No, hombre. Es mi nombre.
I. I wrote a poem specifically for this series.
In the beginning
God created my parents and my birth
And God saw that it was good.
He was the only one.
II. Church is where this story begins and, maybe, it’ll be where this story ends someday. (Javier Anica named his three daughters. His wife, their sons).
So Javier, one day, while in church, took notice of a particular young woman with a very distinctive degree of moxie, and decided perhaps if he named his eldest daughter after her, his eldest daughter wouldn’t be the kind of young woman who takes shit from people. His eldest daughter might impress people. His daughter might be of worth. And, sometimes, long after the birth and formation of character, this happened, every once in a while. But, mainly, not.
Mainly, his daughter likened her physical existence in this specific universe to being like a fist around her inner self and spirit; all the time she had to kick against the fist. Often, she wondered: how come I wasn’t asked for permission to be brought here, and flung into this hurricane? One should really be asked, be warned.
The kicking and pressing against everything drove her father crazy. He wondered, perhaps, he shouldn’t have chosen that name.
One way she rebelled against the disorder of things was her name. She would not be called Rocio. She would be called Rosie. And she would not spell it Rosie, she would spell it Rohsy, Rozee, Rowsie, Rozeigh. This drove everyone crazy.
When she turned 18, she went to college just to prove to everyone how much she didn’t belong there. And on her first day, she decided to try on the birth name like a new dress. No one knew her as anything, she could be anyone. But now, all of a sudden, she didn’t want to spell out R-O-Z-E-I-G-H to professors with PhDs. And as she looked around the private university to which she absently matriculated, brimming with the kinds of privilege it would take her the rest of her life to learn about, this name, which means Dew in Spanish, felt like a badge.
This name, which her father gave her, was a badge.
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