in his mouth.


The temperature dropped. The season was changing despite things having been good in Silvio's world, or at least as well as expected. It was 9:00am before the first truck came, which was late. A few of the guys had already called it a day and left. The cooler weather also meant more people arrived in need of cash. A few of the older men shuffled nervously spreading out to the different sections along the line which included the block long stretch of lower Main Street. Sometimes people felt uncomfortable stopping near the bulk of the crowd fearing that it was an obvious statement as to what they may have been up to, others feared having their vehicle suddenly surrounded by immigrants. These were not the bosses of summer. The workers themselves feared crackdowns, tension remained high after the fight.

That same week a number of guys had been reported missing from a Home Depot across town, probably arrested. No one knew. They just didn't come home. The story had been run several times on the news of how three innocent college kids were beaten for no reason at the lumberyards. Their parents had been in front of the camera pleading for the city to do something. Silvio was thinking about leaving and telling Maria that he needed to lay low. She'd come to realize as well as he had the reasons for that. Plus Thursday just wasn't his day. "If it wasn't for us, this country wouldn't be what it is today" he said to Espinoza who agreed. "Americans don't want to do hard work. They don't want to work for seven or ten dollars an hour. They want forty or fifty dollars an hour. It's not fair. We should get more respect." Espinoza nodded in agreement.

A small pickup pulled toward the line and was swarmed as soon as the brake lights were tapped. Silvio had given up on getting work and hadn't stepped up with the rest of the crowd but got picked. He looked at the finger aimed in his direction and moved quickly before minds were changed. He was about to hop on the back but was offered the front sit. The door popped open and he got in and was sped off. He watched a few of the guys shuffle back, offering themselves up for twenty dollars without knowing how long the day would be or how much work was involved. He hadn't asked either but things were too slow, no one was asking by then. Sometimes fights broke out after someone was told to get out after being underbid. Silvio was glad the driver hadn't wavered.

He glanced over at his boss who wore a baseball cap, jeans with a green shirt and a small jacket. The driver was smiling. "Have we met?" Silvio asked realizing that it sounded odd after he'd said it. Maybe the guy had hired him before which was why he'd picked him out of the crowd he presumed.

There was no reply as they turned onto 45th. A second later "you don't remember?" The question was half jovial, an almost flirtatious reply. Ten minutes into the guessing game they came to a stop in front of a house with a Japanese style garden. Concrete statues of mythical guardians stood on either side of the steps, an archway covered with vines opened onto the yard with a marble fountain the size of a basketball placed in front of a bamboo bench. The feeling crawled into him