ABSTRACT
Jose, an intern I am supervising, is feeling overwhelmed with some of his clients and their issues. His 18-year-old client (we will call him Manuel) is struggling to finish high school. It is not because Manuel is having trouble with his Algebra or is in conflict with his English teacher and is feeling unsupported. His troubles are in a different category. He recently learned that his uncle, who is a hit man for a drug syndicate, murdered a man in Juarez; the story was that his uncle cut off his victim’s head, arms, and legs, and they found the poor man’s torso in a dumpster. The head was wrapped up in a UPS-type robust cardboard box and mailed to the victim’s family. Now Manuel is living in fear because the opposing gang syndicate is pursuing his uncle’s syndicate. The retaliation is fierce when a senior drug cartel lieutenant is murdered. Manuel says the gang’s reach is far when it is in full retaliation mode. The uncle who was responsible for this gruesome murder has disappeared. The family hasn’t heard from him in quite a few weeks. Manuel is struggling to attend school. Not only is he frightened about his family’s safety, he wakes up with terrors that he will be tortured and murdered like he presumes was his uncle’s fate. This traumatized student is struggling to tell Jose, his counselor, the burdens and fears he is experiencing, and his family loyalty prohibits him from disclosing his family’s secrets about being involved in the drug wars at the border.
