Francisco and Practical Jokes by Mia

The following stories I tell because I think they reflect the relationship between the men in the family quite well (my opinion). Although most of his sons were jokers and played jokes on him, I cannot recall Rodrigo or Abel playing a trick on my Dad. However, if you do know of one, please feel free to add it....it'll only take...mmm....what....ten minutes of your time. Anyway, to be honest, Abel was a joker, but he was sneaky and really hard to catch in the act. The others: Ish, Steve, and Sergio loved to display, shall I call it a "rare talent", of jokes on my poor unsuspecting father. Remember these stories are from my memory vault. Enjoy!

MY BIG BROTHER ISH:
This story takes place in Yuma. The players are Dad, Mom and Ish. I was the observer. Ish had come down to visit from Phoenix. He was staying for the weekend. This was long before he was married or a father of his own. My mother, as you may already know, was ALWAYS on top of her housework. Everything was in it's place and everything had a place of it's own. If there was a race for home cleanliness, Mom would most definitely be at the front of it. Never was there a speck of something out of place or mess or anything to that nature. Nothing escaped her fastidious eye. To say she was diligent in her housekeeping was to say the sun would rise again tomorrow. Are you getting the picture? Oh, in today's terms, you could say she was a bit OCD.

Enter into the scene one joker, named Ish. He tried his joke on Mom, but it FAILED. They could NEVER get Mom. Here's a brief description of the joke: In our hallway was a long plastic runner. On one side it was smooth, and the other side had little triangular pokes that would embed themselves into the carpet. They were meant to keep the carpet from moving. (See: www.shoplet.com and search floor vinyl runner for a visual)


What did he do? He flipped it over hoping to catch some poor soul walking without shoes.

Mom caught it and said to herself, "Who did this?" Then she fixed it, of course. He came back into the house (for he ran outside to avoid suspicion) to flip it over again, and ran outside again. Out came Dad and walked right into the trap. Up he flew into the air, and came crashing to the ground with a thud and a moan. Once on his side, he began to rub his injured feet, and laid into my poor Mom. He told her she needed to pay more attention to what she was doing around the house because it never crossed his mind Ish would have done this to him.

Ish was outside laughing while seated on a chair/his alibi. His body shaking with the laughter he was trying to suppress inside. The scolding continued. Mom defended herself by saying she had found it turned and fixed it. I was just watching it all. Yes, I was laughing. It was funny. Mom put on her "detective eye" and began to investigate the scene. She came in the living room and saw me sitting there with a craft. Gave me a look to unsettle me, but she could tell I had nothing to do with it. She saw Ish sitting casually outside, but noticed something odd about his body movement. He was laughing.

"You! " she said, "You flipped the floor mat." He could no longer hold it in and began to laugh loudly. She went back to Dad and told him it was Ish. He came inside and confessed. After that Dad laughed.

MY BIG BROTHER STEVE:
The cast/players in this joke: Steve, Dad and Mom. Again I am the observer of all of the events or you might think I am an accomplice since I am privy to the jokes. What does it matter? The boys were the jokers! This story like the latter takes place in Yuma, and Steve is home from Phoenix visiting on the weekend. Mom had just finished using her old large red Kirby vacuum. (See: www.137.com/kirby/)

She left the living room for a moment. It was standing upright next to Steve when she got back into the room. He, like Ish, tried the joke on Mom first, but, like Ish, he FAILED.

Here's the joke:
He put his foot onto the Kirby's lever (can't remember what lever), and moved it. As it moved the vacuum let out a large cracking sound. While he was pushing the lever, he pretended to crack his neck by moving his head with his two hands.

Mom wasn't falling for it. I laughed at his joke and was disappointed with him about not tricking her. He said, "I know. I'll get Dad." He asked Mom to get him into the room, but she would not be a part of it. Yet, she did not leave the room. She wanted to see how Dad reacted to the practical joke. She may deny it now, but I know her better. So, I was asked to get Dad. I told him Steve wanted to talk to him.

Dad came into the living room. Steve started talking to him, but stopped and complained about his neck. "I think I need to crack it," he said. With foot on the Kirby, he began to move his head to the left and right as the machine emitted it's loud noise. Dad flipped!

"No, no, Hijo! You are going to hurt yourself!!!" He tried to stop him, but Steve said he needed to do it again. Dad shook his head, either in disbelief he was doing it again or worry he would hurt himself. He couldn't understand why we (Mom and I) were laughing. Steve was not laughing, he was sporting his poker face. He told us it was not funny, and we responded by laughing even more. Finally, Steve let him in on the joke. Dad just shook his head, and laughed.

MY BIG BROTHER SERGIO:
Cast: Sergio, Mom, Suzie, Tonie, Dad and me.

Place: Yuma house after a New Year's Eve Apostolic Church Service

When we were little the church in Yuma had a tradition to hold New Year's Eve Services. We would stay in church to ring in the new year. Once church let out we'd walk over to the Comidor/Kitchen to eat menudo/posole (spelling is wrong-I know!), tamales, or whatever was made by the Dorcas (Ladies Auxiliary) of the church. We would get home around 1:00ish in the morning, but no later than 2 A.M.

Since Dad would stay and do minister stuff or talk to friends at church, we drove home in Mom's car. As we were walking out of the car Sergio met us. He had stayed home because he did not want to go to church that night. (Sorry, but no hint about the joke will be given since I in on the joke before and now the joke was being played on me too.)

We drove up to the house, and it was dark. We thought Sergio was in bed or in the back room watching television. As we walked through the metal gate, he came running out the front door yelling and shooting his gun into the air (Shannon's Law was not enacted at that time). All of us, his sisters, jumped and screamed in fear, but mother did not. He was disappointed.

He knew (like we all knew) Dad would be coming home soon. We all waited to hear his truck coming down the street, and by "we" I mean Mom too. She may deny it now, but she was watching. She was telling him not to do it, but she still watched for Dad. We also told him not do it, but like Mom we were laughing and hoping he would get Dad. Oh, and Mom was laughing too. Sergio was sitting on the porch in the darkness. When Dad walked towards the fence Sergio hollered and shot the gun into the air. Dad jumped so high he jumped right over the metal fence. Dad got upset at first (who wouldn't), but later he was laughing about it.