That Amercian Dream

I was in the car driving as usual. It was a Cadillac. A really big deal then, especially from where I came from. He was in the back seat reading a newspaper. Light turns red i stop. I look in the rear view mirror, he's cool. I'm suppose to protect this guy. From what? At the time i didn't know, i didn't ask. It was my job to keep this guy safe. He was the most dapper and well dressed man i had ever seen. He's the Brazilian Ambassador i'm the 22 year old bodyguard. The job was seemingly easy. He was good to our team. When he wasn't working and when i wasn't driving him around and watching the perimeters. He would let us take out the cars to go watch movies and pick up girls. Even when he had his cocktail parties he would have the servers bring us all kinds of food. I loved those nights.

I hear loud explosions shots fired. It's 11 in the morning. Seriously? I'm only a block away from our destination and from keeping him safe and my ass safe as well. We had a car behind us following. They get out of the car and surround us for protection. He's fine, I'm fine. I can't say the same for the Caddie. We drive slowly so that our men can jog along side the car. He went into hiding after that and well no more picking up girls in the Benzo. The next time i see him he's asking me if i want to go to Argentina with him. He says there would be a job for me if i wanted it. Why not, but he's also offering me a visa as a Political Refugee. Destination? The United States of America. I'm hesitant about this idea. I don't speak English and i like where i live. He assures me that it is the land of opportunity and well this country is only turning into shit so why not get out.

I was born in Brazil the middle child, well off for Brazilian standards. My father was a womanizer and my skinny relatively weak looking mother took care of us all. My dad had some kind of military position. I looked up to him. He put food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a place to live. I came home from school one day to find my mom, brothers, and all of our belongings in the street. An investment gone bad. I didn't ask too many questions. It wasn't my place to ask. Hours later my dad shows up and he's found us a place to stay with some relatives. After that we all got sent to different places. I never really got to see my dad as much, or my mother. I lived with one of my aunts. When i did see my dad he always asked how school was going. He always said " do well in school, no one can take away your intelligence." I took this to heart. I did really well in school. I wanted to make him proud. After a couple of years i was reunited with my mother and two brothers. My dad wasn't really in the picture anymore except for the economic aspect. He had a new wife and a new family. After graduating from high school i decided to join the military. That was for two years and that was fine. I got out and i tried to join the police force, but i was too short. I decided to take a construction job. It was the hardest manual labor i had ever worked. I left my house at 5am walked 5 miles to get to the bus, and then traveled for another hour to get to work by 7am. I worked until 8pm and got home around 11pm if i got lucky with the bus. My mother would always have a plate of food waiting for me no matter how late it was. My mother always saw how tired i was and how fucked up my hands got. She relayed this information to my father. He came to see me and asked "what i was doing?" He said that i was smarter and better than to be working in construction. I told him that i couldn't work at the police station because i was too short. He said not to worry to go down there in a week and to be ready to work. I'm guessing he still had some connections because a week later i was in uniform. I couldn't wait for my first paycheck. I wanted to get something for my dad and for the family. I wanted to show him that i was now a man. Unfortunately a day before i got my paycheck my father died. He died in the fields. His pant leg got caught in the wheel of a tractor and bleed to death. The man that was with him waited too long to call the paramedics. I swore that i would avenge his death. I told this to my mother and she told me to forgive his stupidity. I never did forgive but i also never killed the idiot.

Here i am now in the land of opportunity. I met my wife about a year into my arrival. When i saw her i knew i was going to marry her. She was gorgeous and a little spit fire. I loved her, love her. We were so poor when we got married but happy. I've always worked hard and twenty five years later I'm still working hard. Maybe even harder then the construction job i had over 25 years ago, but now i sit in a house that i paid $1.3 million for. That is now worth $878'000. I have two kids and still the same wife. A huge BMW that i don't really need. It just sits on the parking lot of my business. My 20 year old son has no idea what hard work really is. I was probably to soft on him, never really around for the discipline. My daughter is up in Portland. I wonder when she will be done with college. I sit and I ponder if my father would be proud of me. My mother died about five years ago. I flew her out so that she could see what i was doing for the past 27 years. I think she was proud. She didn't really say much. Is this it? Is this the great American dream? I have three mortgages, three car payments, a dog, and the everyday constant stress, can i continue to provide for my family. Hey dad are you proud of me?