This story touched me the most, and there is a lot to it. Please take your time reading it, and feel free to take breaks because there are many dark moments in Karla’s story.
When Karla was a little girl, her parents sold her to another family who changed her name – all of this was illegal. When she got to be about 10-years-old, Karla started asking questions, and her adoptive parents got nervous and took Karla back to her parents because they did not want to end up in jail. By this time, Karla’s mom had had five more children, and her father would beat her mother and the kids. Karla’s mom hated her for some reason (probably because she is so beautiful), and told Karla she would kill her if she ever saw her again. Can you imagine saying this to your child? To your 10 or 11-year-old daughter?
Karla left her mother and father’s house and went to her paternal grandmother’s house to live. She lived there for about a year and a half, and did really well there. She enjoyed school, and got as far as the third grade. Eventually, Karla’s mom got fed up with the domestic abuse, so she left her husband and the other five children. Karla’s father did not want to deal with five children, so he sent for Karla, who was 12 and a half. His idea was to make Karla the mother of the kids, and his wife, so he put a machete to her throat and raped her. Karla’s father raped her every day for a year and a half, would give her cigarettes so she could deal with the stress of it all, and alcohol to make her more compliant. He made her go on birth control because he did not want her to get pregnant.
The birth control made Karla sick though, so she stopped taking it. Unfortunately, Karla got pregnant. Somehow the police found her, and they called Gracie because they knew she was pregnant and only 12-years-old – she was really 14…not that it’s any better. The police found Karla’s mother, who had another baby who was four months old. Karla’s mother, her new baby, Karla, and Karla’s five other siblings spent the night at Gracie’s refuge. Karla’s mom wanted Karla to tell the police that she seduced her father, and that it was consensual sex. She also wanted Karla to tell the police that the baby was not her father’s, and that she had a boyfriend. Gracie’s caretaker overheard this conversation, told Gracie, who then proceeded to ream Karla’s mother out. Karla did not listen to her mother - told the truth to the police the next day.
Prior to Karla getting picked up by the police, Karla’s father had given her something to terminate her pregnancy. This “antidote” caused Karla to vomit blood every few days for two months. When Karla got to Gracie’s, Gracie had fed her an ounce of Pedialite in five, ten, or fifteen-minute intervals for six hours so that she could keep some nutrients down. Finally, Karla got the “antidote” out of her system, and began her recovery.
Karla’s father was taken to court for special rape, which is when a family member rapes a minor in the family. The judge ordered a paternity test for Karla because her father denied that Karla was his daughter. He also denied that Karla’s baby was his. Both Karla, and the baby were Karla’s father’s children. The courthouse where the trial was being held was about 40 minutes away from Gracie’s house, and the road Gracie and Karla had to travel was very mountainous. When Gracie and Karla were at court, all of Karla’s father’s family was there and they threatened to murder Gracie and Karla on their way home from court. Because this could actually happen, the police escorted Gracie and Karla home.
Fortunately, this story has a happy ending. As I mentioned before, Karla, now 16-years-old, made it to third grade before she had to drop out. With the help of Gracie’s teacher, Karla finished fourth grade in five months with a 97% exam grade. She is on track to finish fifth grade at the end of June or the beginning of July, and so far she has gotten 97%, 95% and 95% on her quarterly exams. Clearly, Karla is doing very well in school, and she told me that she wants to become a lawyer and help women who have domestic violence committed against them. It’s wonderful that she wants to be able to speak on behalf of women who don’t have a voice, and who are forced into situations like the ones she was in.
Karla’s baby boy, Alejandro, is beautiful!! He is eight month’s old and loves to play, laugh, and bounce! I should mention that Alejandro did not like me when he first met me. Karla would let me hold him, he would take one look at me, make a really angry face, and would start wailing! Karla – or any Hondo for that matter – would take him from me, and he would stop crying immediately. It was so upsetting because I wanted to hold him! I can only imagine his thoughts…”whoa Mommy, who are you handing me off too? Who is this?!?! She’s no Hondo! What’s going on with her hair? GET.ME.OUT.OF.HERE!” Poor Alejandro…so many emotions. Fortunately for me, he got over his fear of fro’s, and we became novio et novia (boyfriend and girlfriend) the next day.
Ahh! What a heart-breaker!
He sleeps...this is the only time when he's not bouncing!
Karla and I had a great time Monday night too. Gracie told me that she loved doing nails, so I asked her to paint mine for me. I told her she could pick whatever color she wanted, and I ended up with blue nails. I said they were mucho bonita (very beautiful), but I’m pretty sure a 25-year-old shouldn’t be walking around with bright blue nail polish on. Oh well, she had a fun time designing them! Karla has beautiful dark curly hair, and she asked me (via Melissa) about my hair, and if I could comb it. I told her I could, and let her touch it – she giggled. I guess not too many people rock the fro around here in Hondo. I haven’t seen one since I’ve been here – what’s up with that?! It’s crazy to me that Melissa, Karla, Marta, Leslie (the caretaker) and I (Karin went to bed early) were able to have such a great time, when I don’t speak any Spanish, and they don’t speak English. I promised them all I would come back, and that I would learn Spanish! Karla has started to learn English as well.
When I left Gracie’s house last Tuesday, Karla gave me a big hug and said, “I love you!” I told her I loved her too. It just amazes me that we had only known each other for a short period of time, but somehow we connected on a deeper level, and we could both tell that we meant a lot to one another. I cannot wait to come back here again and see her and how she is progressing. It was all I could do to not take her and Alejandro back to the states with me! Gracie has a loving home though, and they are doing very well. I’m just jealous that she gets to be with them everyday!
I got to see Karla and Alejandro last Thursday, and luckily my new boo remembered me – no tears! We laughed, played, and bounced for a while at the reception. He gave me lots of baby kisses too – he’s such a sweetie! It was great seeing Karla again too. As soon as she saw me she came running up and gave me the biggest hug! She said, “I missed you!” and then handed me Alejandro. I introduced her to Janet, Lori, and a few other people, and she sat right next to me at the table, looped her arm through mine and held my hand. Lori said that I had a new friend, and I said that she was mi amiga et mi hermana (my friend and my sister). She gave me a big smile, a kiss, and then laid her head on my shoulder. I did not want to leave her!
I seriously cannot wait to see Karla and Alejandro again. I know she is going to do something great with her life, and I’m excited to see how well she does! Mama Nove – pack your bags, we’re coming back to Hondo ASAP!
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