Father Was A Rat King by Manny Torres

Author:Manny Torres [Torres, Manny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Uncle B. Publications, LLC
Published: 2022-04-03T11:00:00+00:00

TEN

A homeless shelter in the East Village became their temporary home until they could get a small place of their own. The city construction was rapidly changing. Rent was inhumane. The shelter was clean, people were nice. They had a small library with tons of books. Soledad plowed through them in no time.

The kitchen kept them well-fed. Three squares a day and the coffee wasn’t bad. Franco became the pride of the home, helping in the kitchen and doing maintenance work around the place. He’d cleaned up some. Moved to drinking instead of chemicals. But he did it outside the shelter to avoid eviction.

Thiago would visit, coming in with the usual con. So much so he’d convinced himself of everything he said. It was amusing to watch how animated his face became, eating his own bullshit by the shovelful. Thiago had Franco running all over the place for chump change.

Franco eventually saved enough money that they could finally leave the shelter. His jobs with Thiago had changed, beyond theft into collections and “cleaning up”. An apartment in Spanish Harlem became available. Driving up there, the cab they rode in got a flat. Franco got into a fight with the cabby because Franco yelled at him and the cabby called him a spic. After Franco worked him over their fare was free but they had to walk the rest of the way.

“I wish your mother was here,” Franco told her one day after they’d settled in. “I still love her. I know she hasn’t been much to you, but you should love her too. Love your ancestors. You are their reincarnation.”

Soledad nodded.

They sat on the couch they’d found on the curb. His eyes were glossy. She didn’t know whether he was high, drunk or just sad. He told her about his history, growing up in the Bronx. Her mother’s history. How they met in Florida, not in Japan. Her family had disowned her because she’d moved to America to study and then left school and became an addict. And then married a non-white American. Franco also told her other truths about her mother that should never be told.

But Franco never talked about the war in the desert. In retrospect, had he talked it out, loosened the memories and gotten them all out, it might have saved his life.

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