Chapter 1

My girlfriend Carol and I decided to go camping in the southern California desert. Since it was early winter, the temperature was finally tolerable. I assured her I’d been camping in the area before, I brought along my shoebox-sized GPS unit, and we had plenty of water and food. We had been dating two months, and I was hoping she would finally let me go all the way with her on our trip. I got out of the truck and looked around, trying to find a good place to camp. I was glad I bought it with the wider tires and off-road package, or the truck would have been stuck in the sand long before we got there. The sun was starting to go down, so we needed to find a spot soon.

I thought to myself, “The mountains are to the east, so we’ll be in the shade a lot longer in the morning, and it will stay cold longer. In the afternoon we’ll have the sun and heat longer. All those rock piles probably have snakes. Not a good spot.” I looked at the GPS and it showed we were three miles over the border, inside Mexico. Awwh crap!

I climbed back in and told Carol my appraisal of the situation. As I started the truck and put it in gear, a Mexican girl came running toward us over a big sand dune. I was even more surprised when I saw her hands were tied. I drove near her and rolled down my window.

She screamed, “¡Ayuda! ¡Ayudame! ¡Sacame de aqui! ¡Vamanos!” Carol was trying to translate. “Ayu ... ayuda? Help? She wants help!”

My knowledge of Spanish was better, but not great. As I opened the rear cab door, I told Carol; “She said ‘Hurry! Get me out!’”

I helped the girl into the back seat as two men ran to the top of the big sand dune. One of them had a shotgun and the other had a pistol. They started shooting at us! One shot shattered the rear window and two hit the truck tailgate, but none of us were hurt. Carol untied the girl as I drove away.

Five miles away, still in Mexico, I pulled into a truck stop. I asked Carol to use the translate program on my laptop, under the ‘boombox’ music player in the back seat, and asked the girl what was going on. I filled the truck up and got some sodas.

Thinking back on it now, I’m amazed at the difference in technology. Today, my four-ounce cell phone can do what would have taken over fifty pounds of gadgets only thirty years ago. The last 30 years have been strange, but mostly good.

Once the truck’s fuel tank was full, I drove between some parked semi-trailers to keep our pursuers from seeing us if they arrived.

I handed both the girls a cola as Carol filled me in. “Jack, this is Rosa Gomez. She’s 15 years old, and 4 or 5 months pregnant. Those men were keeping her prisoner at a brothel! They beat her and made her do terrible things! They killed her family and took her a year ago. A policeman is part owner of the brothel, so she can’t go to the cops! What do we do, Jack?”

I thought it through. “She can’t go to the Mexican authorities. She can’t stay here. If we go to the police in the US, they’ll have her deported back here ... She’s too young and doesn’t have the paperwork to get a job...

“I think I have a solution. My housekeeper quit last month...”

I used the translate program and asked Rosa if she knew how to cook, and if she could clean a house. “Si! Si! “ She nodded emphatically.

“No ser decir? Que no me lastimo?” - Don’t be mean, don’t hurt me?

I shook my head. “No, we’ll give you a job and a safe place to live. You can take care of our house and cook for us.”

Carol objected, “We? Us? You just assume I’m going to move in with you? And you want to help an illegal get into the country?”

“Carol, she’s just a kid. It’s not like she’s a drug dealer or a murderer!”

We crossed the border through the desert. I was a little surprised there wasn’t even a fence, but that was 30 years ago. There’s a massive wall there now.

I drove onto the expressway and went a little slower than the speed limit for ten miles, to check for anybody following.

“I think the three of us need some food, and some rest.” I picked up a 10 pack of tacos and drove home. The three of us ate and relaxed watching a movie on the couch, with Spanish subtitles on.

I woke up on the couch with an aching bladder. My body shouted to my barely-conscious mind, ‘PEE! PEE! GOTTA PEE!’ I ran for the bathroom and made it just in time. Out of habit, I shaved and got a shower, like every morning. When I was done, I noticed a nice aroma. I went to the kitchen and found Rosa cooking.

She handed me a plate, toast with peanut butter and honey, and half a ham and cheese omelet with chopped peppers. It smelled SO good! She was nervous, like she expected me to hit her or something. I motioned for her to sit and eat.

I took a bite. It was spicy but good. I nodded and smiled. I took another bite. SPICY! FIRE! WAY TOO SPICY! YIEEE! I coughed, choked, coughed. I drank a whole glass of milk. My mouth burned and burned. My eyes watered.

Rosa looked nervous. I shook my head and waved my hands. I pointed at myself. “Lo siento! Loco gringo - Boca debil!” - Sorry! Crazy foreigner - weak mouth.

She laughed. It was good to see her smile. We finished our breakfast and I thought, “Carol! What happened with Carol?”

There was a note from Carol on the coffee table. She wouldn’t tell anybody about Rosa, but she didn’t think she should date me anymore. The part that really hurt was, “Maybe she’s not a drug dealer, but don’t forget that she’s a whore.”

Rosa didn’t want to be, they made her do that. She wasn’t a bad person. I tore up the note and threw it in the trash. I used the translate program again and had another chat with Rosa.