When Erika was fourteen years old she left her country and twin babies behind. “I had to go to El Norte … looking for what we’re all looking for, a better life.” Una vida mejor. She traveled with five other girls around her age. “Things happened to them. What can I say? Bad things. We’d all heard that women on the trail get raped.” El Norte, meaning the United States, may not always be the final destination. Erika preferred to stay in the first state she came to north of the border—Chiapas, Mexico. She settled in Huixtla, known for its prostitutes, those shadows that anyone can see but few
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