Echo

But he remained shy, confiding in no one, Barney his constant companion, to the exclusion of the other kids. He knew Mama Diaz loved him fiercely, but worried about what she sensed in the back of his eyes. Just this small something, at the end of the day as fatigue overwhelmed him. She said it looked like a hurt, or was it distrust? She made him sit with her so they could pray. With Barney at his feet, they sat at the kitchen table, and with the Virgin Mary hanging on the wall, prayed that life would be kind to him.
    Late one Friday evening, after dinner, everyone gathered in the small but cozy living room. No one noticed the peeling walls or stained hardwood floors. The girls fought to sit next to Jose and Barney with the boys pounding on each other until Mama Diaz silenced them.
    “Papa Diaz has a serious announcement.” Her calm voice betrayed a hitch of tension that demanded their attention better than words could hope to. In a low calm voice, eyes cast to the floor, Papa Diaz broke the news fated to change Jose’s life again.
    The fabric mill announced layoffs, their margins slipping. He received his termination papers last week. With decent paying jobs nonexistent, Papa Diaz decided to try to jump the fence; getting caught, the only drawback. It’s a felony and a long jail sentence. Mexico is determined to protect their jobs for their own citizens. Who could blame them?
    Mama and Papa decided they would merge the family with another fatherless family in the neighborhood. The Diaz family arranged to move into the Preston home down the hill; two families banding together to help each other so they might all survive. The thought of moving in with a new family didn’t really disturb anyone. They all understood the economics. Yes, it would be a bit unusual, two different ethnic backgrounds. But in the country, far from the urban centers, that factor took on a lesser significance.
    Jose knew of the family. He vaguely knew Abby Preston from the school bus. And everyone knew her twerpy younger brother, Scotty. He could be found anywhere, lurking all over the neighborhood like the ugly unwanted kid, shut out of the candy store while everyone else lived it up on the inside; kinda sad. Not too many white kids in the neighborhood; no one for him to play with. And what the heck happened to his head? Ick. Maybe things would change for him now that they would be moving in together. He shrugged to himself. It wasn’t really his concern.
    Now Abby was a different story. A little older than him, they really never spoke. A slender, pretty girl, he admired her thick cinnamon hair. He remembered something about her being sick. She sure looked healthy to him; probably a rumor.
    That night, as Jose lay in bed, he realized when Papa Diaz headed back to Mexico he would be without a male authority figure in his life again. First Papa, then Senor Brooks, then Papa Diaz. The Preston kids lacked a father too. Guess they had something in common. Drifting off to sleep, he fought the disturbing fragments of memory following the hazy death of his family. In his dream, he tried fruitlessly to outrun the ache and insecurity of his turbulent nightmares. He cuddled desperately to Barney in his sleep. Barney woke with a whine, his own doggy dreams just as frightening, his rough sloppy tongue reaching up to Jose’s familiar face for reassurance. Waking, Jose gave Barney a tender kiss on his muzzle and drifted back to sleep.

Chapter 5
    Moving day had come and gone; so had Papa Diaz. The layoffs never materialized but the dominant faction at the mill pushed him out anyway, never forgiving him for getting preferential treatment during his hiring. Since they no longer enjoyed the benevolent attention of Senor Brooks, the family knew they would sink or swim on their own. Hopefully, Papa Diaz would not get caught crossing the border.
    When Mrs. Preston lost her welfare, she knew she must find a way to supplement her income or move back to public housing. The Diaz family faced the same option. Both mothers refused to do that to the kids. They all flourished in Sussex County and that was where everyone intended to stay; including Barney.
    Barney made a big splash with the two Preston kids, quite the slobbering icebreaker. The Prestons never had a pet before; just some imaginary golden fairy that the kid yakked on and on about to anyone that would listen.
    They all attended the same school system. The little ones went on the school bus and Abby,