The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya
The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya
The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya 14returned if his son, Jose, were treated kindly.Alfonso had also been instrumental in seeing to it that Jose had a completely new set of clothesto wear when he left, going so far as to go to the tailor himself and act as a stand-in for Jose so that thenew suit could be relatively well-fitted and ready in time for Jose's birthday. Although for the rest ofhis life Alfonso would never admit it to either Severa Gomez or Concepcion, and for a short while afterJose’s departure he would get up and leave the room rather than listen to discussion about the boy, hewas secretly proud of Jose for having the courage to pack up and set out on his own. Alfonso did notconsider that Jose was running away from anything. In fact, he saw it quite the opposite: This was aheadlong dash towards the future, and beyond this point nothing would ever be the same for Jose.And in fact, nothing was the same. Jose, more from choice than necessity, began to use Englishalmost all day long. After three days in El Paso and speaking English non-stop, he had his first dreamin English. In the dream, he saw La Catrina turn a street corner ahead of him. He called out to her towait. He ran to catch her, but she was always turning one corner ahead of him, over and over. At lasthe turned one final corner, and found himself standing outside the gates of an army camp. He was nolonger in El Paso, and he couldn't see La Catrina anywhere. A loud voice coming from everywhere atonce told him that she would be back soon, and that he should always be vigilant for her return. Joseawoke the next morning feeling even more in love than he had the day before.In his new capacity as an American and as a railroad employee, Jose road the trains from ElPaso along the southern border of New Mexico and over the Continental Divide down into Arizona,and then back again. He was a brakeman, riding in the caboose and waiting for the engineer's signalthat it was time to scramble onto the roofs of the freight cars and help slow the train down with thebrakes. The trains going westward to Arizona carried freight and passengers destined, each in theirown happy or unhappy way, for all the little towns that lined the railway; the returning eastbound trainsfor El Paso were full of copper, heavy and slow to stop.
The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya 15It was cold and dangerous work, and he loved it. The caboose had a small coal-burning stove toprovide warmth against the chill of the high-desert winters. He could sit near the stove and listen to thestories told by the conductors he rode with, but when the sun was shining and the temperature was nottoo cold he often chose to sit atop the train, alone with his thoughts and watching time and the land riseand fall and stretch away from him. Sometimes he would outstretch his arms and pretend he was aneagle soaring over the hills and valleys; sometimes he would just lie on his back and look into the sky,wondering how high it went before it wasn't blue any longer, and trying to pick the shape of La Catrinaout of any random clouds that came into his field of view.On Jose's second trip from El Paso to Douglas, the other brakeman from his crew, Ned Skelly,was killed as he and Jose were coupling together the cars full of copper that made up the train to returnto El Paso. Ned was still between two cars when the engineer backed them up together, impaling Nedon the couplers between the two cars. Jose was off to the side of the rails, and had a clear view of Ned.Lingering a few seconds, Ned turned his head and looked at Jose, his face round with surprise before heslumped and was gone.The incident left a lasting impression on Jose. He had seen many men killed during Villa'sassault on Agua Prieta, but it was not a surprise; those men had expected to kill or be killed, and it hadshown on their faces. This was different. Ned was a good man. He had not asked for this death, norhad he deserved it. It was random and arbitrary. In all the years to come, when Ned would makeregular ghostly visits to Jose and they would chat like old friends, the surprised expression would neverleave Ned's face for so much as an instance. Jose had figured out prior to this incident that the worldwas a rather arbitrary place, full of comings and goings, this and that, life and death. What neither henor Ned Skelly had known until this accident was just how far the world was willing to go to prove it.There was an inquest into the death of Ned Skelly, but it was brief and entirely cursory. The
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Long</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Storied</strong> <strong>Life</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jose</strong> <strong>Montoya</strong> 14returned if his son, <strong>Jose</strong>, were treated kindly.Alfonso had also been instrumental in seeing to it that <strong>Jose</strong> had a completely new set <strong>of</strong> clothesto wear when he left, going so far as to go to the tailor himself <strong>and</strong> act as a st<strong>and</strong>-in for <strong>Jose</strong> so that thenew suit could be relatively well-fitted <strong>and</strong> ready in time for <strong>Jose</strong>'s birthday. Although for the rest <strong>of</strong>his life Alfonso would never admit it to either Severa Gomez or Concepcion, <strong>and</strong> for a short while after<strong>Jose</strong>’s departure he would get up <strong>and</strong> leave the room rather than listen to discussion about the boy, hewas secretly proud <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jose</strong> for having the courage to pack up <strong>and</strong> set out on his own. Alfonso did notconsider that <strong>Jose</strong> was running away from anything. In fact, he saw it quite the opposite: This was aheadlong dash towards the future, <strong>and</strong> beyond this point nothing would ever be the same for <strong>Jose</strong>.And in fact, nothing was the same. <strong>Jose</strong>, more from choice than necessity, began to use Englishalmost all day long. After three days in El Paso <strong>and</strong> speaking English non-stop, he had his first dreamin English. In the dream, he saw La Catrina turn a street corner ahead <strong>of</strong> him. He called out to her towait. He ran to catch her, but she was always turning one corner ahead <strong>of</strong> him, over <strong>and</strong> over. At lasthe turned one final corner, <strong>and</strong> found himself st<strong>and</strong>ing outside the gates <strong>of</strong> an army camp. He was nolonger in El Paso, <strong>and</strong> he couldn't see La Catrina anywhere. A loud voice coming from everywhere atonce told him that she would be back soon, <strong>and</strong> that he should always be vigilant for her return. <strong>Jose</strong>awoke the next morning feeling even more in love than he had the day before.In his new capacity as an American <strong>and</strong> as a railroad employee, <strong>Jose</strong> road the trains from ElPaso along the southern border <strong>of</strong> New Mexico <strong>and</strong> over the Continental Divide down into Arizona,<strong>and</strong> then back again. He was a brakeman, riding in the caboose <strong>and</strong> waiting for the engineer's signalthat it was time to scramble onto the ro<strong>of</strong>s <strong>of</strong> the freight cars <strong>and</strong> help slow the train down with thebrakes. <strong>The</strong> trains going westward to Arizona carried freight <strong>and</strong> passengers destined, each in theirown happy or unhappy way, for all the little towns that lined the railway; the returning eastbound trainsfor El Paso were full <strong>of</strong> copper, heavy <strong>and</strong> slow to stop.
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