Ani fled Nicaragua in the ‘80s.
Anastasio "Tachito" Somoza Debayle, a dictator with a cute nickname
In 1979, the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) ousted corrupt dictator-playboy Anastasio Somoza and installed their revolutionary government.
Peace at last, am I right?
Nope.
The Contras loyal to Somoza didn’t like the “Marxist” Sandinistas (backed by Cuba and the USSR), and neither did Mr. America Ronnie Reagan, so the Contras bombed the shit out of their own country with secret funding from the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Reagonomics mastermind and big fan of the rich sold weapons to Iran to fund his buddies in Nicaragua
Shockingly, no one cared how many Nicaraguans were caught in the crossfire. There were bigger, richer men embroiled in a Cold War. Communism vs. Democracy. The Whopper and the Big Mac fighting for Nicaraguan taste buds. The tragedy is it all pretty much tastes the same.
I’m trying to simplify something that’s incredibly complicated… just understand that Nicaragua in the ‘80s was a total shit show
Not a great place or time to raise three teenage daughters…
So Ani’s father spent his life savings smuggling his girls north to Tijuana where they crossed the border into the great state of California.
Of course, by the time Mr. Coyote unchained the boxcar doors on the back of the freight car, every last córdoba Ani’s father had ground out of life was gone. Mr. Coyote hadn’t gotten into the people smuggling biz for the feels, so he demanded payment to “guide” the sisters to freedom on a treacherous journey through the San Ysidro Mountains.
He always knew the only currency left was the rest of their lives.
Next time I go into a tizzy waiting for the Monorail, I’ll remember this
So the sisters were divvied up, and Ani’s new masters sent her north to Las Vegas to work as an indentured servant cleaning toilets. Somewhere in there, she met the man of her dreams. I don’t know much (and I don’t ask), but he was an alcoholic and physically abusive… but in that dark chaos, there was a little light.
A daughter.
Gracie… Grace.
It was five-year-old Gracie who found that wonderful egg.
In a dumpster.
Outside a hotel run by vampires.
They work with me now and do much, much more…
…than clean toilets.
JS
PS -- The man of her dreams is in the ground
PPS -- Still working on Mr. Coyote