almas desposeidas

Juan, pt. 1

libertad — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:08:28 +0000

Nina had been living with Diana and Juan for a while. It seemed that she loved to watch them fight. Her sick brain found it amusing to create any situation in which she could cause conflict between the two. Juan had caught onto this quickly, but Diana insisted on keeping her there because the rent she paid them every month helped them make ends meet.

Nina was sulky and looked as if she had just licked something tart. She always had bags under her eyes, but in her case, it was possibly because she always slept.

Juan was always cautious around her, he knew she hated him. Nina had always taken the time to call him a
“dirty Mexican” even though he was actually from the Dominican Republic. He never bothered o explain that to her because he thought she wouldn’t know the difference anyway.

Then one day, “¡Yo me la paso todo el día trabajando para que tú te gastes mi sueldo en tacones de $400! ¡Estás embarazada por 6 meses! Mejor piensa en comprarle a la criatura una cuna…” He slammed the door and went outside for a while. When he came back, he decided there was no point in getting angry. These cultural differences always felt like a slap in the face to him. He always felt that things would have been easier if he had married a woman from his country, but he loved Diana. He went to sleep and later, Diana fell asleep next to him as always.

Around midnight, they both awoke abruptly. The police had decided to raid their home, “Out! And you, up!” They dragged Juan to their car, he was still in his pajamas and he could see Nina laughing… Diana was in shock.

historia…

libertad — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 14:46:47 +0000

Era una historia inolvidable. No sabía si podría revivirla otra vez..

quería volar. quería aprender y saber que todo iría bien… la vida se convirtió en peleas y en gritos sobre injusticias y amores perdidos. nadie supo que y de qué, pero ella despareció.

Se fue y dejó a la mayoría de personas. Se fue y decidió que este sería lo mejor y que la vida era de los soñadores y personas que saben como perder…

running…

libertad — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 00:56:50 +0000

It was freedom from the jocks who were about to slug me. It was like having all my credit card bills disappear. Life felt good right now that I had decided to start living it the way I wanted instead of listening to people who had ruined theirs or to the malicious voices in my head that kept asking me to be afraid. Life is good when you listen to your heart… life is good when you stop crying about the day being too hot or your stick shift car stalling on a hill, it happens to everyone. getting arrested for graffiti and making murals, it happens to everyone, getting called a dick for telling a guy he’s being a male chauvinistic pig… it happens. it feels good to have a clean conscience.

pain

libertad — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:11:12 +0000

it just hurt, getting dirty for pay when you had once been used to having others clean up after you, when you thought this would never happen.

25 is too young for arthritis and so is 26. he thought the college degree would be enough to save him from these repetitive motions, and sweat dripping from his forehead, but apparently it wasn’t. this is what happens when you try too hard and don’t get enough. this is what happens when some corporate CEOs decided to buy 25 lamborghini’s instead of giving you that 2 dollar per hour raise.

jerks.

thought balloon

libertad — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 23:18:25 +0000

Flying… she felt like she was flying. The world of the cubicles had been shattered. It felt good leaving her job to finally pursue her dreams in order to fight the power. She blasted the song in her head, she blasted the Coup in the car, while emptying her highlighters, which she would probably use to design stencils in the middle of the night.

Life was great. Finally. Though many believe that communities and service are a drudgery of the past, this was Fernanda’s dream. She wanted to do this. She knew it would be hard and didn’t care. Someone had to. She had had enough of complaining to the same unsympathetic faces on a daily basis. She had had enough of trying to fix wrongs inside the system and role-playing a bunch of B.S. no one believed anyway.

Life in the cubicle was a game. Life was meant to be a struggle and she wanted to be in the middle of it. She thought about this and her heart raced happily, she thought about this and her spirit flew away as if in some sort of magic hot-air balloon, above the sky, free to move wherever the wind would take it.

uncertainty

libertad — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 17:43:48 +0000

everything seems so uncertain now… everyone had been hiding and living a lie for a completely long time, they had been forced to and there were always knives, guns, or other elements ready to get in their way if they chose to drop their roles… life became uncertain, everyone appeared and disappeared as fog in the night.

forgotten

libertad — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 00:20:48 +0000

Bárbara didn’t even know how it happened. She was swimming near a waterfall and went into the cenote to enjoy the clear water. Next thing she knew she was up. Her memory had faded and she felt pain all over her body. She had bruises and several part of her body ached as they moved. It was dark inside and the sunlight only protruded in some of the areas where the cave had a few holes in it to expose light. She had the feeling a memory of hers had been erased, but she couldn’t figure out why…

slava

libertad — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:46:20 +0000

She was out of breath and could have been left for dead. Bárbara had an eerie feeling as she saw her move slowly. Was she breathing? She had a towel and proceeded to clean her face up a bit. Bárbara was tired, but she couldn’t just leave her there. She began to gently lift her until she was seated. The body coughed.

“It’s ok,” said Bárbara.

The body kept breathing. Bárbara kept wiping her face.

“Slava… slava…” said the body.

“You don’t have to say anything,” said Bárbara.

“Slava… slava!” she said.

Bárbara began to get uncomfortable. “¿Hablas español?” she said.

The body nodded… “slava… ayuda…” said the body.

Then Bárbara understood esclava. Bárbara began to pick her up, the body was bruised. “This is really going to hurt, but you have to walk with me.” Bárbara was in pain, but she wanted to pick her up. It took her about 20 minutes to stabilize her, and they walked together.

fijate bien

libertad — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:12:59 +0000

Ricardo dejó unos papeles tirados y en la fotocopiadora para venderlos. Supuestamente quería ver las facturas de unos lapiceros pero el idiota no se fijó y ahí las dejo. Se fue a su casa tranquilo, pero no se fijó en la nueva cámara, que usaría Bárbara para atraparlos.

I don’t feel safe here…

libertad — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 00:32:48 +0000

I just can’t feel safe in a place where anyone can just steal my identity, or where women get raped, where people have to pay fees just to land a job.

It sounds like some crazy pyramid scheme but I work at a farm. I did all of this just to pick tomatoes. I had heard about how good the salary was going to be, that it was safe and I would have a decent place to live. I live with a few friends inside a tent and sometimes my boss doesn’t even let me pee or drink water. They lied to me. I’m scared I may never go home but I know if I leave now I’ll probably have to face my humiliation alone.