"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." "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." "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 somewhere north in a village called Nuestra Senora Reina de Los Angeles." "He figured he could walk there in a day or two." "The other side of the world." "My father thought about it." ""Good God," he thought," ""it might take two weeks to walk there."" "Gracias." "Andale, con cuidado." "Hazle un lugar ahi." "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 10 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 de Nuestra Senora Reina de Los Angeles... the one in California." "The border?" "Well, in those days, the border was just a line in the dirt." "They called the old man "El Californio,"" "because he didn't come from anywhere else." "He was born right 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 side of the river to do the work of the city on the other side." "They mowed the lawns, took care of the children, cleaned the house, worked in restaurant kitchens, but no one from the west side of the river ever crossed the bridges 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." "Aw, I love you." "Bye!" "Toodles!" "Ay, ninos!" "Ninos!" "Okay, now." "Be serious." "And..." "Mmm!" "Boom, ba da boom, ba da boom, ba da boom." "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 in his milpa... corn in the back and beans in the front." "And that's the way it always was at my house for as long as I can remember." "Jose, tu cafe con leche esta listo." "Mi cafecito." "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?" "Huh?" "Remember that day 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 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." "Uh-huh." "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 got it into their heads that the Mexicanos were responsible for the whole thing." "I mean, they were taking up a lot of jobs... jobs that were needed for what they called "real Americans."" "I have to get home to my children!" "Por favor, senor." "Please." "So La Migra made some big sweeps through the barrio, and they rounded up everyone they could." "No!" "I live here." "No!" "I belong here." "Senor, por favor." "Senores." "I can't help you, lady." "Move it!" "It didn't matter if you were a citizen, like my mother." "If you looked Mexicano, you were picked up and shipped out." "She had 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 her up!" "Back!" "Okay, roll her out!" "The Southern Pacific Railroad made the US government a deal." "For $14.75 a head, they took the Mexicanos all the way back into Central Mexico, hoping they would never be able to get back." "Maria?" "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." "Agh!" "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." "Ay." "No!" "No!" "No!" "Aah!" "Senora!" "Ay!" "Aah!" "Aah!" "Aah!" "Chucho!" "Chucho!" "Shh." "Shh." "Estas a salvo." "Esta todo bien." "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." "Jose." "Maria?" "Maria?" "I promised La Virgen that I would come back to you." "This is your son." "His name is Chucho." "Chucho." "Maria." "Jose." "Oh, Maria, it is a miracle." "This is a miracle." "* It's just like heaven *" "* Being here with you *" "* You're like... *" "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 sometimes she could get a little bossy." "Hurry up, hermano." "You'll miss your own sister's wedding!" "What is the matter with you?" "It's just a pair of pants, not the Mona Lisa!" "Hey!" "Hey, Listen, hermana!" "These are Jimmy's pants, see?" "And I want to make sure they're properly ironed, and there's only one person in this whole goddamn world capable of doing that, and that's me." "Gracias." "Aborrate." "Aborrate yourself." "Get your big cholo butt moving, ese, and get Jimmy moving, too, or nobody's going to make it to the wedding on time!" "I ought to..." "I ought to iron your mouth shut!" "And there I am, home on leave from the navy." "Boy, was I young then!" "My family had scheduled the wedding when I was on leave so I wouldn't miss it, because no one could miss it." "Come on." "Hurry up, Memo." "She's going crazy." "She was born crazy." "I heard that!" "Ha ha!" "Come on, hurry up." "Open the door." "Open the door." "Yeah, yeah." "I got it." "I got it." "See you outside!" "Come on." "That's one of my younger brothers..." "Guillermo." "Quite a handle, no?" "So everybody called him just Memo." "* Sugar in the morning... *" "My sister Irene, finally getting married." "Biggest day of her life." "Here." "Let me help you with your dress." "Hurry up!" "Ow!" "Irene, what happened since you were measured for this?" "Pues nada!" "They must have made a mistake or something." "Okay, bend over, huh?" "All right, one... two... three!" "Thank you." "Excuse me." "Put these on!" "Apurate!" "It's my wedding!" "Jimmy!" " * Sugar in the morning. *" " Ha ha!" "And there's Jimmy, the youngest of the family." "He was a real surprise when he came along, but he was the heart of the family." "Hey, little vato!" "Chucho!" "Ha ha ha!" "Hey, look, ese." "You're going to have the finest pants in the whole goddamn wedding." "Look at that crease." "You like them?" "What do you say?" "Ha!" "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 were realizing that their oldest daughter was leaving it now." "Now, don't get this wrong." "Of course, they were both very happy that Irene was finally getting married." "There was no question about it, it was a real blast." "* Ahhh *" "* Ha ha ha. *" "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?" "Ow!" "Oh..." "Machismo." "Cheese." "Just a minute." "Just a minute." "You ready?" "Okay, everybody, smile big." "It was customary for the father of the bride to say a few words." "Yeah." "My father wasn't a good speaker, but he had to do his duty." "I want to make a brind..." "Uh... I..." "I want to make a brindis!" "To... to Irene and my new son Gerardo." "Uh... well, you finally... no, I mean, uh... pues este... um... ha ha!" "I'm happy!" "Ha ha!" "Felicidades!" "Gerardo, a good wife is the best thing that can happen to a man in his life." "Huh?" "Uh..." "I know, because I have Maria." "Yeah, come on, Maria." "If it wasn't for you, there wouldn't be anything." "Come on." "Get up, Maria." "This is my wife Maria." "Ella es La Mama." "And... and... and this is my other daughter Toni, yeah?" "And Paco!" "Paco." "He's in the navy!" "Come on over here." "And... and... and, ah, and Guillermo." "Come on over here." "And Jimmy." "Ven, hijo." "Jimmy!" "And... and my son Chucho!" "No te hagas rogar." "Uh... the greatest riches a man can have in his life... mi familia." "Mi familia!" "Salud!" "Salud a todos!" "It was one of the greatest days in the history of my family." "Ha ha ha!" "Jimmy." "Ahh..." "I'm sorry I stepped on your foot." "It's okay." "I'm sorry." "Man, I hate this mariachi shit, boy." "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 the back of my Chevy." "Ha ha ha!" "Woo!" "Their leader was Butch Mejia from el rincon." "Of course, he and my brother had never really 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 since he has to spend the night in bed with a pig." "Yes... and I'll tell you another thing... los apostoles... valen verga!" "Fuck you, puto!" "Listen to me, puto cabron." "Today is a very special day for my family." "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, you bust in there, you make any trouble," "I'll find you, cabron." "I'll cut your dick off and shove it down your goddamn throat." "Entiendes" "They were both so full of macho bullshit, it was incredible." "So go ahead." "Insult me." "I give you permission." "Ha ha ha!" " Itruchanse!" " Ay, culero." "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, eh?" "Everybody ready?" "Yes!" "Me!" "One... two... three!" "Here." "Do it again, Irene." "Que paso, mija" "Nada, Mama." "Toni, you're making your sister feel very bad." "No." "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?" "Mama..." "I'm going to be a nun." "This is wonderful!" "Ha ha ha!" "Did you say something to her?" " This is wonderful!" " Que pasa" "Un hombre" "Because if it is, I swear I will..." "I have prayed for something like this to happen!" "Maria, que pasa" "Estoy muy orgullosa." "Irene!" "Irene!" "Throw the bouquet again mija, or it will be bad luck for your sister." "Throw it, mija!" "Huh!" "Ready?" "Somebody explain what's happening." "Maria?" "Toni?" "Our daughter... she's going to marry our Lord Jesus." "She's... going to be a nun!" " Oh, Mama!" " A nun?" "Needless to say, word of this spread like wildfire." "A nun?" "!" "Oh, what a waste!" "What a goddamn waste!" "We all thought it was a little 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." "* One summer night... *" "Chucho!" "Hey, little vato!" "Give us a hand!" "That was one summer night..." "How you doing?" "You guys want to learn something really hot?" "Simon, carnal." "Simon, carnal." "Ha ha!" "Now, this ain't like the bullshit they teach you in school..." "you know, stuff you ain't never going to need." "This is something really important." "I'm going to teach you... to mambo!" "Yeah!" "Let's go." "Follow me, okay?" "Okay, now first take your left leg and put it out like this." "One, two, wiggle, wiggle." "One, two, wiggle, wiggle." "Back, two, wiggle, wiggle." "There you go." "Put your arms into it." "Yeah!" "One, two." "Ha ha!" "Okay?" "Right." "Good!" "Come on." "Hey, you guys are good!" "That's right!" "Ha ha!" "Hey!" "Ha ha!" "That's right." "Let's go." "Come on." "Get it." "Come on." "Eddie!" "Eddie, what are you doing?" "I told you, I don't want you playing with no pachuco!" "Mommy, I want to play!" "Stay!" "Ha ha ha!" "Okay, mambo steps!" "Vete para adentro!" "Come on!" "Mambo!" "Mambo!" "Mambo!" "Mambo!" "Mambo!" "Mambo!" "Mambo!" "Que te metas para adentro." "Mambo!" "Mambo!" "I said, "Mambo!"" "Mambo!" "Look, Jimmy." "We take this old corn... and 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 milpa that was eight miles long." "The corn was so high that I once got lost in it." "Ah, yeah." "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." "There I am, 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 10 feet long, yeah?" "There I am." "I dropped him real fast, no?" "And I go for this great big cornstalk." "And... ole!" "Ole!" "He's still moving." "There I go." "There I am." "Huh?" "Jefe!" "El telefono." "They say it's important." "Ya voy." "I'll be right back." "Close the door." " Telefono." " Si." "Memo!" "Hello." "Yes, I'm Jose Sanchez." "Que" "What?" "The police?" "No." "My son Chucho?" "No, no, no." "No, he couldn't be involved in anything like that." "Hola, jefe." "Where you been, huh?" "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?" " No, no, no, Jose." "Ya." "What difference does it make, huh?" "No es tiempo para esto." "The police called here tonight... la policia!" "I didn't raise my children to be sinverguenzas... delincuentes!" "When I think of all the years I struggled without complaining, like..." "like when I came here by walking all the way from Michoacan, and what your mother went through to bring you back when you were a baby so you'd 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!" "Jose, Jose, suficiente." "Pero tu... selling marijuana like some hoodlum!" "No tienes conciencia" "No tienes dignidad" "Fuck la dignidad!" "Fuck it, and fuck your struggle!" "You think anybody cares about it here?" "Huh?" "This is all they respect in this country, not la dignidad." "It don't matter how you get it, as long as you get it." "I don't want to be like no Mexican!" "Huh-uh." "If you think for one minute" "I want to spend all fucking day pulling up weeds and mowing lawns, you got another thing coming." "A la chingada con eso!" "I don't want to be like Irene." "I don't want to be like Paco." "Most of all, I don't want to be like you!" "Jose!" "Por favor, no!" "Por favor, no!" "Chucho!" "Chucho!" "Chucho!" "No hagas esto, mijo, no hagas esto." "Get out of here!" "Largate!" "Get out of here!" "Largate!" "Get out of here!" "Chucho!" "Chucho!" "Chucho!" "Que estas haciendo" "Get out of here!" "Take this with you!" "Jimmy!" "Jimmy!" "Why did he leave, Mommy?" "Why?" "He will come back, mijo." "He will come back." "There was no communication at all between my father and my brother 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 *" "* Ooh, I love you *" "* Ooh, I do *" "* No one could love you *" "* Like I do *" "* Ooh, I love you *" "* Ooh, I do *" "* No one could love you *" "* Like I do *" "* Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh *" "* Ooh, ooh, hoo *" "* Ooh, hoo. *" "Thank you." "Woo!" "* The music's playing *" "* And the lights are low *" "* You give me kisses *" "* And pull me close *" "* There's a little voice inside my head *" "* Whisperin' 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 *" "* Whisperin' in my ear *" "* "Are you really sincere?" *" "* Though I give myself to you *" "* I want to know that it's right... *" "Cut it, puto." "* And you're not putting on *" "* A show just for tonight, whoa, whoa, oh... *" "I said stop fucking with me!" "Chinga tu madre." "* I really do *" "* Your promises are sweet... *" "Aah!" "Aah!" "Ahh!" "Aah!" "Chucho, you got him." "Let's just go..." "Chucho!" "He's got a knife, Chucho!" "Arrgh!" "Aah!" "Chucho!" "Baby, come on!" "Had enough, huh?" "Had enough, puto?" "Oh my God!" "Oh my God!" "Chucho, come on, baby." "We got to get out of here!" "Come on, Chucho!" "Let's go!" "Come on!" "Chucho!" "Come on!" "Let's get out of here!" "Hey, Paco!" "I was stationed in San Diego, when it all came down, so I was able to come home a couple of days later 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 vato." "I brought you this." "No one saw me come in." "All right." "Mmm." "Mmm." "It looks bad, Chucho." "Real bad." "It'll be okay." "Listen, little vato." "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." "Y mi jefita, como esta" "She's been crying a lot." "Y mi jefe, que dice" "Nada." "Dad never says nothing." "Tell him..." "Tell him... vete." "No!" "I want to stay here!" "Before they wonder where you are." "All right." "Go on out there, so you can help me out tomorrow." "Hasta manana." "Ay, Jose." "You've got to stop this." "Toni will be here any minute." "Give me." "If you don't hurry, I don't know how I'm going to do this." "I don't know what to do." "Maria... could he have done all that 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." "Maria, I feel I'll never see him again," " and if I can't..." " No." "Jose, La Virgen would never, ever let that happen, eh?" "No." "We will see him again." "Si." "Of course we will." "Apurate, Jose." "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 is 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." " Boom!" "Boom!" " Aah!" "Ohh!" "Ha ha!" "Ohh!" "Ooh." "Ay, Paco." "It's so good to have you home, mijo." "I can stay here at least a week." "You know, it's Toni's first visit, and I don't want anything to go wrong." "Don't worry, mima." "It's still the same old Toni." "Hey!" "Mama." "Hey, Jimmy, you want to play ball with us?" "Hermana, I like your outfit." "Suave." "Mira Irene's hair." "You like it?" "I've been experimenting." "Don't you get hot in this getup?" "Shh!" "Shh!" "No." "I just offer it up, Memo." "Hey, it's time for Lucy!" "Lucy!" "I love that show, Mama!" " We always watch it at the convent." " Con permiso." "What's the matter with them?" "They don't want to watch, and I don't blame them." "Watch what?" "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 will all clear up." "Vas a ver, jefe." "You what?" "L..." "I..." "I went out..." "I went out to see him, and I said I was your agent and that you were wanted for a big musical on Broadway." "They didn't want to stand in your way, so they released you from your contract." "You don't work at Metro anymore." "I really dig Desi." "Throw something." "Aah!" "Uh!" "Ooh!" "You okay, sir?" "Damn spic son of a bitch!" "Get after him!" "He went down the hill!" "Hey, putos!" "You're screwing up our game!" "Go get it, Jimmy!" "Get the ball!" "Chucho!" "There he is." "What the hell was that?" "Quedese ahi." "Chucho!" "We got him!" "Whoo whee!" "We got him, Sarge!" "That was a hell of a shot, kid." "What happened?" "It's over there." " Jefe." " Jefe!" "Chucho!" "Esta muerto!" "They shot him!" "Chucho!" "No one is allowed here!" "He's my son!" "Chucho!" "Es mi hijo, senor!" "Es mi hijo!" "I'm sorry." "I'm his father." "Is he alive?" " I don't know." " I have to see him!" " No one is allowed here!" " Get out!" "No!" "No." "Let's get out of here." "Let's hit the street." "Come on, now." "Back it up." "Let's hit the street!" "Get on the street!" "Get that gurney in here." "Let's get him out of here." "Hold those people back." "All of them!" "Starting to get a crowd, Sarge." "Everybody said that the police had killed Chucho, but my mother never believed that." "She knew 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 claim 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 got him a few years in la pinta." "My little 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 *" "* "Church on the hill," is what she said *" "* A monster cloud like a big black hand *" "* A monster cloud like a big black hand... *" "Hola, hijo." "Hola, jefe." "Hey, I thought..." "I'm going to go out to the cornfield." " Maybe you want to come with me?" " No." "Maybe later, eh?" "Oh, yeah, yeah." "Okay." "Later." " * I asked my lover for her hand *" " See you, Jimmy." "Jimmy's arrival was painful, but at least it was expected." "A few days later, they had a surprise visitor." "No!" "Mamita, no!" "It's her mother!" "Marcos!" "Don't you touch her!" " Don't you touch her!" " Jefita, you can't... don't talk to the TV." "He's touching her." "He's not supposed to." "She should smack his ass." "Good for you!" "Don't you let him touch you." "Ha ha ha!" "Yeah?" "Antonia?" "Antonia!" "Toni?" "Jefe!" "I know it's a surprise, you know, with the, uh... but I, um..." "I just want to tell you that, uh..." "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." "Jimmy, callate!" "Would you get me something to drink please?" "What happened?" "Um... it, uh... it happened when I was working in Central America." "You know, doing missionary work, and, um... thank you." "A lot of things happened, Mama." "And... that is, one thing led to another, and... um..." "I'm married." "Uh..." "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." "Hijo de..." "Un sacerdote" " Maria." " Mama" "Jimmy, get a glass of water." "Jimmy, mi vida." "Maria." "Mama Papa." "Jefita." "Maria." "Ohh!" "Ohh!" "Mama, okay," "I know it's hard for you to understand." "All right?" "No, Antonia." "You don't worry about me." "Papa" "If it's okay with God..." "I guess it's okay with us." "Oh, Mama." "I'm so happy." "Really," "I am happy." "And I know you're going to love David." "And... and I know he's going to love you." "I'll just go get him." "He's outside in the car." "I brought him." "Bring him in." "We wanna talk to him." "He's outside in the car." "I'Il..." "I'll just go get him." "Just a minute, all right?" "Honey." "Oh my God." "You okay?" "I'm fine." "Mr. Sanchez?" "Hello, Mr. Sanchez." "Mucho gusto." "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." "Jose." "Eh?" "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?" "Y Jimmy." "When I think of Jimmy... mi querido Jimmy..." " How beautiful he was." "Remember?" " Si." "And now..." "I know." "What happened to our children, Maria?" "What did we do wrong?" "I don't know." "Y Paco." "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?" "Yes." "He's going to be an abogado." "Come on." "Come on." "Maybe he will do well." "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?" "You got a problem with that?" "Besides, my crazy family always gave me a lot of great material." "But Dad was right." "Who's going to pay me to do that, right?" "So I went to work for my sister Irene and Gerardo." "They had a family restaurant, and over the years, both Irene and her business had expanded together." "Ha ha ha!" "A nun and a priest!" "Lmaginate." "Hombre y mujer, sabes" "Pero a nun and a priest!" "Doing it..." "Ay!" "What do you know?" "What happens when a nun and a priest stops being a nun and priest?" "Nothing, they keep doing the same stuff... all the same political bullshit... helping refugees and stuff... only difference now, they get to fuck at night." "Ohh!" "Ohh!" "Ha ha ha!" "Mm, este pastel esta muy bueno." "I don't know what to do." "I truly don't." "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 be able to help." "Gloria, we're going to help you." "Just tell me where the girl was from... what country?" "El Salvador." "David, what do you think?" "Young girl from Salvador picked up two days ago." "With Legal Aid, we might delay the proceedings, but if we can't trace her... it's been two days, right?" "Was she politically involved in any way in Salvador?" "No, not Isabel." "She... oh!" "Her father..." "we talked about this once... was some sort of union organizer." "He was killed." "Christ." "David, what are the chances?" "They're not good." "Soon as she gets to Salvador, the police will pull her off the plane." "What's her full name?" "Isabel Magana." "Are you saying she's in some sort of danger?" "Is that what you're saying?" "That's what I'm saying." "Well, but that just can't be." "They wouldn't return her, if she was in danger, would they?" "This is America!" "She wasn't by any chance married or engaged," " like, to a citizen?" " No, no, no." "Aah!" "Fucking king!" "Oh, shit!" "Come on." "Tag up." "Tag up, homes." "Eat shit, ref." "Ha ha ha!" "Hey, Jimmy, how's parole treating you?" "Hey, carnala, what are you doing here?" "Where's Mom and Dad?" "Mom's in church, you know?" "Dad's mowing lawns." "So what are you doing here?" "Jefita asked me to fix a couple of 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, huh?" "Oh, tough." "We had this case come through yesterday... a young girl from Salvador." "She's been picked up by Immigration." "We've been able to trace where she is, but if we don't come up with something fast, she'll be deported." "Her father was a union organizer, so if she's lucky, she's going to end up in jail, but probably she'll end up dead." "You know, David and I..." "we put our brains together." "That's a whole lot of brains between the two of you." "I'm sure you'll come up with something, huh?" "Yeah, well, you know, we were thinking that if we could say she was engaged to someone from here... a citizen..." "we could get her out." "I know it's a long shot, but..." "No, no, no." "That'll never work." "La Migra's not that dumb." "Wait a minute." "You'd be surprised." "They really are that dumb." "Plus, I think we can make a good enough case." "Yeah?" "Of course we got to find someone who would agree to marry her." "Help me do this." "We'd have to prove that an actual wedding took place in order 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..." "Why?" "Well, even if La Migra is dumb enough to buy it, like you say... put that up there?" "You still need the guy, right?" "Yeah." "You still need this famous baboso citizen who's going to marry this girl." "There's nobody stupid enough to do that." "Check this out." "Wait a minute." "Wait a fucking minute here." "You're not thinking..." "is that why you came over here?" "You're asking me to marry this ruca?" "Hermano, 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 all screwed up with all that political bullshit of yours?" "Look, if you'd just stop being so emotional for a minute, you'd see it's really not a big deal." "Not that big a deal?" "You know, that's your problem." "You've always been real bossy, since we were little." "You think you know what's best." "You're a fucking control freak." "You've always been a big pendejo." "So what?" "Look, all I'm asking you to do is put your name on a piece of paper and save a girl's life." "You're talking about marriage!" "I don't even know this girl!" "Who cares?" "Just put your name on a piece of paper." "Hey, excuse me." "Have some respect here." "Look, I'm not asking you to live with her." "Do you mind?" "Or have babies or anything like that." "Just go through the motions for me, Jimmy." "Go through the motions?" "Go through the motions?" "You're talking about marriage, carnala." "That's marriage." "That's out!" "Jesus, when did you become so bourgeois, huh?" "Hey, fuck you, and don't ever call me "bushwhacked" again, cabrona, whatever the fuck that means." "Look, Jimmy, all it is really is signing your name and saying, "I do."" "That's it." "And if it sa..." "Hey!" "Listen to me." "If it saves a girl's life, then why not, hmm?" "You and I know this system's for shit." "We know that, so we use the system to fuck up the system." "That's what I say." "You're really starting to piss me off here, carnala." "You always got a way of putting things..." "Es la pura verdad." "Who the hell are you to tell me what the fucking truth is, huh?" "Jimmy..." "I don't want to hear this, Toni." "Come on." "Just listen to me for a minute, huh?" "Would you just relax, please?" " Hey, hey!" " Okay." "Look, this could be your way of getting back at all of them... every cop, guard, judge..." "the whole system." "Just think about it." "With this one little act, you could say "Fuck you" to the whole establishment." "If I was a man, I would do it." "Somebody said he's been waiting here for two hours." "James Sanchez for Isabel Magana." "James Sanchez for Isabel Magana." "Yeah." "That's me." " Are you James Sanchez?" " Right here." "It says here I release her into the custody of James Sanchez." "Your l-130?" " What?" " Do you have your l-130?" "Yeah, right." "I got it." "Take it out of the envelope, please." "Okay, sign right here." "Senora Gloria." "Are you the guy she's going to marry?" "Yeah." "She loves me, man." "Really, she does." "She really misses me, too." "I can feel it." " Okay." " Wait." "Your l-2." "Really, she's crazy about me." "We're like this." "Thanks." "By the power vested in me by the State of California," "I hereby pronounce you husband and wife." "Could you please sign this?" "Go on." "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." "Ha ha ha!" "He's always kidding." "Constance, thank you." "We'll see you next time, all right?" "All right." "We really appreciate it." " We did it!" " We did it again." "We did it again, only you have no brothers left." "I have one more." "Vos tenes que ayudarme, Senora Maria." "Me acabo de casar y no se adonde voy a ir." " It was a family emergency." " Vos sabes donde esta Jimmy" " No puedo creer esto." " Ya lo llame..." "Irene and I came over from the cafe, 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, then, in our house, the difference between a family emergency and a family party wasn't that big, you know?" "What were you thinking of?" "Que voy a hacer" "Jeez, God." "Oye, Jimmy, hijo." "Ven aca, hijo." "Explicame que pasa aqui." "Pues nada." "This girl says that you're her husband." "Hijo, is that true?" "Well, yeah, like, technically speaking, but, hey, it's not, like, for real or nothing like that." "Jimmy, did you marry her, or did you not marry her?" "Yeah, I did, kind of." "Chingao." "Talk to her, okay?" "She can tell you everything." "Ay, Dios, what is this, the Spanish Inquisition, huh?" "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." "I got some shit I got to do, okay?" "No, you got nothing to do!" "Nothing!" "Listen to me, both of you." "You always know what's right for everybody with your porqueria politica, but did anyone ask Isabel what she wanted?" "What do you mean, "What she wanted," huh?" "Maybe we should have made some cafe con leche and invited the neighbors over to talk about it?" "Papa, we didn't have time to!" "Hija, you just messed up this girl's life without even asking her permission, hmm?" "Oh, well, they were going to deport her without asking her permission, and when she got off that plane, they were going to shoot her without asking her permission." "So maybe we should have just left it alone, and she would be dead..." "all nice and neat." "That's the problem with life... it's just so messy." "Does anybody want any taquitos?" "Ha ha!" "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 Migra and 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, and 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 little words." "Hey, who asked you to butt in, huh?" " And I didn't even bring him cake." " Y tu te callas." "Ooh, que touchy." "Jimmy, you signed a legal document." " Yeah?" "So what?" " Te fregaste." "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." "Ha ha ha!" "Look, you... you're the one that's got to do the explaining here, hermana, because I'm never going to see her again." "I've got some shit to do." "* One summer night *" "* Doo doo doo... *" "It was late when Jimmy got home from all the shit he had to do." "Chingao." "Isabel was probably the first person who didn't let Toni boss her around." "Hey." "Hey, you got... you got to go, okay?" " No, I'll go." " Okay, like, right now." "I'll go, but I'll be back Friday." "No!" "No, no!" "You're not going to be back on Friday." "You're not coming back here." "Oh, I must go." "I'll make some breakfast for you." "I don't want breakfast!" "I don't want anything from you!" "No quiero breakfast." "Well, I don't have time to talk right now, okay?" "I'll be back on Friday after work." "You're a nice girl, but we're not married." "I'll see you Friday." "No!" "No!" "No Friday!" "You can't..." "Isabel kept coming back no matter what Jimmy said, mainly on weekends and nights when la senora didn't need her." "Then some things started appearing in his apartment that no self-respecting vato loco would ever have in his canton." "* Pull the string, and I'll wink at you *" "* I'm your puppet. *" "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!" "What the hell do you think you're doing, mujer?" "Oldies, oldies..." "you always listen to the oldies." ""I'm your puppet." "I'm your puppet."" "Who wants to be a puppet, huh?" "Okay, here you go." "This is los clasicos, mujer." "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" "Oldies, 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 do this." "Come on." "Come on." "Just try it, okay?" "Just try it, okay?" "Out, out, out." "Out, out." "Out." "Very good." "Good, I got it." "Oh, Jimmy!" "Oh, my gosh, hey, I did it." "Come on." "See?" "Try it with me." "Come on." "Please, just one more." "Come on, Jimmy." "Yes!" "Yes!" " All right, all right." " Okay, out." "Out." "Out." "Out, out." "There you go." "Out, out, out, out." "Ha ha ha!" "Hey, what are you looking at, puto, huh?" " What's up?" " Come on." "Just..." "All right, let's do it." "Put my hand where?" "Right here." "Just feel me." " Yeah, I feel you." " Okay?" "* Good morning, guavaberry *" "* Good morning, good morning... *" "Yeah!" "Ha ha ha!" " I stepped on your foot." " Come on." "Just try again." "Come on, Jimmy." "Try." "Okay, okay, I'll try." "Here you go." "See?" "See?" "See?" "Yeah, I see." "See?" "You're doing it." " Yeah?" " That's great." "Okay, let's see if I can do it." "Okay, now turn." "Whoa!" "Hey, that was nice." "* Good morning, guavaberry... *" "Okay, okay." "There you go!" "* Good morning, guavaberry *" "* Good morning, good morning... *" "Okay?" "Si." "Okay?" "Okay." "Whoa!" "Que viva la raza!" "Ey, Simon!" "Entonces que" "Pues..." "Eres mi hombre" "Si o no" "* Te regalo una rosa... *" "You want to teach me salsa?" "Si, vamos." "Come on." "* No se si esta desnuda *" "* O tiene un solo vestido. *" "I got 'em in prison." "Some of my carnales cut 'em for me." "How is possible?" "Well, with anything that's sharp, you know?" "A fork, a 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 the 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." "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." "All I felt was the anger." "It's like 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 I just..." "I just keep hearing that screaming in my head." "I hear the fucking screaming." "I know your feelings." "I know them." "I feel them, too." "I go around this big city... grandissima ciudad... but I'm alone." "No one know me." "When I was little, in El Salvador, los soldados came at night." "They pull my father out." "They kill him right there... right there in front of me." "I was..." "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 love you." "I love you." "Oh, man!" "I love you, babe." "Oh!" "Oh, man!" "You need me... and I need you." "Ha ha ha!" "I know you'll get in the middle." "Get in the middle." "Whoa!" "Look at Isabel." "She's five months pregnant, and she looks so great." "Yeah, they're always getting pregnant." "As soon as you get one trained, teach her some English, she can answer 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 somebody else, but you know what?" "I'm happy for her." "We're all happy for her." "And so, for the first time," "Jimmy joined the parade of workers crossing the bridges." "There was something about the idea of being a father." "Tomorrow had never mattered to him before, but now it mattered." "Hi, Jimmy." "Hey." "I came as soon as I could." "You know, I couldn't get off any earlier." "Oh, Jim, te amo." "I love you, too, baby." "I love you, too, hon." "Oh!" "What's wrong?" "Is something wrong?" "Everything all right?" "What should I do?" "Should I get somebody?" "I'll get somebody, all right?" "Is there a doctor around here?" "I'll be right back." "Just hang..." "I'll be right back." "Is there a doctor around here?" "Hey, nurse, my wife needs help." "You'll have to talk to the duty nurse." "I want you to get the doctor right now!" "Ohh!" "Ohh!" "Easy." "Easy." "Ohh!" "You did great." "You did great." "Got a fine-Iooking boy." "There you go." "Come on." "It's time for a bath." "Mi hijo." "Doctor, she's still bleeding a lot." "Jesus!" "Mask!" "Sponge!" " BP is going down." " Suture!" "Oh!" "Oh!" "Another sponge!" "Get Kelly." "See if you can find him." "Quick!" "Stat!" "Cihuateteo... that's what my mother called them... the souls of women who had died giving birth." "They became cihuateteo... the spirits that helped the sun to set." "Without them, the sun would not be able to rest." "Now maybe the greatest medical care in the world could not 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 one of the fancy hospitals on the west side, that she would be alive." " You Dr. McNally?" " Yes, what can I do for you?" " You killed my wife." " What are you talking about?" "I said you fucking killed my wife!" "Easy." "Oh my God... you must be the husband of that young woman." " What's her name?" " Her name was, uh..." "You can't even remember her fucking name." "It's just one spic, more or less." "What fucking difference does it make?" "You son of a bitch!" "You fucking killed my wife!" " We did everything we could for her!" " You just killed her!" "We did everything we could for her!" "What the fuck are you doing, man?" "You're fucking up, Jimmy!" "You want to go back to la pinta, man, huh?" "Just grab the fucking shit, tamalito!" "Come on!" "Let's go!" "Come on!" " Get the fuck out of here!" " Come on!" "Get the fuck out of here, carnal!" "Go!" "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... well, we were just useless unmarried men." "Aah!" "Oh!" "Me lleva la chingada!" "Maria!" "There's nothing to talk about, Paco." "I don't want nobody bringing him to see me." "I don't want him ever seeing me in here." "Jimmy, he's your son." "Nothing you did matters." "As soon as he's old enough..." "When he's old enough to know, you just tell him that 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 way." "I got the right." "I don't want to see nobody." "I don't want to hear from nobody." "Entiendes" "Do you know what this is going to do to our jefita and our jefito?" "No estas pensando tu." "Lookit, you got a son." "I got nothing, carnal." "I got nothing." "I got this, and the only thing I have to think about is doing my time and not letting the time do me, que no?" "You just think of me like I'm dead, huh?" "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 it 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... and 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 vato loco." "Ay!" "Lmuchacho travieso, sinverguenza, ven aqui!" "Te voy a pegar, mocoso!" "Lay!" "Mocoso, ya veras." "Muchacho malcriado, ahora veras." "Que pasa aqui, senora" "I've known your family for a long time, and they are good people." "Pero ese nino es una desgracia!" "Carlitos." "Ven aqui." "What am I going to do with you?" "Huh?" "I'm sorry, Abuelita." "I didn't mean to do it." "I didn't." "I don't know why I did it." "Te voy a comer vivo, vas a ver." "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, jefe." "Si." "A good year." "Mucha hierba." "The corn is strong." "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, jefe." "I need to start over... completely." "How's Carlitos?" "He gets into a lot of trouble... pero he's got a lot of spirit." "He's a fine boy, just like you, hmm?" "That's good." "I brought this." "It's the money I made in la pinta." "I thought it would help out with Carlitos and all." "Carlitos doesn't need any money." "He needs a father." "He needs you." "Es que no puedo, jefe." "I can't see him now... not the way that I am." "Maybe later, huh?" "Maybe some other time." "There's no other time, mijo." "That time never comes." "He needs you now." "Look, I know you aren't going to understand." "Take the money, huh?" "I'll send you more." "Adios, jefe." "Adios." "Abuelito!" "Si, mi chapulin" "I need your help now." "Por favor." "Por favor." "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." "Carlitos." "Hola, mi chavalito." "Hola, mi amor." "Que haces" "We have a surprise." "Come on." "Hey, little vato, how you doing today?" "Check this out." "Hmm." "Ha ha ha!" "That's nice." "Wow!" "Cool!" "Yeah." "Esta firme, ah" "I hate this!" "This is stupid!" "No, Carlitos, it's not stupid." "In the toy store, they said this is the latest..." "They don't know nothing at the toy store!" "Carlitos, don't be that way." "He is your father." "He's not my father." "I am your father, Carlitos." "You're my hijo." "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!" "Stop it, Carlitos." "Stop!" "Carlitos!" "Calma, calma." "Calma, hijo." "We have to give him a little time, that's all." "We're just going to give him a little time." " He's going to come around." " Escucha a Mami..." "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 to Disneyland?" "No." "Please." "No." "Please." "I don't want to see him anymore." "Lo siento, mijo." "He just doesn't want to go with you." "No, it's all right." "I understand." "He ain't got no reason to want me, jefita." "You know, 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 here for me now, huh?" "Here." "Take these and give them to Irene." "She could take her kids or something like that." "I got to go, okay?" "Jimmy was trying to come back from the dead, and it wasn't so easy." "But he was trying real hard to be part of la familia again, and he had the chance of his lifetime one Sunday when Memo brought his fiancee and her parents all the way from Bel Air to meet everybody." "Her name was Karen Gillespie." "She and Memo had 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." " Oh, this is lovely." " Yes." "Yes." "Thank you." "Bill, are those beans?" "Oh, that's right." "My father, he loves to plant vegetables." "I think that's wonderful." "Uh..." "Oh, hello, puppy." "Yeah." "Uh... don't mind Bandido here." "He's a little relaxed." "He's kind of a fixture here, as you can see." "There you go." "We've been wanting to meet your daughter." "I love your house." "It's... it's..." "After all the introductions, we got down to the serious 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." "Salud." "Salud Salud." "Ah, 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, so Memo is like Bill." "Bill." " Oh... that's cute." " Bill." "Memo." "That is cute." "Well, Karen certainly has told us all about you folks." "Oh, yes?" "Thank you." "Bill, don't you have a younger brother?" "Oh, you mean Jimbo." "Hey, Jimbo!" "He's around here." "Jimbo." " This is Jimmy." " 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've meant." "Mother, it's just one of those things." "Like, it happened." "It's not Bill's fault." "No, it's not." "Hey, you kids get out of here!" "Go on!" "Get out of here!" " So you folks are all from Mexico, huh?" " Yes." "My father walked here from Michoacan in 1926." "He was 18 years old." "Really?" "Yes." "It took me a year to get here." "Ha ha ha!" "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 here in Los Angeles, just like yourselves." "Si." "But he already had family here..." "your great-uncle." "He had been born here when this was Mexico." "That must have been a long time ago." "Not so long." "I remember him." "Paco, you remember." "El Californio..." "he's buried in the back." " In the backyard?" " Si." "He said in his will that he wanted to be buried in the back." "Dad, that's just an old story." "There's nobody buried in the backyard, right, Dad?" "Oh, yeah." "Yeah." "Oh, yeah." "Yeah." "It's an old family story." " Get out of here!" " Carlitos, go in the back!" "Let's go!" "Excuse me, please." "Care for some taquitos?" "I made these." "I made these." " Oh, oh." " Oh, well." "There's some salsa." "Well, they look delicious." "I hope you like them." "Taquitos, huh?" "Yes." "Pinches caballos!" "Carlitos!" "Pinches caballos!" "Pinches caballos!" "Pinches caballos!" "Jimmy!" "Put me down!" "He's your kid, why don't you teach him some manners?" "I got him!" "I got him!" "Just get him out of here." "You think you're better than anybody else?" "Just get him out of here." "Come on." "Come on." "Come on." "Put your shirt on!" "Put it on." "What's the matter with you anyway, huh?" "Come here." "Those people that are out there, they're very important to your Uncle Memo." "They're going to be part of la familia." "Shut up, you fucking asshole!" "Don't you ever talk like that to me again." "You understand me?" "!" "I'm your father." " You don't talk to me like that." " You're not my father!" "My father is..." "is 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's going to come in a big car, and we're going to go, he and me, back to Texas." "That's who my father is!" "He's not you!" "Come here, Carlitos." "I'm your f..." "Come here!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Throw it back!" "Hey!" "It's like I tried with him." "And I really don't want to go away anymore." "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." "Why not?" "Come back a rich man with a big car." "Ah, Jimmy." "But you take care now, huh?" "Adios." "Adios, jefe." "You make sure to say goodbye to mi jefita." "Oh, yeah." "Sure." "Yeah." "Paco, Toni, Irene..." "Memo, too." "You can say goodbye to him for me." "Que pasa What's that?" "Chapulin" " Chapulin!" " Jefe." "Carlitos." "Carlitos." "Carlitos." "Hey..." "I bet I'm in big trouble now." "No, no, no." "You're not in trouble." "Abuelito will be mad." "No, I don't think so." "But I chopped up all the corn." "Yeah, but that's nothing." "We'll just plant some new corn." "Then with the broken pieces, we just cut it up, and then we put it in the ground, and then it feeds all the rest of the corn." "Are you going?" "Yeah, I'm going." "Where are you going?" "I thought I would go and look for your father." "Would you like to come with me?" "I mean... maybe you could 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." "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's just going to leave me again!" "No, no, no, no." "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, and 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." "Jose." " Jose!" " Hmm?" "Ven, tu cafe con leche esta listo." "Vamos, hombre." "Andale." "Mi cafecito." "Maria..." "Hmm?" "We have had a good life." "We've been very lucky." "It would have been even better if only..." "No, 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." " Andale." " Si." "I remember mi familia." "* Senorita, senorita, su cuerpo es flor de canela *" "* Pongase un vestido blanco *" "* Y hagale fuego a la vela, Mamita *" "* Sooner or later, whoa-ho!" "*" "* Yes, you will get her *" "* Baile el merengue *" "* Whoa-ho!" "*" "* Baile wherever you are *" "* Hey *" "* Just move your feet, senorita *" "* Like the moon dance on the water *" "* You got to help me, negrita *" "* Holding your hips like the lotus, Mamita *" "* Sooner or later, whoa-ho!" "*" "* Yes, you will get her *" "* Baile el merengue, whoa-ho!" "*" "* Baile wherever you are *" "* And let the su senorita, awake the day *" "* Awake the day *" "* Don't wait too long, mi negrita, to move again *" "* Move again, again *" "* Mueve la cintura con un soplo de luz *" "* A-check it out *" "* Remember because I tell you so *" "* Toque el horizonte de un nuevo acordeon *" "* Tell me that you like it and you want some more *" "* All you got to do is get a partner, call me *" "* Call me *" "* Senorita, senorita, la estrella azul que me guia *" "* Arropeme con su pelo porque la noche esta fria, Mamita *" "* Sooner or later, whoa-ho!" "*" "* Yes, you will get her *" "* Baile el merengue, whoa-ho!" "*" "* Baile wherever you are *" "* Baile wherever you are *" "* Hey *" "* Just move your feet, senorita *" "* Like the moon dance on the water *" "* You got to help me, negrita *" "* Holding your hips like the lotus, Mamita *" "* Sooner or later, whoa-ho!" "*" "* Yes, you will get 'em *" "* Baile el merengue, whoa-ho!" "*" "* Baile wherever you are *" "* And let the sun, senorita, awake the day *" "* Awake the day *" "* Don't wait too long, mi negrita, to move again *" "* Once again, again *" "* Mueve la cintura con un soplo de luz *" "* A-check it out *" "* Remember because I tell you so *" "* Toque el horizonte de un nuevo acordeon *" "* Tell me that you like it and you want some more *" "* All you got to do is get a partner, call me *" "* Call me *" "* Senorita, senorita, su cuerpo es flor de canela *" "* Pongase un vestido blanco *" "* 'Cause now it's coming *" "* Now it's coming *" "* Now it's coming *" "* Whoa, no, no, no *" "* Now it's coming, and it's coming *" "* Now it's coming *" "* Ay, Mamita *" "* Senorita *" "* Whoa, no, no, no, no *" "* Oh, baby *" "* Singing the song again and again *" "* Senorita *" "* Hey *" "* Oh, baby, singing the song. *"