Update: Liam and his father were returned to their home in Minnesota after a judge demanded their release.

Liam. I say his name over and over. Liam, Liam, Liam. Liam is five years old. He and his dad were returning from preschool on January 20, when his father was abducted by ICE. They brought him to his door, as his mother watched from inside. They used him as bait. His mother, who stayed inside to protect her other child watched as they whisked Liam and her partner away. I cannot forget the image of Liam, which went viral, highlighting the cruelty of our current day gestapo and exposing the atrocities being committed in our country today. I needed to give voice to him, and the following short story was my attempt at processing the malignant dehumanization pervasive in our country and captured in this image.

He was on his way home from school wearing his favorite hat; his Spiderman backpack was filled with his coloring pages done in school that day. The man stood behind him – hands on his backpack as Liam stared at the car blocking him from going home, to his mom and baby brother. He couldn’t see his dad, only the cold dark metal of the car. There was chaos around him, the shouting, the screams, the pleading. His dad? Where was his dad? He just want to go home, see his mom, show her the pictures he colored that day. More pleading. They were taking him away, but only bad men were supposed to be taken away. He was not bad. He was nice. He played with his friends and colored within the lines. He ate all of his peas and carrots at lunch that day. In the cartoons only the bad men were caught and put in jail. Liam knew his numbers, he could add some numbers up, like he did in school. Would they let him go see his mom if he counted to 20? He could make a puzzle with lots of pieces. It was so cold, he was glad he had his favorite hat on, but he just wanted his snack. He wanted warm milk and cookies, just like the Cookie Monster, although the Cookie Monster made a mess and Liam picked up his crumbs sometimes. Where was his dd? The men held him there, and Liam was so still. He felt the warmth of the man’s body pressing into him – stranger danger; he had an uh-oh feeling. The car was cold, his nose was cold, and he wanted his Matchbox car which was in his backpack. He wanted his snack and he needed to finish his coloring but the man was still behind him, pressing into him. The screams. Daddy? What was happening? He was hungry and the teacher wanted him to finish his coloring for tomorrow so they could hang them up in class. He lost his red crayon; where did he put it? He wanted to paint the lion red. Blue was his favorite color and red was stop. Red was the color of mad. The man was a bad man. He was touching, holding him. He wanted the cookies. It was cold and he always had a snack. If he was good and he picked up his puzzle he would be able to color and watch tv. Where was his dad? The screaming, the noises, popping, like in Bugs Bunny. The noise. The screaming. The cold. Mommy. Daddy. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10…..