The movie reminds me of the Chaos of when I lived amongst the Central Americans. Colombians are sophisticated in comparison to the Central Americans. They did all kinds of shit in the name of survival.

When I got out of the Marines I lived in Pico Union in L.A. — this is the landing zone for illegal central americans. Both Mara Salvatrucha and 18th Street were born right here. I lived in an incredibly shitty building populated by Cental American single mothers. Most of them were quite nice, Some were really crazy. It was total chaos. A Chino owned the building and was fucking at least 3 of the girls in lieu of rent. My friend Melba was one of them Her husband, Jose, was from a family of brujas in Mexico City. Jose was in Soledad Prison 3 year jolt, for molesting Melba’s 13 year old neice. Melba believed in brujeria and told me that the bruja could make me fall in love with her. Melba let rationalized “fuckingthe landlord” because her husband was in prison and welfare was not enough money. Jose got wind of this and threatened to have the Chino killed by Mara shooters. Melba got pregnant and then things really got interesting.

My Hondurena neighbor was was fucking 3 guys and getting money from each. One of them found out and lit her apartment on fire. Another hondurena arrived in LA. pregnant after a mysterious affair on the journey up from Mexico. She farmed her kid out to a Mexican lady in the East L.A. projects and moved in with a Chino in El Monte. The birth control that they put in her arm — time release. She did not like it because it made her fat. She was also fucking her social worker from the county of LA. The night she gave birth she had to knock on my door to take her to the hospital, because she had no man.

Another lady — a little older was from Guatemala. She had a kid. When she was 12 years old she was hired as a housekeeper in Guatemala for a rich American. The guy was Sgt Barry Sadler. Singer of the hit –” Ballad of the Green Beret” Sadler is an ex vietnam war hero and is living in Guatemala. He is writing books. A series of novels called Casca– the eternal soldier. Anyway Sadler has sex with her and she has a kid at 13 years of age — Hugo. Sadler is killed under mysterious circumstances — she shows me the article from Soldier of Fortune Magazine — only she can not read it because it is in English. She is really cute and later marries a Korean American peace corps volunteer, who dumps her and returns to the USA. She save her money comes up here and confronts him at his parents house in Orange County. He says get out of here and she settles in shitty Pico Union, not the toney OC.

I befriend Hugo and he is now in the Army serving in Iraq. He wanted to be a Marine, but could not make it. Fucking shitty L.A. schools.

This movie was pretty good. Great cinematography, fast paced plot, and very….magic realism, is that what you used?

I loved the irony at the end with Smiley pulling the trigger. Begs the question for more detail on their relationship before Smiley’s 13 count.