Mississippi Chicken Page #2

Well, you know that we're poor,

but you're always welcome here.

I feel embarrassed, because

my trailer is a little bit ugly,

but I like that you visit me.

I don't know how

my finger got caught,

but in that moment, I wanted to

pull my hand back, but I couldn't.

My finger was

pulled in like this,

and twisted through

the conveyor belt.

My finger was so tangled that

I couldn't pull it out.

It was totally stuck.

When I wanted to pull it free,

all of a sudden,

I saw a piece of my finger

and a piece of my glove

in the conveyor belt, and...

and the skin on my finger

was peeled back like this.

You could see the bone,

pure bone.

And after that,

I don't remember...

I fainted, so I don't

remember what happened.

I don't remember, because

the two people working

beside me grabbed me.

I don't know what happened.

I just saw that

my finger was like this.

Mangled.

Yeah.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

How is everyone?

Good, good.

Yeah?

Good. Ready?

We went to see him,

and he said that he'd pay,

but right now the bank is closed,

so we should come back at 7:00 PM.

How can he do it at 7:00...

Is Kevin there right now?

He was just there.

Who knows now?

Kevin says that

he was in jail for a few days,

and this is a problem for him,

and he can't pay now

because of this.

Back home, they'll throw someone

in jail for owing 100 pesos,

let alone $6,000.

The laws are very different here.

Not in Mexico.

In Mexico, even for gossip,

they will get someone.

Right?

He says he won't pay this

coming week, but the next.

Tell him to start paying

this Friday.

It's been five weeks!

This week makes six,

and if we wait until

the week after next,

it will be eight weeks!

So how much do you want

this coming Friday?

He says $2,000

for this coming Friday.

Waiting a month is faster

than going to court.

If he can't pay $2000, would

$500 or $1000 be sufficient?

He could even give me one dollar,

as long as he's telling the truth.

Where is he going

to pay and at what time?

Have you been able to

communicate with Kevin?

Should we try to call him right

now to find out what he'll say?

OK.

I spoke with his wife,

I think,

and she said that she just got back

from the emergency room.

It appears that Kevin

just broke his arm,

and they gave him a morphine

injection, so he isn't able to talk.

I think that now that

he owes us money,

things are happening

to him... right?

Before, nothing used to

happen to him.

Everything was perfectly fine.

The other day,

he was supposedly in jail.

Today, a broken arm...

Next time,

what's it going to be?

Exactly, he always has a new story.

Yeah, but they're not true.

Therefore, I think the best

way to move forward is

to try to find a lawyer who can

take the case for free

or for a small fee.

And if you need anything,

you can call me.

You have my cell phone number.

So what do you think, Oscar, now

that you've been here a week?

It is like being...

It's like being mute.

You only understand with signs.

You all traveled

by foot, right?

We walked through

the desert.

And how long

did it take?

One night.

That's all?

Did you take food

or water with you?

Yes, water. Although we didn't

even use it, because it was raining.

Ah, it was raining?

What luck!

How great for you guys.

Well, not so good, because

the creeks got bigger,

and they were harder to cross.

The water sweeps up

branches and everything.

But we crossed.

We arrived in Arizona

at 6:
00 in the morning.

Other groups joined us.

Eight people left in a car,

and fifteen left in a van.

You lack oxygen.

I was one of those on the bottom,

and there were

three people on top of me.

So everybody had to lie on the floor

without showing through the glass.

I don't feel so

bad, because

Ms. Guillermina has given

me so much support.

But if I had to

start from scratch

or to get here by myself...

What would I do?

I mean, without knowing,

without understanding...

It was Sunday. We were

coming from a Chinese restaurant.

Suddenly, the guy who had

taken us, the driver,

wanted to pass, but there were

three cars in front of us.

There was a car coming toward

us in the opposite direction.

We thought it was just a regular car,

but it was actually the Sheriff's car.

We thought he was going to let

us go and only take the driver.

He thought that we weren't

being straight with him,

so he took out his gun

and told us to put our

hands on his patrol car.

What were you thinking when

you were sitting in the

back of the police car?

I thought to myself, "Well, maybe

they will lock me up for a month."

We're Illegals.

We are very afraid that they

will call Immigration

when they send

us to court.

Thanks to both of you,

we were successful.

Today was my first

time going to court,

in the short time that I've

been in the United States.

How long have you been here?

Not long at all.

A few months, a few years?

Only a few months. Yes.

We didn't know how much they

were going to charge us.

We had decided to pay,

because what else could we do?

And another thing,

we didn't know the language,

and therefore, they could

take advantage of us.

So what worried us was,

if we fought,

they would put us

in jail again

and send us back to Mexico.

That's why we

always doubted,

but thankfully everything turned out

alright, and we can move forward.

The work is hard,

because it's at night...

It's more tiring

than during the day.

I start work at 12:10 AM,

but I have to be

inside at 12:
00 AM,

because if not,

the supervisor comes, and

at 12:
00 he says, "Let's go!"

The due date for my baby

was August 19th.

But I left work

on the second of August.

I had told my supervisor

that I wanted to stop

working earlier,

because I felt tired, and my feet

were swollen, and all that.

He told me, no, not until

the clinic gave me a...

What is it called?

A doctor's note

to take to the office,

so I could rest.

Because, I couldn't leave work

just because I wanted to.

So we stay

silent sometimes,

even about the things

that harm us.

Or we work more

when the others don't.

I was 18 when I came over.

Over there I felt that something was

missing; I didn't know what,

but I felt that I had to do

something important for myself.

I don't know exactly

what I want to do,

but I would like

to be a fashion designer.

I want to have, one day...

What is it called?

My own

My own business. My own...

Yeah! That's it!

So, it's something

that I think about,

but I say,

"Oh, it's just a dream."

I start to plan it, and then I tell

myself, "Elena, wake up, wake up!"

"Stop dreaming!" But...

Yeah, I think it

all depends on me.

So what happened

to you on Sunday?

I was returning my

friend's car to him,

when a police officer

came and pulled me over.

They took me out of the car

and handcuffed me.

Then, they didn't ask me anything.

They beat me.

A tall, black man said to me,

"You were the one who crashed!

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