The Tracks of my Tears

" You are listening 1010 AM KCH, this is Sammy Laboe. It is about 5 in the afternoon and the sun is still high in the sky in Bakersfield today. I can't wait until it's fall, that way the days are long but not too long. As you can tell I'm more of a night hawk than a dove."

"I wish the announcer wouldn't talk as much", says Martha as she hangs he head out the window. She continues,"Like some of things he says are funny but most of time I don't laugh."

"Hey put your head in or you're going to get it chopped off", says Chente. She doesn't listen, Martha just revels in the fact that she isn't on a bicycle going at very slow speeds. The wind blows her long brown hair back on the warm summer air. Chente thinks again about telling her about the dangers of having body parts outside of a moving vehicle but instead he just lets his girlfriend enjoy herself.

"It really looks like you are enjoying yourself", says Chente. "I am... I wish it was always like this", replies Martha. "What me having a car?", asks Chente. Martha doesn't say anything, she just continues to hang her head outside of the car without a care in the world. Chente, with one hand on the steering wheel, grabs Martha's skirt with the other. With a slightly annoyed tone he ask, "What do you mean by always like this?" Chente quickly notices that he has a scowl on his face and tries to rearrange his face. But it's too late, Martha is always in the car looking at him. "Don't pull my skirt!", she squeals out. "I didn't mean anything by it, I just meant that it's nice being with you in a car", Martha says in a scared voice. "It's ok", says Chente in confusion.

The rest of the ride becomes quiet and in an effort to relieve the tension, Chente turns up the radio. But the radio is not enough to cut through the thick air. They arrive at the entrance of the small dusty town and Chente breaks the silence, " Do you want to get food before or just get a hot dog during the movie?" Martha says with a forced smile," Whatever is fine with you, is fine with me."

"To me, it doesn't matter. I have enough money for either.", says Chente. Martha takes a second to think and says, "Hmm...Let's eat before. That way we can eat comfortably without being distracted by the movie." "Ok, you do have a point, what do you want to get to eat?", asks Chente. "I don't know you pick", replies Martha. Chente laughs to himself and thinks, "Oh my god, pick something."

As he is smiling they pull up to one of the many stop lights of the town. Along side a black Chevy Fleet pulls up besides them. Inside, 5 Güeros. The car is jam packed with them.