How to Leave Hialeah

Contents

Resurrection, or: The Story behind the Failure of the 2003 Radio Salsa 98.1 Semi-Annual Cuban and/or Puerto Rican Heritage Festival / 1 El Destino Hauling / 11 And in the Morning, Work / 26 The Next Move / 42 Animal Control / 63 Noche Buena / 69 Low Tide / 87 Men Who Punched Me in the Face / 101 Relapsing, Remitting / 116 Drift / 136 How to Leave Hialeah / 153 Contents acknowledgments This book exists only because of the generosity and all-around awesomeness of the following people and organizations: Curtis Sittenfeld, Holly Carver, Allison Thomas, and everyone at UI Press, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at UC-Irvine and their Chicano/Latino Literary Prize, Miriam Altshuler, Jake Nabel, Don Lee, Jan McCrae, Julie Wakeman-Linn, and Joseph Levens. Thank you to the following magazines for first publishing earlier versions of these stories: “Resurrection” in Ploughshares, “Noche Buena” in the Northwest Review, “Animal Control” in the Potomac Review, “And in the Morning, Work” in the Summerset Review, “The Next Move” in the Southern Review, “Relapsing, Remitting” in Crazyhorse, “Men Who Punched Me in the Face” in Gulf Coast, and “How to Leave Hialeah” in Epoch. Much love to the writers Helena Viramontes, Lamar Herrin, Charles Baxter, David Treuer, Luis Urrea, Margo Rabb, and Patricia Engel, for their insights and encouragement on these stories. À la the Grammies, I’d like to give a shout out to God for his many blessings, American High’s Class of ’99, P.S.N. Elementary’s Class of ’92, the City of Hialeah and the rest of the 305, Cindy Cruz, the M.E.A.N.H.O.E.S. of Wyckoff, the Cornell Skitsos of yesteryear, my mentees at P.N.G., and all the haters out there—like Tupac, I’ve got nothing but love for y'all. I cannot even begin to thank my ridiculously amazing and inspiring family—the Capós, Crucets, Santanas, Missels, Valles, and all the other crews—for their love, prayers, and faith, and for teaching me to rely on all three. I owe you guys everything. A special gracias a mi Abuela Celaida, la cuentera en nuestra familia, por lo mucho que sacrificó para sus hijos, y por lo mucho que ella habla. Thanks to my sister, Kathy, for being my first audience and the inadvertent victim of my first attempts at writing. Thank you to my parents, Chary and Rey, for their patience with me, and for their love. And finally, thank you to my best friend and husband, Andrew, for his ursine love and steadfast nature, and for believing in this book more than I did. How to Leave Hialeah ...