Section Ocho

Section Ocho Sylvia loved her 2 bedroom apartment. She finally found a decent place Well besides the rodents And the 4 flights she treks That dim hallway Smelling of mold And tattered souls Knock, Knock, Knock She opens the steel door Resembling a solitary prison cell entryway INSPECTION TIME 4 men dressed in the finest business attire from kmart They look at her like a charity case Exchanging smirks and snarky comments She is beneath them Like the soles on their $40 faux leather shoes She worked in sewing factories her whole life Until her hands were no longer functional She worked hard for her $700 ssd check The men smirk again when they see her ebt card on the kitchen table Their tax dollars pay for her extravagent lyfestyle That 2 bedroom apartment on the 4th floor Collecting bottles to feed herself at the end of the month She hasnt had a decent cut of meat in years Chicken legs and corned beef White rice and spam But those are their tax dollars being wasted One man utters: "We know hes been staying here" "Que" she replies "Your thug grandson with the felonies" Shouts another "Hes only been here for a week" He was sleeping at the city mission She was fullfilling her grandma duties Family is everything to her "But rules are rules Ms. Vasquez" If hes not gone in 2 days she has to move But move where? She waited 37 months to get this apartment Confused she begs the men to let him stay "48 hours Ms Vasquez" The portly inspector yells as the steel door slams behind the men Sylvia has a decision to make How she longs for paradise and gets hell in return A single tear rolls down her sharp cheeks "Juan stop hiding they left already" He can see the pain in her eyes " Dont cry Abuela, ill be just fine, Ill pack my stuff and be out in time"