Undocumented Motherhood by Elizabeth Farfán-Santos

Author:Elizabeth Farfán-Santos
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Published: 2022-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

4

COMADRES

“THERE’S ONLY HER.” CLAUDIA SMILED. “MORE THAN anyone, it’s her. She’s my comadre. Fíjate que la conocí no más de vista. You know, I saw Beatriz and I knew we were going to be friends. I met her at the preschool, Nati’s first school. She used to always drive up in a truck, or I would see her walk up with her daughter and her son. That was when he was alive, may God bless him. One day I just walked with her and started talking to her and that’s how it started, just like that, no más así. Then when we had to meet with the school, because they were going to close and pass us on to another school, she asked me where I was going to take Nati and I just said, ‘The truth is, I don’t know. Wherever the district sends me. I’ll just let them choose.’ Later, she asked me again, and I said the same thing, but she said, ‘Hold on. Let’s find out together.’

“She helped me ask about the school and whether they would wear a uniform or not because I didn’t know. So the girls ended up at the same school and in the same class, and that’s when we really became close. Whenever there were meetings, Beatriz would translate for me. She would tell me to ask the teacher questions. She would say, ‘Ask her this and ask her that.’ I call her all the time about homework to check what it means. I will say, ‘Beatriz, the homework says they have to take this or that,’ and she will explain it to me. Sometimes she would call me to ask what time I was leaving the house to pick Nati up from school, and she’d say, ‘Leave earlier so we can talk!’ So I always go earlier so we can spend a little while echando chisme, just talking about life. I’ll tell her about my struggles with Nati’s teachers, and she would give me advice. Back then she would always tell me to talk to the teacher and to take a little notebook to write down my questions and what she said. She always told me to stand up for myself and Nati. She gives me a lot of advice and support. Even when I was trying to buy hearing aids for Nati, she supported me a lot.”

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