Tiny Stories

María

The telephone rang, so I answered it.  I wasn’t prepared to.  I could only understand two words Magdalena said. Jesús and dead.  My phone fell from my hands and broke.

Magdalena

I called Chucho’s mom, but the call dropped.  Pedro stood close by.  I told him that he was as much to blame as the person who pulled the trigger.

Pedro

“Chucho was my friend, too.”  I slapped Magdalena and went back to my car to gather other gang members.  “Barrio 18 needs to be taught not to mess with Salvatruchas.”

Rubén

The red hoodie I usually had about my waist masked the blood.  I told him MS 13 wasn’t allowed on our turf.  He should’ve left.  I had to shoot him.

Pablo

I told my wife I wasn’t hungry.  After cleaning up a murder and seeing the girlfriend and mother crying, I didn’t have the stomach.  Being a cop means nothing here.

Artist statement: About 30 years ago, Salvadorian immigrants in Los Angeles started a gang meant to help other countrymen coming into the U.S.  They called it Mara Salvatrucha (The Salvadorian Gang) or M S 13.  As is common in gangs, violent actions took place which caused the deportation of many gang members who started up a new division in El Salvador.  Today, it is one of the largest gangs in the world and listed as one of the most violent gangs in the U.S.  It spans through parts of Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, the U.S. and has torn El Salvador apart.

As a missionary in Vancouver, Canada, I only met one gang member at a Sky Train station where he was waiting to board transit with his son.  The more established population of Hispanic American immigrants in the Greater Vancouver Area consist mainly of Salvadorians who emigrated from El Salvador as refugees during their civil war around the same time M S 13 was getting started.  I heard of the havoc the gang had caused and learned even more post mission in a Spanish class where I was required to read the news on Spanish America.

Several things influenced this story.  Although I have never seen Vantage Point, I know the premise behind it.  I too wanted to have an event shown from different viewpoints.  My initial idea was simple: Show how the death of one person influenced the life of five other people.  After talking and sharing my idea with other people, the story grew and a progressed into what is present before you.  A classmate suggested that I have a progression in the order I presented the stories starting from the person closest to the deceased and ending with someone who had little or nothing to do with his life.  My girlfriend pointed out that I captured several different stages of grief.  I’m sure that the reading on Seeing influenced me to portray different perspectives on the same weighty subject.  The writings of Gabriel García Márquez inspired me to be more conscientious of the names I gave my characters.

The names I chose for the characters correspond to the people we know from the Bible.  (María, Magdalena, Pedro, Rubén and Pablo – Mary, (Mary) Magdalene, Peter, Ruben and Paul) – Each one of these has a direct relation to Jesús (Jesus) or “Chucho” in this story similar the biblical account with the exception of Rubén.  I have never met anyone named Pilato (Pilot) so I chose the name of Israel’s oldest son who was somewhat more reluctant to kill Joseph but instead suggested to sell him to the slave traders from Egypt.

I chose to use marker on the drawings not just for the sharp contrast that it makes, but also for the unforgiving nature of the ink.  There is no going back.  Once the ink makes a mark on the paper, it’s permanent.  Some of our own actions cannot be taken back and will forever influence the lives of people around us.