"Whenever I see the bridges that connect" "Los Angeles with East Los Angeles," "I remember my family." "I remember my father and my mother." "My brothers," "Chucho, little Jimmy, and Memo the lawyer." "My crazy sisters, Toni and Irene." "Ice cream!" "But to write the story of my family," "I have to begin where millions of stories have begun, in a small village in Mexico a long, long time ago." "Two-timing dog!" "I'll kill you!" "You won't escape from me alive!" "I'll kill you!" "You bastard!" "You unfaithful dog!" "No, Trini, no!" "Don't shoot my brother!" "Trini, no!" "Please!" "Oh, God." "Roberto..." "You miserable dog!" "I didn't do anything!" "I swear!" "Adulterer!" "Son of a...!" "Actually, nothing like that ever really happened." "That's just the way my father used to tell the story." "His brother Roberto really died of a ruptured appendix." "In those days, just after the revolution, times were hard and my dad's in-laws couldn't afford to feed an extra mouth." "So my father had to leave." "Now the only living relative my father knew about lived in a village called Nuestra Señora Reina de Los Angeles." "And he figured he could walk there in a day or two." "Are you talking about Los Angeles, Jalisco?" "Or do you mean Los Angeles, Colima?" "I mean Los Angeles in California." "That's really far." "It's not even here in Mexico." "That's another country." "Another country?" "What does that mean, another country?" "Another country is..." "another country!" "It's on the other side of the world." "The other side of the world." "My father thought about it." "Good God, he thought, it might take 2 weeks to walk there." "We can take you part of the way." "Thank you." "Go on, get in back." "Watch yourself." "It took him over a year to reach the "other side of the world"." "He walked most of the way." "And we kids, well, we heard of that journey many times." "He was attacked by ten bandits in Sonora... and had to beat them off with a cactus branch." "He rode the back of a snorting mountain lion." "But finally, he reached" "El Pueblo Nuestra Señora Reina de Los Angeles." "The one in California." "The border?" "Well, in those days it was just a line in the dirt." "Excuse me." "My name is Jose Sanchez." "Hands up, you bastard, or I'll shoot your balls off!" "How dare you come in here to rob me!" "But no, I'm not..." "Shut up if you want to stay alive." "Put your hands on your head." "Slowly!" "And get down on the floor!" " But I'm the son of..." " Son of your mother!" "Hit the floor and shut up!" "I'm the son of Pedro Sanchez who was the cousin of Joaquin Vargas... who was the nephew of Francisco Vargas!" "But you're family!" "Why didn't you say so before?" "Well, I tried, but..." "And how is Francisco?" "I used to herd cattle with him in the San Fernando Valley." " Well, I never met him." " And Joaquin?" "Little Joaquin?" "Well, I never really knew him, either." "Personally, I mean." "How good it is to have some family here." "It's almost like you're my own grandson!" "You must be tired and hungry..." "They called the old man " El Californio"" "because he didn't come from anywhere else." "He was born here, in Los Angeles, when it was still Mexico." "My father had found a new home." "Even then there were bridges." "My father soon joined the people crossing from their barrio on the east river to do the work of the city on the other side." "They mowed the lawns, took care of the children, cleaned house, worked in restaurant kitchens." "But no one from the west river ever crossed into the barrio." "Make sure that they're all cleaned up to go to Grandma's tonight." "Give us a kiss." "Love you." "Love you." "Oh, I love you." "Bye!" "Tootles!" "Kids!" "Kids!" "Children soon followed." "First me, then my sister Irene." "My earliest memory is of the face of that gentle old man looking at me and smiling." "And I remember my father always working with his milpa." "Corn in the back and beans in front." "And that's the way it always was in my house, for as long as I can remember." "Jose." "Your coffee's ready." "Look." "The children are wonderful." "There is no greater blessing in all the world than children." "We're going to have another?" "Maria, I knew it!" "I knew it, Maria." "It's going to be a boy." "I'm going to have another son." "And this one... is going to be a special boy." "I remember when it happened." "It was that Sunday afternoon, remember?" "That day that old Gomez crashed his car into the river?" "Yes, that was the day." "Maria, I knew it!" "Because that day..." "I got out of bed... and I walked out to the porch." "I was standing there..." "I looked up into the sky..." "And I saw an angel pass by." "An angel?" "Yes." "How beautiful." "Tonight we celebrate." "Then came the day everything changed..." "When my mother didn't come home from the market." "It was the time of the Great Depression." "I guess some politicians decided that the Mexicanos were responsible for the whole thing." "I mean, they were taking up a lot of jobs." "There's been a mistake!" "Jobs that were needed for what they called " real" Americans." "I have to get home to my children!" "So La Migra made some big sweeps through the barrio, and they rounded up everyone they could." " Move along, lady!" " No!" "I live here!" "No!" "I belong here!" "It didn't matter if you were a citizen." "If you looked" "Mexicano, you were picked up and shipped out." "She'd just been out shopping." "She wasn't allowed to come home." "My father was never told." "She was all alone and she was pregnant." "All these things really happened." "The year was 1933." "Lock up!" "Back!" "Okay, roll her out!" "The Southern Pacific Railroad made the US Government a deal." "For 14 dollars and 75 cents a head they took the Mexicanos all the way back into Central Mexico hoping they would never be able to get back." "Maria?" "It's not possible." "Is it you?" "It's me, Aunt." "Holy Virgin!" "You've come from so far." "You've travelled so long." "You have to eat and rest." "Come." "What are you going to do, Maria?" "I'm going to have my child." "I will work." "And when my child is old enough," "I'll return to my family in California." "California?" "But that's impossible, Maria." "It's very far and with a child?" "You'll die before you get there." "And your child will die, too." "You must have faith in the Virgin." "Some good always comes from bad." "I have faith in the Virgin." "And the Virgin does not want this for our family." "She wants me to return to my husband... and to raise our children together." "And nothing in the world... will stop me." "I remember the day they buried El Californio in the backyard." "He left a will and left everything to my father." "But he made it very clear." "He didn't want to have nothing to do with the " pinche" church or the " pinche" government." "He wanted to be buried right behind the house under the cornfield." "And El Californio said exactly what he wanted written on his grave marker:" "Don Alejandro Vazquez, El Californio." "Died 1934." "When I was born here this was Mexico." "And where I lie, this is still..." "Mexico." "My mother kept her promise." "And when my brother Chucho was old enough, she set off on her long journey home." "But the rains came early that year." "She had gone too far to turn back." "Please, Sir." "I must get across." "The water is very high." "I have to keep going." "I can't turn back." "Please." "Wait until later in the year, when the water is lower." "I'll never be able to make it here again." "Never." "Please." "I have to get across." "Please." "All right." "Come on." "Careful." "Hold on to me, Chucho." "The spirit of the river is evil and powerful." "An owl... in the daytime." "Please don't let go of me!" "Ma'am!" "Chucho!" "Will he get well?" "He won't die..." "Please help me." "The river spirit wants your baby." "We will try to save him, but you must pray to the Virgin." "Two years had passed since my mother was taken away." "My father lost hope." "But he kept working to take care of me and Irene." "I promised La Virgen I would come back to you." "This is your son." "His name is Chucho." "Oh, Maria, it's a miracle!" "This is a miracle." "Well, there he is, all grown up." "My brother Chucho." "And he did grow up into something special." "But not quite what my father had imagined." "Chucho was one of the baddest " pachucos" on the whole east side." "My younger sister Toni, God bless her." "Pretty as an angel, but she could get a little bossy." "Hurry up, hermano!" "You'll miss your own sister's wedding!" "What's with you?" "It's just a pair of pants, not the Mona Lisa!" "Hey, listen, hermana." "These are Jimmy's pants, see?" "And I want to make sure that they're properly ironed." "There's only one person in this whole world capable of doing that." " And who is that?" " That's me." "Abûrrateyourself!" "Get your big cholo butt moving, ese!" "Get Jimmy moving, too, or nobody will make the wedding on time!" "Hey, I ought to iron your mouth shut!" "There I am, home on leave from the navy." "Boy, was I young then." "My family scheduled the wedding so I wouldn't miss it because no one could miss it." " Hurry up." "She's going crazy." " She was born crazy!" " I heard that!" " Come on, hurry up." " The door, open the door." " Yeah, I got it, I got it." "See you outside!" "Come on." "That my younger brother Guillermo." "Quite a handle, no?" "So everybody called him just Memo." "My sister Irene..." "Finally getting married." "Biggest day of her life." " Let me help you with your dress." " Hurry up!" "Irene, what happened since you were measured for this?" "They must have made a mistake or something." "Okay, bend over." "All right." "One... two... three!" " Thank you." " Excuse me." "Put these on." "It's my wedding!" "And there's Jimmy, the youngest of the family." "He was a surprise, but he was the heart of the family." " Hey, little bato!" " Chucho!" "Look, you'll have the finest pants in the whole wedding." "Look at that crease." "You like them?" "What do you say?" "Come here, you little..." "The house just grew and grew with the family." "And the rooms weren't planned much more than the kids were." "But it was home." "And my parents realized their oldest daughter was leaving." "Now don't get this wrong." "Of course they were happy Irene was finally getting married." "There was no question about it." "It was a real blast." "It nearly ruined my dad financially, but he had to show the world how much his daughter meant to him." "It took him years to recover, but then again, what's money for?" "Just a minute." "Ready?" "Okay everybody, smile big." "It was customary for the father of the bride to say a few words." "My father wasn't a good speaker, but he had to do his duty." "I want to make a brindis..." "I want to make a brindis." "To Irene..." "And my new son, Gerardo." "Well, you finally..." "No, I mean..." "It's just..." "I'm happy!" "A good wife's the best thing that can happen to a man in his life." "I know, because I have Maria." "Yeah." "Come on, Maria." "You know, if it wasn't for you, there wouldn't be anything." "This, this is my wife, Maria." "And... and this is my other daughter," "Toni." "Yeah..." "And Paco!" "Paco..." "He's in the Navy!" "Come on." "Come on over here." "And, and... and Guillermo." "Come on, over here." "And Jimmy." "And my son Chucho!" "The greatest riches a man can have in his life." "It was one of the greatest days in the history of my family." "I'm sorry." "I stepped on your foot." "Man, I hate this mariachi shit." "My sister Toni was a wow." "All the guys on the whole east side fantasized about her." "She had been Queen of the Fiesta." "And every guy hoped that he might be the lucky one." "I'd give my left nut for 10 minutes with her in my Chevy." "Their leader was Butch Mejia from El Rincon." "Of course, he and my brother had never done anything to each other." "But they were full of hate and anger and nowhere to put it except into each other." "I hear your fat sister is getting married, puto." "I feel sorry for that guy." "He has to spend the night with a pig." "And I'll tell you another thing." "Fuck you, puto!" "Listen to me, puto cabrûn." "Today is a very special day for my family." "And I don't want no trouble." "So I give you permission..." "Today, just today to say anything you want to me." "But I swear to God, if you bust in there and make any trouble..." "I'll find you, cabrûn." "I'll cut your dick off and shove it down your goddamn throat." "They were both so full of macho bullshit it was incredible." "So go ahead." "Insult me." "I give you permission." "Have it your way, puto." "But this isn't over." "The next time these people come together, they're going to be dressed in black for your funeral, pinche puto." "Go home, Butch!" " Go home, boy!" " Don't pay him no mind." "Everybody ready?" "One... two... three!" "That's not fair." "Here, do it again!" "You're making your sister feel very bad." "No, I..." "I didn't mean to." "It's just..." "It's just that I'm never going to get married." "I can't." "She has to do it again." "But why?" "I'm going to be a nun." "This is wonderful!" "Did you say something to her?" "This is wonderful!" "Because if it is, I swear I will..." "I've prayed and prayed for something like this to happen." "Throw the bouquet again, or it will be bad luck for your sister." "Throw it." "Ready?" "Somebody explain what's happening!" "Our daughter, Toni, she's going to marry Our Lord Jesus." "She's..." "She's going to be a nun." "A nun?" "Needless to say, word of this spread like wildfire." "A nun?" "What a waste!" "What a goaddamn waste!" "We all thought it strange that Toni wanted to become a nun." "But then she always was the bossy type." "And that's the type that usually becomes a nun." "Hey, little bato!" "Guve us a hand." "How are you doing?" "Hey, you guys want to learn something really hot?" "This ain't the bullshit they teach in school, stuff you never need." "This is something really important." "I'm going to teach you... to mambo!" "Let's go." "Follow me, okay?" "Okay, now first... take your left leg and put it out, like this." "One, two, with me!" "One, two, with me!" "Back, two, with me!" "There you go, put your arms into it!" "Okay?" "All right." "Good." "Come on." "Yeah, you guys are good!" "That's right!" " Let's do the mambo now!" " That's right." "Let's go!" "Eddie, what are you doing?" "I told you I don't want you playing with no pachuco!" "Mommy," "I want to stay!" "I said mambo!" "Jimmy..." "We take this old corn..." "Then you break it up and then you bury it." "And that feeds the new corn." "We got a big milpa, huh Papa?" "In Michoacan we had a milpa that was 8 miles long." "The corn was so high that I once got lost in it." "I walked in there all day, I didn't even know where I was." "I was a little chavalito just like you." "Memo was always doing homework." "He did enough homework for the whole family." "I'll get it." "Here I am always working deep in the corn, no?" "Pulling out the weeds, pulling weeds, pulling weeds, and suddenly..." "I pull up a snake!" "You know?" "A big old rattlesnake." "At least ten feet long." "Yeah." "There I am." "I dropped him real fast, no?" "And I go for this great big cornstalk and I..." "He's still moving." "There I go." "There I am." "Yeah, yeah..." "They say it's important." "I'll be right back." "Close the door." "Hello?" "Yes, I'm Jose Sanchez." "What?" "The police?" "My son Chucho?" "No, no, no, he couldn't be involved in anything like that." "Where you been?" "Out." "Out?" "What does that mean?" " It means out." " You're out of school now." "Are you looking for a job?" "No, I'm not." "See." "I got money, jefe." "Where do you get this money?" "I just get it, that's all." "Selling mota?" "Is that it?" "Selling mota?" "What difference does it make?" "The police called here tonight." "I didn't raise my children to be sinvergüenzas!" "When I think of all the years I struggled without complaining." "Like when I came here walking all the way from Michoacan." "And what your mother went through to bring you back as a baby so you grow up to be a man with respect!" "Don't you have any pride?" "Look at your sister Irene..." "And your brother Paco." "In the Navy!" "Selling marijuana like some hoodlum!" "Fuck la dignidad!" "Fuck it!" "And fuck your struggle!" "You think anybody cares about it here?" "This." "This is all they respect in this country." "Not la dignidad." "And it don't matter how you get it, as long as you do." "I don't want to be like no Mexican!" "If you think for one minute I want to spend all fucking day pulling up weeds and mowing lawns, you got another thing coming." "All right?" "I don't want to be like Irene or like Paco." "And most of all, I don't want to be like you!" "Get out of here." "Get out of here!" "Get out of here!" "Get out of here!" "Take this with you!" "Why did he leave, Mama?" "Why?" "He will come back." "He will come back." "There was no communication between my father and Chucho." "They were from two different worlds." "To my father, there was dignity in work." "He crossed the bridges every morning to work to support his family." "My father felt that he was right to throw Chucho out of the house." "But deep down in his heart, he didn't feel so right." "It's just like heaven, being here with you." "You're like an angel, too good to be true." "But after all, I love you." "I do, Angel baby, my angel baby," "I love you," "I do." "No one could love you like I do." "I love you," "I do." "No one could love you like I do." "Thank you." "The music's playing, and the lights are low." "You give me kisses and pull me close." "Then a little voice inside my head whispered in my ear, are you really sincere?" "You say you need me so much tonight, but will you feel the same in the morning light?" "There's a little voice inside my head, whispering in my ear, are you really sincere?" "Before I give myself to you," "I want to know..." "Cut it, puto." "I said stop fucking with me!" "Chucho, you got him!" "Chucho, he's got a knife!" "Chucho!" "Had enough?" "Had enough, puto?" "Oh my God, Chucho!" "Come on, baby, we've got to get out of here." "Come on, Chucho, let's go!" "Come on!" "Chucho!" "Come on!" "I was stationed in San Diego when it all came down." "So I was able to come home to be with the family." "It was the worst for Jimmy." "He was so young, and he loved Chucho so much." "It was hot that night." "The Santa Ana winds were blowing." "They called them "the devil winds"." "Hey, little bato." "I brought you this." "No one saw me come in." "All right." "It looks bad, Chucho." "Real bad." "It'll be okay." "Listen, little bato." "You act like nothing's happening, you know." "Just go play with your friends." "I can wait out la placa." "They'll never find me here." "Okay, Chucho." "I've been in bad scrapes before." "I'll get out of this okay." "She's been crying a lot." "Dad never says nothing." "Tell him..." "Tell him..." "No, I want to stay here!" "Before they wonder where you are." "All right." "Now go on out there so you can help me out tomorrow." "You've got to stop this." "Toni will be here any minute." "Give it to me." " You know, if you don't hurry..." " I don't know what to do." "Could he have done" " all they say he did?" " No, Jose." "Not Chucho." "I wish I could hold him again." "Like when he was a little boy." "And tell him I forgive him." "I feel I'll never see him again, and if I can't..." "No, Jose." "La Virgenwould never, ever let that happen." "We will see him again." "Of course we will." "The suspect, Jesus Sanchez, also known as Chucho, is believed to be in the surrounding four block area." "He's a known pachuco gang leader." "A known criminal." "He's armed and extremely dangerous." "He has killed and he will kill again." "Do not hesitate to use your weapons." "Your lives may depend on it." "It's getting dark." "Let's get this job done." "Let's go." "Watch your backs." "It's so good to have you home, hijo." "I can stay here at least a week." "It's Toni's first visit, and..." "I don't want anything to go wrong." "Don't worry, mi Ama." "It's still the same old Toni." "Hey, Jimmy!" "You want to play ball with us?" "I like your outfit." "Miralrene's hair." "You like it?" "I've been experimenting." "Don't you get hot in this get-up?" "I mean, don't you sweat..." "I just offer it up, Memo." "Hey, it's time for " Lucy"!" "I love that show, Mama!" "We always watch it at the convent." "What's the matter with them?" "They don't want to watch and I don't blame them." "Watch what, honey?" "Give me a kiss." "Great catch, Jimmy!" "What are you talking about?" "I already talked to some of his friends, jefe." "It was all just an accident." "I'm going to find him, jefe." "I'll get him to turn himself in before something worse happens." "This'll all clear up." "You what?" "Like an idiot, I went out there to see him." "And I said I was your agent and you were lined up for a big musical on Broadway, and Schary said they didn't want to stand in your way so they released you from your contract and you don't work there." "I really dig Desi." "Throw something." " You okay, sir?" " Damn spic son of a bitch." "Get the hell after him!" "He went down the hill!" "You're screwing up our game!" "Go get it, Jimmy!" "Get the ball!" "Go get it, Jimmy!" "There he is." "What the hell was that?" "We got him." " We got him, Sarge!" " That was a hell of a shot, kid." "Over there." "They shot him!" "No one is allowed here." "He's my son!" "Chucho!" " I'm sorry." " I'm the father." "Is he alive?" "I don't know." "I have to see him!" "No one is allowed!" "But I have..." "Let's get out of here." "Let's hit the street." "Come on." "Back it up!" "Let's hit the street!" "Into the street!" "Get on the street!" "Get the gurney in here!" "Let's get him out of here." "Hold those people back." " All of them!" " We're starting to get a crowd." "Everybody said that the police had killed Chucho, but my mother never believed that." "She knew that he was meant to die at the river." "Chucho's whole life had been on borrowed time." "But you cannot cheat fate forever." "The spirit of the river had come back to reclaim what was rightfully his." "Okay, Sanchez, roll it up." "He had been in for armed robbery." "No one got hurt, and a good lawyer could have gotten him off light." "But a combination of no money and a bad attitude caught him a few years in la pinta." "My brother Jimmy was always a loner." "You never really knew what was going on inside him." "Except the anger." "That was always there." "Down on the riverbed, down on the riverbed, down on the riverbed," "I asked my lover for her hand." "A red-tailed hawk circled overhead." "A red-tailed hawk circled overhead." "A red-tailed hawk circled overhead." "To a church on a hill, this is what she said:" "A monster's claw, like a big black hand," "A monster's claw, like a big black hand," "I thought..." "I'm going to go out to the cornfield." "Maybe you want to come with me." "Maybe later, all right?" "Oh, yeah." "Yeah, okay right." "Later." "Later, Jimmy." "Jimmy's arrival was painful, but at least it was expected." "A few days later they had a surprise visitor." "It's her mother!" "Marcos!" "Don't you touch her!" " Don't you touch her!" " Don't talk to the TV." " He's touching her." "He shouldn't." " Then you should smack his ass." "Good for you!" "Good for you!" "Don't you let him touch you!" "Hello, Mama." "I know it's a surprise, you know..." "But I..." "I just wanted to tell you that..." "I left my order." "You've left your order?" " Why?" " What does that mean?" "It means I'm not a nun anymore." "So that makes two of us that are out of the pen." "Would you get me something to drink, please?" "What happened?" "It happened when I was working in Central America, you know, doing missionary work and..." "Thank you." "A lot of things happened, Mama." "That is..." "One thing led to another, and..." "I'm married." "I'm married." "But Mama, he's the most wonderful man I've ever known." "He's good, and..." "He's kind, and..." "And I'm so happy, I mean..." "We were working together and he left his order, too." "He left his order?" "He was a priest." "Jimmy, Jimmy." "Get a glass of water." "Okay, I know it's hard for you to understand." "All right?" "You don't worry about me." "If it's okay with God..." "I guess it's okay with us." "I'm so happy!" " Oh, really." "I am happy." " So am I." "And I know you're going to love David." "And I know he's going to love you." "I'll just go get him." "He's outside in the car." "I brought him." "Yeah, well, bring him in here." "We want to talk to him." "No, he's outside in the car." "I'll just go get him." "Just a minute, all right?" "Honey!" "Oh, my God." " You okay?" " Yeah, I'm all right." "Mr. Sanchez?" "Hello, Mr. Sanchez." "I'm David Ronconi." "Mrs. Sanchez?" "It is so wonderful to finally meet you." "And this is Jimmy." "What's happening?" "Toni's told me a lot about you." " Well..." " This is him." "And this is us." "Our children, Jose." "Antonia married to a priest." "Are you up?" "Antonia and a priest." "How can this be possible?" "How could things have changed so much?" "And Jimmy..." "When I think of Jimmy..." "How beautiful he was, remember?" "And now..." "I know." "What happened to our children, Maria?" " What did we do wrong?" " I don't know." "Still unmarried." "Wants to be a writer." "A writer!" "Who's going to pay you to do that?" "Memo, he's..." "He's still in law school, eh?" "He's going to be an abogado." "Come on, come on..." "Maybe he will do all right." "Thank God for Memo going to law school, or they would have never gotten a good night's sleep." "So what's wrong with wanting to be a writer?" "Besides, my crazy family always gave me a lot of great material." "Dad was right." "Who's going to pay me to do that, right?" "So I went to work for Irene and Gerardo." "They had a restaurant." "Over the years, both Irene and her business expanded together." "A nun and a priest!" "Pero, a nun and a priest!" "Doing it..." "I mean, what happens when they stop being a nun and a priest?" "Nothing." "They keep doing the same stuff they used to do before." "The only difference is now they get to fuck at night." "I don't know what to do." "I've been frantic with worry." "Isabel is..." "My boys and I love her very much, and we..." "She wouldn't just disappear." "She just wouldn't." "I didn't know where to go." " Someone said you might help me." " Gloria, we're going to help you." " Tell me where the girl was from." " El Salvador." "What do you think?" "Young girl from El Salvador picked up two days ago." "The legal aid group might be able to delay the proceedings, but if we can't trace her..." "I mean, it's been two days." "Was she politically involved in any way in Salvador?" "No, not Isabel." "She..." "Well, you know." "Her father... was sort of a union organizer." "I think he was killed." "What are the chances?" "Not good." "As soon as she gets there, the police'll pull her off the plane." "What's her full name?" "Isabel Magaña." "Are you saying she's in some sort of danger?" "Is that it?" "That's what I'm saying." "Well, but that, that just can't be." "They wouldn't return her if she was in danger, would they?" "Wait, she wasn't by any chance married, or engaged to a citizen?" "Come on, tag him, tag him, homes!" "I mean, shit, ref." " How's parole treating you?" " Hey, what are you doing here?" " Check this out." " Where's Mom and Dad?" "Well, pues, Mom's in church, you know." "Dad's mowing lawns." "So what are you doing here?" "Jefitaasked me to fix a couple things in the house." "There's no TV over at my place." "So what's up with you?" "How's shit over there at your office?" "Oh, tough." "We had this case come yesterday, young girl from Salvador." "She got picked up by Immigration." "We've been able to trace where she is, but if we don't come up with something, she'll be deported." " Her father was a union organizer." " Yeah, right." "So if she's lucky she's going to end up in jail." "But probably she'll end up dead." " David and I put our brains..." " That's a whole lot of brains." "I'm sure you'll come up with something." "Yeah, well." "We were thinking if we could say she was engaged to someone..." "You know, a citizen, we could get her out." "I know it's a long shot, but..." "Nah, that'll never work." "La Migra'snot that dumb." "No, wait." "You'd be surprised." "They really are that dumb." "Plus, I think we can make a good enough case." "We've got to find someone who would agree to marry her." " Help me do this." " We'd, we'd... have to prove that a wedding took place to pull it off." "And we'd have to find someone today." " Today?" " Yeah." "Forget it." "Like I said, that's a bad idea." "I mean, come on." " Even if..." " What?" "Well..." "Even if la Migrais dumb enough to buy it, like you say..." "Put that up there." "Well, you still need the guy, right?" "Well, I mean, you still need this famous babosocitizen who's going to marry this girl." "There's nobody stupid enough to do that." "Check this out." "Wait a fucking minute here." "You're not thinking that..." "Is that why you came over here?" " You want me to marry this ruca?" " I know it's a lot to ask." " A lot to ask?" " Somebody's life is at stake." "Yeah, right." "My life is at stake!" "What the hell is wrong with you?" "You got your brains screwed up?" "If you'd stop being emotional you'd see it's not a big deal." "Not a big deal?" "That's your problem." "You've always been bossy, since we were little." "You think you know what's best for everybody." "You're a control freak." "Yeah, well, you've always been a big pendejo." "So what?" "AII I'm asking you to do is put your name on a piece of paper." "You're... you're talking about marriage." " I don't even know this girl." " Who cares?" " All you've got to do is..." " Excuse me." "Have some respect." "Look..." " You don't have to live with her." " Do you mind?" "Or have babies or anything like that." "Just go through the motions." "Go through the motions?" "Go through the motions?" "You're talking about marriage, camala." "That's out!" "Jesus Christ, when did you become so bourgeois?" "Hey, fuck you." "And don't ever call me " bushwhacked" again." "Whatever the fuck that means." "Jimmy..." "All it is really is signing your name and saying " I do"." "And if it saves..." "Listen to me." "If it saves a girl's life, then why not?" "You and I know the system's for shit." "We know that." "So use the system to fuck up the system." "That's what I say." "You're really starting to piss me off here, camala." "You always got a way of putting things so that..." "Who the hell are you to tell me what the fucking truth is?" " I don't want to hear this, Toni." " Just listen to me for a minute." "Would you relax, please?" "Okay." "Look." "This could be your way of getting back at all of them." "Every cop, guard, judge, the whole system." "Now just think about it." "With this one act you say "fuck you" to the whole establishment." "If I was a man, I would do it." "James Sanchez for Isabel Magaña." "James Sanchez for Isabel Magaña!" " James Sanchez!" " That's me." " James Sanchez?" " Yeah." "I release into the custody of James Sanchez." "Your I-130?" "What?" "Do you have your I-130?" "Yeah, right." "I got it." "Take it out of the envelope, please." "Okay, sign right here." "You the guy she's going to marry?" "She loves me, man." "Really." "She does." "She really misses me, too." "I can feel it." " Okay." " Wait." "Your I-2." "Really, she's crazy about me." "We're like this." "Thanks." "By the power invested in me by the State of California," "I hereby pronounce you husband and wife." "Could you please sign this?" "Go." "Little brother, you are amazing." "You owe me." "You guys owe me." "Thank you very much." "So, I guess I'll see you all in divorce court next week." "Oh, he's kidding." "Constance thank you." "We'll see you next time." "Thanks for everything." "Thank you." "All right." "We really appreciate it." " We did it!" " We did it again." "Only you have no brothers left." "I think I have one more." "It was a family emergency." "Irene and I came over from the Ole CafÈ, and even" "Memo was there, all the way from " pinche" west side." "I don't know what we were all supposed to do." "Shit!" "But in our house, the difference between a family emergency and a family party wasn't that big, you know?" "What were you thinking of?" "Geez..." "This girl says that you're her husband." "Is that true?" "Well, yeah, technically speaking, but but hey, it's not like for real or nothing like that." "Did you marry her, or did you not marry her?" "Yeah, I did." "Kind of." "Talk to her, okay?" "She can tell you everything." "Ay, Dios." "What is this, the Spanish Inquisition?" "Look, all we did was save a girl's life." "And it wasn't easy." "So maybe somebody should thank us?" "That's right." "Maybe somebody should thank us." " Look, I've got some shit to do." " No, you've got nothing to do!" "Nothing!" "Listen to me, both of you." "You always know what's right for everybody with your polìtica." "But did anyone ask Isabel what she wanted?" "What do you mean, what she wanted?" "Maybe we should have made some coffee and invited the neighbors." "Papa, we didn't have time to!" "You just messed up this girl's life without her permission." "Well, they were going to deport her without her permission." "And when she got off that plane, they were going to shoot her without her permission." "So maybe we should have left it alone, and she would be dead." "All nice and neat." "Tha'ts the problem with life." "It's just so messy." "Does anybody want taquitos?" "You young people..." "You think no one has ever lived before you did." "No one knows anything except you." "Don't you think I know what it feels like to be picked up by La Migraand sent away?" "Without ever seeing my family?" "Without knowing what will happen?" "Do you want to tell me something about survival?" "Well, let me tell you this." "There are certain things in life that are sacred." "Sagradas!" "And we don't spit on them." "Because without them, it doesn't matter if we live or die." "Marriage is something we don't spit on." "Isabel believes that she is married." "She thinks she's married to you." "Yeah, well, check it out." "I ain't married to nobody, see?" "Hey, you said those two words." "Who asked you to butt in?" "And I didn't even bring a cake." " Quetouchy!" " You signed a legal document." "Yeah, so what?" "So the law believes that you're married, too." "Yeah, well the law's pendejo, carnal!" "That was a political action." "I'm a goddamn revolutionary!" "Look, you." "You're the one who has to do all the explaining here, hermana." "Cause I told you, I'm never going to see her again." "I've got some shit to do." "It was late when Jimmy got home from all the shit he had to do." "Isabel was probably the first person who didn't let Toni boss her around." "Hey, you got..." " All right, you've got to go." " No." "I'll go." " Like right now, okay?" " Sì, sì." "I go, I go." " But I'll be back Friday." " No!" "No!" "You're not coming back on Friday." "You're not coming back here." " I must go." " That's right." " I'll make some breakfast for you." " I don't want breakfast!" " I don't have time to talk now." " Look, you're a real nice girl." "Bu me and you, we're not married, okay?" " I'll see you Friday." " No!" "No Friday!" "You can't...!" "Isabel kept coming back no matter what Jimmy said." "Mainly on weekends and nights when La Señora didn't need her." "Then some things started appearing in his apartment that no self-respecting " bato loco" would ever have." "I'm your puppet..." " What do you think you're doing?" " You always listen to oldies!" "" I'm your puppet, I'm your puppet"." "Who wants to be a puppet?" " This is los clasicos, mujer." " Oldies!" "It's time to get new." "Come on." "Come on, dance with me." "You dance." "You dance." "Come on, just try it once." "Here." "I don't want nobody seeing me doing this." "Come on." "Come on, just try it, okay?" "Out." "Out." "Out." "Out." "Good, I got it." "I did it." "Come on." "See?" "Come try it with me." "Come on, please." "Just one more." "Come on, Jimmy." "Yes!" " All right, all right." " Okay." " Out." " Out." "Out." "There you go!" "What are you looking at, puto?" "What's up?" " Come on." " All right." "Right, all right." "Let's do it, let's do it." "Put my hand where?" "Here." " Just feel me." " Yeah, I feel you." "I feel you." " I stepped on your foot." " Come on, just try again." "Try it." "Okay, all right." "Here you go." " See?" " Yeah, I see." " See?" "You're doing it." " Yeah." "Great!" "You want to teach me salsa?" "I got them in prison." "Some of my carnales cut them for me." "How is possible?" "Well, with anything that's sharp, you know?" "A fork." "Piece of broken glass." "But the pain..." "Que dolor, no?" "Not pain." "I mean, not like that." "What do you mean?" "It's just, it's just... fucking anger." "It just kind of fills me up, you know?" "You know, it just drowns everything out." "And on the inside I feel like I'm burning." "You know, like fire." "And outside I'm just..." "I'm just like a stone." "So like that day..." "When we robbed the store, I put my fist through the glass there and I saw all this blood." "But I didn't feel it." "AII I felt was the anger." "I'm here on the outside now, and I don't give a shit about nothing." "It's like I'm still in prison." "I'm alone." "And like this." "I just keep hearing that screaming in my head." "I hear that fucking screaming." "I know your feelings." "I know them." "I feel them, too." "I go around this big city..." "But I'm alone." "No one knows me." "When I was little, in Salvador, los soldadoscame..." "at night." "They pull my father out" "and they kill him right there." "Right there in front of me." "I was just..." "I was a little girl." "But I see everything." "And then we come here, and I have no time to be a child." "Always running." "I work, work, only work." "And the family." "The family I stay with, they're happy." "I see them." "But it is their happiness, not mine." "No one..." "No one knows me." "I know you." "I know you, Isabel." "I saw my brother get killed right in front of me." "Just like your father." "And I was just a boy." "I know you." "Hold my hand." "I know you, Isabel." "Oh, man!" "Jimmy..." "Now you get in the middle, and I'll get in." "Look at Isabel." "She's 5 months pregnant and she looks so great." "Yeah, they're always getting pregnant." "Get one trained, teach her some English so she gets the phone, then boom, she's pregnant." "I can't believe you just said that." "Gloria, you know it's true." "It's not true!" "Isabel's worked for me for three years." "She's part of the family." "I know that I have to find someone else, but youknow what?" "I'm happy for her." "We're all happy for her." "And so for the first time Jimmy joined the parade of workers." "There was something about the idea of being a father." "Tomorrow had never mattered to him before, but now it mattered." "Hi, Jimmy." "I came as soon as I could." "I couldn't get off any earlier." "I love you, too, baby." "I love you, too." "What's wrong?" "Something wrong?" "Everything all right?" "Then what?" "What should I do?" "Should I get somebody?" "I'll get somebody, all right?" "Is there a doctor around here?" "Hey nurse, my wife's got something wrong." "Well, I've got to talk to you!" "Get the doctor right now!" "Easy, easy..." "Great, Isabel." "You have a fine-looking boy." "Come on." "Time for bath." "Doctor." "She's still bleeding a lot." "Jesus!" "Mask!" "Sponge!" " B.P. is going." " Suture!" "Another sponge!" "Get Kelly!" "Stat!" ""Cihuateteo"." "That's what my mother called them." "The souls of women who had died giving birth." "They became "cihuateteo"..." "The spirits that help the sun to set." "Without them, the sun... would not be able to rest." "Now maybe the greatest medical care in the world could'nt have saved Isabel." "Maybe they did everything for her that could be done." "But you couldn't convince Jimmy of that." "He knew that if Isabel had been at a fancy hospital on the west side, that she would be alive." "You Dr. McNally?" " What can I do for you?" " You killed my wife." " What are you talking about?" " I said you killed my wife!" "Easy now." "My God, you must be the husband of that young woman." "What was her name?" "Yeah." "You can't even remember her fucking name, right?" "It's just one spic, more or less." "What difference does it make?" "You son of a bitch!" " You fucking killed my wife!" " No!" "We did everything we could!" "We did everything we could." "What the fuck you doing, man?" "You're fucking up, Jimmy!" "You want to go back to la pinta?" "Just grab the fucking shit, Tamalito!" "Come on, let's go!" "MuÈvete!" "Come on!" "Get the fuck out of here, Tamalito!" "Go now!" "I knew you'd come back." "Your kind always comes back." "There was a problem about the baby, little Carlitos." "Who would take care of him?" "Irene already had a huge family." "Toni and David were always too busy helping other people." "And Memo and me, we were just useless unmarried men." "There's nothing to talk about, Paco." "I don't want nobody brnging him to see me." "I don't want him ever seeing me in here." "Jimmy, he's your son." "Nothing you did matters." " Soon as he's old enough..." " You tell him his father's dead." "You tell him that." "You understand?" "What you're doing is wrong, man." "You have no right to hurt people this..." "I got the right." "I don't want to see nobody." "I don't want to hear from nobody." "You know what this is going to do to..." "Look-it, you got a son." "I got nothing, carnal." "I got nothing." "I got this." "I have to think about doing my time and not letting time do me." "You just think of me like I'm dead." "It hurt Mom and Dad the most." "Everybody else in the family was ashamed of Jimmy." "They never talked about him." "He was like the family fuck-up." "But I didn't see him that way." "To me, Jimmy carried a lot of shit for the rest of us." "All the hate, all the rage, and all the injustice." "Somehow, if it wasn't for him, we couldn't have gone on to do all the things we did." "Me, with my writing, and Toni, with her politics." "And most of all Memo, the pride and joy of the family." "Good night, Mr. Sanchez." "Carlitos grew up to be more of a problem than a " bato loco"." "I've known your family for a long time, and they are good people." "What am I going to do with you?" "I'm sorry, abuelita." "I didn't mean to do it." "I didn't." "I don't know why I did it!" "Come on." "The corn was tall and green the day that Jimmy came home." "Looks like it's been a good year for the corn there, jefe." "A good year." "The corn is strong, but so are the weeds." "Ah, you remember..." "Hijo, it's good to see you." "I'm happy." "I came to tell you that I'm going away." "I need to start over." "Completely." "How's Carlitos?" "He gets into a lot of trouble." "Perohe's got a lot of spirit." "He's a fine boy." "Just like you." "That's good." "I brought this." "It's the money I made in la pinta." "I thought it would, you know..." "help out with Carlitos and all." "Carlitos doesn't need any money." "He needs a father." "He needs you." "I can't see him now." "Not the way that I am." "Maybe later." "Maybe some other time." "There's no other." "That time never comes." "He needs you now." "Look, I knew you weren't going to understand." "Take the money." "I'll send you more." "I need your help." "Now!" "Who is he, abuelito?" "That's Jimmy." "He's your father." "I don't have a father!" "I don't have a father!" "When Jimmy saw his son, something happened inside him." "Something powerful that he didn't understand." "We have a surprise." "Come on, muchacho." "Hey, little bato." "How you doing today?" "Check this out." "That's nice." "Wow!" "Cool!" "I hate this!" "This is stupid!" "No, Carlitos." "It's not stupid." "In the toy store they said..." "They don't know nothing at the toy store!" "Don't be that way." "He's your father." " He's not my father!" " I am your father, Carlitos." "This is a stupid toy!" "Whoever thinks it's good is just as stupid!" "Now get out!" "Get out!" "All right, all right." "Get out!" " Get out!" " Carlitos, stop it already." "Get out!" "Get out!" "We have to give him a little time, that's all." "We're just going to give him a little time, he'll come around." "Yeah, he's going to come out of it." "But he didn't come around." "Jimmy tried and tried." "Everything he did only made things worse." "Your father wants to take you to Disneyland." "Don't you want to go?" "No, please." "No, please." "I don't want to see him anymore." "He just doesn't want to go without you." "No, it's all right." "I understand." "He ain't got no reson to want me, jefita." "I always thought he'd be there for me when I needed him." "I never thought about what he needed." "I never been there for him." "So why should I expect him to be there for me now?" "Here, take these and give them to Irene." "She can take her kids or something like that." "I've got to go, okay?" "Jimmy tried to come back from the dead, and it wasn't easy." "But he was trying hard to be part of la familia again." "He had the chance of his life when Memo brought his fiancÈe and her parents all the way from Bel Air to meet everybody." "Her name was Karen Gillespie." "She and Memo met at UCLA when they both were law students." "And even though she had been born and raised in LA, she and her family had never been to East LA." " Here we are!" "Yeah." " This is lovely!" "Thank you." " Yes?" " Are those beans?" "That's right." "My father loves to plant vegetables." "I think that's wonderful, Bill." "Hello, puppy." "Yeah." "Don't mind Bandido here." "He's a little relaxed." " He's kind of a fixture here." " Yes." "There you go." "We've been wanting to meet your daughter." "We've heard..." "I really like your house." "Thank you." "After all the introductions, we got down to the business of getting to know each other." "Well..." "It's so nice to have you." "Jose and I are very proud to have you in our home." "Welcome." "Thank you." " Ah, yes." "Cheers." " Yes." "Cheers." "Memo always tells us so much about you." "Who?" "They call me Memo." "My family calls me that." "It's diminutive for Guillermo." "That's William in Spanish." "Memo is like Bill, see?" " That's cute." " Yeah." "That is cute." "Well, Karen certainly has told us about all you folks." "Oh, yes?" " Yes, she has." " Thank you." "Bill, don't you have a younger brother?" "Oh, you mean Jimbo." "Hey, Jimbo!" "He's around here." "This is my son, Jimmy." "Hello." "Bill told us you were away at school." "School?" "Not exactly school." "Actually he was in prison for a little while." " Prison?" " I read a lot of books, though." "That's what he must have meant." "Mother, it's just one of those things." "That can happen." " It's not Bill's fault." " No, no." "So, you folks are from Mexico?" " Yes." " Yeah, my father walked here." "From Michoacan, in 1926." "He was 18." " Really?" " Yes." "Yes, it took me a year to get here." "You know..." "Now wait, wait, wait." "I remember when I was in the Sonora desert." "I was attacked by bandidos." "They jumped on me..." "Actually, I've never been to Mexico." "I've always lived in Los Angeles, just like yourselves." "But he already had family here." "Remember, Papa?" "Your great uncle?" "And he had been born here when this was Mexico." " That must have been long ago." " Long time ago." "Not so long." "I remember him." "Paco, you remember." "What was...?" "El Californio." "He's buried out in the back." "In the backyard?" "He said in his will that he wanted to be buried in the back." "That's just an old story!" "There's nobody buried in the backyard." "Right, Dad?" "Oh, yeah, yeah." "It's an old family story." "Carlitos, take that into the back!" "Hey, excuse me, would you care for some taquitos?" "Yes, I made them." "I made these." "There's some salsa." "Well, they look delicious." "Jimmy!" "No!" "Put me down!" "He's your kid, man!" "Why don't you teach him some manners!" " I got him, all right?" " Just get him out of here!" "Cabrûn,you think you're better than anybody in this family!" "Just get him out of here!" "No, come on, come on, come on." "Put the shirt on!" "Put it on." "What's the matter with you, anyway?" "Come here." "Those people out there are very important to your uncle Memo." " They'llbe part of la familia." " Shut up, you fucking asshole!" "Don't you ever talk to me like that again, okay?" "You understand?" "I'm your father!" "Don't talk to me like that!" "You're not my father!" "My father's a big man!" "He's a cowboy in Texas!" "He's even been to the moon in a real spaceship!" "When he comes for me, he'll come in a big car and we're going back to Texas!" "That is who my father is!" "He's not you!" "Come here." "Come here." "Carlitos, I'm your father." "It's like I tried with him." "And I really don't want to go away anymore." "Well, not alone, anyway." "I just want to be with my son." "You did your best." "Sometimes you don't get things back, you know?" "Sometimes they..." "When they go away, they go away forever." "What are you going to do now?" "I was thinking about Texas, you know?" "Why not?" "Come back a rich man with a big car." "But you take care now." "You make sure you say goodbye to mi jefita." " Yeah, sure." " Yeah." "Paco, Toni, Irene..." "Memo, too." "You can say goodbye to him for me." "What's that?" "I bet I'm in big trouble now." "No, no..." "You're not in trouble." "Abuelitowill be mad." "No, I don't think so." "I don't think so." "But I chopped up all the corn." "Yeah, but that's nothing." "We'll just plant some new corn." "And then with the broken pieces, we just cut it up and put it in the ground." "And it feeds all the rest of the corn." "Are you going?" "Yeah, I'm going." "Where you going?" "I thought I would go look for your father." "Would you like to come with me?" "I mean..." "Maybe you can help me find your father." "You know..." "Maybe you could get to know him a little better." "What do you think about that?" "Does my father want me to come?" "Yeah, I think so." "I think he wants you to come." "Does my father love me?" "Carlitos, your father loves you very much." " He does." " No, he'll just leave me again!" "He's not going to leave you again." "Is that a promise?" "That's a promise." "He'll never, ever leave me again?" "Your father's never going to leave you again." "Oh, God." "I love you, man." "I love you, too." "Carlitos was the last to leave when he went to live with Jimmy." "After that my mother and father lived in the house alone." "But my mother, she believed that everyone who lived in the house, we all left something behind." "She believed a piece of our spirits stayed behind, and lived..." "in all the empty chairs." "We have had a good life." "We've been very lucky." " It'd have been even better if..." " No, Maria." "Don't say it." "Don't even say it." "It is wrong to wish for too much in this life." "God has been good to us." "We have been very lucky." "And our life..." "It has been very..." "Very good." "You're right." "We have had a very..." "good life." "I remember..."