WEBVTT NOTE Created by CaptionSync from Automatic Sync Technologies www.automaticsync.com 00:00:00.286 --> 00:00:04.536 align:middle >> Both of these stories are from my Prieta [assumed spelling] manuscript, 00:00:04.906 --> 00:00:06.396 align:middle Prieta A Tu Historias. 00:00:07.426 --> 00:00:15.536 align:middle And it's a collection of short stories that pretends to be a novel 00:00:15.576 --> 00:00:19.486 align:middle or should I say it's a novel that pretends to be series of short stories. 00:00:20.246 --> 00:00:25.356 align:middle The stories stand alone separately but they also hang together as a novel. 00:00:26.146 --> 00:00:31.376 align:middle And they are -- they range from entirely autobiography to auto -- 00:00:31.376 --> 00:00:40.016 align:middle fictitious autobiography, fantasy and dreams, and then there's even -- 00:00:40.346 --> 00:00:43.646 align:middle and the author, Prieta, is in there creating fiction. 00:00:44.296 --> 00:00:49.386 align:middle So then you have all these different types of realities, different worlds. 00:00:50.096 --> 00:00:59.166 align:middle And this is the other extreme fantasy, Puddles. 00:00:59.766 --> 00:01:05.476 align:middle This was -- this is dedicated to Rodrigo Reyes [assumed spelling], a gay man who has AIDS, 00:01:06.056 --> 00:01:11.056 align:middle and Jay Miller [assumed spelling], a white gay man who just died of AIDS. 00:01:11.726 --> 00:01:13.976 align:middle When I write -- when I was writing it, he was alive. 00:01:15.636 --> 00:01:17.816 align:middle The Chicano gay man was back. 00:01:18.596 --> 00:01:23.116 align:middle He caught Prieta's eye as he slipped into his regular table out in the patio. 00:01:23.746 --> 00:01:27.476 align:middle His eyes tracked Prieta's movements as she waited on tables. 00:01:28.056 --> 00:01:32.956 align:middle He always left a green puddle on his chair along with a tip on the table. 00:01:34.006 --> 00:01:35.296 align:middle ¡Íjole qué curioso! 00:01:36.446 --> 00:01:38.766 align:middle How long had he been coming in? 00:01:39.596 --> 00:01:40.156 align:middle Two weeks. 00:01:41.126 --> 00:01:43.906 align:middle After a while, Prieta ceased being surprised. 00:01:44.936 --> 00:01:47.776 align:middle With one hand, she'd wipe it up with a towel. 00:01:48.016 --> 00:01:49.516 align:middle The puddle wasn't very big. 00:01:49.946 --> 00:01:51.846 align:middle And with the other, pocket the quarter. 00:01:52.386 --> 00:01:55.976 align:middle The tip was always a quarter no matter whether it was coffee he had ordered or a full meal. 00:01:57.346 --> 00:02:03.816 align:middle After half a dozen times of wanting to, Prieta finally dipped her finger 00:02:03.816 --> 00:02:06.656 align:middle in the puddle and brought it up to her nose. 00:02:08.616 --> 00:02:10.496 align:middle Cautiously, she sniffed it. 00:02:11.046 --> 00:02:15.116 align:middle Not piss, not water, though it looked clear. 00:02:15.916 --> 00:02:17.756 align:middle She put the wet finger in her mouth. 00:02:18.656 --> 00:02:21.396 align:middle It didn't taste like wine nor coffee. 00:02:22.016 --> 00:02:27.436 align:middle The next morning, as she washed her face, she noticed that the tip 00:02:27.436 --> 00:02:31.296 align:middle of her finger and her tongue had turned green. 00:02:32.356 --> 00:02:34.616 align:middle She scrubbed her tongue with toothbrush. 00:02:35.156 --> 00:02:36.256 align:middle Still green. 00:02:36.496 --> 00:02:39.926 align:middle She rinsed her mouth -- - she rinsed with mouthwash. 00:02:40.576 --> 00:02:42.156 align:middle No changes. 00:02:44.936 --> 00:02:46.926 align:middle She was running late for work. 00:02:46.926 --> 00:02:48.196 align:middle Never mind the green tongue. 00:02:48.946 --> 00:02:52.716 align:middle She planned to speak to the man whose puddle had turned her finger green, anyway. 00:02:55.496 --> 00:02:56.586 align:middle He was different. 00:02:57.356 --> 00:03:01.576 align:middle There was a look of gentle strength and a terrible vulnerability about him. 00:03:02.736 --> 00:03:05.916 align:middle Along with a pink triangle and earring in his left ear, 00:03:06.106 --> 00:03:11.486 align:middle he always wore an olive-green parka that covered him past his knees. 00:03:12.006 --> 00:03:16.556 align:middle Did he leave some kind -- did he have some kind skin disease? 00:03:17.846 --> 00:03:21.366 align:middle Though he never spoke to her, just pointed at the menu when he ordered, 00:03:22.206 --> 00:03:25.816 align:middle nodded or shook his head when she came around with a coffee. 00:03:26.586 --> 00:03:29.006 align:middle His soft brown eyes held hers. 00:03:29.586 --> 00:03:31.826 align:middle An annoying look would pass between them. 00:03:32.776 --> 00:03:35.886 align:middle He always picked her table instead of one of Amy's. 00:03:36.816 --> 00:03:46.956 align:middle Both were mestiza dykes but Amy was the one who smiled and cracked jokes with the customers 00:03:47.526 --> 00:03:53.466 align:middle who were mostly students at UT, while Prieta complained about the 25 wars. 00:03:53.466 --> 00:03:58.536 align:middle Imagine. 25, being fought on the planet. 00:04:00.266 --> 00:04:01.446 align:middle "What's wrong with your finger?" 00:04:01.446 --> 00:04:04.676 align:middle asked her friend Amy when she got to Les Amis cafe. 00:04:05.616 --> 00:04:06.656 align:middle "Why is it green?" 00:04:07.746 --> 00:04:08.436 align:middle "My finger? 00:04:09.946 --> 00:04:14.116 align:middle ¡Ay, no!", she said looking at her finger and giving a frightened yipe. 00:04:14.986 --> 00:04:18.886 align:middle The green had begun to creep from her finger to the back of her hand. 00:04:20.236 --> 00:04:23.486 align:middle "Would you believe I have a way with plants? 00:04:24.136 --> 00:04:25.866 align:middle ¿Tú sabes? 00:04:26.056 --> 00:04:27.036 align:middle A green thumb." 00:04:28.406 --> 00:04:29.846 align:middle Amy looked at her funny. 00:04:30.896 --> 00:04:33.766 align:middle "Imagine you with a sense of humor. 00:04:34.046 --> 00:04:37.566 align:middle The always serious Prieta. 00:04:37.566 --> 00:04:40.876 align:middle Oh, and your face is so lighted up. 00:04:40.876 --> 00:04:42.986 align:middle You're wearing some kind of fluorescent make up? 00:04:44.356 --> 00:04:45.776 align:middle But the colors' all wrong. 00:04:45.886 --> 00:04:48.286 align:middle Got some sort of greenish tint. 00:04:49.326 --> 00:04:51.206 align:middle And your knees look sort of wrinkled." 00:04:51.666 --> 00:04:54.116 align:middle she said, bending down to get a closer look. 00:04:54.526 --> 00:04:57.036 align:middle Prieta craned her head to look at her knees. 00:04:58.146 --> 00:05:01.156 align:middle Though a voice called out, "Oh, waitress." 00:05:01.876 --> 00:05:06.996 align:middle She snuck into the washroom and peered into the broken and dirty mirror over the sink. 00:05:07.796 --> 00:05:12.486 align:middle Yeah, her face looked different even though she couldn't pinpoint the changes. 00:05:13.156 --> 00:05:15.006 align:middle She stuck out her tongue. 00:05:15.506 --> 00:05:21.436 align:middle She could see -- she could almost see the green slowly spreading to cover the whole thing. 00:05:22.406 --> 00:05:26.136 align:middle She bit down on it testing it for soreness. 00:05:27.046 --> 00:05:28.006 align:middle It felt normal. 00:05:29.666 --> 00:05:36.266 align:middle All day as she bustled cheerfully from table to counter to kitchen, she kept her eye on the door 00:05:36.576 --> 00:05:42.556 align:middle but the maricon who made puddles did not come in that day nor the next. 00:05:43.516 --> 00:05:48.716 align:middle She noticed the customers kept eyeing her gloved hands and the thick wrinkled skin 00:05:48.716 --> 00:05:52.946 align:middle over her kneecaps, which was beginning to look like the back of a horned toad. 00:05:53.406 --> 00:05:59.846 align:middle Su piel se convertía en cuerpo de lagarto. 00:05:59.846 --> 00:06:02.846 align:middle Una nueva piel crustácea. 00:06:02.916 --> 00:06:07.716 align:middle By the fourth day she knew what each customer was going 00:06:07.716 --> 00:06:10.616 align:middle to order before they opened their mouths. 00:06:11.996 --> 00:06:16.796 align:middle She also knew that the gay green man was never coming back. 00:06:17.196 --> 00:06:18.346 align:middle He didn't have to. 00:06:18.766 --> 00:06:19.976 align:middle He'd accomplished his task. 00:06:25.166 --> 00:06:26.796 align:middle She felt a pang at his absence. 00:06:27.566 --> 00:06:33.616 align:middle On the fifth day, she had to wear trousers, long-sleeved shirts that buttoned all the way 00:06:33.616 --> 00:06:36.886 align:middle to her neck and heavy beige make up. 00:06:37.836 --> 00:06:41.256 align:middle But it was her gloved hands that cast suspicion on her. 00:06:42.156 --> 00:06:46.726 align:middle And at the end of the week, her boss told her he had to let her go 00:06:46.726 --> 00:06:51.706 align:middle because she was spooking the punk-clothed and coiffured customers. 00:06:54.366 --> 00:07:00.266 align:middle By then, she had only to cast her eyes over some man hunched over his lunch or dinner 00:07:00.826 --> 00:07:05.016 align:middle and she'd know if he was planning to surprise his lover with gift 00:07:05.656 --> 00:07:08.136 align:middle or if he was sticking it to his daughter. 00:07:09.656 --> 00:07:14.746 align:middle She would slap the check along with a napkin, face down on the table. 00:07:16.066 --> 00:07:22.166 align:middle The bold green letters on the napkin would read, "We know what you are doing to your daughter. 00:07:22.486 --> 00:07:32.646 align:middle If you do it again, your thing will turn green and fall off." 00:07:33.416 --> 00:07:37.936 align:middle By the end of the week, she did not need this particular waitressing job. 00:07:38.516 --> 00:07:43.656 align:middle [ Laughter ] 00:07:44.156 --> 00:07:47.946 align:middle A few days later, the green skin began to flake off. 00:07:48.176 --> 00:07:53.216 align:middle Underneath it she could see otra nueva piel begin to emerge. 00:07:53.716 --> 00:07:55.626 align:middle She was molting again. 00:07:56.806 --> 00:08:04.856 align:middle She began to get -- she began to lock gazes with other afflicted people. 00:08:05.386 --> 00:08:07.626 align:middle Something in the eyes marked their difference. 00:08:08.786 --> 00:08:16.246 align:middle Some left footprints edged with green, others wore green raincoats. 00:08:17.586 --> 00:08:22.406 align:middle She thought of the green gay man going from restaurant 00:08:22.406 --> 00:08:25.486 align:middle to restaurant spreading his contagion. 00:08:27.306 --> 00:08:33.576 align:middle She dropped by Les Amis, sat at his table under the flapping awning and waited for Amy. 00:08:34.706 --> 00:08:40.536 align:middle If Amy was ready, Prieta would leave her the gift and say goodbye. 00:08:41.936 --> 00:08:45.286 align:middle Prieta had found out what her real work was. 00:08:45.836 --> 00:08:53.696 align:middle To move from town to town, work in restaurants, catch glances of recognition, uncover her knees, 00:08:54.276 --> 00:09:00.756 align:middle and, when no one was looking, touch an exposed kneecap in the vicinity 00:09:00.756 --> 00:09:05.136 align:middle of a likely candidate, and let slight puddle. 00:09:06.116 --> 00:09:09.476 align:middle Nine hundred and twelve words.