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El Laberinto, 1971-1987

Antonia hugged the bag, gave her thanks and raced for the door. The very used, almost lifeless screens spred wide as she jumped down the stairs and into the street glancing for cars when once in the middle of the roadway. She ran from the broken fence to the shed and knelt to spread her bottle caps on the cement edge surrounding it. One by one she selected the least damaged tapones and set those aside for last. Then she began to pound the caps flat with the hammer. She was halfway through with the seriously dented ones when Beatriz, her older sister joined her. Beatriz watched her for a while as Antonia continued her pounding.
"[upside down question mark]Si te 'yundo me das?" Beatriz bargained.
Antonia stopped her pounding and considered the offer for assistance. Letting her sister flatten the rest of the tapones would give Antonia more time to remove the cork from the caps--a skillful operation. The caps would then be readied sooner for the plan she had in mind.
"'Ta gueno. Pero los haces bien, Buckwee," Antonia conceeded.
Beatriz resumed the pounding and Antonia began to scrape the cork from the flattened caps with a rusty nail. They both looked up as their brother, Miguel came running up to them. His frayed cut-offs hung below his navel while his white T-shirt with a faded matador on the front ended above his round stomach.
"[upside down exclamation mark]Mira! [upside down exclamation mark]Mira!" he yelled, extending his hand to display the dime and nickel. "[upside down exclamation mark]Ya me lo dio papi!"
Instantly, the girls rushed toward the house with Miguel running behind them. The tapones were temporarily forgotten. Miguel's coins meant that their father was awake and allowances were being given out. Each one received a nickel for every grade they were in and passed each year.
Their father was having breakfast when the two girls charged through the door. Miguel stayed outside and peered through the screen door observing and checking on the allowance given to his sisters.
Their father placed his spoon and piece of tortilla down to reach into his pocket for change. He hadn't put on his khaki work shirt yet and his dark arms contrasted vividly with his whit T-shirt. He smiled at his wife, who stood near the stove making the morning tortillas. He rummaged through the coins in his hand and finally selected two dimes for Beatriz.
"A ver, dame un besito," he said as he lowered his cheek to her. Beatriz giggled and kissed him as she reached for the money.
"[upside down exclamation point]Ahh!" he laughed. He then found two nickles for Antonia and bent for the exchange again. She also kissed him loudly and reached for the money.
Beatriz got their mother's permission to go to tia Concha's tienda. The two sisters threw the doors open and ran out after Miguel while their mother's exasperated voice reached them.
"[upside down exclamation point]Ciuden esa puerta!"
Antonia smiled mischievously as it slammed behind her. She placed her fist holding the coins against her lips and smelled the warm coins through her fingers.
They sped to their great aunt's store--with Antonia staying close to Miguel, even grabbing his shirt to keep up with him as they passed the arroyo. They were racing with each other as their excitement grew. Miguel tried to yank his T-shirt free from Antonia's hold as she lagged behind.
"[upside down exclamation point]Horale, Tonia, dejame!" Miguel yanked his shirt from Antonia's hold. The pull furward threw her off balance causing her to land on her knees. She openned her mout to cry but she saw Miguel and Beatriz still running ahead toward the store. Antonia quickly rubbed her knees and followed them.
The three stopped only momentarily at Calaveras street before they screamed and ran across to the tienda.
"[upside down exclamation point]Un ice crin!"
"[upside down exclamation point]Fritos!"
"[upside down exclamation point]Bobo gum!" They yelled their

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Antonia hugged the bag, gave her thanks and raced for the door. The very used, almost lifeless screens spred wide as she jumped down the stairs and into the street glancing for cars when once in the middle of the roadway. She ran from the broken fence to the shed and knelt to spread her bottle caps on the cement edge surrounding it. One by one she selected the least damaged tapones and set those aside for last. Then she began to pound the caps flat with the hammer. She was halfway through with the seriously dented ones when Beatriz, her older sister joined her. Beatriz watched her for a while as Antonia continued her pounding. "[upside down question mark]Si te 'yundo me das?" Beatriz bargained. Antonia stopped her pounding and considered the offer for assistance. Letting her sister flatten the rest of the tapones would give Antonia more time to remove the cork from the caps--a skillful operation. The caps would then be readied sooner for the plan she had in mind. "'Ta gueno. Pero los haces bien, Buckwee," Antonia conceeded. Beatriz resumed the pounding and Antonia began to scrape the cork from the flattened caps with a rusty nail. They both looked up as their brother, Miguel came running up to them. His frayed cut-offs hung below his navel while his white T-shirt with a faded matador on the front ended above his round stomach. "[upside down exclamation mark]Mira! [upside down exclamation mark]Mira!" he yelled, extending his hand to display the dime and nickel. "[upside down exclamation mark]Ya me lo dio papi!" Instantly, the girls rushed toward the house with Miguel running behind them. The tapones were temporarily forgotten. Miguel's coins meant that their father was awake and allowances were being given out. Each one received a nickel for every grade they were in and passed each year. Their father was having breakfast when the two girls charged through the door. Miguel stayed outside and peered through the screen door observing and checking on the allowance given to his sisters. Their father placed his spoon and piece of tortilla down to reach into his pocket for change. He hadn't put on his khaki work shirt yet and his dark arms contrasted vividly with his whit T-shirt. He smiled at his wife, who stood near the stove making the morning tortillas. He rummaged through the coins in his hand and finally selected two dimes for Beatriz. "A ver, dame un besito," he said as he lowered his cheek to her. Beatriz giggled and kissed him as she reached for the money. "[upside down exclamation point]Ahh!" he laughed. He then found two nickles for Antonia and bent for the exchange again. She also kissed him loudly and reached for the money. Beatriz got their mother's permission to go to tia Concha's tienda. The two sisters threw the doors open and ran out after Miguel while their mother's exasperated voice reached them. "[upside down exclamation point]Ciuden esa puerta!" Antonia smiled mischievously as it slammed behind her. She placed her fist holding the coins against her lips and smelled the warm coins through her fingers. They sped to their great aunt's store--with Antonia staying close to Miguel, even grabbing his shirt to keep up with him as they passed the arroyo. They were racing with each other as their excitement grew. Miguel tried to yank his T-shirt free from Antonia's hold as she lagged behind. "[upside down exclamation point]Horale, Tonia, dejame!" Miguel yanked his shirt from Antonia's hold. The pull furward threw her off balance causing her to land on her knees. She openned her mout to cry but she saw Miguel and Beatriz still running ahead toward the store. Antonia quickly rubbed her knees and followed them. The three stopped only momentarily at Calaveras street before they screamed and ran across to the tienda. "[upside down exclamation point]Un ice crin!" "[upside down exclamation point]Fritos!" "[upside down exclamation point]Bobo gum!" They yelled their 8