ONE Last TIME
Gary Soto
1952-
Gey Sto gr pry sig ith isfy a eet on in
Calfri’ Sen Sago Vaey. Sl tenures of ie trai of Me
ca dri as des te loc autograph
decries penn ping rps ens ey hc
fom Living Up there Neate Relief tn ee
‘Area Bok Ar 285 Te mie fn yeas Se
‘esate alsa stor elena po bas
fonts ied wih ran tos ek
{ml eres ao ae Eee since CRU oes
Far Wore of Amor EWA ones
Yesterday I saw the movie Gf and recognised fre
plonotin the tsar but inthe fm: say rates eae
thas pamows, resring fom tefl wt hoesbalanccdcn te
shoulder The mocks were sumtin ees all ond eee
‘ex sg thd ay wal ne wes tomyotoein
iene wih popco and Cakes cnt have anying eg
thinking of my family and thir years in the fields, Peyinniog wi
Grandmother whe came tothe United Sates ale Si Meccan Sool
tant wale in Pes where se mat her Rasband wnt ee
tmany ef them. She workad in thefts around Frans peng cee
rang plums reaches, ar colt drgsinga ange eg Meee
Slate work inthe pking hoses Baer ans Son Mats Rake
‘ere she ocd! conveyer bl pang es hand a cea
tains to pack out lesver and pebble for one ety
‘orhed ata machine that bousd cane uni she else ar re
‘Grenfather wasted nthe elds os id hs close eso
found harelf out there when she separated eas Fae ete
seks. emer he coming home, cus snd 90 et at che ted
ts et on the porch ef she ed ise ow toon es
Tid undentand the complantsabout hears ort seed ote,
tack eventhough ha ben inthe pe feds wachoag ner eo
‘Wick my brother and sister ain aad out ofthe sons we oe
cuieives ard pretended sotto hear Mother selling et ee
Sn behave cuss fee yen Iter however Teeuphtn whe
trent pick grapes ate than play nie ows
“The xan bopsty he one kn Msn Cath ncn Miah,
vest nga eng pea ey
Mother and I gat up befoze davin ane! ate quick bowls of cereal
She drove in silence while | rambled on how everything was now
solved, how T was going to make enough money to end our misery
and even buy her a beautiful copper tea pat, the one T had shown het
in Long’s Drugs, When we arrived 1 was fisky and ready 10 go, sell
consciously aware of my grape Kase dangling at my wrist. {almost
tan to the row the foreman hae pointed out, but [returned to help
‘Mother with the grape pans and jog of water. She told me to setle
oven and reminded me not to lose my knife. Talked a her side and
listened to bet explain how to eut grapes: bent down, hands on knees,
| watched her demonstrate by cutting a fow bunches into my pan. She
‘stood over me as I tried il myself, tugging ata bunch of grapes that
pulled Toose like beads from a necklace. "Cut the stem all the way,”
the told me a last advice before she walked away, her shoes sinking
in the Loose dirt, to begin work on her own row.
Tout another bunch, hen another, fighting the snap and vehip of
vines. Alter ten minvtes of groping for grapes, my ist pan brimmed
‘with bunches. poured thems on the paper tray, which was bordered by
4 wooden frame that kept the grapes from rolling of, and they spilled
like jewels fom a pirates chest The tay was only half fille, so Thur
ried to jump under the vines and begin groping, cuting, and tugging at
the grapes again. Lemptid the pan, raked the grapes with my hands
make them look like they filled the tray and jumped back under the
vine on my knees. tie o cat faster because Mother, in the next rev,
‘wae slowly maving ahead. T packed into hee cow and saw five trays
Slessting in the early moming T cot, pled hard, and. stopped to
father the grapes that missed the pan already bored, spat ona few to
‘wash them before tossing them hike popcem into my moxth
So it went, Two pans equaled one tay-—or six cents. By lunchtime
had a teil of thirty-seven trays behind me while mother had sixty or
‘more. We met about halfway from our last trays, and Isat davn with
f git, knees wel from kneeling on dropped grapes. I washed my
hands with the water from the jug, drying thom on the inside of my
shirt sleeve before I opened the paper Bag for the fist sandwick,
‘which I gave to Mother Tipped my hand in agala to unwrap 2 sane=
‘wich without looking ati. took a first bite and chewed ft slowly for
‘the tang of mustard. Eating in silence {looked straight ahead atthe
vines, and only when ice were finished with cookies cid we talk.
“re yer fred?” she aed
No, but I go a sliver from the frame,” I told her T showed her
the web of skin between my thumbs and index finger She wrinkled
dhe forehead but sid t was nothing,
“How many trays did you do?”
“lacked straight ahead, not answering at fest. [recounted in my
mind the whole moming of bend, cut, pour again and again, beforeata eset ee
sss tcr at imc
Ei tr eaie watbeetiat mraacane st
oo awe e wanna
Spe wba rye tans
Seabee
sot celee eee hgh ee
Exact ve mitten aoe
EB concr orig eget aia
oes
1h ra ng
ee es
Eee meee
eee aera as
herciecvieaaptemaniat tees
gare stehene ean en
met Reareani Setad tor eed
eocenmenaiine nies aera
Wictoce mwa tty ant Setene
serene tntaniteur deere
SR aie cetera ie toes
Lager uated ora
‘The nest day Toke tied and stared picking teed. The grapes
rained it te pa, slowing ke 9 bell ntl had my itt ay
Thu started my second. So it went all day, and the next and all
fhrough the flowing wee, so that By fhe end of thirteen days the
foreman counted on tee marly, may pay of tree dolar
Mother ene one hide ad forty-eight lars, Se woe this on
ferenvelape, witha message dia't bother task ber about.
‘fac bat day 1 walbed with my Wiend Sct fo the downtown
pul whe we doled ov the thn bein fancy wind
vgn popoom, aso afer of outdoor fountains t ak aboot
tile Thay we went nto Peney's or more popcorn, which we ate
‘faling around, before weet home without buying anything.
uve unto few daysbefore school that et my fiy-thece dallas
{hip gual from my hands, baying apa of pan two shits and
tesa Thine the ind that asin ae. home Tied them on
tile Rick Iocked on enna ltr te day Before schoel started,
{Beal inem on again worderng not so mach they were worth ia
‘ho woul sew nef those thes
‘Along with my brother and ster I pcked grapes unl was i
toon bate ving up and saying tat Id rather wear ol clothes than
Spite s Mewar Mather though! Iwas beng stceup, even sta
ur because tere would be no lates for re inthe fal tld ee E
Bid tear but when Rikand Debra roses fe nthe morning Ly
STvake in bed feling tha pethape Thad made mistake bt unviling
iechunge my mind That all Mother bought me wo Pats of socks 8
puch of colored Fshins and underwess The Fahars would help, 1
Foughe, but wo would see tat Uhod ev underwear and socks? 1
snows a new Thin on fhe Bist day of schol then an old shit on
JTocnay then another Fshst on Wednesday, nd on Thursday ano
Nehru thu that was embarrassingly out of style. On Prey 1
aged info the corduroy pons my brother ad handed down me
She tipped nto my ast raw Thue worked ike # mapa blind
igi assmats, who were al lthes conscious ane small-time so-
38 Dinars by stanging my warcrbe to make ce lage an
St realy wes: Bat by spring 1 had 9 do somethingmy be jeans
these nos llver ao my shows hal os her form,pudaing tice
Tack ce svound ny fet That spring of my sntenth yen Rick and T
decided to tke «labor bus fo chop cotton. In his old Volswagen,
‘Skah was more nose than pours we drove on» Satorday moran
To Wet Tiotesor Chinwfoven some call {t—parkel. walked
Sony toward abu. and stood yawkang at the wins, toothy Beck,
‘Okie Tan with gold tet, Svhoes Meccan fami, and oboe
fenttacters shouting Colton” or "Beets the werk oF Pring
ante ei te ee []We boarded the “Cotton” bus without looking at the contractor
Who stood, almost blocking the entrance because he didn’t want
winos. We boarded scared and then were more seared bectuse Iwo
blacks in the tear were drunk and arguing loudly about wat Was
better, a two-barrel or fourrbartel Fond carburetor, We sat far from
them, looking straight ahead, and only glanced briefly at the others
whe boarded, almost all of them broken and poorly dressed In
loudly mismatched clothes. Finally when the contractor banged his
‘palm agalnst the sie ofthe bus, the young man at the whee), sing
and talking in Spanish, started the engine, idled it for a moment
‘while he adjusted the mirroxs, and started off in slow chugs: Except
for the windshield there was no gle inthe windows, so as soon 28
we were onthe rural roads outside Fresno, the dust and sand began
to be sucked into the bus, whipping about like irate Wasps a3 the
‘gravel ticked about us. We closed our eyes, clotted up our mouths
that wanted to open with embarrassed laughter because we couldn't
believe we were on that bus with those people and the dust tacking
us for no reason,
When we arrived at a field we followed the others to pickup
re we eack took a hoe and marched to stand before @ 0%. Rick
and 1, self-conscious and unsure, looked around at the others who
Jeaned on their hoes ar squatted in front of the rows, almost all tale
ing in Spanish, joking, lighting cigarettes—all waiting for Ue fore.
man’s whistle to begin Work Mother had explained how t0 chop
‘cotton by showing us with a broom in the backyard.
“Like this” she said, her broom swishing down weeds, "Leave
fone plant and cut four—ancl eut them! Don’t leave them stanly OF
the foreman will get mack”
The foreman whistled and we started up the row stealing glances
at other workers to see if we were doing fright. But after awhile we
Worked lke we knew what we were doing, nether of us hurrying ot
falling behind. But slowly the clot of men, wvomen, an kids Degen to
spread and loosen. Even Rick pulled away. [ didn’t hurry, though. 1
‘cut smoothly and cleanly as I walked ata slow pace, in a Sott of fi
neral march. My eyes measured each space of cotton plants before I
cut, IF Tmissed the plants, I swished again. [worked hitendy, seldom,
looking up, so when Tie Twas amazed to sce the sun, like 4 broken
‘orange coin in ve east. It ooked blurry, unbelievable like something
‘not ofthis world looked around in amazement, scanning the eastern
horizon that was a taut line jutted with an occasional moutain, The
horizon was beautiful, like a snapshot of the moon, in the eal Light
‘of morning, in the quiet of no cars and few people
‘The foreman trudged in boots in my diction, stepping awke
‘wardly over the plants, to inspect the work, No one around mo
looked! up. We all worked steadily while we waited for him to leave,
cf dd ne ith a abl conpla re on on in
vere ete atc ees
oy lator tunek te yal woe hang tor ling
oC te hn tee ie an ye
Say nd ts ptpei sas yet se
aa oft os tay ah
cn nk pepe pec ih fe hoy op of» a
are cts a He naked wh oval
Sich wkd wd dank nate ota ye
Secret an weap sur lg ows
5 pce So ata li ft fl or
Ish ai ar pes ec
Sic el ffm or a sewer ong
de he sand he st hing we wie wo sly dene We
SUSI goo) an! lt ne wa ee te ead be
SSSSEATET thug in clan Weng wey de we
they in huge a pet tear Mee
Susesplhce startet een een
Iie ene at ar on mc
wit wy tl etd nyse se tne
Sn which we'd be rappel by mariage and sraming MGs. We eat
Sara
lp dewey othe ryt of i hos ling ae
and wl i's tee! at ae we ne en a
Siacay gehen he an a yl aa
TTP ae eo ng ay hy ss
ky Menta act osu as bra ae
Tyee sitions sh day ge ah
eal hec mee nel halted myding fo
SeeneNTT a's Sy nr We se
BiatZase nbn ovsneladtlenvrayann teay
PODLSCE Ren tpn welsh Sooner
riggs sn pene ES opie ten ah
ey eden ctewnm east ge
Seder we and ork
it pin ng a ling ht The a
divectly above with a few soft blades of clouds against a sky that
sored ant a nn wn yee
Sipe hutad an pas up ote had coer
ted Scww rey ae eww hnched ew he
SLs rae open on
salwar cmd pens fae
oped trying to keep my mind busy with scenes from school and
poet Gaeta mune tahned ent a
rfc Tel sat mae nestedthe beauty of the landscape, no longer wondering if the winos in the
fields could hele out for eight hours, no longer dreaming of the clothes
74 buy with my pay: My eyes followed my chopping as the plant,
thin as thei shadows, fll with each strike. I worked slowly with an-
‘des and arms hurting, neck stiff, and eyes stinging from the dust and
the sun that glanced off the fed like a miror.
By quitting time, 3:00, there was such an excruciating pain in
‘my ankles that I walked as if I were wearing snowshoes. Rick
Taughed at me and T laughed too, embarrassed that most of the men
‘were walking normally and I was among the first timers who had
to get used to this work."And what about you, wino,” Teame back
at Rick, His eyes were meshed red and his long hippie hair was
flecked with dust and gnats and bits of leaves. We placed our hoes
in the back of a pickup and stood in line for our pay, which was
twelve fity.T was amazed atthe pay, which was the most Thad ever
feared in one day, and thought that Td come back the next day,
Sunday. This was too good.
Instead of joining the others in the labor bus, we jumped in the
bback of a pickup when the driver said we'd get to town sooner and
‘were welcome fo jin him. We scrambled into the trick bed to be
joined by a heavy-sot and laughing Teisno whose head was shaped
like an egg, partculatly so because the bandana he wore ended in ¢
point on the top of his head. He laughed almost demonically as the
pickup roared up the dirt path, a gray cape of dust eising behind us.
‘On the highway, withthe wind in our faces, we squinted atthe fields
a5 if we were looking for someone, Te Tyano had quit laughing but
‘vas smiling broadly, occasionally chortling tunes he never Finished.
vas scare of him, though Rick, two years older and five inches taller,
wasn’t If the Tejano looked at him, Rick stared back for 2 second oF
thro before he looked snvay tothe fields,
elt like a soldier coming home from war when we rattled into
Chinatown. People leaning against car hoods stared their necks fol-
Towing us, owllike; prostitutes chewed gum more ferociously and
showed us heir tecth; Chinese grocers stopped brooming thei store-
fronts to raise their cadaverous faces at us. We stopped in front of the
‘Chi Chi Club where Mexican music blared from the juke box ane cue
balls cracked like dull ice. The Teena, who was diny as we were,
stepped awkwardly over the side ral, dusted himself off with his
bandana, and saunter into the chi.
Rick and I jumped from the back, thanked the driver who said de
‘nada and popped his clutch, so that the pickup jerked and coughed
blue smoke. We returned smiling to our eat, happy with the money
‘we had made and pleased that we had, in a small way, proved our
selves to be tough: that we worked as ell as other men and earned
the same pay.
set ene toe
we aia
Giemsa at
Responding to Reading
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Responding in Writing
on ay
fm or TV show ia whose charcers you copie oe
eae coe liner Gat? fat ees you
‘ieee those yoo on the seen?
ONcE More 10 THE LAKE
E. B. White
1809-1985,
ut mam pe ria ig Bo
Soe ee eta neta nth
Sh Se
Ee nese arash etc
reo cone Se (nd
See ee ec
ie
une along about 904 my father ented camp om alae in
ee Sak otal therefor the month of August We al gt ring
Wem tm se itr ath a Fone Exton ou ame
ao ed morning, and my father rolled over it noe
a Sfnktores on bu okie of hatte vacation was a sucess
seb amen nypone fever tought hee ae ay lc
ree g a