Burning Furnace of Charity

I first met Bom Bon last March while cleaning some bathrooms behind La Paloma with a team of college students. She was about 7 months pregnant and asked if she could have our cleaning supplies when we were done. She was very sweet and loved to be hugged. She said she was planning to name the baby "Junior." Bom Bon found me again one night when I was in La Paloma with the Kansas City team about a month later. She was clearly upset, and her belly was flat. "My baby fell out. I fell down and my baby fell out! I'm so sad, Kelly! I'm so sad!" Exactly what happened to her baby is still unclear to me. Bom Bon and I became friends over the next 11 months. She lived in a room right next door to where Kilo lived. Sometimes when I saw her in BT, she would tell me, "I was friends with Kilo, too. He gave me a room when I used to just work from the street. I miss him." I brought her some pink fuzzy gloves for Christmas, and she would always give me big hugs.

Bom Bon was murdered last Thursday night by two clients who were policemen. They were arguing over price of services when one of the men picked up a piece of rock and began to beat her in the face and killed her just outside the walls of BT. It was front page news for two days here in Reynosa. One of the men was arrested, though the other got away.

People knew Bom Bon in many different ways, but I'd like to remember her as my friend. She was a good friend to those around her. Bom Bon, whose real name was Alma, had a beautiful smile, lovely dark eyes and long, gorgeous curly hair. She would have been a loving mother to Junior. She was laid to rest in Vera Cruz earlier this week. She is deeply missed.