Las Piscas 1947

By
Frank “Kiki” Baltazar

Edit by Phil Rice

Juan Garcia was told by his dad that they were going up north to work the piscas. Juan was eleven years old, and he was looking forward to what he thought would be an adventure since he had never been out of the Los Angeles barrio where he lived. He was ready to go see the world.

“Pops, when are we going?"

“As soon as Manny," as Manuel Fernandez was known, "fixes his truck, mijo.”

Juan was so happy to get out of the barrio that he ran to tell all his friends. “Guys, we, the whole family are going up north to work the piscas,” he proudly told his friends.

“What are the piscas?” asked Chuy.

“I don't know. My dad just said the piscas,” Juan replied.

Two days after Manuel had finished fixing his truck, he told Juan's dad, Jose, that it was time to go up north. “Pack only what's necessary, Jose. Don't want to put too much weight on this old truck.” Packed and ready to go, Manuel told his wife Lupe, son Tony, and daughter Maria to help Jose, his wife Elsa, and Juan and his three younger siblings to pack.


On the Road

With, Elsa, Lupe and the kids riding in the back of the truck, they headed north on Highway 99. Elsa and Lupe packed some burritos before they left the barrio so they could eat as they went up the Ridge Route. After eating, the kids, happy to be out of the barrio, sang songs they learned from their parents.

The 1938 Ford flatbed truck with side panels was running good as they pulled into a gas station in Bakersfield. “Okay everybody; use the restrooms while I gas up. Jose, can you check the oil?” said Manuel.

Back on the road Manuel says to Jose, “The oil companies are robbing us, can you imagine fifteen cents for a gallon of gas?”

“And ten cents for a quart of oil” said Jose.

“We better make lots of money in the piscas,” both said in unison.

Juan pulls the hair on his six-year old sister, Rosa, making her cry. “Juan, leave Rosa alone. Just wait until we stop again, you are going to be sorry!” said Juan's mother Elsa.

“Mom, I'm not doing nothing to her. She is just a cry baby,” Juan replied.

“Don't believe him, Mom. He is pulling her hair,” said Juan's seven-year old brother Luis. Juan punched Luis in the arm, making him cry.

“Cabron! Just wait! I'm going to give you some chingasos when we stop!” said Elsa. When they stopped in Fresno, Juan jumped off the truck and tried to hide from Elsa, but Elsa got him by the ear and yelled “Cabron! I told you to leave your brother and sister alone, now behave yourself!”

“But, mom, I'm bored. Are we almost at piscas?” said Juan.

“Piscas is not a place. 'Piscas' is work,” said Elsa.

“Whatever. Are we almost there?”

“No, now just behave yourself. Be good like Manuel's kids." As Elsa said that Tony pulled Maria's hair, making Maria cry.

“A la chingada! These kids are going to drive me to drinking. Compa, let’s have a beer,” Jose said to Manuel.

“Jose, you start drinking and you are getting some chingasos,” warned Elsa.

Back on the road without drinking a beer, Manuel said, “you're afraid of your vieja, Jose.”

“No, I'm not afraid of her; I just let her think that I am. That way we keep the peace.”

North of Madera the families headed west on California State Route 152, stopping in the small town of Los Banos for gas and to use the restrooms. After resting a bit, they got back on the road, went over the Pacheco Pass straight to U.S. 101, north to San Jose, arriving at an apricot ranch that was waiting for them.


Las Piscas

Since apricots grow on trees, only Jose and Manuel could work picking them. Lupe and Elsa worked at a place where the apricots were cut in half and put out to dry. Once the apricot harvest was done, they went south to Hollister to pick plums. They quickly found work at a ranch where all the kids would be able to work. From the oldest to the youngest, they would get down on their knees and pick the plums off the ground. From sun up to sun down they worked.

In the mornings as they worked, the kids could see woodpeckers pecking on the trees, something they had never seen before.

Juan's brother Rudy wanted his pop to buy him a bike when they got back home, but he didn't like working, so he would fall asleep under the trees.

“Pop, look at Rudy. He's asleep and he wants you to buy him a bike,” Juan would say to his father.

“Well, he is not getting a bike if he don't work,” was always Jose's reply.

Juan began giving instructions to Juan and Lupe. “Vieja, get the burritos. I'm going to light a fire so we can warm them up. Juan, right after we eat, you check the boxes and make sure they have our number. We don't want to get cheated; we work too hard for that. Now wake Rudy up and tell him it's time to eat.” After lunch it was back to work till sun down.

With dinner done, it was time to relax a bit. The men would get a fire going, play their guitars and sing, and drink a beer or two. Twelve-year old Tony, Manuel's son, was a favorite of the men because he could sing like Pedro Infante, and Tony and his eight-year old sister Maria would sing duets for them.

“Tony, sing some songs that we can dance to,” asked Manuel.

“Let’s dance,” Manuel said to Lupe as Tony started singing a corrido. Soon all of the adults were dancing and the teenagers were drifting off to hide behind the trees and do what teenagers do.

Sundays were a day of rest. Jose and Manuel would take their families to church, and afterwards they would go into town, do a little shopping, and get something to eat. They would get back to the ranch early so that everybody could rest for the next day's hard work.

Time went by fast and the harvesting was almost done. Soon it would be time to go back to Los Angeles. Jose and Manuel would go back to work in the glass factory that they had left behind, and the kids would all go back to school. But first Manuel had to fix the rear axle on the truck.

“Pinche axle! Picked a fine time to break,” said Manuel to Jose.

“Watch your mouth, Manuel. That's no way to talk in front of the kids,” said Lupe.

“Sí, Manuel. Watch your mouth or your vieja will lay some chingasos on you,” laughed Jose.

“Let's show these pinche viejas we are not afraid of them. Go get some beers, Jose,” said Manuel. The truck didn't get fixed that day.

Finally the day came to head back home. Harvesting was finished, and the truck was fixed. Manuel and Jose went to see the boss to get paid. After deducting what they owed the general store, the boss paid Manuel and Jose $1,450.00 and $1,600.00, respectively.

Packed and ready to head home, Manuel helped Lupe onto the back of the truck.
“Aí vieja! With all this work you would think you would have lost some weight. Instead it looks like your love handles got a bit more rounder, que no?”

“I wouldn't talk if I was you, cabron. Look at your beer belly,” shot back Lupe.

Jose looked at Elsa. “You better not say a word, Jose” warned Elsa.

“I'm not saying anything vieja,” said Jose as he turned around and mumbled quietly to himself, "but you did gain some weight too."


Heading Home

It was decided by Manuel and Jose to take U.S. 101 south instead of Highway 99. Heading west out of Hollister, they stopped to check out the mission in San Juan Bautista.

“You ladies look around. Jose and I are going this way,” said Manuel to the viejas.

“Where are we going?” Jose wanted to know.

“To taste some vino, Jose, to taste some vino! But don't let the viejas know.” As they got to the wine tasting room, Lupe and Elsa were waiting for them.

“What took you so long?” Lupe and Elsa said in unity as they laughed.

“Let's taste some vino and you can buy me a bottle so Lupe and I can drink it while we ride in the back of the truck,” Elsa said to Jose as she took him by the hand and led him to the tasting room.

Back on the road after buying a couple of bottles of wine, they headed south, stopping in King City to buy something to eat. After eating, Elsa brought out a bottle of vino and said to Lupe, “Look what I got here.”

“What are you waiting for? Open it. We'll show our viejos we can drink too,” said Lupe. After a couple of glasses of wine Lupe and Elsa were feeling happy.

“Tony, get the guitar, sing some songs,” said his mother as the truck rolled down the highway. Lupe and Elsa, feeling the wine, joined in singing old Mexican songs.
Jose looked out the window and yelled at Lupe and Elsa," You viejas drunk?”

“No, viejo, just feeling happy,” said Elsa.

Now, it was Lupe who brought out a bottle. “Want some more, Elsa?”

“Sí, why not? Open it.” By the time they stopped in Paso Robles, Elsa and Lupe were drunk, but feeling happy.

After gassing up and using the restrooms, they were back on the road. Elsa and Lupe had just fallen asleep when the truck started making a loud noise. Manuel pulled over to the side of the road to see what was wrong.

“I think it's the axle again,” said Manuel after taking a look.

“I can fix it. I have some extra parts, but it will take some time, a day or more. We will have to camp here tonight,” Manuel explained.

“Do we get to sleep under the stars, Daddy?" asked Manuel's eight-year old daughter, Maria.

“Sí, mija. We get to sleep under the stars. Lupe, we are going to have to cook dinner here, so get the small gas stove that I brought from LA. Good thing I bought some gas for it, too,” said Manuel.

While Manuel and Jose worked on the truck and Lupe and Elsa cooked dinner, the kids played on the hills alongside the highway. Nine-year old Rudy climbed up a hill. As he started coming down the hill, he couldn't control his momentum and ran head-on into a hollow oak tree, suffering a few scratches and bruises.

By the time they were done with dinner, it was dark, too dark to work on the truck, so they all sat around in a circle singing along as Tony played the guitar.

Late the next day the truck was fixed and ready to go. With all aboard they started down the highway, rolled into Santa Barbara just before dark and decided to spend the night on the beach. The next day everybody went swimming before they started on the last leg of their trip home.

Back in the barrio, Jose and Manuel went back to work at the Simons Brickyard, the kids went back to school, and Lupe and Elsa went back to keeping house. Rudy got his bike.

A month later the families got together for carne asada, guacamole, hot salsa, arroz and homemade tortillas, and to talk about their adventure at the piscas. “Jose, think you would want to go again?” asked Manuel.

“Sí, if it’s okay with the vieja, I would like to go again.”

"Sí, it would be okay, but not for two or three years,” said Elsa, with Lupe agreeing.