Summary

Herminia held her grandchild. She did not like caring for the baby, but knew if she was holding and watching the child, she was safe (2). If she had the baby, Koralia and Milagros had to return for her. She had heard plenty of stories about families "leaving the country for good," and abandoning their elderly relatives (2). Some people would leave them on hospital steps. Most old people died this way "on that side of the border," fearful and crying out for their children to return (2).

Sitting in Santander Park with the child, Herminia wished a lighting bolt would strike the place and make it disappear. The park was filled with pigeons and "'draggers'—the name everyone on the border gave to the men and women who engaged in barter-trade" (2). Both the pigeons and the draggers looked unkempt. The pigeons ate cigarette butts. The...