A Phone “conversation” with Cheíto…

It was a quiet afternoon … well, actually it was quiet because I was hard at deciphering some numbers which, were I not to do so, would bring about an end result which would not be good for me.

The phone rang out. As we use these new “do-it-all” cellular phones, one of the useful characteristics to be remembered, is the ability to assign specific tones to each caller we want identified. Before we answer. Low and behold, it was a very shrill tone (very appropriate, I think!!) which I have assigned to our friend Cheíto.

“Rafa …. Juat ‘yu doin’ man?”… “I was thinkin’ bout yu this morning, when I was talking with Cachita” … “Cachita, I said… its bin a while since we talked to Rafa… mebbe I shud call him an’ let him know I am writing sumthin for the blog … like you mamita says … the blob”

I have to say, in all fairness, that Cheíto’s contributions have been widely read.  It defies established norms and trends but, hey… if you like them, you got’em!! The only thing is that, when he called, I was really busy and didn’t have a lot of time to spend on the phone with him but, I was curious, since the last time we spoke he was sort of down for the count…

-“Hey, Cheíto… Cachita was not too happy with your Everglades vacation… she wanted to put you away…”

-“Man… yu know how this little mujercita is…” “Cant take a yoke (that’s “joke”) an’ she was mad… never seen her so gone” “She almos cut my … (won’t say here which vital body organs he almost lost, but you can guess, rhyming with calls) “Man … my little Felicita almost was an only chil’”  “But she OK now … we gonna go to the park this Sunday, yu know, after we go to the Church of Santa Barbara”

-“Cheíto”, I said “What do you mean the Church of Santa Bárbara?” “There is no such thing”.  Santa Bárbara is a figure which belongs to the “Santeros”, not the traditional establishment.

-“What yu mean?” “Of course thea is…  Pepe el Negro Santero is the priest in charge and he is always ther…”  “We have cigar smoke, spraying of blessed water and rum, fruits for the mother, an’ all the flowers” “What yu mean there is no church?”

Then I understood that Cheito, an avowed Santería believer, went to a “church” run by a Santería priest, not necessarily what you and I might call a “Church”…

“But Cheíto” I added … “Those services are usually done on Saturdays, not Sundays”

-“Dats tru” he answered … “But this week Pepe el Santero has to go to bless a quinceañera dance (Spanish “sweet sixteen”) on Saturday and they payin’ him a lot of money man” “An’ a lady he’s sweet on is gonna be ther too” … he stopped for a few seconds, and said “I guess even Santeros have to live too” … “Anyway, dat’s why the service is on Sunday”

-“Are Cachita and your Little Princess going with you?” I ventured to ask.

-“YU CRAZY MAN?” … almost lost my hearing on this one… “She would spit the rum on me!!” “Nah … she go to the regular church in Hialeah … yu know, the one we went to when yu were here” … “She wants nuttin’ to do with Pepe … said she would leave me if I took’m ther”  “Beside … she afraid of El Negro ‘cuz she tol’ me once he was sweet on’er an she is afraid he gonna put a brujería (curse) on’er”  “I tol’er he would not do dat, he was a good brujo” … “and yu know what she say?” “Sure, he a good horny brujo, dat one!!”  “so I guess she not goin’”.

What could I say to this? Not much, so I didn’t.

-“So, when are you going to send me something for the “blob”, like your dear mother in law calls it?”

-“I tink dat I will send you something next week … yu know, I want to write about our life here in Hialeah” “The domino fiesta, the big lechon dinner we’re gonna have for the, what yu calit?, day of thanks (he can’t really pronounce yet the full name) and the salsa band coming to the park” … “Yu know … it gonna be sweet!!”.

At this point we said our good byes and after the phone was shut down I sat for a while thinking about these good folk. How we had met some years ago, when I was at my brother’s house in Hialeah, and how they represent a slice of a culture that refuses to die. In his simplicity, he is actually refreshing; this small family (maybe to get bigger, since he avoided Cachita’s attempt to shorten his manhood) who in their own way have adapted to the major, daily demands of the larger overall society, while not forgetting those things that make them who they are. Much like many other such families of different backgrounds.

They are a slice of Americana, in all its splendor. Because Americana is not more than the amalgam which sets what is the overall culture of this great country of ours. And, as much as Cheíto and his family hold on to some of their customs and traditions, they are also a contributing part to our society at large.

Well… I thought you would like to hear about our conversation yesterday; he sends his “holas y saludos” … we shall see what he writes when he eventually gets around to it; I will be happy to put it on the blob … I mean, the blog.

Be well … Be back!!!

Final Notes:

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