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On the return of his hometown, Valentino discovers that his hometown has changed along with the turbulent decade of the 1960's. His family stuck in the violent past of World War 2 as well as the contemporary fear of the Vietnam War loom over him and his two brothers. However, fear comes in many forms.
The smell of burnt tortillas consumed the small room that was a makeshift dinning room, the only way you would know you'd step into "another room" was the difference of tile on the floor. The walls were a shade of dirt brown with religious paraphernalia hung to remind guest that these were god's people. A young man with wavy hair sits at the dinning table. The dinning table lights float above him creating an eerie expression on his face. In front of him sits an older man.
"Chente, you are getting older my son. Have you thought about settling down yet?", says the man with a straight face. "By the time I was your age, I knew I was going to marry your mother."
Chente looks thrown off by his father's question. He tries to find the words to speak but nothing can come up because the question just sounds too bizarre to him. His mother comes out of the kitchen with the burnt tortillas in her hands.
"Why are you telling Chente that. He doesn't need to be thinking abut getting married yet, he's only 17", says his mother. She puts the tortilla down on her husband's plate so he can enjoy his meal of pork chops and beans. She sits down and continues, " I want him to go off to college so he can make something out of himself, he's a smart boy and you would know that if you stayed around more often."
"Look, what I am saying is that he should start preparing for his future and finding a girl to settle down with when the time comes", replied his dad.
"You only thought that way because you were going off to japan and didn't think you had much of a future", said his mom.
"You say it like it's something I should feel bad about, like, I should regret falling in love with you and marrying you", his dad chuckled as he was saying. "Mi Reina, how can you think something like that?"
"It's just something you gotta understand Alejandro, those times were different", said his mom.
Chente finally clears his throat and begins to speak," I have a girlfriend".
His dad smiles and says, " It better not be that fat girl I see you with." Chente's mom has a face of disgust and slaps his arm, "And why not?"
"Because she's fat", he laughs. This cracks a smile on Chente.
"No, it's not her", Chente says. "Do you want to see her, I have a picture of her in my wallet." Chente reaches for his back pocket and pulls out his brown leather wallet. Inside he has a picture of his girlfriend. He hands it to his dad.
"Her name is Martha", says Chente.
"She's pretty, way better than that porky pig you're friends with" his dad says and is immediately slapped on the arm by his mom.
The picture is a black and white photo taken at the local summer carnival. Martha is wearing a dress with a head band. She wears a smile on her face as she sits alongside Chente in the small picture booth.
"We've been going out with each other for at least 6 months", says Chente with a grin.
His dad puts the small film picture up to his face and also smiles. He puts the photo down and looks at Chente. "Is she hispanic?", questions his dad. "Yes", replies Chente.
"Im proud of you son, you found yourself a good looking hispanic girl. Really, Im proud of you ", says his dad.
For some odd reason, he doesn't know how to feel. He doesn't know if he should smile or if he should tell his dad that he is wrong for praising him. Either way, the praise from his dad didn't sit well with Chente. Instead all he can do is look at his dad with a blank face, no emotions on the crevices of his face.
"So... When are you going to introduce me to her?", ask Chente's dad.
Chente was expecting the question but he still feels uncomfortable when he asked. "I don't know. when's the next time you'll be here?", ask Chente.
His dad's demeanor changes and says," I should be here again at the end of the month. You know how it is."
Chente nods his head.
"Then you'll bring her here next time", demanded his father with a smile. "You have no right to be so demanding", says his mother as she gets up to go get something from the kitchen.
Chente's dad watches as she gets up and when she walks into the kitchen, he signals Chente to lean in to tell him something. "You know that's the last girl you are going to date right?" Chente chuckles out of confusion, he doesn't know what to make out of his dad's word. But his dad doesn't share sentiment as Chente, he doesn't smile.
