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Summer Ends
- University of Texas Press
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~ 126 ~ Summer Ends ~ The summer in Fresno went by too fast. The fifteenth of August was here and the working season was over. The camp looked completely different now from when we first came. The trees were stripped bare, and only the skeletons of the grape vines were left. Memories were as numerous as the footprints left behind on the fields. Only the burned circles of the cooking fires were left in the camp.We watched the last of the buses and the jalopies disappear down the dusty road. A few rusty old beaters that couldn’t make it back home were left along the road, but nothing went to waste. Next year these junk cars would make homes for a few families. Just as the families had announced their arrival with children screaming and fighting amongst each another, and mothers hollering even more loudly for them to keep quiet, their departure was no different—loud and tumultuous. But the farewell was also sad. We had been like family, and now we were watching all of our “cousins” go their separate ways.We were the last to leave because we stayed to pack the kitchen equipment away. A couple of days before the workers set out on the road home, Amá did a surprising thing. At the time we had many plans for the money we had earned, but like many of our plans, these changed. Before we knew it, she had bought a Chevy with burgundy velvet seats for Joe. We still had money for school clothes, but for us this purchase was as if we had bought a ranch. Querro, a fellow worker, offered to drive us back home to Calexico.We did not come home rich, likeTrinie had promised , but we traveled by car instead of by bus. When we arrived in Calexico,Trinie, boiling with curiosity about the car, came out to meet us. Now most people would ~ 127 ~ not have the nerve to show their faces if they sent a mother and four children off on a bus to nowhere. But notTrinie. She simply explained that she learned shortly after we left that the camp was full and she had no way to get word to us. Mary just rolled her eyes and shook her head. I, too, wondered why Amá had believed a woman who cheated my mother out of her ironing money. Once again Amá’s childlike faith allowed her to shrug her shoulders at the troubleTrinie caused us. “Déjenselo a Dios.” (“Leave it up to God.”) Joe, on the other hand, was disgusted and said, “God is too busy for small things like this; I will take care of it.” Joe would not allow us to run Trinie’s errands any longer, or wash her dirty laundry. The car was our surprise for Joe, but as it turned out, he had a surprise for us too. He was getting married.The exuberance over the car quickly faded as the shock set in. Amá’s heart became sad, and once in a while we would catch her crying and have to ask what was wrong. Her answer was the same answerwehadheardbefore:“Nada,hijas,todoestábien.”(“Nothing, daughters, everything is okay.”) At the time we were too young to understand her sadness. Amá wanted Joe to be happy and to have his own family. She even knew he was responsible enough to make this commitment at nineteen. I didn’t understand why she cried for him. Now I see that she was scared, and what saddened her was her deep sense of loss, as he became the head of his own household. Even now, as old as I am and knowing what I know, I still don’t think I could have been as giving as Joe was. The day of his wedding came.When he and his bride were ready to go on their honeymoon, we saw them both walk toward the car, which was covered with strings of paper flowers.We ran and grabbed Joe around his legs, panic-stricken, with tears rolling down our cheeks. We begged him not to go. Was he abandoning us? He looked down at us, gathered around him, and told us he would never leave us and that he would always be nearby. The fiesta ran until dawn, and the two of them came home with us. [3.236.19.251] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 22:12 GMT) ~ 128 ~ It’s sad to say...