OFF THE RECORD (First Person)

15. Top

Spring/Summer 2004

Perla

When Jose's parents had been arrested, it had been my mother, Mrs. Guadalupe, who had helped his family, to defend them and to take them out of their confinement, while Emma's parents would take care of the boys as their aunt would go from San Antonio to Corpus Christi to take care of them and her own family simultaneously.

My father was an immigration lawyer, and my mother had learned a great deal from him, even if she lacked a degree. To speed up their case, she had volunteered to help father out with the Herreras.

That is how she was. She would help anyone that needed it, even going beyond her own needs. I had grown with that example, to help out without expecting anything in return.

Jose, Emma, Isaiah and I had been classmates since fourth grade. Tomas had joined us in fifth grade and Omar in sixth. I deduced we had been stuck together because our classroom was the unofficial English as a second language room.

Emma and I had been close friends since her arrival, but the rest of the group didn't give much thought to each other. It was until after Omar had arrived that we would somewhat band, and when Jose's situation with his parents came to light that we would actually bond.

One day, during recess, Tomas was playing basketball with some friends when he accidentally hit Omar with the ball on his head while he was sitting close to the basketball court.

That incident quickly turned into a fight, to which ended with both boys being punished by having to stay after school for a week.

For that, Omar had lost his job at the laundromat. And even if the blame was on his explosive temper, he couldn't stop blaming Tomas. He hated him, and every time he saw him in class, he could only think on how he owed him a rematch outside of school grounds. We could all see it.

Days after, I caught him looking at Tomas, with one of those stares that could kill. I kept my mouth shut, but Emma next to me could not.

"It's not good to keep resentment, you know? You are only poisoning yourself." Emma enunciated under her pencil. "I bet if you two got to know each other, you would be great friends." She added.

In that moment, he rolled his eyes, but I had noticed his hidden smile as he turned his head down. He was smitten with her. He could deny it, but I knew.

When he saw her speaking with Tomas, I would see how his jaw tightened and his fists clenched. It was a lost cause.

Tomas had tried to make peace with him, reminding him that what had happened had been an accident and that if he hadn't thrown the first punch, there wouldn't have been a fight.

Omar wasn't as forgiving.

It wasn't until Erica had an end of the school project with her classmates that he would actually speak with Tomas. Erica had to go to Memo's house, along with Regina, to work on a team presentation. Omar had taken her there, since he didn't feel comfortable leaving her by herself and the Leon's house was a bit far from where the Alvarez lived.

What Omar didn't know was that Memo and Tomas were brothers. As the three smaller kids were busy with their homework, Tomas had invited Omar to his room. Omar was hardheaded, and on the first day, he opted to wait outside on the sidewalk.

The next day, he accepted his rival's invitation since the mosquitos and the heat had scared him off. Tomas had shared his game console, while he tried to learn the notes to 'Sweet Child of Mine' on his guitar cords. They didn't speak, but at least Omar could see him without wanting to punch his face.

Another day passed, but before arriving to the Leon's house, Omar saw me and Emma on my front yard, selling lemonade. As it was only a couple of blocks away, he decided to enlist Tomas, to go visit us.