FOLLOW YOUR STAR (Excerpt)

Currently working on a biography targeted for Young Adults. Antonio Velasco, a physician in California, came to the United States from a small town in Mexico as the 10 year-old son of migrant farmworkers and rose to become California Family Physician of the Year.  Antonio led the fight to protect farm workers from exposure to pesticides and made enemies of American agribusiness, chemical companies and their allies.  As a result of his groundbreaking effort, California passed the most stringent rules in the nation. Those rules became the model for states across the country.  For your review here is the Prologue and Chapter One.  Your reaction would be appreciated.

 

Prologue

     Phone calls from the California Academy of Family Physicians bombarded Antonio R. Velasco, M.D. with pleas to attend its annual meeting in San Diego, California.  The incessant messages wore him down and he reluctantly cancelled all appointments.  He promised his wife Isabel he would remain at the meeting only for the day. 

     He left his home in Salinas, California and arrived just as lightning and thunder struck the resort city.  Rain and hail clattered against Antonio’s hotel window.  Any thought of basking in the sunshine of pleasant sunny Southern California vanished.  

     The presentation of the coveted 1992 Physician of the Year Award was the highlight of the first day’s meeting. The name of the honoree was unknown except to the association’s officers.

     The Academy president came to the end of a lengthy series of awards and certificates of appreciation.  “Now for the moment you have all been waiting.  This year, the Academy is proud to present the California Physician of the Year award to a physician who made an enormous impact on medicine not only in California, but throughout the United States.  His dedication and research had a major impact in the field of preventive medicine.  I am proud to announced that the 1992 Family Physician of the Year is Dr. Antonio R. Velasco.”

     Antonio thought he heard wrong or that the president of the academy made a mistake.

     “In 1991 Antonio R. Velasco received the University of California Alumni Association Humanitarian Physician of the year Award,” continued the president.  “He co-founded the Salvadoran Medical Relief Fund.  Without a doubt his work was critical to the passage of landmark legislation to protect farmworkers against pesticide poisoning and led him to establish the Natividad Medical Center Farmworker Pesticide Treatment Clinic in Salinas, California.  Ladies and gentlemen, Dr. Antonio R. Velasco.”

     Antonio walked slowly to the podium and looked out at the gathering of brown, black, Asian and white doctors that reflected the vast diversity of physicians in California.       Thunder rocked the hotel the moment the president handed Antonio the award.  The crackle and boom rattled hotel windows stirring long-buried memories of the arduous journey he traveled to arrive at this moment.

Chapter One

     A volcano in the western highlands of Mexico erupted sending glowing rivers of lava down mountainsides. Explosions from the fiery mountain peak shook flocks of parrots out of trees. 

Tonio Velasco celebrated his tenth birthday by clambering over rocks and boulders with his cousin Lupio to watch the smoldering mountain. 

“Come on.  Let’s get down to the water,” said Tonio.

They slid over mossy rocks and through a thick forest of trees to a fresh water stream gurgling at the bottom of a deep canyon hidden by giant ferns.

“Hey, Tonio, how come you always know the way home after the sun goes down?” asked Lupio.

“I learned it from my mother.  She said always follow the North Star.”

“What’s that?” asked Lupio

“It’s a constellation in the sky called Ursa Minor.”

“I never heard of Ursa – whatever you call it.”

Tonio drew a picture of the constellation in the sand.  “Most people call it the Little Dipper. It’s kind of shaped like the water dipper we use at the well in the village.” He scrawled a circle at the end of the handle.  “The North Star’s right there.  When you walk toward it you’re going north.  Then you have a pretty good idea of where you are,” said Tonio.

“You’re really smart.  Maybe someday you’ll become famous.”

“Not much chance of that happening in Cofradia, Lupio.  Besides, why would I want to leave?”

“Your father and a lot of other men work in America.”

“They’re doing the same thing they did right here and they left their families behind,” said Tonio.

“Your father came home two weeks ago.  Must be nice to have him back.”

 “I hardly know him.  He left right after I was born and comes back every two or three years.  When papa’s in Cofradia he throws his money around.  It doesn’t leave much for the rest of us.  He even loaned five hundred pesos to Ricardo Montoya,” said Tonio.

Lupio stepped back and his eyes grew wide.  “No one likes Ricardo.  He’s always begging and scratching for money.”

“My father felt sorry for him.  He gave him money in front of everyone in town.  It probably made him feel important.  My mother told him it’s more important to take care of his own family.  But there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Gray clouds boiled above the canyon.  Strong winds whipped through the trees followed by a sudden burst of torrential rain.  Tonio and Lupio scrambled out of the forest to the small farming village of Cofradia de Suchitlan below the volcano.  The rain halted and mist rose off the cobblestone streets.

Marta Hernandez and Tonio’s mother Teresa stood in the doorway of his house. 

 “You’ll feel much better tomorrow,” Teresa said to Marta.  “Drink my medicine once in morning and once at night.”

Marta waved at Tonio.  “Your mother’s a good woman.”

Almost every day men, women and children came to his mother for potions and salves made from herbs in the forest.  Teresa Velasco was a respected healer who gave health advice to anyone who came to her door.

The Mexican Department of Health valued her assistance in the constant battle against disease.  They sent nurses into the countryside every year that provided up-to-date information about health care.  Nurses gave Tonio’s mother medical equipment and taught her to give vaccinations and explain their importance to patients.

“You’re soaking wet, Tonio.  Change your clothes. Papa will be home soon.  I want you and your brother David and your sisters ready for supper,” said his mother.

“Papa’s always drinking and playing cards.  He’s never here for supper,” protested Tonio.

Teresa kept the food hot and waited for Jose until the sun settled in the west.

“We’re hungry and want to eat,” said Tonio.

“Me too, me too,” cried eight year-old Meyo.

Teresa filled their plates and they ate in silence.  After they finished Jose Velasco staggered through the door.  He took off his straw cowboy hat and made a deep bow to his wife.

“I have come home to my family,” he said.

“Look at you, drunk again.  Did you come back to Cofradia just so you can throw your money away on beer?  Your children see you maybe every two or three years.  It’s time you paid more attention to them,” said Teresa.

Meyo and five year-old little Teresa ran into his arms.  He kissed them and held them at arm’s length.

“I tell everyone my girls are the most beautiful in the entire world.”

“What about us?” asked fourteen year-old David.

“The smartest, most clever boys in town.  Someday you’ll work with me in El Norte and make big money,” smiled Jose.

“I don’t want to be a farmer,” said David.

“Not good enough for you, my little big man?” asked Jose.

“I’m going to be an accountant or a banker.”

Jose slammed his hand on the table.  “A banker?  Those people are all parasites.”

“Your problem is that no bank will lend you money.  Instead you have to borrow from people who charge high interest and will kill you if don’t repay it,” said Teresa.

“Since when did you become such big expert?” asked Jose.

“I have no problem if I need a loan. I opened a bank account,” said Teresa proudly.

Jose woke the next morning and dressed in silence.  He wore his best white jacket and brushed off his boots.

“Where are you going?” asked Teresa.

“It’s about money, Teresa.  Ricardo Montoya promised to pay back the five hundred pesos today.”

“You’ll be lucky to get one peso,” she said.

“I know how to take care of business,” he grumbled.

“Can I go with you?” asked David.

“Why not?  If you want to be a banker you have to learn how money changes hands.”

Jose knocked on the chipped, cracked door of a small house.

“Who’s there?” asked a voice from inside.

“Ricardo, it’s Jose Velasco.  Open up.”

A heavy-set, nervous man with black hair and moustache peeked through the door.

“I’m leaving for the United States.  You owe me five hundred pesos,” Jose demanded.

“I don’t have the money,” said Ricardo.

“You made a promise.  I expect you to live up to it.”    “I’ll give you ten pesos today and send the rest later, a little every month.”

“We had a deal.  Five hundred right now,” demanded Jose.

Ricardo stepped outside and stared at Jose with hard, angry eyes.  “If I don’t pay what will you do?”

“Everyone in Cofradia told me I was crazy to loan you money.  Now they’ll learn you’re a cheat.”

Ricardo’s face turned red.  “You can’t do that.  It would ruin me.”

“You should have thought about that before taking my money,“ said Jose.

“I’ll have it for you today but you have to promise not to say anything to anyone.”

“I keep my word.  At my door in one hour,” said Jose.

“In one hour,” grumbled Ricardo.

“That’s better.”  He looked at David.  “See?  You have to be tough.”

Teresa waited outside the house.  “Did you get the money?” she demanded.

“Ricardo promised to bring it.”

“Like the promise he made to pay you back.”

“I told you, he’s coming soon.”

David looked out the window.  “He’s on his way.”

“What did I tell you,” Jose said to Teresa

Ricardo stormed down the cobblestone street.  He pulled a large revolver from his belt.

“Papa, it doesn’t look good,” said David nervously.

“Everyone stay inside.  I’ll handle this,” said Jose.

He confronted Ricardo on the street.  “Do you need a gun to keep away robbers?”

Ricardo pulled back the hammer of his gun.  “You’re like everyone else, Jose Velasco.  You want to suck the life out of me.”

“It’s better for both of us if you just pay the money I loaned you – for free, no interest,” said Jose.

“I told you I don’t have it.  Make a deal.  I’ll pay it off,” said Ricardo.

“I need that money to get back to Yuma so I can work.  If I don’t return to America my family will suffer.”

“Then I guess I have to shoot you.”

Teresa, Tonio, David, Meyo and little Teresa stared out the window.  It was a scene from a western movie with gunslingers facing each other except their father had no gun.

“Be reasonable,” shouted Jose.

Ricardo pulled the trigger.  The bullet whizzed through the air like a hornet.  Jose danced out of the way his loose jacket flapping around his body.  Another shot rang out.  Jose fell and hit the earth.

Ricardo dropped his gun and ran in the opposite direction.  “I killed him.  I killed Jose,” he screamed in anguish.

Jose stumbled to his feet.  He ran his hands over his chest.  There was no blood.  The family gathered around him.

“He never was a good shot,” Jose said wiping perspiration from his face.

Tonio poked a finger through one of the charred holes in his father’s jacket.  “He came very close.”