Any Small Goodness

“Like some random, windblown weeds, we landed in L.A., home to movie stars and crazies and crazy movie stars.”

In these opening pages, Johnston introduces the primary setting, Los Angeles, and immediately evokes its relationship to fame and excess. Later in the novel, Arturo will brush up against fame, as he learns under Coach Tree and reads about Mama Dulce, but he focuses more on action than reputation. Furthermore, in introducing his family as “random, windblown weeds,” Arturo suggests their sense of displacement: The Rodriguezes have found themselves in a strange country, with no sense of home.

“Even though she’s feisty, God guides her life. She closes most conversation with an after-breath of ‘Dios Mediante,’ God willing. Since Grandfather died, she lives with us. She came all the way from Aguascalientes, Mexico, on a Norteño bus, with only her prayer book, a photograph of Grandfather, and her molcajete.”

As Arturo first characterizes Abuelita, he mentions her hometown of Aguascalientes, Mexico, which literally translates to “hot waters”—an appropriate beginning, considering Abuelita’s fiery temper. In mentioning how Abuelita has traveled to the US—on a bus, with only a few personal effects—Arturo suggests Abuelita’s simplicity. Her life can be grounded in three sacred concepts: faith, family, and food.

“We’re all waiting when five police come. Armed for a world war. They dump the poor, dazed-out possum from the garbage drum and severely tell Mami about using the 911 code, set up for emergencies only. Then they leave. Mami’s still convinced of the wrong of this. For her, it’s a textbook case of 911. To this day, she huffs. ‘What do police know, in their blue uniforms?’”

This is the first appearance of the Los Angeles police, foreshadowing their appearance after the attack on the Rodriguez home. This early episode—though comedic—explains the disconnect between the Rodriguez family and the American police, noting that their values and assessments of danger often don’t align. Though the situation is relatively innocent, the police arrive in full tactical gear, but they fail to respond similarly later in the novel when real danger is present.