“When my parents were younger, they had been activists from all over the world.  They had marched with Labor in the great train strike. And that’s when it happened… The sound of heavy boots swarms through my house.

—–

“Mommy?”

My bedroom door bursts open and a heavily armed soldier

Scoops me up.

I was carried through the dark house, which was filled with soldiers.  On the floor of the living room, I saw my parents being bound with plastic zip-ties.

“Mi hija! Don’t take my daughter!”

“Carmencita!” my dad yelled

“Mommy… Daddy!”

A heavy black hood is pulled over each of my parent’s heads as I’m carried out of the house.

—–

“And I never saw them again. In a day my life was turned inside out and erased. They killed them so fast and so violently so raw… that it began to seem like… like they never existed” A tear rolls down Carmen’s eyes. And I feel sorry for her… this is so fucked up

“The homosexuals were next… What God started with Aids, had to be finished my man… that’s what they said.” Alice said

“Once they were done with them… there was someone else. There was always someone else. Some one else to eliminate” Helena said

“Black people were turned into slaves… they would put 10 of them, in small cages so tightly they were unable to move.” Carmen said wiping her tears off

“The orders were exactly like does boots… black, strong and exactly the same. Where each single step falls with every step. The order turned into one… ‘Strength Through Purity, Purity Through Faith’…but somehow I knew it was all coming to an end”

“What they thought they had crushed, the spirit they believed trampled and ground beneath the marching of their boots, rose up, rose as if from a four hundred year old grave, rose to remind us all of that day. A day when all our dreams were shut down” Carmen finished and everything was quiet. I didn’t know all that. Yes I’ve heard stories from it, but certainly not like this ones. 

“So… what are we going to do?” I looked at Carmen. Alice and Helen looked at Carmen and Carmen looked at them, then at me.