Sorry

When I was in Puerto Rico, I always walked home with my best friend Paola and my step sister Keyshaliz. Paola lived in the same condominium where I used to live. My step sister was always smiling, when she smiled her chinese eyes closed like mine. We all had the same style. We used to plan what to wear, the color of the shirts, the shoes was the only thing that we wore differently. We used to wear shorts and a blouse. The condominium was called Bahia A because there was another condominium called Bahia B. Bahia A had a light pink color. It was very tall with 14 floor,  and on each floor there were two elevators. Sometimes we used to go to the Parque Central after school.

The park was about 10 minutes away from the condominium,  and it had a tennis court, running track, boxing, and a wrestling gym. Paola, Keyshaliz, and I used to sit on a bench and gossip about our classmates, and about the dance team, and about how we hated math. One day my dad was doing laundry at home. He called me and my brothers. When we went to the living room my dad told us that we were probably moving to the United States. My siblings and I were excited, but at the same time sad. If we moved, we knew that things were going to change.

My siblings and I used to stay with my mom on the weekends, so we wouldn’t see her. My grandfather lived with us too, so we were going to miss playing with him, making fun of him, watching him criticize my dad’s tattoos. My dad worked in a company in the  U.S. and that is one of the reasons why we were  moving and to have a better future there. Up until then, my dad was always back and forth to United States and to Puerto Rico.

My dad was already settled  in New Jersey. My brothers and I had been staying with my dad’s wife and my two step sisters. My step mom is American. She was born in the United States but when she was little, she moved to Puerto Rico. I was glad to be going to the United States with my step mom. I do not see her as my stepmom. I see her as my mom because she has always been there for me. I was glad that my dad was with someone that took care of us and that would always  be there.

I was pretty happy to come to the United States but the only problem was  that I knew things were not going to be the same. No more walks through the park, No walking with Paola and Keyshaliz from school, No more gossip and dance talk. No more Bahia A. No more movie weekends with my mom. I had to leave these things to open the door to the new. Sarai speaking English, snowmen, and big new school. Meet new people, go to new places like New York, and Pennsylvania. Smell another place where I have never been, taste another kind of food, and see more people walking in the streets.

USA

11-17-2017