“With friends like this, who needs enemies?” Henry Youngman
countryclassiccars.com
By Richard Juarez
I didn’t want to get in. Tony and I were already halfway home. We didn’t need a ride. Not with them. It seemed like every time I was around these guys, something bad would happen. I didn’t need more trouble, and I certainly didn’t want to hear more yelling from my mother about hanging out with these guys again.
“Get in, cabrón!” yelled Eddie, “I ain’t gonna sit here all day waiting for you to decide.”
Arturo motioned urgently toward the back seat. “Come on, Vincent. Get in!” He was sitting in the front next to his brother. “Eddie doesn’t have much time. He’s gotta get out to PB.”
Eddie should have been a senior but he dropped out in the tenth grade, the same grade the rest of us were in now, and was working the late shift at a taco shop out in Pacific Beach. I didn’t see him much now that he had a car. But I knew he liked to drive by school once in a while to check out his old friends and see some of the girls he never sees anymore.
I wanted to just keep walking with Tony. We’d known each other since before either of us could remember. Tony’s sister, Alice, and my sister, Gracie, had been friends since kindergarten, and they used to drag us along when they played together. So we had just always been friends. Tony and I usually walked home after school. Once in a while we took the bus, but we didn’t live that far from school, so most of the time we just saved the money, unless we had a big load of books, or Tony had to get to work early at Amador’s market.
I wanted to keep going. Even though it was mid-February, the temperature was in the high 60s, so it was a comfortable walk. We were walking along 16th Street through the eastern edge of downtown, with its boarded up storefronts, old warehouses that badly needed paint, some buildings with small apartments, and a few old houses. A lot of homeless hung out in the area between 15th and 17th Streets. That’s why most of the kids at San Diego High from Barrio Logan preferred to walk home along 12th Street, the other main corridor that went directly south past Imperial Avenue and into the barrio. That’s where we should have been. Then these guys wouldn’t have seen us.
“Ah, come on,” Tony said as he climbed into the back seat, “We’ll get home faster.”
Not that much faster, I thought to myself, knowing the car. The faded grey 1970 Chevy Nova was as old as me, and ran about as bad as it looked. But then again, it ran.
“Hey, man,” said Eddie, raising his voice again as I continued to hesitate, “You want a ride or not?” He tightly gripped the leather steering wheel cover with his left hand, while he impatiently tapped on it with his right, waiting for my answer. It looked like he had added some more tattoos on his hands from what I remembered seeing.
“The sissy’s mama don’t want him hanging with his homies!” Pablito yelled, and laughed from the other side of the back seat. Arturo and Eddie laughed with him.
They all knew my mother didn’t want me hanging around with them. I hated it when they started making fun of me because of it, especially Pablito, who only did it when the others were around to back him up, because he knew I’d kick his ass—again. I couldn’t let him get away with it.
“Move your butt over,” I yelled as I came around and opened the door on his side. “You get to be the sissy and sit in the middle.” He didn’t move, so I just plowed into him, like a football player smacking into a blocking sled. Although Pablito was almost a year older, he was about four inches shorter than me and even skinnier, so sliding him over on the grey vinyl seat wasn’t hard. Trouble was I knocked him into Tony, who wasn’t very happy about it. Tony was just a little shorter than me at about five-eight, but not as thin. He immediately pushed Pablito back. But after a little shoving and elbowing back and forth, we settled down to enjoy the ride, checking out the view as Eddie cruised south down 16th Street toward Barrio Logan. I tried hard not to think about what my mother would do if she found out.
Arturo and Pablito preferred walking through this area after school, where they could check out their potential customers. Eddie seemed to do his business elsewhere, with higher-end customers, but he let Arturo and Pablito handle the small stuff. They would occasionally sell a few joints to these poor guys on the street who were looking for a little high. I don’t think they sold much, because they never had much money. But I didn’t know for sure. I really didn’t want to know. They knew Tony and I didn’t want to be involved in that, so they usually didn’t sell stuff when we were with them. Before Eddie started working he was always asking if I wanted any weed to sell to these guys on the street or at school. Although it sounded like it might be an easy way of getting a little cash to spend, I couldn’t deal with the thought of getting caught at school, or my parents finding a stash at home. Then I’d really be in for it!
“Hey!” I yelled in panic when Eddie turned and headed east on Imperial. “We’re just a few blocks from home. Where are you going?”
“We’re taking the scenic route,” said Eddie, laughing with Arturo.
It wasn’t really that far out of our way to head east a few blocks to 25th Street, then south under the I-5 freeway bridge and into the heart of Barrio Logan, right next to Chicano Park. Eddie used to spend all day hanging out in the park with his dropout friends. That was before he got his job. But you could never tell what these guys were up to. I sort of calmed down, knowing that Eddie didn’t have much time. He didn’t have a great job, but it was a job. I thought he wouldn’t want to blow it by being late. I mean, what kind of trouble could he get us into in just a few minutes?
As I stared out the side window I noticed that a number of buildings along Imperial, both residences and businesses, had gotten new paint jobs. While they were older buildings, they looked in much better shape than back along 16th Street. This strip along Imperial Avenue used to be mostly Black-owned businesses, and the residents nearby were predominantly Black. But as Black families moved out, and more Mexicans moved into the adjacent Sherman Heights and Logan Heights neighborhoods, more signs in Spanish had been showing up.
“There it is! Just like yesterday!” yelled Arturo. I turned to see what he was yelling about, just as the car came to a sudden stop. So sudden, I almost hit the back of Eddie’s seat with my face. Immediately Eddie, Arturo and Pablito were yelling and laughing. Eddie had stopped just before 25th Street, next to a Coca Cola delivery truck that was double-parked. Arturo leaned way out the window, reaching for a case of cokes on the truck. Tony and I looked at each other, and started laughing along with them. I couldn’t believe they were doing this. They said they saw the truck making deliveries the day before, and came back to see if it would be there again. Just our luck, or bad luck, it was.
Everyone was laughing and having a great time as Arturo pulled the sodas into the car and slid back down in his seat. Eddie sped off and turned at the corner. There was a horn honking, but no one seemed to be paying attention. As we turned the corner at 25th Street, I saw the post office truck sitting at the light, the driver shaking his fist at us, flailing away on his horn. The guy saw the whole thing. I turned around to see what he was going to do, and by then the light had changed. He sped through the intersection and caught up with us before we had gone one block.
“Oh, hell,” cried Tony. “That’s Mr. Romero, our mailman. We are screwed!”
Copyright © 2013 Richard Juarez
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You can subscribe to Tío Emilio and the Ancestors and get an email whenever a new chapter in this novel is posted.
Richard Juarez
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- Tío Emilio and the Secrets of the Ancestors: Chapter 25 — Ending - November 9, 2013
Rich….I am looking forward to reading the rest of your book!
Thanks Denise. You’ve heard about this book-in-progress for so long, now you can finally read it!
Nice cliffhanger!
Wait until you see what’s in chapter 2!!
Thanks for your help getting the word out about being published in SDFP.
I am really excited to read the entire book. I am a school friend of your sister Becky’s from Castle Park High School. Congratulations on your book!
Susie, thank you. Becky did a great job of getting the word out to friends and family.
I hope you enjoy reading about the journey of Vincent and Tony into the Secrets of the Ancestors.
Richard- it is wonderful to know that I can settle in on Saturday mornings with a cup of steaming coffee and a new chapter of your book. Welcome to SDFP!
Anna, thank you for your support and the support of the whole crew there at SDFP in allowing the story to be published in weekly installments in the SDFP. Like you, I am looking forward to Saturdays so I can see what’s next for Vincent and Tony.
Don Richard, It was a pleasure to me to read the first chapter of your interesting novel! If The Lord will I will be waiting the next chapter ever Saturday.
I wish you a lot of success and many more blessings.
Thank you Vicky. I hope you enjoy our weekly journey together.
Yes Mr. Juarez, I am sure that we will.
Thanks for letting me know about your story. Enjoyed it!
Good start Rich, it is engaging and mysterious. Looking forward to the forthcoming chapters. When do you build the Mercado Apartments?
Roger, that will be in book 2!
Great start, Rich! I’m hooked.
Too cool Richard!!!
Very cool, Brother Man! Like the energy of the young folks, rascals and regulars. Waiting for next Saturday to see que pasa! Will send out, albeit a bit late, notice to my friends.
Thanks, Carolina. You will especially like next week’s installment, as Vincent learns some interesting things about his father.
Dear Mr. Juarez,
Your text is so vivid that I was transported to the moment. Reminded me a bit of my life in Calexico, forever doing the wrong thing but thankfully not suffering too many consequences from making wrong decisions. Can’t wait to hear what happens next.
Thanks for your comments, Suchi. One of the themes in the novel is life is about the choices we make, and those choices have consequences, good and bad. The boys are in the midst of learning about the bad.
Rich, adding this read to my to do list on Saturday. Tell brother Roger 1996 for the Mercado
Roberto….actually 1994 for the Mercado but the story goes beyond the construction….thanks for your collaboration with the Red Steps to this day I still hear about what a difference their participation in the pre-apprenticeship program made on their lives..
Enjoyed the characters and the barrio San Diego setting. Reminds me of my teenage misadventures in the “hood” in the 60’s. I’m hooked Richard.
Ken, and Suchi above, glad to hear the story transported you back to your early years. That’s the magic of storytelling. That’s why I loved writing the story. I was transported back to an earlier time, and I was there experiencing an adventure, some memories, some fictional, but related to what we went through in our teens.
Richard,
Great start to what is going to be a great story…I will get this out to as many of our relatives as i can so they can have a great Saturday morning read!
Love, Martha
Martha–Glad you enjoyed the first chapter. Thanks for helping to get the word out to family and friends.
What an accomplishment!! Congratulations Richard, looking forward to other chapters.
Linda, Martha, Robert, Carmina, Yoli, and Connie,
Thanks for your comments. Stay tuned for what will be a most interesting journey. I know about the anticipation of wondering what will be in the next chapter. As I was working on the draft(s), and describing the story to a friend, I was asked, “So what happens next?” I said, “I don’t know, I haven’t read that far.”
Primo, awesome read! Looking forward to the next chapters! Congratulations.
Octavio–Thanks. Glad you are joining us for the ride!
Richard, Martha just sent this to me a little while ago…
I read a book almost every day, and I can tell this is going to be a great story!
It will be difficult to wait a whole week to read the next installment!
Your writing style is very engaging; I am actually in bed sick, but for a few minutes, I was right there in that Chevy Nova, laughing out loud when they sped off with the cokes. And saying, oh hell! right along with Tony as he recognized Mr. Romero. I’m definitely going to share this with my friends!
Dina–thanks for your kind comments. About being right there in the Nova, that is why I loved writing the story. No Matter how many revisions, I was back inside the car each time laughing, and at the same time, saying no…no…no….
:-) And I bet it’s going to go downhill from there :-)
Richard, what a great idea and book so far! I felt like I too was in that
car “hanging” with the guys. Can’t wait for next week’s read! Proud
of you, Primo.
Hey Cuz, thanks for adding your comments. I’m glad you like it so far. Enjoy the journey with us.
I didn’t get a chance to read it yesterday, so I read it this afternoon. I am looking forward to the weekly instalments.l Great job. I really enjoyed it! it takes me back to the old neighborhood. Proud of you, bro!
Thanks Adrianne. Glad you enjoyed the first chapter. Lots more neighborhood and family stuff to come.
I am ready for Chapter 2! Great job!
Allison–Thank you. Only five days to go!
Richard!
Congrats on your book – so excited to have my Saturday am coffee and read the next chapter. Great start!
Love,
Bea
Bea–Thanks for your comments. There will be a lot of us waiting for Saturday morning to see what happens next!
okay richard—u got me hooked–this should be fun–the “good old days”?
is st. jude’s going to be in this? CONGRATS and God bless you
Thanks Bob. Glad to see I’ve got you hooked already. St. Jude’s? Not exactly, since the setting is the neighborhood near Guadalupe. But fairly early in the book I do make reference to the nuns and to the church, and when I do, my mental reference is of course, St. Jude’s. You may have already figured out that the character Tony is based our our buddy Mike.
u r right—the reference to the sister , alice. was the hint to mike—what a good guy
Hi, Rich,
I’m eagerly awaiting next Saturday’s chapter – Carolyn Billings forwarded your email to me. Keep on writing! As a native San Diegan who grew up close to the “hood” (Lincoln High School) I can relate to the characters.
Janice–I’m glad Carolyn forwarded it to you. I meant to send it to you when I was going through my address book. But obviously I missed you while I was in the D’s. I’m happy you will be with us on this journey.
Hi Richard,
We are both excited to read your book each week. We have forwarded the website to our kids — so that they can enjoy your book and perhaps get a feel for life back then! Great job — Congrats on all your efforts.
Judy and Bob–Glad to see you have joined us on this journey to see what happens to Vincent and Tony, and to find out what the heck are these secrets of the ancestors. Thanks for forwarding to your boys. I’m sure they will enjoy it.
Great Job Tio! Cant wait to hear the rest :)
Angelica–glad to see you are on board for this journey with Vincent and Tony. Since the target reader population is young people (late teens and early 20s), you are the perfect reader. I would love to get your feedback on future chapters. So keep the comments coming. Thanks.
Great first chapter. I am always looking for good Chicano/Latina/o writers.
Luz, your comments are appreciated. I hope the story keeps you engaged. Thanks for joining us. I look forward to seeing your further comments.
Dear Readers,
Many of you subscribed to the comments on Richard’s first installment of “Tío Emilio and the Secrets of the Ancestors”. This caused you to get an email whenever someone posted a comment. Sorry if it was confusing.
You can now subscribe in a different way, which will enable you to get an email whenever a new chapter is posted, without getting notified of new comments. Click HERE for the subscription form. Thanks!
My grandmother Carolina Juarez introduced me to this book and I absolutely love it I don’t I know I love it after just reading two chapters but it was absolutely fabulous can’t wait till Saterday!!
Diana, I am so glad you enjoyed reading the first two chapters of my book. I’m happy to know that an 11 year old can enjoy this story as much as teenagers and adults.
Good grief! I wouldn’t have sent Diana the link so late had I known she’d stay up until 11:00 p.m. reading it! Her great uncle Richard, I’m certain, will be pleased that his 11 yr. old niece finds his book so “fabulous.” I will remind her how to spell “Saturday!” : )
I too, can hardly wait until I can read Chapter 3.
Every single day I wake and I say ” Yes it’s Saturday!” , and then I look at my iPod and see that nothing is there. Then my mom walks in and goes ” Come on Diana it’s time for school!”. Then I sigh, then I look at my my clock and say WOW time to go but then I hop back in bed and read the chapters over. Of course my mom comes and gets mad but I say” Mom I’m reading the most intriguing part!”. So I’m so glad when Saturday arrives so I can have all the time I want to read my next favorite chapter.
Hi Diana,
I think it is so great that you are not just enjoying my novel, but anxiously looking forward to Saturday so you can see the next chapter. It sounds like your mom is not too pleased that you might be late for school because you are rereading the chapters. Let her read it too, so she will understand why you want to keep reading. Maybe she can remind you to read it in the evenings rather than before school.
I see you write very well. I’ll bet you have already tried your hand at writing stories. I’m sure you would be great at it.
I look forward too seeing your comments about the next chapters. Any time you have questions about the story, I will be happy to answer. Oh, and you can add your comments at the end of each chapter. You do not have to go back to chapter one. That way other readers can see your comments as they may relate to each chapter.
Love to you,
Uncle Richard
Note for other readers: Diana is my grandniece, granddaughter of my sister. Diana, her parents, and sister live in Oakland.