Mississippi Chicken Page #3

It was you!"

"No," I said, "it wasn't me."

He grabbed me by the neck

and threw me on the ground.

He put his gun to me

here, and he said,

"If you don't tell me

the truth, I'll kill you!"

A white officer came.

"No," he said, "it's not him."

They didn't ask me for anything

and just grabbed me out of the car.

The officer told me

to put my hands up.

I didn't put them up...

because they made me nervous.

But I didn't have a gun on me.

I didn't have

anything in my hands,

so they didn't have any right

to start beating me.

"What do you want?

Do you remember me?"

He was asking

if I remembered him.

"Yes," I said,

"of course I do."

"So then, do you want

another beating?" he said.

So that is why you

changed the car you use?

Yes, I change my car

every once in awhile.

I change cars with my cousin once in

awhile, so the police can't identify me.

Good morning! Come on in.

Thanks. How are you doing?

Very good, thank God.

I brought some more chicken.

Why so much chicken?

Aren't we cooking today?

I thought you said that

I didn't have to cook.

Great! I can go back to sleep!

This one is much nicer.

What did we say?

This one was from?

This one is from Tyson,

and the other...

is from Sanderson.

The chicken from

Sanderson comes clean.

The chicken from

Tyson has all of this stuff.

This creates a lot of work...

to take it off.

I don't buy from Tyson.

Well, I'm going

to go back to the church.

See ya.

OK. Bye.

Thank you.

Guille, today is a feast day

for the church, isn't it?

I don't know much about church,

because I don't go very often.

I don't go very often. Where I'm from,

I never went. I go more here.

Here I learned to...

to get closer to God,

because I didn't back home.

How I would love it if

all the languages

of the world

expressed the joy of the

Assumption of Maria.

Has everyone been served?

It doesn't work.

That's why it falls out.

It no longer has the track.

This here.

Anita!

Yes?

Tell him not to say

anything to the owner,

because he already told me

that if I don't like it, I can leave.

And I don't want to leave.

He said that they

have some materials...

that maybe they can find some

materials to fix this trailer.

I thank God for all of you who...

who have visited me.

For all the favors I've received,

and for everything.

It's good to know there are Americans

who care about people like me.

There are good people here,

and I thank God for this.

It's a pleasure to have met you.

Take good care of yourself.

You too.

I will.

May God bless you.

May God bless you.

Thank you for everything, Guille.

Thank you.

She likes the music!

So... tell me,

how'd it go yesterday?

Well.

I missed the bus,

but my day went well.

A boy at school

gave me a note.

And it had his name on it.

It said... there

were a lot of words,

but I didn't understand it.

It said, "I love you Maria."

And do you still

have the note?

No, they took it

away from me,

and then the boy and

the others began to play,

and then the note was

taken away from them.

I wrote down his name.

It's in my backpack.

Wait for me for a second?

Ah, it's with a "y".

It's not with a "y".

It's with a "j".

It's Josaline.

And so, what do

you think now?

Do you think you'll

stay here or...

Yes, we're going to stay here.

We're going to keep going.

We'll figure out something

to do here with our people.

We'll make them lunch...

Maybe we'll try

to make tamales...

And you've always worked

for your daughters, right?

Yes, I've always worked,

since I was in Mexico.

Look! There's something

that one has to learn as a woman.

When you're growing up,

I think that your

parents tell you,

if you're thinking about

having a child,

you're going to be

responsible for this child.

And let's suppose

that you marry.

You don't know what will

happen with your husband.

You don't know until later

what type of husband you'll have.

Here in this trailer park, there are

women whose husbands say to them,

"Give me your check, so I can send

money to build the house."

Although, in the end they don't build

anything. Each goes their own way.

Meanwhile,

they took away their money.

That's not my situation,

because I will never give

the money I earn to any man.

Not even if I love him a lot.

I don't lose the notion of time

for any man.

For me, my daughters come first,

and they will always come first.

Hello.

What do you have to eat today?

He wants a meal.

We're creating a center,

called the "Workers' Center."

The goal is to give people in

the community more information

about their rights at work.

And also to help in situations,

for example, like your situation,

where the employer

has not paid the workers.

Or also, when there are

problems of discrimination,

or when someone

has been hurt,

we help find lawyers,

and translate, and all that.

So, there's a lot

that we do.

There are good employers

and bad employers.

Yeah.

Please excuse me.

Sure. Nice to meet you.

See you later.

Yes. See you in a bit.

I'll be right back. I have to

look for that information...

OK! We'll be here.

Ah, thank you!

I wanted to know what you

thought about the chicken plant

and if Oscar is thinking,

if he can't find work,

of trying to get a job there?

Or, are you all trying to avoid

working at the plant?

Yes, he's thinking about

working at the chicken plant.

But there they won't hire you

unless you pay $100.

One hundred dollars!

To get a job?

It's not the

employer's fault.

It's not the

employer's fault?

No. It's an Hispanic person.

Who's charging people?

He works there?

Yes.

How ridiculous.

They pay something

like $7.75.

The pay is good.

And are there a lot of

injuries or accidents?

Well, yes.

Surely, because the line moves

so quickly, you get tense.

That's why.

And when you first start...

Those people aren't

accustomed to it yet.

So, what happened

to you exactly?

Did you faint at work?

All of a sudden,

I felt like my

body was weak.

I felt very faint.

I felt like my left arm

had no strength.

I felt a lot of

pressure in my chest.

And I hurt.

We went, and the doctor

checked me out.

He immediately

called an ambulance.

The ambulance

came quickly.

And you never

went back?

I imagine that you hope

Rosario never has to work there.

I don't want

that for her.

But you know that I'm leaving.

I go back to Texas this weekend.

I'm going to miss

you so much!

Oh goodness!

It's been wonderful this summer,

spending so much time here and...

Well, yeah, but I'm

going to miss you more.

What?

I'm going to miss

you more.

Ah, no!

Now I'm used to

having you around.

No one visits me here.

No one!

But I'm going to come back

around the 15th of September.

So, two more weeks.

That's it!

But... I want you to promise

me that if you move,

you will call and let me

know where you are.

Of course, Anita.

I don't want to lose you...

I don't want to lose you

as a good friend.

Even though you'll be

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