I have no idea what this is going to be, other than a reaction to a student essay I graded this morning, a personal narrative about a day this summer when she, eight months pregnant, and her fiancé went to the laundromat on a Saturday morning. They were leaving when nine agents approached them, horse-collared her fiancé, cuffed him, and put him in a vehicle without allowing him to say goodbye to his pregnant fiancée.
Then they cuffed her and searched her car, finding her driver’s license and U.S. passport and nothing else. They detained her for hours and humiliated and threatened her. Her fiancé was in a detention center the day of their baby shower. A couple of weeks later, he was deported to Guatemala. My student can’t enter a laundromat without having a full-blown panic attack. The smell of clean laundry, once comforting to her is now a trauma trigger. Let that sink in for a moment. This woman is now traumatized by the smell of clean clothes and is a single mother. This baby girl has never met her father, may never meet him. Ice, ice, baby.
About the Creator
Harper Lewis
I'm a weirdo nerd who’s extremely subversive. I like rocks, incense, and all kinds of witchy stuff. Intrusive rhyme bothers me.
I’m known as Dena Brown to the revenuers and pollsters.
MA English literature, College of Charleston
Keep reading
More stories from Harper Lewis and writers in Writers and other communities.
Rereading
I reread my favorite books, over and over again, for a very simple reason: I love the characters and enjoy spending time with them. Maybe I grieve their loss, maybe I bargain with the text: if I read you better this time, maybe Benji won’t die, maybe Manderly won’t burn, and maybe Lenny and George will get that piece of land and have something to call their own.
By Harper Lewis3 days ago in Writers
Fighting Alcohol
Meet João, a 35-year-old man living in Sambizanga, one of the most violent and chaotic neighborhoods in Luanda. Here, life is harsh and opportunities are rare. Alcohol is everywhere. It is so common that an 8-year-old child can walk into any local store and buy drinks for their father, mother, or even an aunt without anyone stopping them. João grew up seeing his neighbors, friends, and family members drink every day. Over time, drinking became a part of life — almost a survival mechanism.
By Irina dos santos7 days ago in Writers
Comments (1)
This is devastating. Thank you for writing it. We need to bear witness to this all.