The train slowed as it entered Juárez station. “End of the line! Get off! End of the line!” The conductor yelled.
Roberto and José waited clung to the side of the train and waited until the train stopped. As soon as it jerked to a halt, they dropped to the ground and started to run. No one noticed they ragged boys running out of the station. As soon as they were well away from the train, José stopped. “Juárez! We made it, Roberto! Look! That’s America right over there!”
They were standing on a hill and below them they could see the city spread out. Behind them was the famous mountain with the words “the Bible is the truth, read it” in large Spanish letters. Through the middle of the city in front of them, splitting the city in two was a river with high fences and walls on both sides. “See?” José pointed. “Everything this side of the river is Juárez and everything on that side is called El Paso. It’s in America.”
Roberto stared at America, so near and yet so far. “How are we going to get there? There’s a big fence. Can we take the big bridge over there? All the cars are going across.”
José shook his head. “No. I asked about that already. You have to show an I. D. and we don’t have one.”
“How are we going to do it then?” Roberto asked.
José shrugged, “Oh, there are ways of getting a fake I.D. We just have to ask someone.”
“But,” Roberto pointed out. “They might want money for a fake I.D.”
José grinned and ran his hand through his little brother’s hair. “Don’t WORRY, Roberto. I’ll figure something out. I have this under control.”
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