(5/12) “When Rahim got out of prison he was taken in by a foster...

(5/12) “When Rahim got out of prison he was taken in by a foster family in Michigan. They didn’t have much, but they gave him the basics. And that’s all he needed. He was able to graduate from high school. He enrolled in Michigan State University. Some kind law students even helped with his asylum application. Rahim’s life began to move forward much faster than mine. But I was never envious. It’s what I wanted from the very beginning. For something positive to happen to us, as a family.  Back in New York I was doing everything I could to survive: washing dishes, washing cars, working security. I even sold knock-off bags on the sidewalk. It took me four years to finish two years of community college. I felt every second of those years. I tried not to think of minutes, or hours, or days. It was too painful. I tried to live in this imaginary world, where time was standing still. Where my parents weren’t getting older. And my sister wasn’t getting sicker. It’s the only way I could keep the pressure from becoming too much. Every week I’d talk to Fatou on the phone. She’d never tell me when she was feeling ill. She’d only say when she was feeling better. She’d say: ‘I missed school last month, but I’m feeling much better.’ She was a teenager now. She wanted to know everything about my life. She’d tease me about getting married. And she’d ask me to buy her things. For months she pleaded with me to send her a pink Razor flip phone. But more than anything else she wanted to join me here. She wanted to know if I’d gotten a lawyer. And when my court dates were. And how long it would be before I could sponsor her. By 2009 my green card application was almost finished. It had taken over ten years, but I was finally getting close to my goals. I was working as a management trainee at Enterprise Rent-a-Car. Before long I’d be making a real salary. I’d be able to help Fatou with her treatments. I could take some of the strain off my father. But one night when I was finishing my shift, I got a voicemail on my phone. Oh my God, it traumatized me. For three years I stopped listening to voicemails. We all knew it was coming, but I wasn’t ready. I thought I had more time.”