An Overstayed Welcome: Finding Home

The Little Things

Living in a home without furniture was not what I had envisioned when we left my home country. Sharing one bed with my whole family was also something that I never thought would happen because I had always shared a small bed with Julia, and while that was not uncomfortable or unenjoyable as we had many fun nights while trying to go to sleep, sharing a bed with the whole family was neither one of those things.

I woke up to my parents still in bed.  I woke up earlier than everyone. I couldn't sleep any longer. I couldn't find a comfortable way to sleep. I was wide awake and felt the need to get up, so I went to the other side of the mobile home.

There was a body mirror on the left wall of the hallway that I stood in front of and noticed something different about my body. I did not look like my usual self, and I did not like it. The more I looked at it the more disgusted I was with it, and I could not take my eyes away from it.

I stood there looking at myself wondering why my body was changing suddenly, and why I had an indention in the middle of my stomach where the buttons of the pants dug into.

I didn't like how it made my stomach look; it made the bottom part of my stomach look bigger than it was. I tried to move the pants underneath and over the stomach to make it look different but no matter what I tried; it looked the same.

I gave up and stopped trying to adjust the pants. I walked away from the mirror to go to the room where my dad placed his items and where he had hung up the United States flag as a curtain.

I did not have anything to play with, so I entertained myself again pretending to be someone on television until my dad went in there and told me to go play somewhere else.

Julia was awake and we went outside to play. She wanted to play tag, so we did but I told her she was it because I did not want to spend most of my time chasing her.

When Julia caught me, mom called us in to eat some breakfast. We sat on the living room and ate. Dad's voice filled the mobile home when he came out of the room dressed and ready to go somewhere.

- "Ruth, go ahead and get the girls dressed to go to the new place Jose told us about."

- " It won't take long. You go ahead and eat some cereal, and I will have them dressed and ready to go in thirty minutes. Julia and Carlotta go ahead and go get a shower and get dressed."

Julia and I went to the restroom of the other side of the mobile home to get a shower and mom took the girls to the bathroom in the master bedroom we slept in.

We did not take long. At exactly thirty minutes we had taken a shower, dressed, and fixed our hair. Mom was almost finished with Ana's hair when dad asked her if she was ready to go.

- " I am almost finished."

-"I thought you said it would only take you 30 minutes!" He said as he laughed at her and her timing.

- " I am almost finished. Be patient will you."

-" It's been thirty minutes, and I don't want to waste time." He had a more serious tone now.

-" See! I am finished. We can go now." She put Ana down and made her walk beside her as she held Alina in her arms.

Mom and dad made sure that Alina and Ana were in the middle and that Julia, and I were sitting by the doors. All doors were locked, and we left as soon as we were all in the car. We arrived at a place like the one that in which we were living. There were many tin homes- mobile homes- in a wooded area.

As soon as I saw the trees, I immediately felt like I was in a story book. I had never seen a place like that in my life. The trees towered over the homes and filled the area as if it were a secret place hidden away from the rest of the town. We went inside a mobile home that had couches in the living room, a table in the kitchen, and beds in the three bedrooms.