“Say bitch”, two girls asked my brother in a cruel attempt to flirt with him when we both attended the same school in Miami. We were still learning English and were hindered by our accents. He was fourteen and I was twelve and this was the first time I became aware of the sound that words make when they fall. I knew what was coming and held my breath as he valiantly pronounced the word in that telltale hispanic accent that makes it sound closer to “beech”. Continue reading →