I Have Seen Illegal Immigrants, And One Of Them Owes Me Nine Bucks : Part 2

In Part 1 of this story, Marcos , an illegal Guatemalan immigrant, borrowed nine bucks from me and he never paid me back. Jackie Beltran suggested that instead of asking Marcos to repay me, I should ask Marcos if I could borrow a greater amount of money from him, such as let's say fifteen bucks. Then he would ask me for twenty bucks, and this would continue as part of a game that they play to earn trust. I haven't seen Marcos since then, so I never got the chance to play the game. Marcos has since started woking in a Thai restaurant, and I wasn't about to go in there looking for him. After all, the owner of the Thai restaurant works out at one of the local Martial Arts gyms. A lot of those Thai guys know that Muay Thai boxing. Call me chicken if you wish, but I'm not about to walk into a Thai butt kicking, no way.

Well a couple of days ago, I got my chance to play the game. I was working back in the Sporting Goods department of my store when much to my suprise, Marcos walked up. At first I didn't know what to think or how to react. This was the first time that I had seen him in months, and really I never expected to see him again.

The last time that I spoke with him, he could hardly speak any English at all. This time as we started chatting, I noticed that his English had drasticly improved. I have no clue how he was learning, but he was learning and learning fast. Then we did the whole " Hola, como estas " thing back an forth, and then Marcos started speaking in English. Below is the conversation that took place once the conversation switched to English. His English was somewhat broken, and he mixed in some Spanish words. Still a drastic improvement from the last time that I spoke with him.

Marcos "  Can I have your phone numero "

Me " Why do you want my phone number Marcos ? "

Marcos " My friend Mexicano has problemo at Mexican restaurant "

Me " Who is your friend Marcos ? "

Marcos " You remember Fernando ? "

Me " Yes of course "

Marcos " Fernando needs your phone numero, he has problemo and needs your help. "

Me " What kind of problem does he have Marcos ? "

Marcos " Fernando will tell you. Can I give Fernando your numero ? "

I was a bit reluctant at first. I stood back and thought this out a bit. Then I thought what the heck, it can't hurt anything. As I was giving Marcos my phone number, I realized that I had forgotten about the nine bucks that Marcos owed me. I was so caught up in the moment that I actually forgot about the advice that Jackie Beltran had given me. Instead, I just asked Marcos straight up about the money. I didn't ask him directly to pay me back, but I did bring it to his attention. Conversation as follows.

Me " Hey Amigo, do you remember the nine bucks that you borrowed from me? "

Marcos stuttering and slapping himself against his head " Oh, oh, oh yes Amigo ! I'm so sorry ! I forgot, so sorry ! "

Me " No worries Amigo, just pay me back when you can afford it "

Marcos " No, no, no. I will pay you now "

Marcos pulled his wallet from his back pocket, and when he open it up, I noticed that he had fourty nine dollars. There were two twenty dollar bills, and nine one dollar bills. Then Marcos reached for a twenty and handed it to me. Thinking back to what Jackie had told me, it turns out that she was correct, but I'm not into playing such games. Call it a cultural difference if you will, but Marcos only owed me nine bucks, and nine bucks was all that I expected in return. I gave the twenty back to Marcos, and I told him that he only owed me nine bucks. Then he handed me the nine one dollar bills that were in his wallet. Debt paid, all is well.

About 11:00 that night, I got a call from Fernando. Conversation as follows.

Me " Hello "

Fernando " Tim, this is Fernando. Remember me ? "

Me " Yeah, what's up Fernando ? "

Fernando " Tim, my friends tell me you help Mexican people "

Me " Maybe, what do you need ? "

Fernando " You know my son Rafial "

Me " Yes "

Fernando " You know Carlos who owns Mexcan restaurant ? "

Me " Yeah, I remember him "

Fernando " My son Rafial is working at Mexican restaurant. He is only thirteen years. He is working overtime, getting low pay and going to school . Carlos is not paying overtime, only low pay "

Me " So what do you want me to do Fernando ? "

Fernando " Please no talk to Carlos, OK ? "

Me " OK, I promise. What do you want to do "

Fernando " You know my friends Guatemala, Marcos and Sebastion ? "

Me " Yeah "

Fernando " My friends Guatemala working at Thai restaurant for low pay, sixteen hours a day, no break, no overtime "

Me " So what do you want me to do ? "

Fernando " Please help my son Rafial, please help my friends Guatemala, please ! "

Me " Just how do you think that I can help them ? "

Fernando " Call immigration, call labor "

Me " You sure that you want me to call immigration or the labor department ? "

Fernando " Yes, owners restaurants not keeping Social Security cards, not keeping Green Cards, not keeping Drivers License. Please help my son Rafial, please help my friends Guatemala "

Fernando and I have plans to meet next Tuesday to discuss this situation. In the meantime, I've been trying to think of someone who is 100% fluent in English and Spanish to bring along to translate. The first person who comes to mind is this Puerto Rican guy who I work with. He also knows how to speak the Mexican dialect of Spanish. I spoke with him today, and he advised me to stay out of that situation. After all, he remembers all to well what I went through the last time I got envloved in an ICE investegation that backfired.

I'm going to go ahead and meet with Fernando next Tuesday, and give him the phone number to the ICE hotline. From that point foward, the ball is in his court.