Manuel, who was now crossed at Tito, said so everybody could hear him, “Tito, I saw you at the ceremony in the Centro Histórico, when the priest was giving the blessing. You turned your back and walked away. Was there a reason?”
“I don’t like preachers very much.”
“Why is that? Are you afraid they will refuse to forgive your sins? Are you questioning their sincerity?
A cloud crossed Tito’s face. His answer was given in a low voice. “I see priests and pastors down at the border with Nogales, or all along the border from Aguas Pietras to Piedras Negras, anywhere in the border, in the small towns, where they say all the time that they are helping the poor people there. They are not.” Tito stopped and no one interrupted his thoughts. Then he went on, “I go up to them and I spit on their faces.”
“What?”
Now he had our full attention. Tito went on, “They are men of God, so they are peaceful and benevolent. They don’t spit back. Priests or preachers, it makes no difference. So, they ask me very controlled why do I do that to them, and I tell them with a question: What are they doing to help prevent human trafficking coming over the border, and what are they doing to prevent the children that get cut-up in pieces and sold for body parts to hospitals and universities in the United States by the thousands, and their organs are sold all across the world in the black market? Just following the money.”
“What?!?” The question was now a chorus.
“One healthy male or female youth is worth almost half a million in organs. Only in China and in the Mexican border is that gold mine of unaccountable children available. I look at them straight in the eye, and if they give me a reasonable answer, if they show me they know what I am saying, and that they are doing something about it, then I apologize and wipe their faces and tell them I am sorry and that I will give them my full support to them on what they are doing. If they can’t answer me, then I spit on their faces again and walk away. I am tired of shallow-mouths.”
“Does this happen often? Why is that…?
“To pretend to help the poor, while worse things are going on right under their noses, is to me the epitome of hypocrisy.” Tito took a sip of beer, shifted his weight on the chair, and said in a low tone, “…and politicians who encourage illegal immigration across the border are consenting to murder, for they know people are dying because of their policies. We should impeach them.”
Someone mumbling under his breath said, “…and lose all those votes?”
Tito seemed to stop a second to consider whom was he talking to, and how we fit into what he was saying. Then unconvinced he went on. “Coyotes are bringing workers and families all the time. They get paid lots. Sometimes they know how to cross the border, sometimes they don’t, but they don’t care. They get paid ahead of time. You have coyotes and you have preachers, and coyotes are winning. Families lose their children along the way or send their children by themselves. One in three don’t make it! They are killed and cut up in pieces and their organs and body parts are now for sale. The large amount of money from this enterprise is used to feed other illegal businesses like narco-trafficking and the future looking business criminals coming across. Sometimes with the help of their own government their businesses are now established on this side.”
“How do you know that? How do you know so much about this?” Manuel asked angrily.
“I think my little brother is now one of those whose body parts are now sold out all over the continent functioning as other people’s organs. I was supposed to wait for him. He never made it. No one can tell me why.”
A silence descended on all of us. No one wanted to ask more questions after that. We all had brothers and sisters. Ray waived at the waiter for another pitcher, then he winked at Mike. Max got up to go to the bathroom. Mike burped loudly. There was some small conversation for a while, but after a time Manuel could not let things go and spoke again painfully. “I can’t get over what you said. How much money is involved in children’s body parts? There must be a cost in preserving and transporting organs? You mention universities. How are they involved? How come we don’t read about this?”
“Much depends on when and where, but some wealthy ill person waiting in line and about to die from kidney failure will pay up to $100,000 or more on the black market for a kidney.”
“Wow! Can you sell a kidney? We have two and if you want to sell one, how much would you get?”
“It is supposed to be illegal. Laws are being drawn up to prevent that. People can get paid illegally around $2,000, but more often they only get $200 in poor countries in the black market. And often damaged from the illegal operation that will cost more to repair. Plus, the organ sold to someone else may be ill. All this value and cost is going up every year. Rich people about to die will pay any price. Poor people about to lose to debts will sell at any price. The profit in the black market is huge. Migrant children alone are free for the taking, no way to trace them back. Back at home, families will refuse to acknowledge they sold their children out, as they would be admitting to committing a serious crime. The profit is horrendous. Many universities buy what they can any way they can to teach medical students and do research, while looking the other way. Thousands of people die each year waiting for kidneys and other organs: hearts, livers, corneas, etc. They don’t want to ask any questions. Many are killed each year, many children, to fill that need. The legal market may only be 10%. The illegal market could be in the billions of dollars, and some people think that helping illegal crossing is a blessing for the poor. It is cruel and criminal. It is promoted locally and by foreign lawbreakers and murderers to make money. Lawmakers are behind it, as many of them choose to look the other way or they directly allow illegal immigration which facilitates the human trading openly.”
“You have to be kidding!” said Mark. Tito threw him a dirty look. “Can we change the conversation, please, I don’t care to hear more,” complained Mark.
“That is the problem! That is why I spit on priests’ faces. No one wants to hear about it. It’s easy to get killed. Even priests are afraid, but they still pretend they care.”
“Why only priests?”
“Because they don’t hit me back.”
“Abortions also produce the same opportunities for sales and profits,” said baseball hat.
“Yes, but priests don’t support abortions. I can’t spit on them for that.”
Tito’s comments gave me much to think about. He was personally impacted by his younger brother, so he was aware of something we all kept away from. The media never mentions it, even reporters in a free speech country can die by the hands of others. This issue was out of our grasp. Child killers are by nature dangerous people.
On the other hand, I have mentioned before how our instincts sometimes fail us, just like our ideologies can fail us. When driving, looking at what you want to avoid leads you there. An important lesson in life. In looking at poverty, you just get there. When you think of others as ‘minorities’, or African-American or Mexican-American minorities, you are condemning them perpetually to an inferior position. It is divisive in that they are Americans equal to all other Americans. Remember, divide and conquer, but not you that conquers, rather others divide you from the rest and conquer you. Racism used as a weapon of ill. By calling illegals ‘dreamers’, we initiate the sublimation of goal process with the final intent to end up letting everyone in, including criminals. The politicians who do so and know better, or are getting a kickback, need to be held accountable for the crimes and murders that it results in. That name is often used to direct our sight in one direction, while avoiding looking in a different direction. Just as when you insist on accusing others of racism, you may be heading where you don’t want to go, unless that is what you want to do. Nothing wrong with been proud of your ancestry, whether from African, Hispanic, Italian, or another descent, but that follows being legally an American, otherwise you are short-changing yourself. I kept thinking as I addressed the group, despite Mark glaring at me,
“We can’t let this happen. We must weigh the real consequences of looking up, looking forwards, looking at goals, looking at where you want to be, because you will get there. Only we can pull up our own bootstraps, and here in this Barrio we can. Look at America where we see ourselves as equal, for we are. That is what being an American all is about. That is where we want to go.” Then looking at Tito I said, “don’t be so harsh on priests and preachers. Doing good in what we can is a much better way to be than being the enemy from within.”
His response was, “is being a useful idiot better than been the enemy from within?’
My answer was, “The evil enemy from within is worst. He uses the useful idiot to his advantage.”