05 Feb Andres: Mean Face

“Listen, Andres and Douglas, if you show that mean face to an adult, you will get yourself in trouble.” Yes, those words would be a little unorthodox in counseling but I was a teacher dealing with immigrant Spanish-speaking students who were in an American public school. Finesse and diplomacy were not useful in trying to get my point across.

My association with Douglas went on for a year or two but Andres was in my life for about six years at that time. When I first met Andres he did not speak a lot of English but was a very fast learner and acquired the language and high school course material quickly. He was in his first year of high school and had come to the US with his uncle when the family in Mexico had shipped him off because there were too many mouths to feed and too little food to go around.

He excelled in school so that at the end of his freshman year, he and Felix (another young Mexican) wanted to apply for our school’s banner apprentice course in Automotive. The director did not want to take them, thinking their lack of fluency would be a real issue, but after seeing the applications with essays, he decided they were worth the risk. They were in that program until graduation, and won his heart for their hard work, serious attitude (he had no problem with mean faces, as he had one too), intelligence and curiosity.

There were several certifications available to them in the Automotive program but they usually had a fee, which neither student could afford. That teacher, the school or me personally would have paid had we known that they did not have the money but really did want the certification. As I would learn over and over through the years, they were proud Mexicans and asking for help was not in their DNA.

Because I had the certifications to teach several subjects, I had the privilege of teaching the same students for more than one year. And because my classes included mostly immigrants, over time I learned a lot about their new lives in the U.S. I was sometimes invited to family celebrations or dinners and found that entering their homes provided even more information about the many challenges they were facing. I learned a lot about Andres driving him home over the years.

On one occasion the school through the Business Department received a donation of dozens of computers no longer in use at a large company. My department was contacted and many students received the computers. I took Andres home with the computer when his ride fell through. That was quite a revelation to me as we arrived at the trailer park and took the computer to his room which was only big enough for a bed. He said he shared the bed with his four-year-old cousin.

Years later I saw him late in the afternoon waiting for his uncle to pick him up because he no longer had bus service to his new trailer park much farther away. He waited each day for his uncle, arrived home just before 6 or so and then walked a mile to work at McDonald’s. In his final year of high school, his uncle moved out of the county and a kind couple, fortunately, provided him with a temporary home so he could finish his last year.

In the summer after his graduation, I heard from friends that police had picked Andres up on unspecified charges and Andres was in jail. I accompanied him to the trial and we were pleasantly surprised when the judge swiftly dismissed the charges after the police officer said that he had made the arrest “after noticing a suspicious car at Taco Bell.” No explanation as to why the car was suspicious, so the judge had heard enough.

Later that same summer I learned that Andres was sleeping on park benches and had been picked up for “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” because he was smoking pot with an underage friend. He went back to jail and then back to my house where a room had just opened up.

Andres worked with a construction company, I charged him rent and saved half for him. Nine months later when I told him about his savings account balance, he quickly cashed it in and took a dream trip to Texas to see friends and relatives. He never came back to my house but came back to our area, and I heard later that he had been caught and deported TWICE! Mean face??

Fast forward: our lives crossed again ten years later with the help of social media. Andres learned that I had retired to Mexico City where he had recently moved. He called to take me out to lunch. I was very happy to go but a bit apprehensive as to what I would find. I asked what he was doing and he said he was working for DISH and they had promoted him several times in his first year because of his English fluency and great work record with them. His side job was tattooing as he is very gifted artistically. So that seemed to be a good restart…

At that lunch what I found was a handsome young man, scarf Euro-style around his neck, bright eyes, steady gaze, and a smiling face. He was transformed and in a new life. He told me he had changed his name to Andre. And it fits perfectly.