Vagabond Multilingual Journal Spring 2014 | Page 39

On the other side of the glass were their loved ones. Above each cubicle was a number, and the
one I was looking for was number five. “One, two, three, four, five! Daddy! It’s Daddy!” I screamed
enthusiastically. He couldn’t hear me due to the thick glass separating us. He picked up a phone
that was connected to the wall, and then pointed to the phone on our side. I quickly reached for
it, and screamed into the receiver, “ Hello, daddy?” “Princess, what are you doing here?” my dad
asked, with tears streaming down his face. “I wanted to see you! I miss you so much!” I said, still
feeling excited to have him in front of me. “Baby, let me talk to your mom,” he requested. I handed
the phone over to my mother, and there was an awkward silence between them. She spoke first,
“What did you do this time?” My dad’s lips started moving, but due to the impenetrable glass,
I couldn’t hear a word he was saying. He made gestures with his hands while explaining to my
mother what had happened.

After he had finished, my mom broke out into tears, and so did he. “Five minutes!” yelled
the guard from across the room. My mom quickly wiped her tears away and turned to me, “My
love, come here and talk to daddy these last few minutes.” I jumped on my mother’s lap and took
the phone from her, “ Hello?” I said with a bright smile on my face. “Hello, my darling,” he said with
reddened watery eyes. “Daddy, when are you coming back home? Don’t you want to come back?
Don’t you miss us?” I asked, becoming quite sad myself. “Of course I miss you two! Especially you;
look how big you’ve gotten!” he said to me. “So, when are you coming back home?” I asked again.
After a short pause, he answered, “ Soon, my love.” “You promise?” I asked. “Yes, but you also have
to promise me something. Promise you’ll be good and behave with your mother. Never do bad
things that will put you in danger, and promise me you’ll get straight As in school.” My dad raised
his pinky to the glass, and wiggled it. “I pinky promise!” I said, also raising my pinky to the glass
and wiggling it in confirmation. “Oh, dad! I forgot to tell you that…” I was going to tell him that I
had gotten an A+ on my homework, but our phone connection was cut before I could finish. My
mom stood behind me, and lightly pressed my shoulders, letting me know it was time to go. Two
guards stood behind my dad and put the handcuffs back on him. Before taking him away, I ran to
the glass window and wiggled my pinky once more; he smiled, and they took him away.

It’s been ten years since then, and I find myself in the same predicament. Across the patio,
I see a guard escorting my dad towards my mother and me. “Alright,Yañez, you’ve got an hour.” An
uncomfortable pause lingered for a few minutes before my father decided to shamelessly break the
silence with a flirtatious remark towards my mother. “You’re looking ravishing, doll,” he said to her.
The last time my parents saw each other, my mother was kicking him out of the apartment for being
unfaithful. The last words exchanged between them were quite unpleasant. My mother was not in
a good mood and replied, “Stop with the nonsense, David. What do you keep doing that lands you
in jail all of the time? Our daughter is no longer a little girl; she’s old enough to understand that her
father isn’t on the right path. You know we’ve been with you through thick and thin but enough is
enough! I can’t handle this anguish anymore.” My dad’s smile faded away, and he tried to explain, “I
know I’ve messed up, forgive me; please forgive me. I regret every stupid decision I have made. I love
you both so much, and I don’t want to lose you. I’m going to change. I promise.” This quickly turned
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