Walk tall, mijo. But walk with your eyes open. The world is not your home. But you can build a home inside yourself. And that home—nobody can take that from you.”
“You will be told that this country is a garden. They will show you flags and parades and tell you that if you work hard, the soil will love you back. This is a lie. The soil does not love. The soil absorbs. Do not give your body to the dream.” entre el mundo y yo libro
That was the only safety he could promise. And it was everything. Walk tall, mijo
Now Manny was thirteen. He had long legs, a gap-toothed smile, and a hoodie he wore even in July. Javier saw the man he would become hiding inside the boy. And he was terrified. But you can build a home inside yourself
“Your body is not a promise. It is a fact.”
He remembered the first time he saw the crack in the world. He was ten, walking home from the corner store with a loaf of bread. A police cruiser slowed beside him. The officer didn’t say a word for a full block. Just rolled the window down and stared. Javier felt his skin turn into a question mark. He ran. Not because he had done anything, but because his legs knew something his mind didn’t yet understand: that in America, his body was a target, not a temple.