Border Ghetto: Love on the Border

Border Ghetto

[From © Amar en la Frontera/Love on the Border, 2017 ]

The adventures of J.T. and Way-Pac on the U.S.-Mexico border

… 2017 at the border fence between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico

[J.T., a young black American, is leaning on his car hood with a 16-oz. container of Dr. Pepper and IPOD earphones hanging around his neck. Way-Pac, his friend, in a brand new BMW SUV, just drove up to meet him.]

Way-Pac: How’s my man J.T. doing?
J.T.: I’m waiting on the senyorita I told you about. She’s supposed to meet me at the fence, here.
Way-Pac: I never knew you had a girlfriend in Mexico …
J.T.: There’s a lot of SH*T you don’t know about me MF’er.
Way-Pac: What makes her so special. How do you know she even digs you?
J.T.: She’s hot. I met her yesterday. She was on the other side of the fence. She said “Hola.”
Way-Pac: She said “Hola” – that’s it? What were you doing here anyway?
J.T.: No man, she said “O-LA,” you know, “O-LA,” with her cute smile and all. Never mind what the F*k I was doing here. I don’t mix business with pleasure. I had to learn me some Spanish cuz she didn’t seem to know English. I’m gonna tell her “Yo gusto Tu,” means I dig her. She said she’d meet me here again today. Her name is [***] – something like that.
Way-Pac: Man, maybe she dug the gold chain around your neck, heh, heh…
J.T.: STF up man. I’m gonna give my chain to my fiancée, when I decide to get married. Who knows, it might even be that hot [***] chick in Warez.
Way-Pac: What makes you think she will like you?
J.T.: She probably never tasted brown sugar before … once she gets a taste of me – J.T. – she’s gonna come back beggin for more.
[The two men laugh and high-five each other]
Way-Pac: I see what you mean. I had a thing for a Chinese girl once. She was newly arrived, you know, one of them immigrants, and she didn’t know English. She was hot, and I was hoping to get me some Chinese booty.
J.T.: So what happened, man?
Way-Pac: It was the third date. Her brother was translating. He was like the chaperone. Her family was strict and all. Things were going good until her brother asked me to explain my question to her about “giving it up.” I figured, the third date is enough … to start something more, you know, without the brother. I couldn’t believe the dude. He’s American and he doesn’t know how to translate “time to give it up.” So, I explained it slowly to him, and then he got mad and starting doing some crazy Kung Fu sh*t on me like he’s Bruce Lee or something.
J.T.: Oh man, what happened, what did you do?
Way-Pac: I had to kick his ass, you know, his ass or mine! I told the sister “sorry, sayonara,” and booked out of Chinatown fast as I could before the rest of the relatives showed up.
[The two men high-fived each other again.]
[As J.T. and Way-Pac continued talking, a Border Patrol SUV started making its way toward them. Then, a teenage boy on the Juarez side walked up to the fence and yelled at J.T.]
Teenager: [***] can’t come. Bus broke down. Left visa at home.
J.T.: WTF!?
Way-Pac: I told you man. She ain’t coming. It’s the border, man.
J.T.: I’m going to F*ng jump the F*ng ‘border fence.’ I’ll go find her.
[A Border Patrol agent walks up to J.T. and Way-Pac just as J.T. was starts to climb the fence to cross into Mexico. The agent grabs J.T. by the waist of his pants and pulls him down.]
BP Agent: I’m detaining you for attempting to cross the border illegally ….
J.T.: WTF!! What kind of Sh*T is this? I’m an American. I Know my rights you MF’er.
Way-Pac to Border Patrol agent: Leave J.T. alone – he didn’t cross the border. You made sure he didn’t. He just wanted to go find his girlfriend in Mexico.
BP Agent: Both of you are coming down to the station with me.
[And that’s how the day ended for the two friends at the border …]

May 29, 2017

*** Name edited out to protect the third party. Events were inspired by a true story.