The Old LIfe

I am tired of living in misery. I am tired of living every day asking for money. The average amount of money I recollect is about L. 50, which is about $ 2.5. Sometimes generous people have the heart of giving me a considerable amount, L. 100, this days make me glad since I use the money to buy a delicious burger from Burger King. One time a beautiful young lady gave me L.5000, about $250. I did not know what to do with this money; I was all alone in this life and had no one to spend it with, only if you consider the people who tried to steal it. I got threatened every day, one day a very skinny tattooed man told me “If you do not give us the money I will stick this knife in your chest and grabbed it from those miserable hands of yours.” I had to options risk my death and flee or give him the money and also risk my death since I saw his face, and when you see criminals face it is likely they kill you. I first took a good look around my surroundings, and saw two police officers in the corner of a pharmacy. Like everyone else would, I ran to them, the criminal stopped and went away when he saw I had reached them. I was so glad until the two officers beat me up with their shotguns; they thought I was a thug, than sent me with a warning, which I did not deserve. All of this made me realize that I had no future in this country. I had just turned 16 and Tegucigalpa was not the right place for me. I had a decent life till my parents died and my house burned, it was the day of my 8th grade graduation. I wanted to leave all the horrible memories behind and continue with school in another country. I knew it was not going to be easy, but I had everything in my favor. Three days before I had gotten the L.5000, a Mexican man had offered me to drive me legally in a pickup truck to Ciudad Juarez, in Mexico with the conditions to hide when we passed through the borders. I had told him I was struggling living in Honduras and I guess he had compassion towards me. I had saved L.5 every day for two straight years, even though it kept me from eating. I had a total of L.8500 saved. I decided I will go to Mexico and from their go to the United States. I visited the pickup truck guy and revealed my plan to him, he said he had no problem, but told me to not involve him in anything. When I got to Mexico I found a smuggler and he asked for L.1000 to take me all the way to the U.S. He took me in his taxi almost all the way. He did not keep his promise but laid me to the river, I was lucky I did not get on those death trains. I had to walk and hide to get to the river, I did not get lost to the map the smuggler had given me. On the way I sorted out what I was my future in the U.S. I would look for a job, finish school and become legal. I crossed the river and met a bishop who gave me shelter and protection. I am now leaving in a gust room in his house and in a public school. He told me to finish writing my experience in the journal I had started in Tegucigalpa. He said this would make me realize who I was, who I became, and who I will be.