When I was Five.......

My mom use to take me to Juarez, Mexico. At the time she was a single mother and we lived in the Roosevelt Housing Projects. To make ends meet she sold candies and sodas and used our front window as her shop set up. When we were in need of inventory we took a trip across the border. A cup of fruit with chile was a must on every trip and I always looked forward to one along with a liquado. I remember the huge barrel jars with every colorful cool fruit flavor my heart could desire. But before we would enjoy the refreshing treats we would stroll the mercado. My mom seemed to know everyone there and I would get a peek at each shop as we made our way upstars where my mother had a gentlemen friend she knew well. The higher up we got the more of the Mercado I could see on a whole. It was a colorful view with people moving to and fro, laughing, bargaining and relaxing. Mariachi music would flow through the building and the smells of my favorite foods filled the air. Pinatas, blankets, toys and jewels made for a vibrant sight. After my mother enjoyed her time at the Mercado she would often take me to a burger joint that provided ice cream cone toys. The ice cream part would pop out at the push of a button and I would frantically try to catch it with the plastic cone. This toy would keep me busy till we reached the border. My mom would reward me with the fruit cup of my choice and I would settle down as we waited in a line of cars. Here I would sit and contemplate how I fit into the picture outside my window. Children would offer Chiclets for a few cents and I would be passed back another treat. Women carried their babies strapped to their back as they peddled their wares. Men with lost limbs would wheel themselves in between the cars begging for American money. And several young able-bodied men would wash our windows without being asked. My mother usually gave them a few cents and shooed them away. Once we reached the checkpoint we would all chant American when asked our citizen status and my grandmother would often be hiding forbidden fruit under her seat hoping we would not be searched. After a twenty minute ride we would arrive home and bring in our candy assortment and soda crates. Our shot glass collection would more than likely be bare as we prepared our window shop to collect the change we always stored there.