Three
Artie and Alice live with their husbands and children in Arizona. Their cousins Linda and the two little sister cousins, Maricela and Martita, all live in Texas now. This despite the little sister cousins' ideas about whether Texas is Mexico's or not.
Most of the old people are gone, along with some of the younger ones who died from drink, violence and ALS, like my brother Chai.
Tia Marta also lives in Texas now with her daughters. The girls grew up to marry two brothers from Guerrero. They taught school there for many years. They were forced to abandon their homes and jobs there two years ago when men in expensive SUVs and trucks began to use their town to run their new businesses. These are dirty businesses that bring lots of new money and gunfights day and night in all corners of the village.
Tia Marta's family is one of hundreds who have left. Even the priest left Guerrero. The school where my cousins once taught was forced to close because parents wouldn't let their children leave home to go to school, fearing for their safety.
This is from what I've been told and read, since I don't dare to drive down to Guerrero anymore. Even at a 100 miles per hour, I wouldn't dare to cross the road over the dam to revisit my family's home.
My brother's ashes wait to be dispersed over the ruins of Guerrero Viejo. Thankfully where he sits, time is not an important matter.
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