American Street

American Street

YA fiction
"On the flight to Detroit, I am alone. I look down at America--
its vastness resembling a huge mountain. I feel as if I was just a
pebble in the valley.
My mother will be on the next plane, I tell myself over and over
again. Just like when she sends me ahead on my own by foot, or by tap-
tap, or by motortaxi. I tell myself that this won't be any different."
Only it is. Fabiola and her mother had carefully prepared their
escape from Haiti to America. All their documents are in order. In
New York, however, Fabiola, who is a born in America citizen, is put
on a connecting flight to Detroit while her beloved mother, who is
not, is sent to an immigration center in New Jersey. Authorities plan
to send her back to Haiti.
Fabiola has never been without her mother for any significant
length of time. Now, alone, she experiences culture shock her first
night.
"...I am surrounded by family, but none of them really knows me
or understands what happened to me today. My heart begins to ache for
my mother. How could my aunt just leave me here in the kitchen--is
this how you treat family in America? There is no celebration for my
arrival, no meal is cooked, no neighbors are invited to welcome me..."
There is a lot to cope with. Fabiola's aunt, who suffers from
health problems, spends most of the time in her room. Her three
cousins have very strong and divergent personalities. The twins hang
out with people her mother would consider vagabonds. Her new school
and neighborhood require a lot of adjustment.
A mystery woman enters Fabiola's life. She introduces herself
as a police detective. She needs to get a drug dealer, Dray, cousin
Donna's boyfriend, off the streets. If Fabiola cooperates she will be
helping her mother.
"Fabiola, we can get her out, and we can expedite the process
for her to get a green card. She won't have to hide once she's here.
She can live and work legally. Isn't that what she wants? What you
both want?"
Of course that's what they both want. But Fabiola wasn't born
yesterday. She knows that expedited visas often have hidden costs.
So what will she decide? You'll have to read the book to see.
On a purrrsonal note, a month and 3 weeks after his cancer diagnosis
Joey cat is still living big for a little cat. He's still cuddling,
enjoying windows, eating pretty well, and being interested in life and
happy. He's even still able to surprise me. I had no idea he was
going to get all excited about my lasagna. And I am finding the
purest joy in the moments in time we have together.
I phrase what is happening as Joey living with cancer. That lets me
focus on quality of life rather than... It lets me experience
happiness and truly be there for Joey when he needs me the most.
Today we watched the rain fall and cuddled a lot. So even with grey
skies, my day was all sunshine.
It helps me to be honest with friends and family and management and
coworkers. People are really pulling for Joey and being there for
me. If I was all stoic they wouldn't know how much I need their love.
Also I'm being kind to myself, not expecting as much achievement as I
normally do. Ironically I had made a complicated summer plan a few
hours before Joey and I went to the vet. Then it was just all too
much. Of course I work. I volunteer a little. I spend time with
family when I can. Otherwise I hang with Joey, reading (books being
my opiate of choice), working on my blog, and eating candy.
jules hathaway



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