Bureau of Arts and Culture
KiKo : Fictional Stories excerpt from
SURFERS and LOWRIDERS
written by Joshua A. TRILIEGI
The Sun was just about to shed a beam across our town as Kiko
floated down Catalina Avenue in the early morning dawn. You could have
mistaken him for any number of phantoms, If you weren't from our town.
But in Tortilla Flats , everyone knows everyone . Even if you don't know
them, personally, you know what they look like, where they live, what they
do, day and night. Kiko wafted down Catalina like Bugs Bunny asleep in
bed while floating down a river , tossing dollar bills at anyone who would listen .
The world and his inhabitants were his for the asking, for he was the only
person whom had a larger heart than the Mayor of our Town , whom happened
to be my Father . Kiko was the rooster with a ravens gargle and that slow circus
barker's drawl . Our Town ? Have you ever seen our town ? That guy with a pipe
comes on right away talking right to you , like he knows you ? Its a play and was
later a movie . Well , in Tortilla Flats , Kiko was that guy with the pipe , He would
be the one that would lead us into the Flats before the sun was about to rise .
And just like that ,there's Kiko. He's telling you all about all of us citizens in Flats.
But now your wondering , is it Tortilla Flats? T-Flats or The Flats , It's all of 'em .
Here comes Kiko , but instead of a pipe, It's a bottle of Kessler's and a cigar chewed
down like the cover of a comic called Sargent Fury , chewed down and to the side.
And there he is talking to us all about our town.
You know that he shaved himself last night cause he looks just like
Cantinflas , with two hairy splotches on either side of his nose , like
a catfish. He's speaking Spanish , but nobody , not even
he can understand anything he's saying. Spanish teachers can't
understand what he's saying , or even understand how he's actually
standing , let alone howling so consistently. You do understand that it
must be the second Thursday into Friday . Everyone knows that kiko gets
a pretty big check every second Thursday into Friday . All because he
once fell asleep in some rich guys driveway one night long ago. They'd
just gotten to the states,he got a job , got a check , got drunk and
walked up the guys driveway thinking it was the hallway of a single
room apartment in the back of Samuels Uncle's place. The flower bed ,
he thought, was his mattress , as he pulled the Bird of Paradise over
himself like the quilt blanket that his Mother had made back in Mexico
, the only thing they brought . And the next thing he knew, he was
being taken care of by a beautiful white lady nurse with Gold Hair in a
big Hospital.' Dios Mio , How lucky am I ? '
This made Kiko a very generous man , especially the second Thursday
into Friday. And just like that , your on your way to school , there he is
talking to you in that special language about our town . Handing you fives,
tens , twenties , even a fifty , like tissues from the school nurse, Kiko is the
guy from our town . When your Mother finds a fifty dollar bill in your Levi's
peg leg back left pocket, ( your all of ten years old) at Ray and Linda's Village
Laundo-rama , you will get a beating and the Mayor will drive you over to
Samuels Uncle's place and you will climb the stairs , knock on Kiko's door ,
his wife will answer , you will hand her the Fifty dollar Bill, she will shake her
head knowingly and offer to have you in for Dinner : Menudo , with the scent
of carnitas and freshly cut cilantro , onions and tomatoes with red chilis and
spices you cannot name , fresh tortillas and cinnamon and candle wax and of
course the smell of Kiko , asleep on the sofa. We always pictured him in a flower
bed or on the street , so to see him on the sofa is a strange but comforting sight .
But the Mayor is pissed off , waiting for you in the car . It is Sunday ight in our town ,
this little visit was not on the Mayor's schedule .He had a Lady to love ( my Mom )
a Joint to roll ( Columbian) , and an album to listen to ( Wing's Venus & Mars ) for
it was Sunday night. And Kiko's wife will always remember You and The Mayor ,
and you will always remember them , cause everyone knows everyone in our town .
I climb into the ' black marauder' , the Mayor always had poetic namesfor things , for
instance a new room addition was called,' the middle kingdom' , My sister was '
Flora -Isadora' , etc ... This car was a real beater , but it always started up , it might
cough and spit and sputter , but it got us there and back and yes it was midnight blue
black . So I get into the 'black - marauder' and I can see that he's happy we did this.
It's times like this Im not just his old lady's kid, Im a friend of his , were rolling through the Flats and I'm sitting Shotgun , Freddy Fenders on the am radio singing , '... waisted days and waisted nigh - hi -hites ...' and already the people in our town are talking about
the stupid white kid whose Mom made him return the money to Kiko . Nobody in our town has ever bothered to return the money to Kiko . ' Dumb - f*#@ ' , they muttered.
Maybe return a five or a ten , but to return a fifty ? I wont see another Fifty dollar bill for about a decade , And you know what else ? We really needed it .
Copyrights apply All rights reserved to Author Joshua A. TRILIEGI
SURFERS and LOWRIDERS : Short Stories written
from 2000 - 2010 Published by The BUREAU of Arts and Culture
Los Angeles CA USA Address inquiries to :
Mr. TRILIEGI JohnnyMilwaukee@earthlink.net
www.BureauofArtsandCulture.com 1 . 213 . 975 . 0067
