Roots of Indifferences

by Terri Ragsdale

  In the Rio Grande Valley, the tension and hatred between the two nationalities still existed as a backlash from the Rangers, vigilantes, and Anglo law enforcement brutality taking revenge against the local Mexican-American natives. Other vigilante groups were evolving within the business merchants of the white population. It was easy for any group to take advantage of the despicable, horrendous conditions occurring, to commit a crime, and then blame it on the Mexican raiders.

  CHAPTER 31

  Amidst the suffering, chaos, and confusion in the fall of 1916, a traveling ministry of so-called "movers and shakers" promoting their beliefs came to Mercedes and set up their huge white tent north of the town for a three-day revival. The majority of the population was loyal Mexican-American Catholics and had never heard of other religions. They never knew anything like that even existed.

  But the tension with the Mexican Revolution, the invading raiders, and Los Rinches with their lynching mobs, had been so intense that any encouragement and inspiration was deemed welcome. By the second day of bringing forth light, saving souls, and promising miracles, all the excitement had gotten everyone's attention. People were wondering what the "moving and shaking" was all about. The majority was skeptical, but curiosity overcame hesitation, and many found the event too hard to resist.

  Many of the workers from Spanish Acres decided to see what the hullabaloo was all about. Roy was recovering from his surgery. Manuel could not stop drinking and suffered from a bad case of hemorrhoids. Yo-Yo, with arthritis in his joints, agreed to attend.

  Others who attended were members of the white Presbyterian and Methodist churches and the Catholic praying party, including Emma and Mrs. McCray, members of the wagging-tongue society. All tried to hide under feathered hats, and mantillas wrapped around their faces, embarrassed and in fear of being recognized. Most of the white folks sat in the front rows, and as usual, the Mexican people sat to the back.

  The tension mounted as a group of six white singers in long black robes stood four feet above the ground on a wooden platform singing and clapping their hands. To the side of the podium was a large woman playing the piano and accompanying the choir. The spectators below were sitting in rows and rows of wooden chairs, and they joined in and began clapping also.

  From behind the curtains appeared a balding Anglo man in his late sixties, weighing over three hundred pounds. He wore a black suit and white shirt and carried a Bible in his hand. He approached the pulpit and shouted, "Amen, folks!" The rest of the fanatic fundamentalists repeated "Amen!"

  Everyone stood up as he asked. "Do we want to be saved and go to heaven?" His reverberating tenor voice was deep and loud. He gave a commanding impression of a high authority sent from above.

  "Yes!" the audience answered, reverberating throughout the close-quartered tent.

  "Do you want Jesus in your heart and be saved?" he hollered.

  "Yes! Yes!" was the answer from his congregation.

  "Before we get started and forget in our excitement, we're going to pass the donation plate." His voice was strong and vibrant. "It cost us money to travel and set up the tent, and to pay our fellow traveling Christians. And as soon as we pass the money plate, we'll go into a prayer. There will be testimonies of miracles, and we'll continue with our wonderful visit with Jesus."

  The passing of the contribution plates was done at the beginning of the service, since the sermons were sometimes harsh and severe, and many times the preaching got out of hand. They were afraid that if people got frightened, they would leave without giving any contribution to their work.

  "There's da catch," said Roy, addressing Manuel. "It's always da gawddamn money!"

  Manuel, full of excitement, grinned.

  Yo-Yo glanced at Manuel and said, "Uh huh."

  Several of the Anglos sitting in front of them, mostly women with enormous fancy hats, turned around and stared at Roy. If looks could kill, well, this was the moment. A loud "shush" was voiced and repeated. Manuel smiled, displayed his few teeth and Yo-Yo repeated, "Uh huh."

  The choir began singing. There were several "Hallelujahs," coming from the audience. Four large water buckets—not ordinary plates, but buckets—were passed around and were soon full of loose gold and silver dollars.

  Roy noticed several individuals standing against the walls on both sides, looking pallid. He found it curious since there were chairs to sit in. All seemed old and looked weak, crippled, and sick, with wooden crutches, or in wheelchairs. Did these folks come with the tent show as a testimony to save their sorry souls? Or was this all a circus to make money and entertain the crowd?

  After many minutes of exhorting the congregation to seek Jesus and be saved, the preacher shouted at the top of his lungs. "Jesus! Jesus! Our only savior!"

  The congregation responded with shouts of "Jesus! Jesus!" in a wave of chanting awe in fear of going to Hell. "Hallelujah!" responded others, their waving hands held high.

  The preacher then went into a trance and began speaking in tongues.

  The audience went wild again. "Hallelujah!" they shouted. Rumbling followed, as feet began hitting the floor in rhythmical, reverberating, pounding waves; the noise got louder and made people want to get up and shout in a spellbinding ecstasy. Several ladies sitting in the front row fainted. They were calmly picked up by others as if nothing had taken place, and without missing a beat.

  A young girl about twenty fell to the ground, close to where Roy and the vaqueros were sitting. As she began twitching, with contractions of her muscles racking her whole body, her dress crawled up around her hips, revealing her underpants. The vaqueros all leaned forward and looked down at the scene with interest.

  "Don't look or you'll go blind," said someone in the audience.

  "I'll risk one eye," said one of the Mexican vaqueros, as he put his hand over his left eye. Another said, "Me too." Others snickered with embarrassment.

  The excitement became so great that it was like a bolt of electricity hitting the earth in a hard rain shower with lightning and thunder. From the aisle, a cripple dropped his crutches, hit the floor and began shaking, like the young girl. Startled, Roy and the vaqueros jumped when his crutches hit the floor beside them. Another person claimed he was free from pain and ailments; he raised his hands into the air calling out "Jesus! Jesus!" Ah! Qué, bueno!

  The music stopped. There was a long silence, with no one quite knowing what was coming. Emma and several of the other ladies were all frantically fanning themselves.

  The preacher stopped and looked out into the crowd. He was in a soporific trance with his eyes closed, his arms stretched out. He began prophesying: "A heavy Mexican woman in our midst suffers from sugar sickness. She will be healed— healed!"

  Emma drew back, knowing that he was talking about her.

  "I see a widow woman who will find her sweetheart and will marry in the next five years and will be very happy."

  Mrs. McCray smiled, while Emma nodded her approval.

  "I feel someone with heart problems will be healed by the power of the Lord— healed!"

  The preacher continued: "I feel that a white man who has been paralyzed will be healed tonight— healed! He will walk again!" He shouted and his voice pulsated against the tent walls. One of the feeble old men dropped his crutches and started to walk down the aisle, raising his hands. "Hallelujah, praise Jesus!" he said. Two others in their wheelchairs got up and began walking, lifting their hands in the air and shouting loudly, "Jesus! Lord Jesus!" The crowd went wild again and shouted, "Hallelujah!"

  The crowd was now in a hypnotic trance, waiting to see what surprising new miracles were coming their way. The preacher put his hand out to silence them so he could read from the Bible: "They shall take up serpents; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." He closed the Bible and shouted, "Bring in the box!"

  A large wooden box with small holes on each side was placed on a table in front of the platform. Everyone had their eyes on the wooden box. What was inside? Everyo
ne became silent. The preacher stood over the box and spoke. "Who sits in the audience that is without faith?" he shouted, pointing his index finger and waving his arm across the room. "Who out there is thinking that they are brave enough and need faith?" There was a soft murmur from the audience. The two box-handlers opened the box, and the preacher started to put his hand inside. Everyone was quiet, everything still.

  "Friends," he said, "you need faith to hold this beautiful creature of God in your hands." What creature? All eyes widened as the preacher took his suit coat off, rolled up his sleeves, and reached into the box. In slow motion, he brought out the biggest, the ugliest, rattlesnake he’d ever seen in South Texas.

  Roy's eyes almost popped out of his head, and he leaned forward. "Gawddamn and holy shit!" he exclaimed, not realizing he was speaking out loud. Manuel shrank back in his seat. Yo-Yo's eyes were as big as they could get, and he swallowed hard. Several of the vaqueros appeared jittery. Others chuckled to themselves, thinking this was the funniest thing they had ever seen—playing with the deadly culebra. The subdued churchwomen began fanning faster and breathing harder. Emma almost fainted. She wanted to get up and leave, remarking she was not in love with any species of vermin, and she especially hated snakes.

  The preacher put the heavy snake around his neck and cuddled it, soothing it like a pet.

  Laws me! Thought Roy, entranced at what he was seeing. If that snake bites him, he'll be dead in minutes. All of the vaqueros were stunned at the scene before them, and they looked around to find an exit. They had seen rattlers, but not this whopping ass big!

  "You!" the preacher said, coming down the aisle with the beast around his neck. His eyes were wide and wild. He caught the attention of Roy, who was looking guilty and eyed him up and down.

  Roy straightened himself up, perplexed. His body went so weak he almost fell from his chair. "Me?" He almost wet his pants when he looked up at the venomous snake with its forked tongue darting in and out.

  "Are you a man of faith?" the preacher said, hovering over him with the devil snake. "I feel that not too long ago, you encountered death, almost died, but you have been saved to become a soldier in the army of Jesus." His smoldering eyes were piercing and fervent.

  "Yes," answered Roy. How the hell did he know? He felt his body shaking and sinking lower in his seat. At this very moment, he did not know whether he was afoot or on horseback and wanted to run out of the tent as fast as his feet would carry him.

  "That's what I thought!" roared the preacher. He closed his eyes and went into a trance. "I'm being told that all of you sitting in this section need to be healed and saved in the name of Jesus." He was apparently being told something again, as his body began shaking in a tremor, but the snake clung to him like a faithful partner.

  The congregations went wild and began screaming, "Jesus, sweet Jesus!”

  The preacher turned to Manuel, and shouted, "You, sir, are infested with the devil's liquid desire, and if you do not repent, you shall burn in Hell with all of the demonic angels, and you shall be punished by God!"

  Manuel squirmed nervously and nodded yes. Everyone had turned and was staring at him, even Emma and Mrs. McCray, who were shaking their heads in disgust.

  The preacher bent over Yo-Yo and snarled, "Do you drink? Do you like tobacco? How about the women? Adulterous ways! You are traveling with the devil's desires and nothing pleases him more than burning you eternally in Hell. You'll be damned forever!" He bellowed fire and damnation, his face was red, and he was sweating on his forehead and under his armpits. The people sitting close by felt a spray of sweat and spit sprinkle over them. "Folks," he said, glaring out into the audience, "we have three men here who need praying and saving."

  "Hallelujah!" shouted the congregation, as they stood with their arms extended, shouting and pounding their feet and clapping their hands. The vibration throbbed in everyone's body, and all were caught up in rapture.

  "These men need the Holy Spirit to come into their hearts, and they need faith. Now, here is what we are going to do!" shouted the preacher.

  Well, hell, thought Roy. Here it comes. The big surprise!

  The preacher stood before them, head up as if receiving a special message from above. He closed his eyes, mumbled some words, and then opened his eyes. He uncoiled the rattler from his shoulders and, in an instant, wrapped the snake around Roy's neck. People sitting close by scrambled away in panic. Roy jumped up. He flipped the snake off in a tangled mass toward Manuel. Manuel jerked backward and almost had a heart attack. The huge rattler fell to the floor and slithered toward Yo-Yo, who jumped and hollered. Fear replaced the miracle Manuel was expecting, and he began running outside. The other vaqueros followed, including Yo-Yo, whose belt had come undone, causing him to almost lose his pants! If it was faith they needed, they had come to the wrong place. It was not going to be given by a fat rattler! The choir kept singing and clapping their hands, and the clamor continued as if nothing had happened.

  Other startled people began leaving the premises, including Emma and Mrs. McCray and other members of the wagging-tongue society who had had the living daylights scared out of them.

  Outside the tent, one of the vaqueros found a bottle of whiskey inside his jacket and shared it with his nervous and frightened compadres. Some began rolling cigarettes to calm their nerves. All were men who drank and smoked; they were going to Hell anyway.

  Roy, still flabbergasted, began laughing. It was an amazing and unexplainable feeling. Whether they were saved or not, he was feeling better and breathing better; however, his nerves were traumatized. "Dat git rid of yore hem'hoids?" Roy asked Manuel, laughing so hard, holding his stomach that tears came to his eyes. Manuel's few white hairs stood straight up and Yo-Yo unsure where he was. Both looked like the victims of an explosion.

  "No, not my hemorrhoids," answered Manuel, who had come out of his shock and was laughing with them. "But maybe something else," he muttered, as they all took notice of a foul smell that hung in the damp foggy air. The men looked at one another, trying to determine where the fetid smell was coming from. At the same time, Manuel discovered the reason for the warmth in his lower regions. He had crapped his pants.

  Yo-Yo giggled and grabbed for the buttons on the front of his trousers, which felt wet and warm. He had soaked his drawers. He looked up, grinned, and said, "Uh-huh!"

  CHAPTER 32

  In February of 1917, Brigadier General Blackjack Pershing withdrew his troops from Mexico. His army had suffered enormous casualties south of the border, at the hands of the Mexican fighters and also from the harsh Sierra Madre’s mountainous environment. The last United States Army unit rode out defeated and unable to capture Pancho Villa in the mountains of Chihuahua.

  It was also in that month that Major General Frederick Funston died in San Antonio from a heart attack. This left the United States Army in limbo and in total chaos, especially when dealing with the disturbing border problems.

  The following month, Carranza was elected president of Mexico. He had already ordered a convention for the writing of a new constitution, modifying it for labor rights, rights over territory, and restricting the power of the Catholic Church.

  Carranza started making remarks against the U.S. regarding the violation of Mexico's rights, and in retaliation and to prove his point; he sent several troops to the border. With the U.S. National Guard patrolling the Rio Grande River, war with Mexico seemed imminent. Around this time, the so-called Zimmermann Note wired to Carranza was intercepted and decoded by British Naval Intelligence. President Wilson was notified. In it, the German ambassador reassured Mexico of being their ally and seemed to indicate that Mexico was going to war with the United States, and Mexico would be rewarded by getting back the states sold by Santa Anna. The Zimmermann Note was being kept from the public, for fear of causing panic, while the Germans were using highly convincing propaganda in Mexico, trying to distract the United States from the European war.

  The German submarines that roamed t
he seas began sinking American ships on sight, and in April of 1917, the United States declared war on Germany. Newspapers went ballistic in reporting the news on the front page. Gross caricatures of political figures appeared in the editorial pages. Young men eighteen and over were being recruited into the service. Many Mexican-American boys enlisted, but many others in the Mexican-American families, who were already hostile and full of resentment against American injustice and Los Rinches' brutality, refused to join the service. Many falsified their birth certificates, claiming they were baptized in Mexico and were Mexican citizens.

  Shortly after the United States declared war on Germany, it was business as usual for the Texas Rangers, who began their own little war by sending callous, ruthless Rangers to Mexican homes, demanding that they surrender their firearms. Many Mexican men refused to give up their arms, and consequently, they were taken outside in front of their families and lynched or shot while "resisting arrest." The vigilante posses, which were made up of a white Anglo men and the Texas Rangers, simply got out of control, making up their own laws. The raids occurred during the night when families were asleep, surprising them. On several occasions Rangers used the horrific methods of the K.K.K., burning homes with torches and leaving burning crosses, a form of intimidation no different from what occurred in the Deep South. The Rangers were also busy questioning the birth certificates of the Mexican-American citizens, trying to prove they were evading registration. They also invaded any meeting or organization that the Mexican people conducted, and an indication of their disregard for the border laws.

  In early spring, upon Manuel's delivery to Mercedes, he had informed Victoria of his concern for Mama Maria, whose illness had gotten worse. Victoria began spending most of her time at Spanish Acres, giving out orders to Soledad, Ophelia, and Olivia, who were now running the kitchen and overseeing the household duties. She had heard the mournful sounds of the lechuzas several times, warning of death as the owls circled Spanish Acres during the night hours, and it had worried Victoria.