Kitchen Table Talk
Maria met them at the kitchen door. “Who were all those men?”
“Ah, it was nothing." Juan waved a dismissive hand as he went inside.
“Dad chased off some bums who were sleeping in the alley,” Carlos explained. “We need to call the cops.”
“Don’t call them ‘bums’ Carlos,” Sofia sniffed. Juan’s daughter came flopping down the hallway in fuzzy slippers. She wore an oversized ASU sweatshirt, and her hair was loosely knotted into a disorganized bun. “They’re human beings just like you and me. They have a human right to sleep.”
“Not in our alley, they don’t!” Carlos insisted. “What about Mom’s safety when we’re gone?”
Juan turned to look at Maria. She worked the graveyard shift at the factory and was now busy preparing the family’s breakfast before she went to bed. She looks tired, Juan thought.
Maria brought plates of eggs and beans, then went back for a plate stacked high with warm tortillas. Bowls of homemade salsa were already on the table, a thin sheen of oil over the dark red chili sauce flecked with green cilantro. “I’m ok,” she said. “I’ll just lock the doors when you leave.”
“We shouldn’t have to worry about your safety, Mom.” Carlos rolled up a tortilla and held it in one hand, with a fork in the other. “We’ve got to do something about this.”
“What do you want to do about it, Carlos?” Sofia’s voice sounded unusually strident, “Deport them? Do you want to send them all back to Mexico?”
Juan wasn’t used to her arguing this way. College is changing her too. “They weren’t Mexicans.”
“It doesn’t matter if they were Mexicans, Salvadorans, Columbians, or even Chinese spies!” Carlos’ spoke louder and louder as he worked himself into a Marine Corps fueled sense of outrage.
Sofia rolled her eyes.
She knew how to push her brother’s buttons. “What’s Mom going to do if they come through that door right there?” Carlos practically shouted.
"That's enough!" Juan raised his voice, and his children knew it was time to stop bickering. "It's bad enough to have trouble outside. Do you have to bring trouble inside my own house too?”
His rebuke brought the whole family up short. They all stopped talking and turned to stare at him.
What will Juan say next?
Choose Option 1: Migrants Face Discrimination
Choose Option 2: Juan’s Story