Mexican Boy: The Story of Pablo (Excerpt)

here the fruit and vegetables the meat dishes and people make in their houses there are big pieces of cloth of Many Colors and dresses for my sisters and Mama Jama a water like cranberry juice you can buy for 20 hours which is but I do not today I think about them my new shoes all the time now as the day grows closer I want these shoes black and shiny and stiff I have never worn shoes like these always I wear quates on my feet I want the shoes to wear on the Feast of the virgin mother who watches over Mexico on this day our family will make the long journey to the Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe I will walk to the Shrine in my new shoes but I must work to get them when comes up the day of work Begins the men go to the fields take the cattle to the pastures in our house which is made of adobe mud bricks we all sleep and eat in the one room when I wake up I hear the pat pat pting sound of Mama making the Tor is round and flat and toasting them for our bread from corn they are like bread to us we eat tortilla as I shake my piggy bank I think what I will do today to earn more centavos soon maybe I will have enough to buy the black shoes on the wall A's bed hang his two hats I am glad to see them there for I know Papa has not gone without me to the fields there is his old sombrero and this beautiful chro hat from guadalahara which he will wear to Guadalupe on the Feast of a Virgin It is the most beautiful thing he owns this hat from guara all men of our town would like to own it we are very proud of it my papa and I when the tortillas are ready we eat the breakfast this morning Mama has made tacos which are rolled up tortillas with beans or meat inside Papa and I think they taste very good so does Carlos my big brother who is 13 and Lolita my baby sister likes the tacos all over the outside as well as the inside Papa laughs when he sees me always with my piggy bank do I think the Santos will run away I say they will run only to the shoe man this morning I see Mama is not so happy my sister crispina is sick and does not eat with us she is sick with a large fever mama is sad and I am sad when I look at crispa because I think how very bad if she is not better in time to go with us to the Shrine of the Virgin all the days now she rests on her pate and each day she is not better Papa and Carlos go to work in the fields and today I will go too because it is November the time when there is no school mama and Lolita wave goodbye as we leave with our mules we call Canela and Pento today we will climb high up in the mountains to work in the magay field which belongs to Papa from the M plant we get many things material to make cloth and paper and medicine today Papa shows Carlos how to get the pul which is a drink the pul runs down into the center of the plant where we have chopped a hole every few days we come and dip out the pul into a jar some of the fields like this one Papa owns other fields where we work belong to all of the people of the village the beans are ready to pick next to tortillas I think we eat more beans than any other thing some of the beans we will keep and some we must give to the other people who own this land too sometimes we work in the woods where it's is Shady and cool I think I like to work here the best where the bananas and the coffee grow Papa and I must use the ladder to pick the coffee beans it is better to pick only the red beans because they are ripe but sometimes times we get the green ones in our sack too when we have picked all the beans Papa and I carry them home we spread them on the ground to dry in the hot sun when all of the coffee beans have turned brown then we will sell them and people in other countries will have good coffee to drink besides the mules Canela and pimo we have cows too and always we must find a place for them to eat in the part of Mexico where we live it does not rain for many months and sometimes it is hard to find food for the [Music] animals in the dry season when there is little work in the field Carlos and I help Papa to make the Adobe bricks which are used to build houses we push down the Earth then we mix it with water until there are no more lumps [Music] The Brak will bake in the sun until they are hard papa will with his machete until they are smooth then they will be ready to sell while we are doing the work of the Men mama does the work of the women which I think is maybe like the work of your mother she SWS and takes care of the children she washes the clothes in the river and rub them hard on the stones to make them clean when we come home from work at night papa is very tired and I am a little tired too but I am not tired anymore when I see what Papa does he gives me centavos for helping him right away I think of my shoes and what I will do tomorrow to get the rest of the money the plants in my garden have many new tomatoes on them I pick them and carry them in my hat I go St stra to the market to sell them I shout how fine am my tomatoes soon a lady from the city buys them all the SOS jingle in my pocket as I walk through the market to the flowers where sometimes a lady will ask me to carry her lies or carnations when she has many other bundles but today no one asks me so I run to the steps of our church I like to look up at the tall bell towers someone else is looking up too they are people from another the country who come from far away in cars to take pictures of our church I ask the red faer if I can wash his car he asks me if I am big enough I say I have washed many cars and will do a good job he says then I can wash his car it is a very beautiful car I wash it until it shines like black shoes when the people come to see the car I think they are happy it's so clean when I see the sentos he gives me I know he is happy now at last I will have them the shoes I run down the road to tell Mama the good news something is not good it is the new Doctor Who Comes all the way from Mexico City he tells mama what to do for chrispina who I'm afraid is very sick now the doctor Pats my head I do not like this mama tells me what is the bad trouble chisp needs a new kind of medicine or she will not be well we do not have the money for this medicine which cost very much I think hard of my new shoes of Christ yes Mama we have the money in my piggy bank in my pocket there is enough the day before the feast before the sun comes up we eat our breakfast by candle light it is a very special breakfast with thick chocolate to drink chrispina is well again I am happy she is well and can go with us to the virgin of guadalupi I do not think of my new shoes in the park already our neighbors are beginning to gather for the long walk to my father does not wear his chatal hat he does not answer when I ask where it is at last the Journey [Music] Begins at first we follow the roads then we TR straight across the [Music] hills now we see the pyramids built by the Indians of Mexico hundreds of years ago as I rest on the steps I feel very small the pyramid is so big we have climbed and climbed as the sunet and we spend the night in the village of our relatives from here we can see the lights of Mexico City spread out [Music] Below in the morning the great day begins the women carry fresh flowers to put on the altar of the Virgin soon we pass the great green Warriors who guard the entrance to Mexico [Music] City it was here I wanted to put on my new shoes we entered the gates of Guadalupe there are many people some of them walk on their knees to see the virgin there are bands playing and processions there are women carrying flowers we kneel down on the cement to say a prayer to the virgin I cannot believe my eyes thank you papa papa is put the shoes in my hands I know now does not wear his yo hat I know too that is virgin looks down proudly on Papa and me as I wanted her to and not because of a fine hat or a pair of shiny shoes