Law-Abiding Citizens


I can’t believe this bullshit, Lupe thought as she walked to class. She couldn’t wait to talk to Ricky about it. Lupe knew the newly elected president talked a lot of shit about things that needed to be changed about the country, but she never thought he would actually go through with any of it.
Lupe arrived at her classroom, opening the door to see Ricky, Ava, and Rebecca sitting at their unassigned-assigned seats at the rectangular table with Ricky at one side of it while Ava and Rebecca were on the other. She slammed her backpack on the ground as she took her empty seat next to Ricky.
Ricky reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder, “So, I’m guessing you heard about the new law then?”
“No shit,” Lupe reached up to put her hand on top of Ricky’s.
Ava chipped in, “What new law?”
Before Lupe could explain, Rebecca started, “Our president is demanding that all Mexicans living in the United States register themselves to the government. The aliens will be sent back to Mexico ASAP. The rest will have to wait and see if they get to stay here or get deported back to Mexico, regardless whether or not they were born in the United States.” She flipped her pin straight blond hair, “Good riddance.”
Ricky glared at Rebecca, “I will never understand why you chose to take this Race, Class, and Gender course if you’re such a goddamn racist.”
Widening her blue eyes in a ‘who, me?’ kind of way, Rebecca couldn’t keep the act up for long before she started laughing; her eyes narrowing in their usual malicious glint.
Ava twirled a piece of her brown hair around her fingers, digesting the new law. “I wonder if Greg will show up to class today,” she abruptly asks. She took it upon herself to be the mediator of the class. Rebecca tended to shake up everyone with her highly problematic views, but Ava always managed to calm down the class by changing where the class discussion was going or asking the professor to clarify part of the reading for her.
“Why wouldn’t he show up?” Ricky questioned.
“Well, it’s the anniversary of his parent’s death.” Greg had recently shared to the class that this time of the year was always tough for him since his parents died in a burglary gone wrong back when he was ten. Their class size was small; there were only five of them. Because of this, they managed to share a lot about their lives to each other.
Rebecca scoffed, “He’s probably out celebrating right now.”
“How dare you say that,” Ricky snapped.
She simply shrugged, “He told me after class last time that the person who killed his parents was an alien from Mexico. With this new law passed, he’s probably joining those gangs who are out hunting for Mexicans right now.”
Before Lupe could ask about what gangs Rebecca mentioned, the door opened. Greg walked in; his green eyes didn’t have the usual warmth in them. He took his seat in between Ava and Rebecca. Ava grabbed his hand, “I’m sorry about your loss.”
Greg squeezed back, “Thank you, but I don’t want to talk about it.”
They all nodded. Lupe checked to her phone to see if there were any news updates, but instead, she saw an email from their professor, “The professor is stuck in traffic, guys. He just sent an email out. He wants us to just chill until he gets here.”
Greg looked at Lupe, as if he was meeting her for the first time, “I heard about the new law. How’s your family doing?”
“I think we’re going to register ourselves tomorrow. My parents keep telling us that we have nothing to worry about. My mom believes that they are just going to deport anyone who has criminal records and stuff. No one in our family has even gotten a speeding ticket. She keeps telling us, ‘We are law-abiding people; why would they have something against us?’”
Rebecca barked out a laugh, “If you guys are law abiding people, then I’m a man-eating crab.”
Ricky muttered, “I wouldn’t be surprised if you had crabs.”
Lupe snorted while Rebecca glared at him, “You better watch yourself. They are going for the Mexicans for now. Soon, they will be going after Dominicans like you.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but Ava interjected, “Well, if you need anything, Lupe, you let us know, and we can help out the best way we can.”
The boys nodded, Greg taking a second longer to agree, while Rebecca inspected her nails. Lupe smiled softly, “Thanks guys, I really appreciate that.”
Ricky glanced at Ava, “How’s the job search going for your parents? Have they found anything yet?”
Ava shook her head, “Not yet. We should be ok money-wise for a couple more months, but things are getting tight.”
“Can I ask you something, Lupe?” Rebecca interjected.
Everyone rolled their eyes, but Lupe looked at her head on, “Humor me.”
“What’s your Social Security number?”
Ricky hit the table, “Jesus, Rebecca, you can’t just go around asking questions like that.”
She glared at him, “I don’t remember asking you the question.”
“Of course I would never even tell you it,” Lupe started, “but honestly, I don’t know what it is.”
Rebecca raised an eyebrow, “You have no idea what your Social Security number is?”
“Nah, my mom just keep those papers in a special drawer at her desk. She never lets me or my brothers look at them. She thinks we are going to damage them or something.”
Smirking, Rebecca continued, “So, you’ve never seen your birth certificate before either?”
Lupe started to shift in her seat a little. Thinking about it, she really has never seen her birth certificate or Social Security card. That doesn’t mean she’s here illegally though, right? “No, I haven’t.”
Ricky could sense that Rebecca was getting into Lupe’s head. He squeezed her on the shoulder, letting her know not to listen to Rebecca.
Greg and Ava exchanged glances. Could Lupe really be an illegal immigrant? Greg cleared his throat, “I’ve heard of kids who grew up their whole lives not knowing that they were living in the United States illegally. Their parents took them here when they were so young. They didn’t want them to feel different from the rest of the kids, so they just never told them.”
“Not helping, bro,” Ricky shot at Greg.
Ava spoke up, “It’s no good thinking about this. Lupe, I know it’s hard but just clear your mind about all of this. You know Rebecca is just messing with you. She really doesn’t think you’re here illegally.”
“No, I literally think Lupe is here illegally,” Rebecca remarked. She looked down at her phone. Suddenly, a huge smile crawled on to her face, “Oh, how interesting.”
“What?” Greg asked, not taking his eyes off Lupe. His fists clenched into tight balls on his lap to a point where his nails started to break the skin on his palms.
“The president just issued an executive order. Anyone who comes to the authorities with enough data to present someone is an illegal immigrant will get a cash reward of $30,000.”
No one dared to look at each other. The sound of the large sum of money snaked around the room, tickling at their ears and wrapping around their ankles.
Ricky shook out of it first, “You guys can’t possibly be thinking what I think you’re thinking.”
“$30,000 is a lot of money,” Rebecca asserted.
“We all know you’re set for life from your dad’s trust fund, ice princess.”
“A girl could always use more money. Isn’t that right, Ava? Well, in your case, you really do need that money.”
Ava stared at the ground. A thousand thoughts were going through her head. Lupe’s her classmate. Not even just that, she’s her friend. They’ve gotten close being in this class together. She couldn’t possibly do that to her. Yet, she lied to her classmates about her family being ok for a couple of more months. If her parents couldn’t get the landlord their rent by next week, they would be evicted from their home. She’s noticed that her mom’s been eating less and less while urging her and her sisters to eat. Her mom kept telling her that she ate earlier, but she knew that’s not true.
“I want in,” Greg declared.
Everyone stared at him.
Rebecca smiled, “Excellent.”
Lupe looked at him with tears welling up in her eyes, “You know me. How could you do this?”
Shaking with fury, Greg stood up, kicking his chair back, “Your people killed my parents! They would still be here today if Mexicans could never enter this country. It’s time to send them back to where they belong.”
Lupe wrenched her shoulder away from Ricky’s hand and stood up too, “Do not put me in the same group as a murderer. I’m sorry about your parents, but don’t assume we’re all murderers or just bad people in general. I don’t belong in Mexico; I’ve never even visited the place for fuck’s sake. I considered us brothers, Greg. Now, I’m ashamed to know you.”
“Guys, let’s just calm down here. You don’t even have solid proof that Lupe is here illegally. You just have a wild conclusion from Rebecca’s two random ass questions,” Ricky pointed out.
“I think it’s more than enough to at least send the police to her house. When they get there, they will discover they have no papers, and then it’s ‘adios!’” Rebecca chuckled.
Ricky looked over at Ava, who was still staring at the floor. He knew it’s vital that he get Ava to be on his side with Lupe. He thought he could take on Greg if something physical broke out. Rebecca wouldn’t dare to even do something that might involve her breaking a nail. Ava’s the wild card though. She’s a sweet girl, but he knew how much her family was struggling right now.
He glanced over at Rebecca to find her looking at him. The smile on her face sent shivers down his spine.
“Ava,” Rebecca began, “With the money split three ways, you would be getting $10,000. Think about how much that could help out your family. It would ease the pressure of having your parents needing to find new jobs right away. Hell, you could even move into a bigger place if you wanted. You know what, I have an even better plan. Take my $10,000. Now, you have $20,000. On top of that, I can personally make sure that at least your dad can get hired at my father’s company. Would you really not help out your family in order to save a classmate? I bet her people have been taking away the jobs that your parents have been trying to get. And think about it this: why, us turning her in would just us being law-abiding citizens.”
Ava kept looking at the ground, as if it would tell her what to do.
Lupe spoke, her voice shaking, “I know your family is in a tight space right now. I’m sorry about that too. But, Ava, things will turn around for your family. I know it. You have been nothing but the kindest to me since this class started. You know we aren’t just classmates. And, I’m scared. God, I fucking hate what this is doing to us. Please, don’t listen to Rebecca. I’m begging you.”
“Ava, do what’s right!” Rebecca snarled.
Greg spoke hollowly, “Her people ruined my family’s life. Don’t let them ruin yours.”
Ricky clamored, “This is just ridiculous, and you know it is, Ava.”
“Please, Ava. I’m your friend,” Lupe choked up.
She grabbed Ricky’s hand. Everyone stared at Ava who still hasn’t looked up. Greg rolled his shoulders, clenching and unclenching his fists; his weight balanced on his toes. Rebecca tied her hair back. Her father taught her to fight with words and not fists, but she had to do what was best for her country. Ricky began to position himself slightly in front of Lupe.
Ava finally raised her head. A tear streamed down her cheek, “I’m so sorry, Lupe.” With that, she jumped on top of the table and kicked Ricky straight in the face. Greg launched himself across the table, tackling Lupe. Rebecca cackled as she carefully used her chair as a step to get on top of the table, “Pin her down!” she barked at Greg who was punching Lupe over and over again. Ava sat against the wall next to Ricky’s unconscious body, pulling at her hair as she kept muttering, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Lupe’s screams bounced violently around the room. As Greg kept hitting her, however, all Lupe could think about was where was the professor?
Unfortunately, the professor never made it to the school. On his way to class, waiting amidst the other cars trying to get their jobs as fast as they can, the gangs that Rebecca mentioned decided to hit the highway, looking for any Mexicans they can get their hands on. Why send them back to Mexico, when they could just get rid of them for good? Now, the professor wasn’t Mexican. Professor Rodriguez was Puerto Rican. Of course, when the gangs reached his car, they just saw his last name was Rodriguez on his driver license that he readily handed to them and assumed he was Mexican, ignoring his cries while they stabbed him that he wasn’t Mexican at all, his blood splattering the asphalt.