure..." I close the door behind me not giving my sister a second glance. I hear the car leave the campus and I feel nauseous when I step inside the buildings.
The floors, walls, and ceilings are white. The kids talk amongst each other but everyone becomes a little quiet when they all have a look at me. The girls give me indifferent looks while the boys have their brains conjure nasty thoughts. One look I'm familiar with though, hate.
Already, my first day and the kids have these judgments in their eyes as I walk towards my new locker. It didn't take long for a male student to coke near and attempt to flirtatiously introduce themselves.
"Hey, I'm Jason, what's your name gorgeous?"
"Nadia."
"Cool, you from Brazil Nadia, 'cause you're making me feel all types of heat."
Fucking idiot.
"I'm from nunya..."
"Nunya?"
"Yea, nunyabusiness."
I slam my locker door and walk away to find my first-period class. So far I'm not impressed with the boys, they can't seem to take their eyes off of me and I'm feeling self-conscious by other stares (more like glares) from the girls. We'll see what today brings us, will I make friends or foes?
