A Boy's Journey

         My name is Ricardo Lafayette and this is the story of how I almost escaped
Italy. I was 14 when my parents first started the plans to move into the
United States. It sounded simple enough at first, all we were supposed to
do was hide away in a cargo ship and then escape to my Aunt Matilda's house
in southern Oregon. They told me the details almost everyday but I never
payed much attention. I didn't know that I would need them. All I did was
hang out with my best friend at the time, Ambra. Me and her did everything
together. We met about 2 years before my family and I would leave for the
States. For about three months we were only friends. We would walk around
Roma in the markets buying bread and sweets for each other with our
allowances. Often we would go to the Fontana di Trevi so we could look at
the beautiful fountain. Then one day while we were at the Fontana di Trevi
something changed. I looked into her eyes and saw only beauty, only
softness, and I knew that she was all those things and more. That's when I
leaned in for a kiss. It was a perfect first kiss. When we finally stopped
everything was different, I felt shy around her, and I wanted to be perfect
for her, but I knew that nothing was different, except for the fact that I
was in love. We were boyfriend/girlfriend for a year and four months before
it happened. She disappeared, her parents believed that she ran away, but I
knew better. I knew that she loved me and wouldn't leave without me. I also
knew that I only had three months to find her before I would have to leave.
I searched everywhere, everyday, but I never found her. At the end of every
day I would go back to the Fontana di Trevi at 10pm. Hoping beyond all hope
that she would show up in the spot where we first shared out kiss. Every
night, nothing, but I didn't give up. Time started to go by faster and
faster. It was only two weeks before I would have to leave and still I
hadn't found her. I started skipping school so I could search more, to no
avail. It was 5 days before I would leave for America, I finally gave up.
My parents could see that I was depressed, I think they knew that I didn't
want to leave, that I would be leaving behind something very important, but
they knew there was nothing they could do about it. They tried taking me to
the market one day to make me happier, they bought be breads and sweets,
and even a new journal for the long trip we were about to take. It didn't
help though, I was still depressed. We left for home, on the way home they
told me I didn't have to go to school the next few days since we were about
to leave. It didn't matter to me. We made it onto the cargo ship with ease,
the traveling was hard, and there wasn't much to do besides write my story
down in the journal they got me. We didn't get much food, only the
leftovers of the sailors that we were able to steal without them noticing.
We went hungry more often than not. Then something horrible happened. Im
not sure how long we had been sailing so I can't put an exact date on it,
but on one fateful day my dad was caught stealing some of the sailors bread
and water. They tied him up to the mast and beat him ferociously with
wooden sticks and their belts. Then they threw him overboard. I'm fairly
sure he didn't survive. My mom decided to take on the job of gathering food
for us because I was no longer able to do anything besides sleep, eat, and
write. Every time my mom was out getting food I would watch her. I promised
myself that if they caught her I would do all I could to prevent her from
being thrown overboard like my father. Then one day she was caught. I
started to get up to try and help her but then she caught my eyes with
hers. Something about her stare said run and hide now, so I did. I could
hear her start to scream no don't, and then sailors started making these
hoots and other sounds. I couldn't take it, I went unconscious and woke up
sometime later when the boat made a sudden thud. It had been days since I
had ate, but that wasn't important at the moment. There was America, right
in front of me. I ran for the long narrow bridge connecting the ship with
the dock. There were screams all around me, but that didn't stop me. I knew
what I had to do, and I wasn't about to give up, not when I had lost so
much, not now. So I just kept running. I found food every now and then. On
very solemn occasions someone would pick me up and help me get to where I
was going, usually leaving me money for the journey ahead. There were nice
people, but there were also mean people. People that would go out of their
way to make a miserable boy who couldn't understand a word of english
besides the word, "Oregon". It didn't matter, I was almost there according
to the map I had of the Americas. Unfortunately I was running out of nice
people, and nights began to chill. Soon I had no money, food, or shelter. I
was going hungry, every night I would cry not only because of the pain of
starving and the harsh colds, but of the loved ones that I had lost. It
started snowing very hard, all I had was the clothes that i traveled in
from Italy. It wasn't enough, I lost feeling in almost all of my body. My
toes and fingers started to turn black. Still no one would help me anymore.
I was within a weeks worth of walking to Aunt Matilda. So close, yet it was
too far for me to journey. Then someone stopped to help me. This person
took me into their house and warmed me up, they took me to the hospital
when they cut off my hands and feet because they were frostbitten. They
payed for prosthetics for me so I could still function right. Once I was
back in their home instead of the hospital. It was warmer there, gradually
the outside was warmer too. They had a wonderful family, and asked if I
wished to stay with them. I did for a while, but I knew I had to leave in
case my dad and mother were still alive, I knew the only chance of seeing
them again would be Aunt Matilda's house. So I told them I must leave soon.
They worried for me and said that I should at least stay until my birthday
came, only a month away. I agreed that I would leave the day after my
birthday. The day after March the 3rd. The nice people who's actual name
was Marty and Flora also had kids which I grew accustomed to.They taught me
English. Their names were Donna, Isabella, and another that would be home
in a week that I had yet to meet. They said her name was Ambra. I couldn't
believe it to be the same one, I had to wait and see for myself. When Ambra
finally did come home I couldn't tell if it was the same one that I knew.
She knew how to read, write, and talk in Italian so I knew it could be, I
hoped beyond hope that it was. She looked alike to her, but also different
in many ways. So I showed her my journal, this journal. As she read it she
started to tear up. Then she turned to me and gave me a kiss. It was the
best kiss I had experienced in a long time. It could only be her. Then she
told me it wasn't, and that she was very sorry for my loses. I left after
that, I couldn't take any more heartbreak, I had to see my parents or I
wouldn't be able to live any longer. So I continued on to Aunt Matilda's. I
got to the neighborhood that Aunt Matilda was supposed to live in. I had
long since forgotten her address though. I started knocking on doors, one
by one asking for Aunt Matilda, every door turned me down. Then a very nice
looking old lady opened the door of her house. I told her that I was
looking for Aunt Matilda and she looked very grim and disappointed. She
invited me inside to tell me that she had moved several years ago to a home
in West Virginia. I cried for hours and she invited me to stay the night
with her. During that night that I was supposed to stay with her I finished
this journal and then slipped out of the house. I plan to kill myself
because my journey was for nothing, and I had lost all that I loved. I
leave this Journal behind so that I can share my story for the nice lady
that took me in, and all that may pass through trying to find Aunt
Matilda's house. Goodbye