By Emmanuel Fashakin
This story was originally set in January 2016. Carmen, then 43, came to the office few days earlier at 12 noon. Surprisingly, Carmen’s name did not appear on the appointment list for the day. So, one hour later, with Carmen still sitting in the corner in the waiting room and watching TV, I became curious and asked her what she was doing in the office. “Oh, I am waiting for my daughter Diana coming from school who has an appointment with you; I got a ride, and that’s why I came in early.” I saw that Diana’s appointment was not until 2.30 p.m. Isn’t it too early to arrive for an appointment scheduled for two and one half later? I would later understand the reason behind Carmen’s apprehension.
Diana, 17, was ushered in to see me at around 2.45 p.m. after she left school. I have known the family for over ten years at that time, when they enrolled soon after we opened our Hollis branch in 2005. I have watched Diana, and her sister and brother grow up over the years. The family have had a lot of troubles in the past four years, starting with the arrest of their father, an illegal alien.
Their father, Manuel, had slipped into the United States 18 years earlier from Guatemala and hooked up with Carmen. They have three children together, two girls and a boy. The family was happy and everything was fine until a fateful night in the Winter of 2012.
Manuel went out partying with friends, and while the party was still going on, Manuel got exhausted and sleepy and went to take a nap in the car. To keep himself warm, he left the engine running, and the car heater on, which was his undoing. As he was snoring happily, knocks on the window woke him up. A command of “Registration and license, please”, and a quick breath-analyzer test was all it took for the police to haul him to jail for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. In jail, while waiting to be arraigned, they found that he was an illegal alien, and that compounded his woes; he was handed over to the Feds. He was soon transferred out of New York State to Federal Penitentiary in Pennsylvania. It was the beginning of the woes for the family.
Jose, then only 16, the only male in the family broke his right femur while playing football. The alignment of the bones were bad and he needed an operative reduction and internal fixation of the fracture. The girls became frequently sick from asthma attacks. Carmen remained steadfast and held the family together; she would make the long trip to Pennsylvania whenever she could. She arranged legal representation for her husband. On the advice of the attorney, she came to me for a letter to the Judge handling the case showing all the problems with the children and how her husband should be allowed to stay in the country on compassionate grounds. The case dragged on for three years, but at last in 2015, she came to the office wearing a grim look. Her husband had called from jail saying that he had heard that he had exhausted all his options and an order had been given for his deportation, which could happen at any time. Then all went eerily quiet.
Her sister in law called them from Guatemala four days later: Manuel is home in Guatemala! Manuel said that at about 11 p.m. on the day after his call home, they were bundled into buses and taken to the airport. First, there was a stop in a Texan airport, then the deportees were sorted out and taken to their respective countries. They were just dumped in their own countries at the airport. Manuel said that he was dirty and unkempt, and didn’t want his people, who had seen him depart for the United States with much hope and promise almost two decades earlier, to see him in such shape. He called a friend who picked him up and allowed him to clean himself and refresh before he went home. Even then, his people were shocked to see him looking so gaunt and emaciated, the result of over three years of depressing incarceration in Federal prison. Manuel promised to sneak back into the United States as soon as he got himself back together. That was back in 2015.
Now Diana and Carmen were sitting apprehensively in my office. Three months earlier, my office did a comprehensive medical check up for Diana, including screening for gonorrhea and chlamydia which is mandated by the City for all women between the ages of 16 and 24. Since that test, my office had called Diana several times to discuss her result, and she had not showed up. As I reviewed the lab results, my jaw dropped when I saw: “Chlamydia = POSITIVE.” I asked Carmen to please excuse us while I discussed with Diana privately. State Law accords underage people the right of privacy in issues relating to sex, pregnancy and abortion so that they would be free to tell the truth.
“You had sex”, I declared matter-of-factly. “Only once”, she confessed immediately. “He infected you with Chlamydia”, I informed her. She burst out crying. I encouraged her to tell her mom, and after some reluctance, she agreed. We ushered in Carmen to join the sobbing party.
“I knew that boy was up to no good”, Carmen declared. “Thank God you are not seeing him again, You must never talk to him again”, she commanded Diana. I told them both that they must still contact the boy to get himself treated so that he would stop infecting the other girls. “Undiagnosed chlamydia infection is one of the commonest causes of infertility in females from blocked Fallopian tubes”, I warned them, please make sure the boy gets treated. It was at this time that Carmen told me the bombshell: Manuel is not coming back to the US! Manuel was calling from Guatemala virtually everyday at the beginning, then his calls became infrequent. Then his sister called Carmen that Manuel has another woman already. Manuel then called and confirmed that he wasn’t coming back and that Carmen should inform the children. Carmen said she insisted that he inform the children himself.
A few days later, Manuel called the children and said “bye-bye”, that he wasn’t coming back. I felt really sorry for Carmen who had worked so hard to keep the family together, she was sad, lonely and broke. At Christmas I asked her for her plans and the children. “No plans, Doctor, we have no money”. I reached into my pocket and gave her a $100 bill. She burst into tears.
Carmen’s travail were not over. In her loneliness she started dating a younger man. One thing led to another. Carmen got pregnant. Sadly, the baby boy had developmental delay. Carmen and her two daughters took care of him. The only bright spot was Jose. He got a job, got married and got a son of his own. Carmen’s new boyfriend eloped soon after the boy was born. Poor Carmen. Some people cannot simply catch a break in life.
Emmanuel O. Fashakin, M.D., FMCS(Nig), FWACS, FRCS(Ed), FAAFP, Esq.
Attorney at Law & Medical Director,
Abbydek Family Medical Practice, P.C.
Web address: http://www.abbydek.com
Cell phone: +1-347-217-6175
“Primum non nocere”
