I AM IN THE UNITED STATES

I AM IN THE UNITED STATES

When I got to Los Angeles, I had no family. The coyote was mean to me because I had to stay in his apartment. There was a lady called Olga who was an acquaintance of my sister. You see, the neighbor of my brother-in-law was the coyote I left with. Olga was the wife of this coyote who brought me.

She took me the next day after I arrived to the swap meet and left me there saying I had to look for a job. You see, she had a car and we went in her car. I said how will I find you again? What can I do here? I can’t read or write. She said, I don’t care, just get a job—sewing, whatever.

That same day, I met my husband there. I felt comfortable because we were both from Guatemala. He asked me where I was from and what I was looking for. He assured me of his good intentions. I told him where I was from and he said he was a neighbor of my brother-in-law. He was kind and said he would help me find a job because I had just come here.

He then asked me if he could visit me. I told him I didn’t know because Olga had dropped me off and told me to find my way back. It turned out he knew Olga and her husband “Pacho”. We both agreed she was not a nice woman and he offered to show me the bus system. So we got to know each other.

I confided my troubles to him. He said that I was not to worry that he would help me. He wanted to help me find a sewing job, but the sewing here is different. Here they use a machine and I didn’t know how to use it.

He offered to lend me money to go to a school where they teach sewing. He got me enrolled in a sewing school that charged $150 a month. There I learnt to sew and do overlap and now I was excited to work.

I kept living with Olga who continued to be mean to me. She wouldn’t let me use the kitchen and wanted to know how I was able back to her place. I told her a son of God helped me, but she got madder at me, and said he would have to leave. Another girl lent me clothes to wear because I started out with no money. I lived like this for a year, spending as little money as possible so I could pay back my sister’s neighbor.

At that time sewing paid well. I worked hard and was able to pay my sister’s neighbor so my sister would not end up on the street. My husband asked me to be with him to share expenses, and I accepted. I didn’t want to be alone anymore. My husband helped me to pay the moneylending neighbor in Guatemala.

My sisters, Adela, Santa, Miriya and I are all settled now and my youngest sister moved to North Carolina with her husband. My first child, Wilson, was born soon after.

My sister, Santa, lives in the house back home, but in reality, our mother left the house in Miriya’s name because she was so small when our parents died. Miriya moved to North Carolina with her husband but she wants to go back because she left her 3 children in Guatemala with Santa.