A Fragile Peace

On Christmas day, Luis takes the family to the movies and begins making New Year’s resolutions. "Moving away is the big one," he says.

On Monday, December 27, Luis is back at work, but Frances is home with the kids. She looks happier than she has in a long while. "I think we’re going to be okay," she says. "One of the social workers from Para Los Niños came over and told us they want to help us move out of here, away from this area. They have these lower-income apartments at Seventh and Santee downtown that rent for like $300 a month. And, if that happens, Luis wants to turn our house into a Section 8 rental so we can make money on it." Frances says she is still scared about the police, about her relationship with Luis, about the fact that the kids’ new wounds and angers aren’t going away quickly. "But I’ve seen things — qualities — about myself this year that I didn’t know before, that maybe I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. We’ve been through a lot, but we’ve learned from it too," she says. "That’s the way I tell the kids we have to look it all. We’re not broken. I think we’re going to be okay."

To read Celeste Fremon's Family Analysis of the Aguilars, click here.