Banished

There was once a boy named Alejandro. He was born in Colombia in 1958 and stayed there for half of his life. His father told him to always be a proud, strong and honest man. No one knew that he liked boys and wanted to become a girl. He knew he had to hide it from everyone, especially his family because they didn't accept people like him. No one understood how he felt. He had to lie to protect himself even though his father told him to always be honest. Over the years he became a handsome and an intelligent man. He always had the highest grades in his class; he had a lot of friends and was very popular. His best friends were Raymundo, Camila and Sebastian. They were also very smart. One day they all went out to eat and Alejandro decided to tell them.

       "Guys, I have something to tell you about me. Can I trust you with this? I want to know If you love me the way I love you guys."

       Camila says, "of course we love you and of course you can trust us."

       "Yea, you know you can trust us," said Sebastian and Raymundo.

       "ok...I'm gay and I feel like Iidentify as a woman." he whispered in their ears.

Suddenly they were quiet for a few minutes.

       "Have you told your parents?" Raymundo said.

       "Of course not. How could I? They would kick me out. Maybe one day but that day isn't today.

"You know you could be kicked out of Cali, right? '' said Sebastian.

       Yes, I know, that's why I was scared to tell you guys. You're not going to tell anyone right?!"

"All three of them say "of course not! We love you so much."

       Their dinner came and of course they started to talk about college.

       Finally, graduation day had come, and they were all ready to leave high school. They all wanted to go to different colleges. Alejandro wanted to go to Pontifical Xavierian University. Camila wanted to go to EAFIT. Sebastian wanted to go to ICESI, and last but not least Raymundo wanted to go to Catholic University of Colombia. The best part is they all got accepted. Before they went to college in August, they decided to all spend as much time as possible together before they left. Time ran by so quickly that it was already August. They said their goodbyes to each other. Then they said their goodbyes to their parents as well and left. Alejandro would always FaceTime and text his friends, but he also made some new friends in college. He ended up forgetting all the things that his dad used to say to him. One day his father made a surprise visit. He knocked on his door and to his surprise a beautiful lady opened the door.

       The lady said "Come on In.”

"Who are you? You're so beautiful. Are you My son’s girlfriend? He's a lucky guy then" said Alejandro's dad

       "Dad, don't you remember me or recognize me? It's me, Alejandro."

       "No, you can't be my son. My son would never do this to me. "

       "I'm sorry dad but this is who I am, and you can't change me. I've been wanting to tell you for the longest time, but I never had the courage.

       "You forgot all the things that I taught you. You lied to me and disappointed me. Don't call me or text me ever again and the same thing goes for your mother. Don't ever come back!"

His friends would always visit him or he would go visit them.  One day he tried to come back home to tell his parents that he was dying from HIV. That he only had a few months left to live but when he came back, he couldn’t go into the city because he was banished. His father must’ve told the mayor. He spent his last few months with his friends and then in October 1986 he passed away at 28. His friends had arranged the whole funeral for him. His friends said a couple of words.

       “We are here today for the loss of our good friend Alejandro. He or I should say she was a great friend. She was a beautiful, smart woman and my best friend. I just want her back.”

       “Alejandro was also my best friend. We met when we were three and he was the only kid who would play with me. He was my best friend. I love him to death and hope he is at peace now,” said Raymundo.

       “He didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve to have a family that doesn’t even care about him because he was transgender. It’s not fair. She had a good life ahead of her. I’m glad she told us that she was transgender. I’m glad she trusted us. She was a good person” said Sebastian.

       After some of his friends from college said a few words they all left.  A few years later his father was ready to talk to him. He called one of his son’s friends and asked them where he might be. 

       Camila answered and said, “who’s this?” 

“It's Alejandro's father. Do you know where he might be?”

       Camila said “You didn’t even know he passed away. You didn’t come to his funeral either. He died from HIV.  He needed you the most and you abandoned him,” she said crying on the phone. 

She hung up and he too started crying. Not only was his son dead but he didn’t even know that he died or came to the funeral. He felt like the worst person ever. He shouldn’t have told the mayor that he was transgender nor got him banned. He called Raymundo to ask him what happened and what he did the last few months before he passed away.

       “Raymundo, it's Alejandro's father.”

       “Don’t call me again.”

       “Wait, please don’t hang up. I just want to know if he was happy. What did he do in his final moments?”

       “He tried to come back to tell you that he was dying but you got him banished. Shame on you. Don’t call me again” and just like that he hung up. From that day on he couldn’t live with himself.