The Distance Between Us

by Reyna Grande

I put a seed in my mouth and did what El Güero said to do, to crack the shell with my teeth and eat only the kernel inside. I wondered if it was my hunger, but those sunflower seeds tasted delicious. I sucked the salt off the shells before cracking them and eating the inside. My first breakfast in the United States was bird food.

people still misinterpret my shyness for arrogance.

I went home and told Mago about it. She said, “Forget him, Reyna. He’s not worth it.” I wanted to tell her that she was wrong. It was me who wasn’t worth anything. Why else would Papi treat me the way he does? Why else would the guys at school treat me the way they do?

As I walked away from Meche’s house, I realized there was something else I had lost the day I left my hometown. Even though my umbilical cord was buried in Iguala, I was no longer considered Mexican enough. To the people there, who had seen me grow up, I was no longer one of them.