South of the Border

By Jay Finn

Mom kept a close watch over Jose when he was young. As she loosened her grip, he found life wasn’t as easy as he had thought. The boys were rough on him, but as he grew into his teens and beyond, he found that girls and women were much harder to cope with. There were times when he was not sure he would survive. This is a story with lots of humor, drama, happiness, and sadness—not necessarily in that order.

S.O.B.

SOUTH OF THE BORDER

JAY FINN

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662426544

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South of the Border

Jay Finn

Copyright © 2021 Jay Finn

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2021

ISBN 978-1-6624-2653-7 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-6624-2654-4 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

PORKY

MINE, ALL MINE

ONO THE MAN

It was a cold, dark rainy night. I was soaking wet. As I pushed the shower curtain back and reached for a towel, I heard a woman scream. It wasn’t the scream but the words she used that scared the hell out of me.

She screamed, My husband is home!

I saw a flash of light on the wall and knew he was pulling into the drive. She threw my clothes in the bathroom floor and said, Go out the back door.

I grabbed my clothes and ran from the bathroom. Now, here I was, buckass naked, soaking wet, with my clothes in my hands, and I had no idea where the back door is. I didn’t even know where the front door is; I came in through a window. Women have been, by far, the biggest problem in my life. But I can’t stay away from them. I love women—all women. I think I’m getting ahead of myself on this story, so maybe I should start from the beginning.

I was born in a small town named Roca Blanca in Mexico close to the Texas border. Well, it was right on the border. I can remember most everything about my life from the time I was about five years old, so I’ll start there. I’m going to tell you this story in English so it will be easier for both of us.

My mother was not married. Her name was Maria. She was a wonderful mother. She named me Jose. In English, you would maybe pronounce it hose-a. I don’t want to hear any shit about where is hose-b. I remember Mom was home most every day until late afternoon, then a lady named Mia would come to the house and Mom would leave. Mia was a nice lady. Mom would fix us dinner before Mia got here so Mia would play games and stuff with me until bedtime, then she would send me to bed. I was supposed to be sleeping, but like any red-blooded Mexican kid, I stayed up to see what was going on. I didn’t learn anything, but I thought it was cool. The next morning, Mia would leave, and Mom would fix us breakfast. Sometimes, while we were eating, Mom would ask me if Mia was treating me good. I would say, Yes, I like Mia.

Mom would say, If she ever treats you bad, you should tell me.

There were a lot of kids about my age in our town, and I liked to go out and play with them. The only problem was when I went out to play, Mom would sit on the porch and watch. That was a bummer, but I know now she was just worried about me.

There was a man from Texas that came to see us a lot. His name was William. He drove a nice car and wore nice clothes and spoke Spanish with an American accent. Mom seemed to like him a lot, and he really liked me and Mom. He was an old man, or at least, I thought he was at the time.

There was a big night club just outside of town. It had a big café and casino. It was a really fancy place. Most of the people that went there were from Texas. This was where Mom worked, and I’m sure this was where she met William. He would come to our house and take us to the café. He would tell me to order anything I want. Mom would say, As long as it’s not all sweets.

He would look at me and say, I tried.

Most of the time, after we ate he would say, Let’s go buy Jose something.

Mom would say, He doesn’t need anything, but he would go to a store and buy me something. That seemed to make him happy.

Mom would say, You are spoiling this kid.

He would smile and say, Yes, I am.

When we would get back to our house, he would give me some money and say, Don’t tell your mother.

Mom would smile and shake her head. He was the only man that ever came to our house, and I was always glad to see him.

Our town had a good side where the police and people that had permits to work in Texas lived. This was the west side. The east side wasn’t bad; it just had a lot of poor people. We lived kind of in the center. I had friends from both sides. Mom spoke good English, and she was a very pretty woman, which I never realized until I was older. She was smart too. She could read and write both English and Spanish. She homeschooled me because she didn’t think our school had a good enough English class. We had very little crime in our town. Some said it was because a lot of the town was owned by the man that owned the casino.

When I was about nine, I started to realize how good we were living. We lived in a good house, and Mom always had money for anything we needed. A lot of my friends didn’t seem to do so well. This was about the time Mom started letting me run with the other kids. It wasn’t all fun and games at first. Some of the kids called me a mama’s boy and some called me gringo because I had brown hair. I didn’t know Mexicans were supposed to have black hair. Some said my mom was a whore. When they did, the fight was on. They soon realized I wasn’t a wimp even though I wasn’t very big. Talking about fighting makes me think about something that happened about this time.

One of my friends and I were on our way to my house to get a snack. Mom always had snacks for us. We were almost to my house when a dog came out of nowhere and started chasing us. I ran across the street to a tree in a yard. I jumped up and grabbed a limb so I could pull myself up. My friend jumped up and grabbed the same limb. The limb broke, and we hit the ground. A woman came out of the house screaming. My friend took off toward town with the dog chasing him.

I took off toward home with the woman chasing me. I ran in the house and looked back out the window. Mom asked what was wrong. I told her a woman was chasing me. She went out while I watched out the window. This was a big woman, and she was screaming at Mom. I was really scared thinking she may get in the house. Mom called me, and I went out and stood as close to her as I could.

She said, Did you break this woman’s tree?

I said, Yes, but—

She stopped me and said, Did you break this woman’s tree?

I said, Yes, I did.

She turned to the woman and said, He will be punished.

The lady said, Beat him now or I will. I was really scared now. She took a step toward me.

Mom stepped in front of her and said, No one is going to beat my son.

The woman pushed Mom. It’s still hard for me to believe, but Mom punched her so hard the lady landed flat on her back.

Mom said, I’m sorry it had to be like this. The boy will be punished. She reached down to help the woman up, but she refused and got up on her own and left without saying anything.

I just stood there in awe. I couldn’t believe my mom was a badass. I could have used her in some of my fights. Mom did punish me and said it was wrong to break the tree no matter what caused it. After that, I walked on the other side of the street when I passed her house.

One day, as I passed her house, she yelled to me, Don’t be afraid. I just want to talk.

I was scared, but I stood there.

She said, Tell your mom I’m sorry for the way I acted. My neighbor saw everything and told me. Now I know you were not just being a bad boy.

Hearing this took a load off me because I walk past here a lot going to our new soccer field. The big boys had played there but got a better field and we got this one. It was all dirt, but we didn’t care; it was better than playing in the street. I wasn’t a really good player, but I was fast so I got to play on a team.

My first problem with girls came during my soccer days. The soccer field was on the east side of town, about a half mile from my house. As I was walking home from soccer one day, a girl came out from a house and walked along with me. She asked if it was all right if she walked with me. I said it was fine with me. She said her name was Sonya. The problem I had with her was she wanted to hold my hand. I didn’t mind when there were no houses or people nearby, but I didn’t want any of the boys seeing me holding hands with a girl. Every time I walked past her house on my way home from soccer, she would come out and walk with me to my house then she would say goodbye and go back to her house.

One day, when I was walking home, a girl I didn’t know came across the street and walked along with me. She told me her name and just kept right on talking. As we passed Sonya’s house, she came over, and I thought we would all walk to my house. Nope. Sonya walked up and punched me right in the nose. The other girl ran.

Sonya said, I didn’t like you anyway, and turned and went back to her house.

I’m standing there with a bloody nose and a crushed ego, hoping nobody had seen what had just happened. When a girl punches you, there is nothing you can do about it. Mom had told me to be nice to girls. She didn’t tell me if you don’t, they will beat the hell out of you. After seeing Mom punch that woman and me getting punched, I’m starting to think maybe I should stay away from girls. I headed home, hoping none of the boys would hear about this.

When I was thirteen I got a job at Jake’s bait and tackle across the river in Texas. I could speak pretty good English, and Mom had taught me how to make change, which few people knew how to do. Most people that buy bait and small fishing stuff pay cash, so Jake liked that I could make change.

Getting to work was easy: the river was low, and I could walk across in some places. I would pull off my shoes and socks and roll up my pant legs and stay in the shallows. The river changed from day to day, so once in a while, I got my butt wet. Jake didn’t seem to mind that I got the floor wet once in a while.

When fall came, the river started rising, and I couldn’t walk across anymore, so I went to the border crossing bridge and told them I had a job in Texas and needed to cross the bridge every day. I should not have told them that. They thought I was a little young to get a permit.

Mom was off the next day, so I got her to take me to the bait shop. I told Jake what happened, and I may have to quit my job because Mom didn’t want me to cross the river when it’s deep.

He said, Just be at the bridge with your lunch tomorrow morning. Jake picked me up at the bridge and gave me a card that would get me across every day. It wasn’t a work permit, but it worked.

Jake paid me cash every week. I thought everyone paid cash, but maybe not. After a couple of months, Jake started leaving me alone once in a while at the shop.

He would say, I have things to do. Take care of the place. This made me feel important. The steady customers got to know me and would ask where the fish were biting. I knew the river as good as anyone, and I would tell them where to fish and what kind of bait to use. They talked to me like I was a grown man. I was fourteen now and pretty much grown up.

I was really liking girls now, but I still remembered the one that punched me in the nose. I did have a girlfriend now. She lived about a quarter mile from our house. She was a very pretty girl, and I think the only reason she liked me was that I had a good job in Texas. She was the same age as me. Her name was Juanita. Her parents didn’t have a lot of money, but she always wore good clothes and looked nice. We were together a lot on my days off. We walked along the river and did all the things that fourteen-year-olds do. She wasn’t allowed to go to Texas. Her parents thought it was too dangerous. We had a movie theater in our town, and she liked to go to the movies. The theater had American and Spanish movies. I liked American movies, but she didn’t speak good English, so we saw Spanish movies. I was pretty much a big shot south of the border. I had enough money to take her to the movies and buy popcorn and candy. I got along good with her parents. I liked them, and they liked me. Juanita and I were a couple until I was almost fifteen, then she told me one day her dad got a green card, and they were moving to California. This was the first time I had my heart broken. She was my first girlfriend and I would miss her a lot.

We had a mail box at the shop and Jake said I could give her the address. We stayed in touch by mail for a while then she just quit writing. I guess she wasn’t as much in love as I thought she was. It didn’t take me too long to get over her because business was good at the shop and I really liked this job.

When I was old enough, Jake took me in and helped me get a green card then he took me to the motor vehicle place and got me a driver’s license. He had been teaching me for months so I did all right. I had some money saved up for a car, so he took me to some dealers. He explained to me that a pretty car with a bad motor was not a good deal, and I didn’t have enough money for both. We found a car that Jake thought was a good deal. It didn’t look great, but it had a good motor, so we bought it. I was really proud of that car. There was a small apartment in the back of the bait shop, and Jake asked me if I would like to move into it. I told him I wanted to go home every day in my new car. I had two girlfriends now: one in Mexico and one in Texas. It was a good life. Girlfriends, a good job and a good car. Who could ask for anything more?

About a year later, I got home one day, and Mom said she had something she would like me to do. She said she wouldn’t blame me if I didn’t want to do it. I told her I would do anything she asked.

She said William’s wife had died six months earlier, and now he had taken sick with cancer. His daughters live up north, and he has no one to take care of him. She asked if I could get some time off work and help her care for him. She said she would be there at night if I could care for him during the day. She said she didn’t think it would be that long. I talked to Jake and he said for me to help my mom.

William was not doing well. We had only been caring for him about a week when he called me to his room. He handed me a package that had been on the table by his bed since I had been here. He held out his hand, and I took it. His hand was shaky and so was his voice.

He said, Most everything I have goes to my daughters. I hope you understand that. This package is not much, but I hope it will help you.

He squeezed my hand and said, I love you, Jose.

He died, he died right there holding my hand. I cried. I never cry. I cried a lot. When I finally got myself together, I went to the phone and called Mom. I said he died. She didn’t say anything, but I could hear her crying. She hung up the phone without a word.

I put the package in my car and went home to see if Mom was all right. Her eyes were red. I could tell she had been crying a lot. She called William’s daughters and told them. She couldn’t go back to work. She had to have some time off. We stayed home for three days. I went to the store when we needed something. She never left the house.

I picked up the package William had given me and started opening it.

Mom started crying and said, He loved you.

I could see it was money. Mom said, Close it back up. It’s ten thousand dollars. It was all he had after all the sickness he and his wife had.

We went back to work. Jake was glad to see me. He took me to the bank and helped me put the money in savings. Everything went good for the next few months, then one day, I came home, and there was a man there with Mom. He was a big man, maybe six foot or so, and he looked muscular.

Mom said, Pablo, this is my son, Jose.

He said, He is a nice-looking young man.

Mom said, Yes, he is. Then out of the blue, she said, Pablo and I are getting married. He has a ranch about two hundred miles south of here. He would like you to move down there with us and work on the ranch.

Pablo said, Don’t answer now; just let your Mom know in a few days.

I was stunned. I couldn’t answer if I wanted to. The next day, I told her I didn’t want to be a cowboy. She said she understood. I told her I didn’t want the house because I would move into the room at the bait shop.

After a week, they got married. Pablo seemed to be a good man, and I was glad Mom had found someone.

I asked Jake about moving in at the bait shop. He said he had hoped I would. I got all my stuff moved and helped Mom and Pablo get all their stuff loaded up. Mom and I said good-bye. We hugged and cried. I was getting to be a crybaby, but I didn’t care. They went south to the ranch, and I got settled in at the shop.

Now that I lived over here, I would have more time to spend with my girlfriends. Jake said from time to time that Those girls are going to be the death of you. He may be right. He asked if I brought girls to the shop. I told him I never brought anyone to the shop after hours, but once in a while, one would come in during business hours. He liked the sound of that and said he appreciated me taking good care of the business.

Back to girls. I really liked girls. I liked all of them. I liked the skinny ones, the medium ones, and the heavy ones. Looks was never a big thing for me. If they were fun to be with, I liked them. Jake said he and his wife, Ann, were going to go on vacation for a week or so and knew I could handle anything that came up. I told him I could and I would not date much while he was gone.

I had this one girl named Joanie that was kind of a pain. I had told her, like I had told the others, that I was going to be very busy for the next week. Joanie was a nice girl. She wasn’t very pretty but a lot of fun to be with. The only problem was she wanted me to see her every day. She lived with her parents, and just looking at their house, I could tell they had money. Joanie was an only child, and she was a spoiled brat. Even though I told her she couldn’t come to the shop every day, she would come to the shop and walk up and down the aisles like she was shopping, then she would pick something small and wait until the customers