Roots of Indifferences

by Terri Ragsdale

  "I truly apologize. I will talk to Mrs. Gray. But I'm sure she just made a mistake," he replied.

  It was surprising the importance and value of money, and how the power of money and greed could control people's behavior. Having money gave you power, and everyone in the end finally had a price.

  After days of hearing Victoria fume and fuss, Don Federico made it a point to attend the next school district meeting to heatedly discuss the incident with the members. Three of them were white, high-brow bankers, and associates of the Rotary Club, the Kiwanis Club, and the Lions Club, of which Don Federico was also a member and had held offices. There were others attending, all white men, who were small businessmen, from bakers to grocery store owners and retailers, and who had their own children in the schools.

  The majority listened with the arrogance to his speech with their hypocritical attitude, eyeing one another with an indifferent posture. The undaunted Don Federico stood in front of them, elegant, eloquent, and articulate, as he explained, with a silver tongue, how the incident of the head lice notice had erupted into a critical decision on his part. The bottom line—it was a lie. His granddaughter did not have lice. Yes, it was an embarrassment. Yes, it was a slap in the family's face. And yes, having head lice was a problem. But the school had gone overboard in handing out slips of paper, inappropriately using their authority because the children had Mexican last names, regardless if the child was infected or not. The school would not admit it, but it was the truth. The final conclusion, he said, was that it was a racial issue. He told them that being racist never won anything. It deprived little children who were victims of an unjust society, causing hurt and anger for the rest of their lives.

  He told them that perhaps it was going to take something more drastic before the evil South would come to grips with the understanding that separating classes of people would never work because it was not just. Truth and understanding were the only way to communicate with one another. The hateful Jim Crow laws that were the rule of law all these years were going to come to an end some day. Perhaps it was going to take the United States Congress and the Supreme Court to wake up and discipline the states and counties to correct their terrible mistakes.

  When the staunch Don Federico finished his argument, he silently walked away. In the audience, not a sound could be heard, and none of the surprised, shaken and chagrined businessmen said a word. It marked a historical event for the town of Mercedes.

  "Something more drastic" did not occur immediately. Changes did not happen right away, not that year, nor the following year in the school district or in the region. It would take years of long suffering and continuing arguments by sensitive and just educators who saw that changes had to be made, especially when dealing with ‘roots of indifference,’ with the Mexican-Americans. Something was done— thirty years later, from a peaceful, fearless black leader who preached that only through truth and love would win people, and initiated the Civil Rights Law of 1964. It was the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who transformed the course of history for all.

  Maria Theresa did not return to the school. Victoria hired a special woman tutor to complete her studies at home and made arrangements to send her the following September to study at Lady of the Lake in San Antonio, Texas. They did not hear any more from the Principal, and the funds being given to the school ceased. The following school year, the young Mrs. Gray did not return to the Mercedes school district. Don Federico was always a hero and loved among the Mexican people for his honesty and sincere justice, but he continued to be despised among the high and mighty white businessmen.

  It was around this time that a telegram arrived from Monterrey that Señora Del Calderóne had died from an apparent heart attack. Victoria did not find it in her heart to attend the funeral but sent flowers to Ricardo in condolence. A month later, the longtime house servant, Ophelia, died and was buried in the Juelson cemetery.

  The saying goes: when it rains, it pours, and shit happens. Problems started to occur with the land at Spanish Acres. Apparently, Yolanda Garcia had returned from being with Mr. Romeo in Monterrey. She had gotten greedy and wanted more of the land; all along, she was being coached by Ricardo, who knew the laws in Texas. She began investigating in Hidalgo County Courts the boundaries between hers and the Juelson's land. As a result, she became involved in legal allegations and created a stir among the Juelson clan. Yolanda possessed old legal papers given to her by George Juelson many years before, which would apparently stand up in court.

  The Hidalgo County Court began mailing registered letters to Don Federico questioning the boundaries because of land development around his property. Taxes were being raised, and easement for the development of public roads and the North Floodway was being sought around the Spanish Acres region. Don Federico hired Attorney Canalo, who had retired from public office but was busy forming the LULAC meeting on human relations.

  Canalo drove from Brownsville and began investigating the legal court papers at the Hidalgo County Courts in Edinburg. He found several mistakes in the legal paperwork on the boundaries of the land tracts, and finally, after many months of bitter litigation with Yolanda and the Garcia family, the result was drastic losses of the Juelson fortune. The courts and attorneys were eating up the family estate.

  Finally, in 1939, everything unraveled.

  Yolanda was given a large portion of land, over forty acres north of Spanish Acres—land full of cactus, alkali, and heavy thickets of undergrowth, which was still undeveloped and never used. Yolanda's father Miguel was immediately fired by Victoria and was told to get the hell out, and not to set foot in Spanish Acres again, creating a heated feud on each side of the boundary line. Victoria made her demands known: "If any of your damn-blasted family even comes close," she said, "I'll shoot to kill."

  There was still plenty of land for raising cotton and plenty of acres for the cattle to roam as long as there was water. After the confusing battle of boundaries was splashed across the headlines all over the South Texas region, there were offers from several rich buyers in Houston and Dallas who were interested in buying Spanish Acres. Whether their motives were for recreation or for oil, nobody really knew. Oil was of great interest and had been discovered all around the region.

  Months later, while staying and working at Spanish Acres, Victoria looked like a campesina out in the cotton fields in her straw hat, overalls, and cotton jacket. She was overseeing the work—the plowing, watering, and fertilizing—and making notes in her book, working alongside three hundred cotton pickers. She noticed from a distance, behind her dark sunglasses, none other than Yolanda walking to the pond where the giant Montezuma cypress tree grew.

  Yolanda had not been seen since the funeral of Ricardo's sister and was absent from the court proceedings. Victoria watched as she dipped her feet into the still water, perhaps to cool herself from the summer heat. But it was not Yolanda's property. How dare she? She had no business trespassing on Spanish Acres land—they had been sternly warned!

  Victoria wondered if Yolanda was scheming some way to control the water rights, which were a scarce commodity in this part of the region. The pond was created from an early spring back in 1840 during her grandfather's time. Victoria remembered, as a little girl, the story told by her grandfather: Doña Adela's father, the old Indian water witcher had taken a forked willow tree branch that had buried itself into the rich black soil. They had dug deep and created the pond that had lasted all these years. Yolanda was sleeping with everyone even then, including Victoria's grandfather, convincing him to sign papers of ownership over to her, the two-timing slut. She was probably hoping before long to walk away with everything. Well! Victoria decided. It isn't going to happen!

  Within the week, Yolanda was found dead, floating face down in the pond, by two vaqueros early at dawn. Drowning was the final word. Nobody knew why she had been at the Spanish Acres pond. What business did she have there? Her life was so happy now that she had acquired her property. Why? She had so many plans
for her land. These were the many questions from the working vaqueros and the household, who were all stunned. Emma was astonished, for she thought Yolanda had what it took to make it in this world. She had so many ideas. She was so talented. Felicia was bewildered. It was said that Ricardo was beside himself.

  Victoria raised her eyebrows and shrugged her shoulders. "She knew better than to trespass. Only the Shadow knows," she said, alluding to the popular radio program that aired on late night radio.

  Headlines in September 1939, reported the German army had invaded the country of Poland. Over three million Jews were being rounded up; many had died from hunger and disease. What were they up to? And where were they putting all the Jewish people? These were the questions being asked by the American people—and was the United States going to get involved?

  It was also in 1939 that Gone with the Wind became the most successful film of all time. Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath movie that dealt with life during the Depression, and the children's movie, The Wizard of Oz hit the screen, with Judy Garland making her singing debut.

  That same year election for President of Mexico was being held. After being governor of Tamaulipas, Juan Alvarez put his hat in the ring and began campaigning. The plot thickened as Juan was running against tough hombres like Ávila Camacho.

  In the late fall of 1939, letters received from Fred, who once again resided in Tampico, were disturbing and raised all kinds of suspicions regarding the Germans. In his letter, Fred conveyed that they were infiltrating the country and had deployed submarines along the Gulf coast. He also said that the Krog-Stein-Mex Company was closed due to allegations of cruelty and other terrible charges he would rather not mention at the moment. He wrote that his former employer, Krog, had committed suicide, and his partner, Stein, had gone back to Germany. He said his medical clinic there had been destroyed by the Germans, and all the people were afraid.

  Fred told them he was busy rebuilding the clinic and was making terrific strides in the advancement of medicine. He also said how happy he was with his beautiful two-year-old daughter named Maria Venus, who had light gray eyes, a face full of freckles, and resembled their grandfather George, an attribute that disturbed Victoria. And he had another surprise for them—Dolores was expecting another child in the coming year. He stated he wanted to come back to Texas but was going to wait until the child was born. He was hoping for a boy. He was arranging legal papers for Dolores with the immigration department in Brownsville, but all of the legal rhetoric and correspondence was taking a long time.

  In April of 1940, another baby girl was born to Dolores, and she and Fred named the child Ana Maria. The child was born breech, and Dolores had gone through a long hard labor. The baby girl had digestive problems and had trouble eating. Finally, after the second day, she was given goat's milk. And there was another problem. The baby girl had an infection on the right side of her face that would not heal. Months passed, and Fred went into intensive research trying to find the cure, but there was none. It was considered an unknown virus and the child would probably have to live with it for the rest of her life.

  In the middle of summer, the other old servant, Olivia, died and was buried next to Ophelia in the Juelson cemetery.

  In the same year, headlines from the Mexican political newspapers stated that Juan Alvarez had lost the Mexican presidential election and had fled to Cuba for protection, having received several threats on his life. Apparently, he was protesting against alleged election irregularities and feared the more powerful and aggressive Camacho, who would entertain no challenge to his becoming President of Mexico. Victoria became fearful for Juan's safety.

  President Franklin Roosevelt's second term was busy working with a special session of Congress trying his best to bring the country out of the long crisis. He set up the Agricultural Administration to help farmers, insured banks, regulated the stock market, subsidized homes, and mortgage payments. The Workers Compensation Act provided unemployment compensation, and a new program called Social Security offered help for the elderly. He had been getting encouraging results in bringing prosperity back to the country.

  The economy started to see a silver lining. People found jobs, and many worked in factories, bought homes, and were able to feed their families. In Europe, England and France were at war with the Germans, but the United States had remained neutral; however, it was giving foreign aid to those countries. Seeing the problems overseas, Congress enacted a draft for the military service.

  Then, on December 7, 1941, the unthinkable happened, as if the United States did not have enough problems to solve, with the country barely coming out of the Depression. While Texans listened to their radio early in the morning to Texas swing music, getting ready for their church services, and the Mexican-Americans listened to Jorge Negrete, Los Trío Calaveras, Pedro Infante, and Dos Arbolitos, then came the shocking news: the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. Four days later, as the United States was still in a state of shock, Germany and Italy aligned with Japan and declared war on the United States. Immediately President Roosevelt exercised his powers as Commander-in-Chief and began mobilizing for the unwanted war. Within months all hell broke loose as young, enthusiastic men from the two different races were in long lines signing up to fight for the United States. Billboards were going up all over the country with Uncle Sam displaying the sign, "Uncle Sam needs you," and flyers were being distributed and dropped from planes. Buying war bonds to help fund the war became popular. Gasoline, flour, coffee and sugar were being rationed, and silk stockings were hard to find. Texas had a new governor, Coke R. Stevenson since Pappy O'Daniels resigned to become a United States Senator.

  A sense of despair and fear ran through everyone. Was the world coming to an end? Every family with eligible sons panicked, including Victoria, who was like a mother hen protecting her chicks. Those young boys who were available to go to war had to be eighteen years old and up, in good health, and not enrolled in school. Luis Martin was already studying engineering at a school across the border in Monterrey; Aaron was twenty-two, but was in school in Austin, Texas, studying accounting; Danny was still too young. There were Felicia and Dan Land's children, especially Stewart, who was going on twenty-three and perfect for the draft, and the next son, James, who was going on eighteen. They would feel the brunt of war. There were several attempts to telephone Fred in Tampico, but they were unsuccessful. Several telegrams were sent to Tampico-Alto, which now had communications services. And yet no answer came from Fred. Don Federico, in a mad frenzy, insisted that Fred returns to the United States as soon as possible.

  The following spring, Luis Martin, continuing his education in a sophisticated technological school in Monterrey, telegraphed Victoria with bad news. Apparently, while Ricardo was working in a modern high-rise building in the downtown, he was hit in the head by a large steel girder. And the accident had left him paralyzed and in the hospital. Luis Martin had always thought Ricardo was his father, but before he left for school in Monterrey, Victoria finally broke down and told him the truth, since it was best. It left hard sentiments all around.

  Victoria refused to travel to Monterrey and quickly responded to Luis Martin to keep in touch with her on Ricardo's outcome. She told him that she was in the middle of planting the cotton and could not leave the area. She emphasized that his education depended on the cotton profit. Maybe all of the women in Monterrey who thought Ricardo was so wonderful will take care of him, she thought. Apparently, the special voodoo dolls and candles worked—thank you, Doña Adela! There was still one doll left, and she would start working on it next. It was meant for a certain ex-Texas Ranger.

  *****

  A month later, Ricardo died. Needless to say, Victoria did not attend the funeral.

  Months passed and Victoria kept busy with the development of the laborers and the smooth running of the machinery out in the cotton fields. She kept books on the number of pounds each worker picked, for which they received one cent a pound. She stayed overnight at Spani
sh Acres on Fridays so that on Saturday afternoon the workers would be paid in cash for the weekly quota, and then she completed her bookkeeping, after seeing that the trucks were driven to the Mercedes cotton gin. She then would return home to Mercedes. Victoria's other purpose was to see that Mary and her children, who still lived at Spanish Acres, had enough provisions. She was amazed how big Carlos's children were getting. They would be attending the Edcouch-Elsa school district, and during the school year would ride the bus.

  But on this special day, in the warmest of windy June, Victoria did not return to Mercedes. After working all day out in the blistering sun, she paid the workers and wearily went to the Spanish Acres mansion to clean up and eat dinner with Mary and the children.

  Mary, in a happy state of jubilation, announced she had a surprise for her.

  "A surprise?" answered Victoria, exhausted, taking her hat, gloves, cotton jacket and sunglasses off in the vestibule. She noticed Roy looking much older, as he limped around helping Mary. Soledad, with salt and pepper hair, showed signs of aging as well. She was busy helping prepare a quail dinner with all of the festive ingredients of a banquet. Victoria excused herself to go upstairs to wash and put on clean clothes.

  Returning from the kitchen area, she was still curious. "Now what was the surprise you wanted to tell me?" she asked Mary while straightening her blouse. "Nothing surprises me anymore." She noticed the silence on everyone's lips. Nobody said a word or even dared to look at her. Several seconds ticked by, and then it was Roy who rubbed his chin and spoke: "Let's go into da eatin' area."

  Sitting at the dining room table was Juan Alvarez, wearing a white Panama shirt and looking at her with adoring eyes. Victoria screamed and brought her hands to her face and gasped. She could feel her heart beating faster. Juan got up and embraced her. Everybody smiled and then laughed and clapped their hands. What a surprise!