El Norte: A Short Story

Fernando began to say good-bye to his friends before he headed up the hill to his house. He typically stayed out until midnight on a regular day playing with friends from his small town, but tomorrow he had to be up early. His older brothers had gotten married a few months ago, so now at the age of 16 it was his turn to go over to the United States or to him “El Norte” to work and support the rest of the family. He woke to a sudden sound of the door opening, it was his dad, Jose, telling him it was time to get up and hurry because they were leaving in a few minutes. Fernando rushed to put on his clothes and carried his small backpack to the kitchen. His father and he ate some quick food before a family friend was taking them to the bus station

Only two other men got off with Fernando and his father. The coyote whom they were to meet, lived near the bus station. His dad had known the guy from the last time he had crossed, and had made it over without any problems. They walked about half a mile to where the house was. Jose stopped in front of this two story house that looked like a millionaire lived there. Fernando would have never thought this was the place migrants stayed while waiting to cross. Well, Fernando was right. It wasn’t the house he would be staying at. There was a small shack in the back of the house, they had built it to hide the migrants there. Fernando thought the shack couldn’t even house one person, let alone, both him and his father. Plus the other two men. Fernando saw the coyote for the first time. The guide was short and built like an ox like a man with no soul. The coyote told them to make themselves comfortable because they weren’t leaving until the sun went down. Before they were about to leave the house, the guide asked the people for their money. He also told them a few instructions. First, if you cannot keep up with him, he wasn’t going to wait for you. Either keep up or you are on your own. Second, if caught to not mention who was guiding them over the border. And lastly, that once they were over the border he was going to guide through the desert and to the nearest town and after that they were on their own. After the guide gave his quick speech they

The coyote made sure everyone was over and he began leading them through the brush and into the terrain of the desert in southern California. The closest town was multiple miles away and within a few passing hours the sun rose. Fernando felt the heat since the night time and he wondered how extreme it was going to feel once the sun was fully out. After a few miles they sat down to take a break from the sun, it was already out and they could feel the temperature increase rapidly. Fernando and his father had already finished one gallon of water. They knew they had to manage it or else they were going to run out. The coyote told them that they were still a few miles away and that it would be best to rest and wait until the sun goes down. Fernando and his dad didn’t like the idea because whether or not they were walking the heat causes dehydration. They later they were in the desert the faster the water was going to be gone. While they were seating around resting, one of the men along with Fernando and his dad, asked where they were headed to. They answered that they were headed up north to the central valley, to look for work. Fernando’s dad had gone to the central valley for a lot time and has always found jobs working in the fields. A few of the other men that were there began to talk about where they were headed. Most of them were on the same path to look for work and try to find their relatives that