Journals ❦ m. finnie

1. backpack.

Forced separation breeds anxiety.

DEPORTED. Benny couldn't fuckin' believe it. His parents, the hard-working Mr. and Mrs. Delgado, being sent back to Mexico.

The nineteen years they spent in The States creating a life for themselves, appearing to not be worth anything now. Any evidence of their lives here being erased with one simple ruling. All of it was being pulled apart, ripped away and torn to pieces.

He and his little sister, Olivia, left all alone, with only each other as comfort. They barely even got to say a proper goodbye, a tear-filled, heart-achingly, short goodbye said through a metal fence as their parents were being led by guards to busses meant to ship them off.

The only people who offered them any support were their neighbors and members of the church in their neighborhood.

They were able to crash on a few couches, get hot meals and even go to school for a few weeks before their parents called and told them the arrangement.

They told Benny to withdraw their last few hundred dollars from the bank and buy bus tickets, get the house packed up and put everything they couldn't take with them into storage for the time being.

They would be going to stay with their "Tía" Geny and her family, the Martinez's, in California. It was apparently the safest place for them as the family was fully legal, even if they did happen to stay in the rougher part of LA. Some place called Freeridge.

Benny, being the skeptic that he was, did a quick google search and found out all he needed to know from the first things that came up,

Shootings.

Gangs.

Deaths.

It almost made him want to run away himself, but he knew he couldn't do that to Olivia. She needed him right now and it was his job as a big brother to be there for her, no matter how tough it was for him.

He had to be her shoulder to cry on, even though she had barely shed tears in front of him since their parents were first picked up.

It was scary how fast things moved for The Delgado Siblings after their parents were back in Mexico.

Within a month they had to say goodbye to everything and everyone they knew for a new life across country. Time seemed to move extra fast as  they were on the two-day bus ride from Houston to LA.

Life was changing, Benny already knew it wasn't going to be for the better. He'd already lost his parents and now he was moving to Gangland with people he didn't know. 

The worst apart about it was every time he looked at Olivia, he would be reminded why he had to keep a pleasant look on his face, because she constantly had one on hers. Never a frown, never a scowl, she could barely be seen without her usual rosiness.

It was annoying, here he was, trying to keep it together while everything was falling apart and she looked to be just fine. He didn't want his sister to hurt, but he also didn't want to be alone in his madness.

The head of the madness began to peak once the bus pulled up to the bus station and loudly grunted to a stop.

What waited for them there was a banner saying, Welcome to Freeridge in big white letters and a bunch of unrecognizable faces. They didn't know who exactly to look for, but their "tia," Geny, called and said she'd be waiting in front, where she could be seen.

They were the last off the bus, letting everyone get off before them, neither of them in any rush to get to it. Finally off the bus, with their belongings in hand, they waited for the thick crowd to become less all over the place.