Her friends at school were of a variety of backgrounds who
introduced her to pop music, other ethnic foods, colorful sugary drinks that
her family could not afford to purchase.
She watched some of them smoke or swallow colorful pills after which,
they acted goofy. Sira began to converse
in her new language and sampled some of the exotic things offered to her. Her gut directed her to focus elsewhere,
strive to be the star she was on the neighborhood soccer field back in her home
country, to outshine the weak, and move forward. She concluded that having a command on
English will be her ticket to move forward.
She asked her English teacher for extra work and during her
long lonely evenings at home, she practiced to perfect her new language. In just a matter of two years, she was
promoted to the mainstream class for her age with her parents completely
unaware of her achievement. Around the
same time that she received this great news at school, her family suffered an
even more devastating blow. Her father
lost one leg due to an accident on the construction site.
Staying home in frustration and pain, Sira’s father became
depressed. His friends brought him
alcohol to cheer him up and before long the bottle became his new best friend. Sira’s mother took up an additional job and
her total income was just enough to pay the rent. Food and new clothes became a luxury. Sira spent longer days in the company of her
alcoholic father who became verbally abusive over time. Her mother was either absent or tired and
they all were always hungry. Sira began
to eat only half of her lunch from the school lunch program, her only meal of the day, and brought
the rest home for her parents. The
family found they were in a situation worse than before coming to
America.
To be continued………
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