Since I was six, my mom taught me to assume responsibility. She just died, but before she went she said, ‘You know what is needed. I’m leaving you in charge.’ We were four, now we are three; I live with my grandfather and girlfriend. She takes care of him and tends the little shop my mom left us while I work. We look after each other.
I only tried crossing the border to the US once. It was because my mom was sick with a heart disease. She needed medication, and we needed more money. She had that shop and I have worked selling bulk dog food since I was 13, but we still didn’t have enough to pay her bills. My friends in El Paso told me I could make good money there, so I went.
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