The Social Divide

Maria was walking down the street with her two younger sisters, she is 8 years old, her younger sister Alejandra is 6, and the little one Jantet was only 3, she had to watch over her two sisters for the afternoon, they past by a Mangos , a restaurant part of a chain that sells fast food, ice cream and other deserts, mainly cratering for children, she knew it had some kind of play section for children, so she decided to take her sisters there, the play ground was on the second floor, and when they got there they found many other children playing, there was a big cage full of small balls, a small slider, a few miniature cars that kids can sit in and push with there feet and a maze with ladders, nets and sliders, Alejandra opted to play in one of those miniature cars, while Maria helped her little sister into the cage, were she played with other children, rolling over the balls and throwing all around, Maria was content to watch her little sister and the other children, every once in a while she would throw a ball at her little sister, who would laugh and try to the throw the ball back at her only to fall short. Once the little one was tired of the ball cage, they moved to the small slider, Maria helped her get up the ladder and watched her while she slid down, a little boy who was trying to get up the ladder of the slider fell down, and Maria went to help get up, but when she turned around she saw her little sister, trying to reach for a peace of cake on a plate on one of the tables, that someone had left there, she hurried to hold her back, "no es nuestro Janet" (that is not ours), she looked around to see where her other sister was and she saw her entering the toilet, and then she heard somebody talking to her from behind, "Done estan tus padres ?" (Where are your parents ?), he said, she turned around, it was the security guard.

Maria's father was at work and he would not be coming home until late, he worked as a bus driver, while her mother has a food cart selling popcorn, and she works during the afternoon and evening at the main plaza, and even if her parents were with them, they would not have brought them to this place, it was beyond there financial means. "Estan solas ?" (are you alone), he asked, Maria nodded, the guard told her that this playground is for the customers of the place, and that they had to leave, she asked for a minute so she can look for her other sister, she hurried to the toilets door, and knocked on the door, it took a while until the door open, "Apura te, tenemos que irnos" (hurry up we have to go), she told Alejandra, they went back to get the little one, the guard was getting agitated, "vamos ya" (lets go), he said in a angry voice, Kamila one of the waitresses intervened, she gently helped them lift the little one, "tienen que irse ahora" (you have to go now), she said, and accompanied them until the stairs, the guard followed them until the front door to make sure they left the restaurant.

Maria felt a bit embarrassed by the last part, but then she quite quickly recovered from it, she had ventured into a world that was not hers, or was not supposed to be hers, and she liked it, she enjoyed it, and her sisters were quite happy playing there as well, she would like to do it again, but she can't come back to this place, she had been caught, and they know her now, she would have to go somewhere else tomorrow, maybe that McDonald a couple of blocks down the road.