Talking Fast

Talking Fast by Y.T.C.

    I was always told that being a war refugee would not help me get anywhere. I had to do everything I could to provide for my family when I was allowed passage into the U.S. But I somehow remember always being able to talk myself into a safe zone. So to speak.

    It was me, my older brother and sister who managed to get our family into the country. My parents stayed behind. Two reasons. They told me it would be less strenuous on us. The other reason was because they were attached to the land they grew up on. Problem. I still have no reason what made us run in the first place... I don't even think I remember why we just decided to run. There really wasn't a safe haven to go to since the war had hit everyone. Maybe Antarctica would have been nice.

    But no, I'm glad with what we chose.

    I managed to talk my way into the crumbling immigration services after eight hours of waiting for our claims for refugee status. Yeah... I had to actually prove I wasn't crazy...

    I was a seller. For all you dirty minded folks, that's not what I meant. I would take on several odd jobs and stand in the streets and talk about the worthless things that apparently, the people needed to make life better.

    The more I pestered the immigration services, the faster we all got our passes out of the country. It also gave me the opportunity to be the spokesman that spoke to the border patrol officers when we were finally able to get in. But that was only the first step of like... a million more. Lousy paranoid governments. I still remember when I ushered my pregnant wife into that large travel facility. There were lots of guards everywhere. We had to stay for several days in the same small cubicle just to await our immigration status.

    You know what really shocked me? My wife went into labor during those days we were being cleared just to enter the country. They had to confirm her water broke just to make sure she was allowed into the facility's hospital. How messed up was that?

    There was me, my older brother and sister; all of us were complaining, begging, and protesting to anyone that would listen. My first child was on the way! They told us to shut up or they would use force on us. Seriously, I think we would have been shot but I didn't know what to do. There was no way to talk out of this.

    Fortunately, a doctor in the facility hospital was also as shocked and outraged as we were. I'll never forget that person's kindness. In fact, I chose to name my firstborn after that doctor. She saved my child. I don't care what they say, my firstborn was born an American that day.

    But I think after we entered the country, I knew my wife just broke. They treated her so terribly. I don't even think... that there's a way for me to even explain to my daughter why she left. It wasn't long after we became citizens that she found a way... to leave me, my daughter, and find ways to feel satisfied and treat herself in the way that she wanted to be treated. Not in the best kind of way to be exact. Although I still didn't know how to explain it. My older brother and sister couldn't say much either. They were equally as surprised as me. What could possess a mother to willingly leave her own child? Her family?

    I still took up the odd jobs every now and then. It just all had to be in the English language now since we had made a new home in this country. I struggled but I knew that as long as my daughter was happy and the family I still had with me was happy, then it'd be worth it.

    I soon found myself helping an orphan on my way home one evening after work. Poor kid. Here, they were all over the place. Interestingly enough, I wasn't the only one looking for this kid.

    This guy and his wife... how do I even begin to describe them? They made a living by looking for orphans and taking them in. How often does that happen? Anyway, they had more money than I did. I almost walked away. I only stopped, walked back and defended this kid from this strange couple because they sounded ridiculously shady. You know? I heard the trafficking rates had been going up or something.