My knees started to bruise from kneeling on the hard ground as I ran my fingers over the engraved letters of my mother’s name. “I've been staying out of trouble though, shimá. The Claws’ have been providing me with work in their fields, but ‘cause of the hot weather and the season coming to an end, work’s been dry. But I’m okay. I miss you shimá. I’ll come back later tonight to stay with you. I love you.” I said out loud before kissing the gravestone goodbye. I struggled to find the power to leave my mother again, but I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath before standing up. I carefully weaved in and out of the overgrown cacti and mesquite that began to overtake the path towards the entrance of the graveyard. My body felt drained, but I managed to sulk back to town, still thinking about my mother.
It was the hottest summer that Santa Fe had seen in years. The weather creeped towards the upper 90s, but the sun beating down on my neck intensified the severity of the heat. As I made it to the brick road on the outskirts of town, I found a place to sit. The brick began to cook the undersides of my legs, but it was better than sitting in the thorn filled dirt. The road inhabited a few local vendors and some small shops, but shade from any vegetation was good to none. My stomach complained about the lack of food that it had received in the past week and, by now, it began to bubble and sizzle, eating away at my insides to create some kind of fuel to keep me going. Sweat rolled down my face. I tried to catch each drop in order to maintain my hydration, even though I knew that it wasn’t helping. The strip was busy that Sunday afternoon. I enjoyed the commotion of people talking and walking around the small plaza; it helped take my mind off the pain I felt both inside and outside of my body. Often, I thought about stealing water or food, especially during busy times like that ‘cause no one would notice. And so what if they did? The worst thing that would happen is getting sent back to juvenile detention, but at least I would have shelter to protect me, food to eat, and water to drink. However, stealing was against my morals; I have gotten in trouble before, but not for any intentional wrongdoing. My mother taught me good; she inspired me, even in hard times, to be better for myself and for her and I promised my mother that I would never steal.
I could feel the soreness on my neck from the burns starting to form so I lifted my head for the first time in a while. Looking to my right, I watched the townspeople swarm my favorite shop on the strip called “Iiná”, which means ‘life’ in Navajo. The owner, Akando, always makes fresh fry bread, picks plenty of peaches, and brings jugs of his homemade lemonade to sell. I concentrated hard, using the last of my energy to prop myself up on my cracked feet. Walking closer to the shop, a breeze blew past, filling my nose with the sweet, warm steam coming off the fry bread. The peaches looked ripe and juicy. Condensation dripped off the jugs of lemonade; it looked so refreshing. My mouth began to salvate as I dreamt of the foods in front of me. I looked around; everyone was preoccupied with their own matters. I thought about my mother, she would be disappointed. Disgusted by my thoughts, I took a few steps back, but my stomach growled viciously again and the temptation to grab even just one peach seemed impossible to resist. Unsure of what to do, I stood there for a while before looking up to the sky to see if my mother was watching over me. I sighed. Wrapping my arms around my stomach trying to provide it with some sort of comfort, I turned my back to Iiná. I laid down on the scorching brick road this time and closed my eyes, trying to fall asleep to distract myself from the agony.
“Come here, Sakari” a familiar, soothing voice said. I rubbed my eyes and looked up to find my mother standing over me with her arm reached down. With more energy than I thought I had, I jumped up with excitement and took her hand. “I missed you,” she whispered to me. My mother and I sauntered through the deserted land south of Santa Fe. I wasn’t sure where we were going, but at the moment it didn’t matter because I was overwhelmed with joy. All around us, hummingbirds sang and danced through the purplish-pink sky, leading us to a small hill. Over it, I could hear rushing water. I scampered up the mound of sand and dirt to find a vast river. White-winged doves scattered as I hurried down the hill, revealing fruit, and bread, and meat laid out on the bank. I turned around in awe to see my mother smiling vivaciously. Thinking back to my stomach, I rubbed my hand over it and realized that I no longer felt the immense pain of sorrow and hunger. I embraced my mother, happy to be home.