Ana was not just a pretty girl; she appeared to have something about her that naturally drew people. When she went to garage sales with familymembers, strangers approached them and wanted to touch Ana. She played with babies and fawned over small children. Habitually arriving at family events late, she hugged family members, focusing intently and asking about each personâs welfare.
By the late eighties, Trina and Gene had moved the family to Waco, Texas, where they worked at a small furniture-manufacturing company. After high school, Ana joined them, stacking wood part-time, while she attended a paraprofessional education program at nearby McLennan Community College, wanting to be a teacherâs aide. There, a friend introduced her to John Marcus Leos. In December 1990, when Ana was twenty-two, they married. Four months later, Ana was pregnant, and in 1992, their first daughter, Siana, was born. From the beginning, the marriage was volatile.
âI donât think Marcus was ready to settle down and have a family,â Ana would later say. His relatives admitted the same. Leos, a stocky man with a round face, worked for a mobile-home builder. When he hurt his back, his employer moved him into a desk job, which he eventually lost. âMarcus didnât like to work,â said a relative. âHe went from one job to the next and couldnât hold them. . . . Ana supported him and the girls.â
While Trina had become a U.S. citizen years earlier, Ana hadnât wanted to do that, preferring to remain in the country under permanent resident status, often referred to as having a Green Card. A practical person, from youth on, with the example of her mother to draw from, Ana understood hard work. During those early years of her marriage, she had a position as a teaching assistant for emotionally disturbed children at a small private school. The school sent her for an in-service class in Austin, where she went out to bars in the evenings with friends, drank socially, and laughed. Among her acquaintances, Ana was popular, a lively and warm, caring personality.
As the main breadwinner in the family, Ana carried thebulk of the responsibility outside the home, but family members said that she had little help from Leos with their daughter or their small house. Years later, Ana described her first husband as âclinically depressed,â perhaps explaining his behavior. One of his aunts stepped in, Margie Sowell, who cared for Siana in her own home, weeks at a time, treating her as if she were her daughter. The marriage was troubled, and one late afternoon, Sowell walked to the front door to drop off Siana and heard Ana inside yelling at Leos. âI work all day, and what do you do? Youâre just getting up?â
Sowell turned around and walked away, only returning later. âI didnât want Siana to hear that,â she said.
Despite the trouble in the marriage, in 1997, when Siana was five, Ana and Marcusâs second child, Arin, was born.
To better her lot in life, Ana looked for opportunities. A cousin who worked for the local Coca-Cola distributor told her about a job opening, a delivery slot, and Ana applied and was hired. At Coke, she drove a truck, unloaded deliveries and built displays, working on placement in stores. The pay was good. Meanwhile, her marriage to Leos continued to falter. Later sheâd say that he stayed out partying with friends, and that at night sheâd often wake up to find him gone. âI told him I couldnât live like this anymore,â she said, explaining why she filed for a divorce.
Around that time, Anaâs family suffered a devastating tragedy. One of her brothers, Sergio, had an ongoing drug problem, and the family grieved the day he was found dead from an overdose. Ana, a friend would say, seemed to take it particularly hard. Sheâd been more mother than sister to Sergio, and the loss weighed heavily on her.
Around the time of the
By the late eighties, Trina and Gene had moved the family to Waco, Texas, where they worked at a small furniture-manufacturing company. After high school, Ana joined them, stacking wood part-time, while she attended a paraprofessional education program at nearby McLennan Community College, wanting to be a teacherâs aide. There, a friend introduced her to John Marcus Leos. In December 1990, when Ana was twenty-two, they married. Four months later, Ana was pregnant, and in 1992, their first daughter, Siana, was born. From the beginning, the marriage was volatile.
âI donât think Marcus was ready to settle down and have a family,â Ana would later say. His relatives admitted the same. Leos, a stocky man with a round face, worked for a mobile-home builder. When he hurt his back, his employer moved him into a desk job, which he eventually lost. âMarcus didnât like to work,â said a relative. âHe went from one job to the next and couldnât hold them. . . . Ana supported him and the girls.â
While Trina had become a U.S. citizen years earlier, Ana hadnât wanted to do that, preferring to remain in the country under permanent resident status, often referred to as having a Green Card. A practical person, from youth on, with the example of her mother to draw from, Ana understood hard work. During those early years of her marriage, she had a position as a teaching assistant for emotionally disturbed children at a small private school. The school sent her for an in-service class in Austin, where she went out to bars in the evenings with friends, drank socially, and laughed. Among her acquaintances, Ana was popular, a lively and warm, caring personality.
As the main breadwinner in the family, Ana carried thebulk of the responsibility outside the home, but family members said that she had little help from Leos with their daughter or their small house. Years later, Ana described her first husband as âclinically depressed,â perhaps explaining his behavior. One of his aunts stepped in, Margie Sowell, who cared for Siana in her own home, weeks at a time, treating her as if she were her daughter. The marriage was troubled, and one late afternoon, Sowell walked to the front door to drop off Siana and heard Ana inside yelling at Leos. âI work all day, and what do you do? Youâre just getting up?â
Sowell turned around and walked away, only returning later. âI didnât want Siana to hear that,â she said.
Despite the trouble in the marriage, in 1997, when Siana was five, Ana and Marcusâs second child, Arin, was born.
To better her lot in life, Ana looked for opportunities. A cousin who worked for the local Coca-Cola distributor told her about a job opening, a delivery slot, and Ana applied and was hired. At Coke, she drove a truck, unloaded deliveries and built displays, working on placement in stores. The pay was good. Meanwhile, her marriage to Leos continued to falter. Later sheâd say that he stayed out partying with friends, and that at night sheâd often wake up to find him gone. âI told him I couldnât live like this anymore,â she said, explaining why she filed for a divorce.
Around that time, Anaâs family suffered a devastating tragedy. One of her brothers, Sergio, had an ongoing drug problem, and the family grieved the day he was found dead from an overdose. Ana, a friend would say, seemed to take it particularly hard. Sheâd been more mother than sister to Sergio, and the loss weighed heavily on her.
Around the time of the
Similar Books
