Stolen Stories from La Limonada Byron José Sun University of Texas at El Paso, [email protected]
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University of Texas at El Paso DigitalCommons@UTEP Open Access Theses & Dissertations 2014-01-01 Secondhand City: Stolen Stories from La Limonada Byron José Sun University of Texas at El Paso, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, and the Latin American Literature Commons Recommended Citation Sun, Byron José, "Secondhand City: Stolen Stories from La Limonada" (2014). Open Access Theses & Dissertations. 1744. https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd/1744 This is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UTEP. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UTEP. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SECONDHAND CITY: STOLEN STORIES FROM LA LIMONADA BYRON JOSÉ SUN DEPARTMENT OF CREATIVE WRITING APPROVED: Daniel Chacon, M.F.A. Jeffrey Sirkin, Ph.D. Lucia Dura, Ph.D. Bess Sirmon-Taylor, Ph.D. Interim Dean of the Graduate School Copyright © By: byroN José Sun 2014 DEDICATION For my family, my best friends and La Limonada EPIGRA I’m I’m what they left The leftovers of what they stole A people hidden on the summit With skin of leather that withstands I'm a smoke factory A peasant hand for your consumption A cold front in the middle of summer Love in time of cholera The sun that’s born The day that dies And the best night falls I’m development in raw flesh A political speech without saliva The most beautiful faces I've seen I'm the photograph of a missing person The blood in your veins I'm a piece of land with worth A basket with beans I'm América Latina A people without Legs but one Who walks — Calle 13, “Latinoamérica” SECONDHAND CITY: STOLEN STORIES FROM LA LIMONADA by BYRON JOSÉ SUN, BA Ethnic Studies and Spanish THESIS Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at El Paso in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF FINE ARTS Department of Creative Writing THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO May 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION .......................................................................................................................................................... III EPIGRA ...................................................................................................................................................................... IV PREFACE .................................................................................................................................................................... IX ANOTHER SEWER-FLOOD ............................................................................................................................... 1 ACÁ LA LIMONADA: DON’T FORGET ...................................................................................................... 2 THREE DAYS OF FALLING RAIN ............................................................................................................... 14 ROBOTÓN (ROW-BOW-TONE): CORAZÓN DE CACA .................................................................... 15 ONE SECOND IN EL PALOMAR ................................................................................................................... 18 DAUGHTER TO MOTHER ................................................................................................................................ 19 NUDO DE LA SOLEDAD .................................................................................................................................. 33 REJECT YOUR PAIN ........................................................................................................................................... 35 SECONDHAND FOOD: PANIFICANDO LA PAZ .................................................................................. 39 MANUFACTURING A GANGSTER ............................................................................................................. 41 JUPA (HOO-PUH): SOMOS LO QUE SOMOS .......................................................................................... 49 THE CURSE FOR TELLING ............................................................................................................................. 50 JULIA’S DENTURES: THE PERSUASION OF A SON ......................................................................... 53 ACÁ EL PALOMAR: NO ERES UNA CUCARACHA ........................................................................... 57 CALICAS (KAH-LEE-CUSS): ÁNGEL DECAPITADO ........................................................................ 76 HUFFING 50 CENTS WORTH OF GLUE ................................................................................................... 78 ROUTE 22 .................................................................................................................................................................. 80 OPERACIÓN ÁNGEL DECAPITADO .......................................................................................................... 81 SECONDHAND CITY: LOS USADOS ......................................................................................................... 85 ROBOTÓN: PRINCESAS DE TRAPO ........................................................................................................... 85 PRENSA LIBRE: MATAN A OTRO CHOFER DE BUS ....................................................................... 91 THE LANDFILL ..................................................................................................................................................... 93 JULIA’S DENTURES: DR. CIFUENTES OF DELTA SMILE .......................................................... 100 SECONDHAND SEX: AMOR DE CONDONES .................................................................................... 102 UNTITLED LOVE STORY ............................................................................................................................. 103 JUPA: LA VIDA ESTA DE LUTO ............................................................................................................... 111 vi HARVEST YOUR DEATH .............................................................................................................................. 112 HOPE IS A DANGEROUS THING .............................................................................................................. 115 JULIA’S DENTURES: JAIME’S APOLOGY ........................................................................................... 122 ROBBERY IN PROGRESS: SHOTS FIRED ............................................................................................ 123 RIP CITY ................................................................................................................................................................. 124 I’M A COVACHA AND THIS IS MY STORY ........................................................................................ 131 CALICAS: UN PUTO MÁS ............................................................................................................................. 133 HABITANDO EL RECUERDO ..................................................................................................................... 134 PRENSA LIBRE: CHOFER DE BUS DEJA 88 MUERTOS ............................................................... 142 BALA, AKA THE STREET PEANUT VENDOR ................................................................................... 143 SECONDHAND PEOPLE: LO CAGARON .............................................................................................. 152 LAS CUCARACHAS TAMBIÉN LLORAN ............................................................................................. 153 PLEASE STAND BY .......................................................................................................................................... 162 THE GANG OF THREE: APOCALYPSE WITHOUT CHANGE .................................................... 164 VITA ......................................................................................................................................................................... 166 vii TABLE OF ILLUSTRATIONS ILLUSTRATION 1…...……………...………………………………………………………..xxiv ILLUSTRATION 2…...……………...………………………………………………………..xxiv ILLUSTRATION 3…...……………...……………………………………………………..….xxv ILLUSTRATION 4…...……………...……………………………………………………...... xxv ILLUSTRATION 5…...……………...……………………………………………………..…xxvi ILLUSTRATION 6…...……………...…………………………………………………….....xxvii ILLUSTRATION 7…...……………...………………………………………………………xxviii ILLUSTRATION 8…...……………...………………………………………………………xxviii ILLUSTRATION 9…...……………...………………………………………………………..xxix ILLUSTRATION 10...…..…………...………………………………………………………..xxix ILLUSTRATION 11.....……………...………………………………………………………...xxx ILLUSTRATION 12….……………...………………………………………………………..xxxi ILLUSTRATION 13.....……………...…………………………………………………….....xxxii viii PREFACE MY POETICS: EL NUDO DE LA SOLEDAD Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in human society and in the human spirit, where I hope to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination and of the heart. –Salman Rushdie— Gabriel García Márquez in his speech, “La Soledad de América Latina” given in 1982 when he accepted the Noble Prize in Literature, explores the history of some of the many conflicts América Latina has and continues to face. First, García Márquez tells about