CHAPTER ELEVEN
I was sitting in Government class barely paying attention to what the teacher had to say since politics and all that encompassed it failed to pique my interests. While I did have opinions, I was not one under the opinion that any acts of a government official would be for the best interests of all. Someone, no matter how hard one might try, would get the short end of the stick. I didn’t think of myself as a pessimist, but a realist.
Somehow whatever subject we were discussing in the chapter hopped, skipped and jumped itself into the topic of immigration. Although the teacher was a Black male, there were only three Black students in the class. Needless to say, I had no desire to contribute my thoughts on the matter. I liked my teeth where they were. I liked my eyes being able to open and shut easily. I liked the shape of my nose. Most of all, I liked my life. Granted, most in the class were my good friends and I doubted that opening my mouth, once again, would deter them from me. I wasn’t, however, interested in taking that chance.
I was sitting there hearing the voices of everyone around me, some heated and some calm, while doing a mental countdown of how many more seconds would pass before the bell would ring. I made a face when I realized that I wasn’t doing the multiplication in my head correctly and that caught the attention of the teacher.
“Monica, by the look on your face, you don’t agree,” the teacher said.
I quickly changed my expression to one of confusion. “Say what?” I saw that everyone turned to look at me.
“Ms. Walker, since you are a minority in this class, what do you think about illegal immigration?” asked the teacher.
Seeing that all eyes were on me, I replied, “I refuse to respond on the grounds that it might-”
“Just answer the question,” Puppy interrupted. I shot him a look that told him he will be hurt once class was over and he sat back and looked straight ahead.
“This is not a court of law, Ms. Walker,” the teacher said. “This is a classroom where we have discussions that all should feel open to participate in. So, once again, what are your thoughts on illegal immigration?”
Internally I revved myself up to get ready to go because I knew I was going to end up going toe to toe with someone, if not everyone, either inside or outside of the class. “I think the borders need to be made more secure to prevent people from coming in all willy nilly. There will never be control without more regulating and it starts by cutting them off at the pass.”
Suddenly there were a ton of outbursts flung in my direction. The teacher calmed the class down. When there was silence, a Mexican classmate asked, “So in other words, you want to keep out Mexicans?”
“No, that’s not what I said. Mexicans aren’t the only ones that come here illegally. I’m referring to all who come here illegally. But with where we are in Los Angeles, we primarily are dealing with illegal immigrants from Mexico.”
“Do you know, Monica, what people in Mexico are trying to escape?” I turned my head the other direction to see the question was coming from Theo.
“While I have visited Mexico before, I have not gone into the depths of the country to know how bad it can be,” I answered. “It was horrible from what I saw and that was very little. I also know what I have heard on the news and on television, even though I know there are some real nice parts of Mexico. But Mexicans who are trying to sneak over aren’t the only people in the world who do it, so don’t take it as a racist or prejudiced comment. The way that the United
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