Rosa's Story

Rosa's alarm beeps, cutting through the silence to remind her that another day has arrived without her consent. The days never stop coming no matter what her circumstances are. They are indifferent towards her as she groggily washes her face, scarfs down some Pot Tarts, and then brushes her teeth. Her mom left for work two hours before she woke up but she knows the drill by now. She's the oldest 9 year old in her apartment complex.

Rosa's school is only two blocks away but today it feels like the Bataan March. She is the new girl in a classroom full of kids who have known each other for years and bonded over baseball and soccer and dance lessons. Rosa just moved from the shelter and she has nothing in her room save a bed and dresser with some Legos stashed under her pajamas in the third drawer down. But constructing skyscrapers out of building blocks is the last thing on her mind on this day.

Rosa sits in the second seat back in the middle row of chairs. Avoiding the teacher's gaze is her primary concern and she wants nothing more than to show the other kids that she is smart and funny and has an infectious laugh that lit up the dining room at the shelter. But Rosa is scared because she worries her clothes stand out for all the wrong reasons. The bell rings and the first recess expels her from the comfortable structure of classroom anonymity to the social caste system of the playground.

Rosa eats her lunch slowly and methodically because she remembers the days when it was a privilege and not a right. Other kids complain and crow about what's on their plates while Rosa scrunches up her nose and joins in to avoid persecution even though she is over the moon, inwardly, about the potatoes, salad, and chicken teriyaki. Thankfulness is forced to coexist with peer pressure.

Rosa returns home and knows that she only has an hour until her mom will join her after work. They will talk about their days over a newly purchased thrift store table and a plate of pasta. Soon it is time for Rosa to clean up and get ready for bed so she can begin the cycle all over again. She drifts off to sleep where she finds herself equal with all the kids she spent the day with. She's not totally sure what 'affordable housing' means but its something her mom is concerned about. Her mom never says anything directly to her, but Rosa knows that if she doesn't get more hours at the grocery store, they will have to move back to the shelter.

Rosa's alarm beeps.