The Far Away Brothers: Prologue–Chapter 4

by Lauren Markham
Twin brothers Ernesto and Raúl make a difficult journey from El Salvador to California in search of a new life.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Prologue–Chapter 4, Chapters 5–9, Chapters 10–14, Chapters 15–19
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. lurch
    move haltingly and unsteadily
    It’s a few minutes after nine o’clock, and the Flores twins are buckled into the back seat of Wilber’s Toyota, lurching through downtown San Francisco in search of the courthouse.
  2. laden
    filled with a great quantity
    Another confused, traffic- laden circuit loops them back to Market Street.
  3. throng
    a large gathering of people
    The twins say nothing, just watch out the windows as the throng of people drifts away and the car turns onto the bridge.
  4. barrio
    a Spanish-speaking quarter in a town or city
    “You boys from eighteen?” one of the young men asked, pointing his gun toward a graffiti tag on the wall: BARRIO 18.
  5. canopy
    the uppermost layer of branches and foliage in a forest
    The road to La Colonia weaves through a tangle of greenery: there are vines overhead, and tall, tight rows of banana trees, canopies of barillos, pink flowering cacao, and flourishing palms.
  6. flourish
    grow vigorously
    The road to La Colonia weaves through a tangle of greenery: there are vines overhead, and tall, tight rows of banana trees, canopies of barillos, pink flowering cacao, and flourishing palms.
  7. somber
    serious and gloomy in character
    One of only about a dozen Flores family photos is of the twins and their older sister, somber -faced and gangly beneath too-big dress clothes, on the proud occasion of Ernesto and Raúl’s ninth-grade graduation.
  8. gangly
    tall, thin, and awkward
    One of only about a dozen Flores family photos is of the twins and their older sister, somber -faced and gangly beneath too-big dress clothes, on the proud occasion of Ernesto and Raúl’s ninth-grade graduation.
  9. plod
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    Cows use the road as often as people do, plodding along between farm and pasture.
  10. proprietor
    someone who owns a business
    The pupuserías were open until midnight, playing music and serving sodas and beers, the proprietors flipping the cakes of corn masa against the griddle until the edges were crispy.
  11. accord
    a written agreement between two states or sovereigns
    The peace accords were signed in Mexico City in 1992, and as the government and the guerrillas agreed to lay down their weapons for good, Esperanza got pregnant again two more times.
  12. guerrilla
    a member of an irregular army that fights a stronger force
    The peace accords were signed in Mexico City in 1992, and as the government and the guerrillas agreed to lay down their weapons for good, Esperanza got pregnant again two more times.
  13. yield
    production of a certain amount
    There was Wilber’s own land—two separate plots where they grew the corn and beans and tomatoes—and then the land they leased from the twins’ godfather, who allowed them to plant and keep half the yield.
  14. contour
    any spatial attributes, especially as defined by outline
    As they rooted into their own personalities, the contours of their faces seemed to change ever so slightly: Raúl’s now appeared softer, more wide-eyed, whereas Ernesto was furrow-browed with a cultivated toughness.
  15. extortion
    the crime of exacting money, as by threats
    In El Salvador, the gangs made their money off low-level drug deals or extortion, charging people a biweekly fee called renta, or rent.
  16. unwitting
    not aware or knowing
    Some kids chose to join, while others fell into it unwittingly, asked to do favors here and there until they were in too deep to retreat.
  17. estranged
    caused to be unloved
    The following year the body of an estranged uncle of theirs was found in the river a few miles away.
  18. sheer
    complete and without restriction
    As the twins grew up, more youths were recruited by sheer force.
  19. exodus
    a journey by a large group to escape from a hostile environment
    Like all Salvadorans who’d grown up after the massive exodus—over 350,000 people—of the civil war years of 1980–1992, Wilber held a reverence for El Norte.
  20. reverence
    a feeling of profound respect for someone or something
    Like all Salvadorans who’d grown up after the massive exodus—over 350,000 people—of the civil war years of 1980–1992, Wilber held a reverence for El Norte.
  21. euphemism
    an inoffensive expression substituted for an offensive one
    “The North” was an often starry-eyed euphemism for the United States, where work and money and opportunity, despite messages sent home to the contrary, were thought to be plentiful.
  22. fray
    wear away by rubbing
    Wilber Sr. slipped a small photograph of his son—a school portrait in black and white—into his fraying pocket Bible.
  23. full-fledged
    having gained complete status
    La Colonia was a full-fledged MS-13 territory.
  24. steadfast
    firm and dependable especially in loyalty
    Edgar—their quiet, steadfast friend from school—had never mentioned leaving.
  25. careen
    move sideways or in an unsteady way
    But they cherished the memory of the bike, the thrill of careening into the distance, the feeling of freedom.
  26. conjure
    summon into action or bring into existence
    He conjured it in his mind, especially the skyscrapers with gleaming windows.
  27. livelihood
    the financial means whereby one supports oneself
    After the war, Salvadorans kept leaving—for economic opportunity, to reunite with family, and because an earthquake and several hurricanes destroyed livelihoods and sent people packing.
  28. stark
    complete or extreme
    It was during the fall of 2011, amid a stark increase of gang violence, that the number of kids leaving El Salvador for the United States skyrocketed.
  29. fiscal
    involving financial matters
    By the end of fiscal year 2012, the number of unaccompanied minors nabbed by la migra and turned over to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) had nearly doubled since the year before, reaching 13,625.
  30. apprehension
    the act of capturing, especially a criminal
    Meanwhile, the number of undocumented adults started going down in almost inverse proportion to the rise in unaccompanied minors: from 1.1 million adult apprehensions in 2005 to 326,034 in 2012.
  31. collateral
    a security pledged for the repayment of a loan
    Then he’d take their properties as collateral, as backup, if they didn’t manage to pay.
  32. antic
    a playful, attention-getting act done for fun and amusement
    At school she did her work and laughed at other kids’ antics.
  33. swath
    a path or strip (also figurative)
    Its fall, he said, had taken out a large swath of his coffee plantation, ruining much of the crop.
  34. ominous
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    When just a week remained before his departure—one week to say goodbye—the family heard an ominous rumor. Something, it seemed, had led Agustín to believe that it was Ernesto who had cut down his tree.
  35. solace
    comfort offered to one who is disappointed or miserable
    He went onto Facebook for some solace, posting:
    Feel so sad today cuz there's only a few days with my friends.
  36. bona fide
    not counterfeit or copied
    Ernesto was a bona-fide target now—and Raúl, his identical twin, could easily be mistaken for him.
  37. rosary
    a series of prayers counted using a string of beads
    Lastly he handed his son a plastic rosary, which they tied around his waist under his shirt for protection.
  38. bluster
    vain and empty boasting
    Their threats could turn out to be just macho bluster—but what if they weren’t?
  39. meander
    move or cause to move in a winding or curving course
    He got into a taxi with her, and they rode through the massive metropolis of Mexico City, meandering through crooked streets until they reached a middle-class neighborhood where all the roads were named after birds.
  40. parcel
    an extended area of land
    As collateral they put up their second parcel of land.
Created on Tue May 04 11:27:25 EDT 2021 (updated Mon May 10 14:05:44 EDT 2021)

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