The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya

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The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya 58army and answering the same repetitive questions over and over about what it felt like to be shot, andwas it hard to shoot a man. Jose even led them to the outskirts of town and recounted for them thebattle for Agua Prieta that he had witnessed, letting his memories be filtered through the eyes andmouth of a soldier. He left out the lieutenant that captured him and then left him for dead, and themustachioed captain that tried to set him free. He left out how his perceptions were knocked loosefrom his body, so that he witnessed the battle from a spirit's point of view. And even though it made hispulse race, he left out La Catrina and how she had changed his heart and the course of his life forever.By the time the group returned to the Montoya house, Jose was exhausted but excited aboutleaving in the morning to cross the border one more time and head for Ohio. Neither he nor anyone inhis family had ever been there, or even knew anyone that had been. There was much discussion andspeculation about the place. Someone had heard that they grew so much corn there that everyone hadyellowish skin, although it was unknown whether this was caused diet or simply an overabundance ofpollen in the air. Someone else wondered if there were bears there, and if so whether they could betrained, although the question was quickly ridiculed when it turned out to have been prompted by ahazy recollection of a poster advertising a traveling American circus.Above all, everyone was concerned about the cold and snow that far north, and the differenteffects it might have on a man's health. Severa Gomez was in fact so worried about the diseases of thenorth that she had spent the day visiting various stores and vendors to find Jose the very best blanketsthat her money could buy. She ultimately settled on two that had particularly bright colors, so that theywould stand out against the bland whiteness of the snow. This was intended to serve two purposes; notonly were they to remind Jose of what a warm and colorful place his home was, but the bright colorswould also let rescuers find him if he ever got lost in a snow storm and happened to have the blanketswith him. Although Jose doubted that he would need the blankets for being rescued he was grateful forthe reminders of home that they would provide, and he accepted them in the spirit in which they were
The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya 59given. He would in fact manage to keep those blankets – survivors of piss, blood, fire, fraying, and ahost of other untold insults – for the rest of his life, until they were brought to the VA hospital where helay dying in an attempt to warm not only his legs but the spirits of his children and grandchildren.On that night in Agua Prieta, however, no one was thinking of hospitals. After retiring to theroom that he would share with Concepcion just this one last time, Jose folded the blankets into hisvalise, lay down on the bed of his childhood, and fell asleep. The next morning, with the practicedhabit of a soldier and the excitement of a schoolboy, Jose arose well before the sun and crossed backinto America.It's July of 1917 and Jose Montoya is on the run. He is running from the warm breath of hisfamily to an unknown fate that could suck his own life's breath away from him. He is running from aland where rabbits rule the moon and kick up dust in the desert to a place where rabbits climb andtumble across a landscape carved and molded by the advance of glaciers and made fertile by theirretreat.The train ride from his past into his future was long and uncomfortable, rolling Jose fromArizona to Louisiana to Chicago to Cincinnati over the course of two days. The trains are serpentswith bellies full of soldiers, swallowed up here and there to be disgorged wherever the army says theyare needed. Some of the soldiers are going to training, some are going to war, some are going home,and in their dozens and in their hundreds they pack the trains and platforms all along Jose's route withbodies, daydreams, sweat, swagger and fear.Jose wished that he could be laying on top of the train like he used to before he joined the army,daydreaming and watching the clouds and the scenery go by. As he watched America pass by outsidehis window, however, Jose for the most part allowed himself to forget that he was pinned inside of ametal box and instead let his brain fill up with the strange and beautiful scenes that projected onto his
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