Esteban

      The first day of work is always kind of a scary thing. You learn from the outset just how much effort is required to be thought well of so that you can earn money. Physically, it hurts. But, ultimately, it's doable, and it takes only a couple short weeks to be earning real money, money you can use to buy real things.

     Santos made absolutely sure that his son started on the bottom, working the load in the morning during breaks from school; on weekends facing and stocking into the night. He didn't want anybody to say that his son hadn't earned the right to be respected.

     But of course, people were kind to Esteban from the start. They wanted to like him because they respected his dad.

     Esteban was going to graduate from high school soon, and he was going to go to State in the fall. In the meantime, he had to earn some money because his dad was about to buy a house in the suburbs, and he wanted to move into a place with his friends. His dad told him to stay close to home, to help the family out and maybe, one day have that house for his own family, but he wasn't that hard on his son because he wanted his son to have what his friends had.

     And then, his family closed the deal on the house and Esteban was literally without a home in the city for a couple months. He had to stay with his tia Berenisa in Bernal Heights so he could finish school, promising to move out in July. They told him, no rush, but the space was kind of tight and his tio seemed perpetually annoyed at Esteban's presence.

     So he just kept plugging away at work, trying to keep his head down like his father. Work, forget the years, and hope you wake up one day with all your dreams having come true. It had worked for his father, assuming that his father wanted to work until he was seventy.

     And he tried not to have any needs.