"Thank you, God, for letting me have another day." "I'm not even sick!" "You don't look so hot to me." " You get yourself outta here!" " Take it easy, viejo." "You should have a little more respect for your elders." "How do you know I didn't come here to help?" "Well, nobody around here needs your help." "Ah?" "Relax, amigo." "Relax." "It's your town that's dying." "Lupita." "Lupita!" "Lupita!" "Don Amarante de Milagro," "I see windmills on your horizon." "Lupita!" "Lupita!" "Ay, Lupita.!" ";" "La camisa de Mario.!" ";" "Lupita.!" "Goddamn pig!" "Go on.!" "Get outta here, Lupita.!" "Go on.!" "I told you you wouldn't like it." "Okay, we're open." "Let's go to work." "Listos?" "Where you gonna drive to, anyway?" "Did you say good-bye to Lisa?" "Yeah." "Esperate un momento." "Esperate un momento." "Here, hon." "There's something about this day." "Oh, come on, hon." "Let a smile be your umbrella." "Oye, Ramon." "Ven por aqui." "Hola, muchachos." "Como estan?" "Muy bien, gracias." "Bueno." "It's a pretty day." "Yeah." "So far." "Perro!" "Heads Up.!" "Swing wide.!" "We need a flat bar over here.!" " What?" "A flat bar.!" "Hey." "Look at that." " Hey, Shorty!" " Yo, Joe!" "You got any work for me?" "Can't help ya." "Sorry, Joe." "I can run a backhoe." "I can lay pipe." "I'm a good finish carpenter." "What can I tell ya?" "What the hell is this?" "That's the future, amigo." "You can see it." "Hi!" "The views will just knock your eyes out." "Ladd, is this development gonna be as big as the Dancing Trout?" "No." "Miracle Valley, in fact, is gonna go far beyond what we've done at the Dancing Trout." "It's going to be the largest leisure-time development in the history of New Mexico." "This is the greatest thing that has ever happened, and the city of Milagro and the people of Milagro are behind this project 100%." "Here's the water, and I can't use it." "You can't do this." "You can't have that." "Dios!" "What's the use?" " Shit." " Que hace aqui?" "Vayase de aqui!" "Quien le dio permiso para entrar?" " Jose.!" " Buenas tardes, Amarante." "Buenas tardes, Jose." "I was talking to your father the other day." "He was telling me he was going to have the squash all near the house..." "My father's dead. and the corn all over along the chicken coop." "Amarante.!" "Yeah?" "Amarante, my father's been dead for six years." "Yes." "I know." "What are you doing here?" "I'm gonna sell the place." "It's not good for anything anymore." "This fileid's dying of thirst." "Everybody else has sold out." "Did they say you could use the water?" "Aw, shit." "It must've come loose when I kicked it." "I ought to shut it off, huh?" "Maybe I'll sleep on it." " Hi." " Hi." "I'm gonna get a new motor for that dryer." " Is something wrong?" " Hijita!" "Estan bien, Papa." "How come we don't pick raspberries anymore?" "When I was a kid, my dad used to take us up to the hills every August." "We'd pick raspberries." "Sometimes on summer nights, he'd take me out to shoot baskets." "How come I never get to do that with our kids?" "I'm always too tired, too busy, too broke." "Jesus, it's always something." "Cuidado.;" "No.!" "Ay, ay, ay.!" "Good morning, Amarante." "How are you?" "Still living, thanks to God." "Do you know what I know?" "What I saw?" "The devil riding a white horse through town?" "A white horse, the devil." "Jose Mondragon let water into his father's bean field." "Ay, chihuahua!" "I'm not saying it's good, and I'm not saying it's bad." "Ay, vieja loca!" "You know, the Mexican was slurping on the soup." "And he kept saying, "How do you likey your soupy, Lupe?"" "The Mexican got hot, man.!" "He said, "Hey, man." "Don't be calling me Lupe. "" "Your mother hit me with another rock." "They're just pebbles." "I hid all the rocks." "Jose Mondragon is irrigating his old man's field over by the highway." ""How you likey my speechy, son of a bitchy?"" "Joe Mondragon... is irrigating his old man's bean field over by the highway!" "What?" "He can't do that." "Did you know Jose Mondragon was watering his father's bean field?" "Que?" "Sammy!" "Is the mayor in?" "Joe Mondragon is irrigating..." "I don't know what you do to your cars." "I think it's the alternator." "How much is that gonna cost me?" " Hey!" "Where in the hell have you been?" " Slow down, Sammy." "Have you heard yet?" "You gonna be on The Price is Right?" "Joe Mondragon is cutting water into his dad's old field over on the west side." "Why would he wanna do something like that for?" "What about when Devine finds out?" "Relax." "You didn't do it." "No, but I'm the mayor!" "What?" "Yeah." "What does that half-pint son of a bitch wanna cause so much trouble for?" "I knew Jose Mondragon couldn't go through his entire life... without attempting at least one great thing." "How come you kids are watching TV?" "Mom said we could!" "I'm gonna have this damn thing repossessed." "I didn't raise my kids to be lapping up that garbage!" "Now get out!" "Get out." "All of you!" "I never watched TV when I was a kid." "You never had a television." "Tobias called." "He wants you to fix his refrigerator." "Nobody can fix that refrigerator." "What do you say you and I take a nap?" "Aren't you gonna answer that?" " I don't need to." " You know already?" "Everybody knows already." "I heard it from Stella Armijo and Betty Apodaca... and Lucy Hernandez and Gloria Martinez... and everybody else who has a telephone!" "Good." "We don't have nothin' to talk about." " Maybe you should have talked to somebody before you did it." " If I had," "I'd still be talking;" "it's done now!" " How could you keep this from me, Joe?" " I didn't wanna worry you." "Bueno, bueno.!" "My husband wants to get himself shot... without giving his wife a chance to worry?" " It's my bean field, Nancy!" " It's not your water!" "I'm scared, Jose." "I'm trembling, I'm so scared." "I'm gonna plant that bean field, Nancy." "Good." "The children and I'll decorate your tombstone with beans instead of flowers." "Would you like a punch in the mouth?" "Go ahead." "I'll hit you so hard, they'll arrest you in El Paso for speeding." "Nobody gives a damn about a lousy bean field, Nancy." "He's irrigating parcel 1477, which is... right here." "It's in the middle of what's going to be the 13th fairway." "That's the only piece of property on the west side we don't own." "Then why don't you go tell him to stop, Bernie?" "Because he'll tell me to go sit on a chile and go right on irrigating." "Well, then, arrest him." "I don't think that is such a good idea." "Oh, I see." "We just let lawbreakers go in Milagro, is that it?" "Why don't we see if he needs anything out there?" "Anybody here need anything?" " Okay." "Bye." " Mr. Devine, I think that people will get very upset..." "Aw, come on, Bernie." "Nobody's gonna go off half-cocked... just because Joe Mondragon gets arrested." "I know this town." "These are my people." "Jerry, your own people would like to see you strung up by your nuts." "You're a Forest Service cop." "I'm surprised that fat, green truck of yours... doesn't blow up every morning when you step on the gas." "Look, the man cannot keep running water off, and that's it." "I wouldn't even know what to arrest him for." "Nobody even understands the water laws." " State engineer." " What?" "State engineer." "It's really their problem, and the governor's." "We can't keep stalling Williams." "I promised him an okay for three test wells." "You gotta put some kind of limit on drilling permits that close to Santa Fe." "Too damn visible." "Oh, shit." "You want cutbacks." "Did you know Commerce just lowered our ranking again in terms of per capita income?" "They did?" "Yes, they did." "There's a call for you." "You know, Clark, you think small." "You brayed like a goddamn mule when they put in that Mesa Verde reactor!" "Mesa Verde!" "We've already got Los Alamos, White Sands, Sandias." "Who the fuck is Joe Mondragon?" "Charlie Bloom?" "Bloom?" "Yeah?" " I'm Ruby Archuleta." " Yeah, I know." "I wanna find out..." "What do you know?" "Oh, nothing, nothing." "I, uh... just spendin' the afternoon, uh, tryin' to keep old Amarante's pig out of my garden." "A good-sized rat could knock this over." " Is there a paper coming out next week?" "Probably." "You takin'out an ad?" "You gonna write an article aboutJoe's bean field?" "Mmm." "Well, I don't know if I am or not, Ruby." "That's..." "That's kind of a touchy situation, don't you think?" "Don't you think this new recreation area is a touchy situation?" "And what's the new recreation area got to do with Joe Mondragon?" "Nothing, if you don't write anything about it." "Joe's bean field could draw some attention to this whole Miracle Valley project." "You know what I think?" "I think that'll just work people up." "I think they'll get all worked up, and maybe somebody'll get hurt." "ProbablyJoe." "In the end, I don't think anything will change." "I thought you were supposed to be some big, progressive lawyer." "Hmm, big?" "Big?" "Never." "No." "But my clients couldn't pay, so I guess, uh, progressive." "So you're retired?" "I don't have to defend my lifestyle to you or anybody." "I've been representing guys likeJoe most of my life." "I know a lost cause when I see one." "So do I. I'll write the article myself, and I'll pay you to print it." "Let's face it, Bloom." "You're just not up to it." "Where does she get off talkin' to us like that, huh, daisy?" "Plus cinco?" "Siete!" "Right." "Cinco plus cuatro?" "Nueve!" "Esta Milagro." "Okay, yeah." "Bye." "Bye!" "Appreciate it." "Hi." "Excuse me." "Do you know where I can find Mr. Cantu?" "Sammy Cantu?" "Billy Cantu?" "Meliton Cantu?" "Felipe?" "Amarante?" "Chemo?" "Which one?" "Well, uh, let me take a look here." "I got, uh..." "Agh!" "Say, excuse me." "Okay." "Excuse me." "Would you be able to tell me where Mayor Cantu is?" "Alli esta." " 'Alli esta';" " How's your leg?" " Oh, okay." "Ah!" "Mr..." "Mr. Cantu?" "Mr. Cantu." "Hi." "Hi." "Herbie Platt." "Department of Sociology, N.Y.U.?" "Yeah?" "Wait." "Wait a second." "Herbert Platt." "Department of Sociology." "I'm doin' research." "I'm writin' a thesis." "Yeah." "Mm-hmm." "Oh." "I'm..." "I'm supposed to be here six months." "I've got a grant to stay here." "Hey, cut it out, woman!" "I want you to help me with these." "Can I have a Popsicle fiirst?" "I want you to help me with this." "Yeah, but can I have a Popsicle first?" "Okay." "Put these on my bill, huh?" "So, you gonna eat these beans?" "No, I'm gonna grow 'em." "Then you're out of credit." "You already owe 96 bucks." "How much for the beans?" "Nine dollars and eighty cents." " Put 'em back." " But you said..." " Put 'em back!" "Okay, okay!" "Cuando te digo, hazlo, me entiendes?" "Ahora." "Recoge esos y vayanse al carro." "And no one told you I was coming, huh?" "Nobody told me." "That doesn't mean nobody told nobody." "Maybe somebody told somebody." "But nobody told me." " I don't have a place to stay?" " We have to get you a house?" "Well, no, no." "But I..." "I need a place to stay." "Look, I..." "I'm not lookin' for a handout here." "I'm gonna work." "I'm plannin' on workin'." "I wanna help out.!" "Maybe... teach." "Look, if we don't know it already, chances are we're not interested in learning' it." "Wh-Wh-Wh..." "What am I supposed to do?" "Join the army." "Hey." "You know that help you were offering back there?" "Is that for free?" "Yeah." "Hop in." "I know a place you could stay, if you're not too particular." "I'm..." "Hey, thanks!" "Great." "Move over, kids." "Hey, thank you." "I'm Herb." "Nice to meet you." "Joe." "Hi." "Who are you?" "Mario." "Hi, Mario." "Hello." "Aah." "Gonna have to get that fixed." "Okay, here you go." "You're sure I'm not gonna be puttin' anybody out?" "A few snakes, maybe." "I'll get you a cot and a heater." "You'll be all set." "Yeah, this'll be fine." "This was used as grazing land by old man Devine." "Then what we did was, we put in the Ribald Ditch... to irrigate the land for the small farmer." "Who's that?" "Detective." "Conducted an evaluation to determine whether to continue this program." " We found out it wouldn't be very feasible." "So, as a result of the Interstate Water Compact of'73, these people lost their irrigation rights." "The farms dried up." "Most sold out to Devine." "Why is this gettin' dumped on me?" "Because, Governor, we approved the dam and the conservancy district... in order to make the development possible." "This will open up the north to economic opportunities." " That sounds good to me." " Except the people living there now... will find taxes so high, they'll have to sell out or lose their land." " They know about that?" " That's the point." "We don't want to wake these folks up." "We have to do something." "That son of a bitch is breakin' the law!" "Gentlemen, exactly what is the problem?" "If we arrest him, we could end up in a hornet's nest." "It could turn violent." "It would certainly have racial overtones." " Very hard to keep that quiet." " Generate publicity we don't want." " Why should there be any publicity?" " Wait a minute." "There's an attorney up there by the name of Charlie Bloom." "He's an activist." "He runs a small, bimonthly paper that covers all of San Juan County." "We sure as hell don't want him turning Mondragon into a folk hero." "So y-you just want to stop "Mandrigen"..." "Mondragon... without an arrest." " Yes." " Mm-hmm." " Exactly." "All right." "Here you go, sir." "I asked for something used." "That's all we've got." "Andale.!" ";" "Vete, Lupita.!" "Hey, Jose." "What are you up to, cousin?" "Lookin' around." "Keepin' an eye on things." "What are you planting?" "Beans." "Pintos." "Beans, huh?" "What's the matter, Bernie?" "You afraid this thing will keep you from getting reelected?" "Nah, nah." "Got a heavy majority in this town." "Come on." "You beat Luis Armijo by two votes." "That's because Domingo and Gustave were out of town." " So you would have won by four." " Hell, no." "Those guys vote six, seven times apiece." "Joe." "Think about this thing before it gets out of hand." "I'm asking you as a friend, someone you used to run with." "Why don't you think about running with me now?" " Run where?" "Where are you running to?" " I don't know!" "All I know is I'm not gonna go north like my dad... and pick somebody else's beans for two fucking dollars an hour." "Joe." "So you're not gonna stop." "I'll stop when I think I'm doing the wrong thing." "It's beautiful, isn't it?" "Yes, it is." "I don't think your boy knows what he's in for." "Nobody would do anything if they knew what they were in for." "Maybe so, but the bogeyman just came to town." "Cop." "Gotta be." "Yeah." "He wants dinero." "Here's the article." "How much?" "Uh, we don't need it." "I just wrote your article." "I'm almost finished." "Is it any good?" "Well, it's not bad." "Better keep this one anyway, in case yours isn't strong enough." "This is, uh..." "Hey, wait a minute." "You can't write this." "This one doesn't even mention the meeting we're going to have about the recreation area." "Well, this one will get us both sued for libel." "Say, since you're a lawyer, why don't you go and talk to the people?" "Give them an idea, an explanation what's going to be happening to this valley." "Talk to the people?" "No, I don't think so." "Why not?" "Well, it's very hard to get people to agree in this town." "First there'd be an argument." "Then there'd be a fight..." "Okay." "I don't think..." "That's okay." "I don't want to argue." "I'm happy you wrote the article." "Will you at least go to the meeting?" "How could it hurt you?" "I don't know yet." "Probably in a way that I'm overlooking right now." "You can cover it for your paper." "Yeah." "Yeah, I could cover it for the paper." " But you won't talk?" " No, I won't talk." "Okay." "It's a deal." "What's a deal?" "You?" "Posible." "How's your research coming?" "Shouldn't you be taking notes or something?" "Yeah, I am." "I am." "Hey, uh, who's the old guy over there?" "Hmm?" "Amarante Cordova." "He's the oldest man in Milagro." "Oh." "Well, is he, uh..." "You know, is he okay?" "I meant, with his head." "Last night I heard him shouting' or something." "I think it was to himself." "I thought he was alone." "He was probably talking to a saint or an angel." "A what?" "Hey, don't worry about it." "They've never seen a college guy planting a bean fileid before." "Oh." "Hola!" "Bernie." "This is Kyril Montana." "This is our sheriff, Bernie Montoya." "Mr. Montana's from the capital." "I know." "How do you know?" "My cleaning lady told me." "This was found in my driveway this morning." "It's probably some kind of a joke." "I don't think it's funny." "What does "zopilote" mean?" "Vulture." "Buzzard." "And who is "El Brazo Onofre"?" "That's Onofre Martinez's arm." "He lost it in an accident some time ago and nobody ever found it." "People around here think it leads a life of its own." "Yeah." "Something turns up missing in Milagro, people feel El Brazo stole it." "Young girls returning home at night from their date... without their underwear usually blame him." "Well, that looks like a death threat to me." "I'd say a prank, Mr. Devine." "You got surveillance on Charlie Bloom?" "What for?" "He's a professional agitator." "He's organized demonstrations, disrupted courtrooms, defended every leftist he could." "Been in jail several times." "Bloom?" "Mondragon didn't come up with this by himself." "When does Bloom's paper come out?" " Couple of days." " You know the routes of his trucks?" "He delivers them himself." "I don't think there's a problem." "I want some copies of La Voz." "Sure, Mr. Capps." "How many would you like?" "All of'em." "Este estara bueno?" "No, that's no good." "Try the other one." "Hey, Nick?" "Has Bloom delivered the papers yet?" "He sure has." "Where are they?" "Sold out." " What are you talking about?" " They're all bought." "Nick." "Where are the papers?" "Ruby, I-I'm sold out." "My friends, my cousins." "Do you remember when we were not rich, but when our poverty was different... not a thing to be ashamed of." "There was a time when our children stayed home... and raised their children in Milagro." "Think about that." "We could become a town of old men and old women." "We are a family, and I love you very much." "But I must tell you, sometimes when I wake up in Milagro, I wanna cry." "I think of Ladd Devine and the development, and I know, if it comes, it means the end for most of us." "I've spent too much of my life watching bad things happen to my people." "But... if we want to fight the recreation area, we have to understand it." "I know." "It is very complicated." "That's why I asked our friend, Charlie Bloom, to talk to us tonight and explain things." "Charlie?" "Thank you, Ruby." "Uh, good evening." "See, once wealthier people from out of state move in, they want things." "They want..." "They want new schools for their children... not necessarily yours, for theirs." "They want new roads, new sewage systems... for cleaner water for their shiny new faucets." "And for all of these things, they are able to pay." "But at the same time, you also are gonna have to pay." "Your taxes are gonna go sky high." "And it is doubtful..." "very, very doubtful... that any of you will be holding the new, higher-paying jobs." "Unless, of course, you happen to be a golf pro." " So my guess is that most of you... will be forced to sell out and to move elsewhere." "Are there any questions?" "Yes?" "We ought to go out and irrigate the whole west side.!" "Estas loco?" "They would set up a machine gun and kill the bunch of us." "Are we gonna let an outsider tell us how to run our lives?" " Jerry, just let him talk." "This could make us all rich." "It could make you rich." "Come on, Jerry G. It's a trap, man." "Don't you know that?" "They build that dam, and the next morning we'll all wake up in El Chuco, Texas, like a bunch of mojados." " Benny, think, man." "Think!" " Sit down, Jerry!" "Joe, maybe you shouldn't irrigate." "A lot of innocent people can get hurt." "Over what, amigo?" "One little bean field and a couple of gallons of water?" "That's no little bean field." "That's trouble." "Nick, hold it!" "I was hoping we could form ourselves into a group." "Something like the "Milagro Land and Water Protection Association. "" " No way, Ruby!" "No way!" " I nominateJoe Mondragon to be president... of the Milagro Land, uh, whatever." " No." "Not me." "I ain't no president." " You started this, Joe." "If the chota puts a bullet in my ear, it's because of your bean field!" "I didn't call for this meeting." "Joe." "I didn't ask for help." "No!" "If that's the way you feel, I'm gonna plow this thing under." " The hell you will!" " I nominate myself president." " I nominate Ruby Archuleta for president." " You can't have a woman." "Why not?" " Let's form a committee." " I didn't grow this thing for you to form a committee." "And I don't wanna be nobody's president!" " Aw, who wants you?" " You nominated him." "Cousins, please!" "I feel that I could get good work in a recreation area." "As a busboy?" " Come on!" "Come on, people!" "We're all growing donkey ears here." "Let's go home." " Let's vote first." " Vote on what?" " Whatever we're gonna do." " And what are we gonna do?" " I don't need their money." " Like hell." "You still owe me 40 bucks!" " I paid you that." "Bullshit!" "This was a good idea." "All you're gonna do is scrub dishes, that's all." " I can get any damn job I want, Benny!" " Yeah?" "Who's gonna hire you?" "I got a skill, pendejo." "Yeah?" "Bending over every time you see a gringo dollar?" "I don't kiss nobody's ass!" "You're under arrest!" "What for?" "For creating a disturbance." "Oh." " And they threw Bloom's ass in jail." "Idiots!" "Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." "What a start for a revolution, eh, viejo?" "Milagro will wake up." "You'll see." "The people will fight Devine." "Hello?" "Oh." "Will they fight their feared enemies?" " Hello?" " Who the fuck is that?" "For that pitiful bean fileid that can't grow one weed?" "What do you mean?" "These fiields have been growing beans... since the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo." "Hell, you don't know anything about it." "Hi." "I'm sorry." "Am I interrupting you?" "Well, I'm..." "I'm Herbie Platt." "I live..." "Yes, I know." "You work forJose." " Right." "Well, I'm also a sociologist." " What?" "I'm doing a study on indigenous cultures in the Southwest." "If you had time..." " What is that?" "What are you doing?" " It's a tape recorder." "What, uh, what does Milagro mean?" "Miracle." "Like the town." "Ah." "Oh, thank you." "Oh, this looks good." "What is it?" "Lizard tail tea." "Ohh." "Been in the family for generations, I bet." "No, I found it on the highway this morning." "Ah." "Hey, uh, wh-what..." "What was that little statue I saw out there on the altar?" "Ah." "Mmm." "Mmm." "SaintJude." "He's the patron saint of desperate causes." "Pulled me through six operations." "I would be long dead except for him." "Really?" "How did he do that?" "He's a saint." "Yeah, I know." "But..." "But..." "I mean..." "No, no, no, no." "You have to put out for him a nice meal." "Some tamales, some salsa." "Maybe a little beer." "And then you talk to him and ask him for help." "People now..." "I don't know." "They have forgotten how to act with saints... or talk to angels." "Angels." "Now, now, angels." "I mean, do you mean..." "Yes." "They are around here." "They've been dead a while." "But you actually talk to the angels?" "Those are the only ones around... get time to spare." "I'll give you a lift home." "Get in." "Thanks, Ruby, for bailing me out." "Look, I'd be a hell of a lot more grateful... if you hadn't gotten me in in the first place." "Or at least if you had bailed me out sooner!" "I had no cash." "I had to wait for the bank to open." "Oh, I see!" "So I got no reason to be sore?" "No." "You had all night to get over it." "You were right." "They weren't ready for a meeting like that." "That's why I think it's best to circulate a petition." "Line them up..." "one at a time." "Petition?" "Nobody writes petitions anymore." "Mostly because nobody reads 'em." "I don't care if they read it." "What's important, Charlie, is people get together to sign it." "People in this town have been burned too many times signing' papers, Ruby." "You're gonna get their hopes up." "They're gonna come crashing down." "Then they're gonna blame you." "I've seen it a hundred times." "I don't know where you come from, but things must turn out shitty there." "Wake up, Ruby!" "It's not the '60s." "Nobody gives a shit anymore." "I do!" "What do you know about people here?" "You're a tourist." "You write your sympathetic articles, but when it gets rough, you run away to someplace more comfortable." "My people have been here for 300 years." "I have a right to stay." "Great." "Stay." "Your garage business will triple." "I don't fix those kind of cars." "Well... you better start." "What good is a hometown, if everyone you know is gone?" " Buenas tardes, Senor Platt." " Oh, hello, Amarante." "I brought you Saint Ignacio." "He helps smart people." "Wh..." "Thank you." "Maybe you could use a couple of other saints too." "Osha." "Osha?" "It keeps the rattlesnakes away." "Good night, neighbor." "Thank you." "Mmm.!" "Oh." "If you sleep with your bed pointed west, you're just asking for stomach trouble." "The scorpions will make nests in your shoes if you leave them there." "And be sure not to lean too far back on the seat in the outhouse... or let your testicles swing up under the wood." "Black widows." "Who were your parents?" "Do you have your parents still living?" "Oh, yeah." "They live in..." "I grew up in New York." "New York." "That is so far away." "I saw that on a map." "A couple times?" "Yeah, yeah." "Sure." "Two." "You been around the block twice." "You don't get out much." "No, not very much." "What are you laughing at?"