The sun rose over the City of Oaxaca, the most beautiful place in all of Mexico. Marcello Santos got up, and got ready for another day at work at Francisco's Bazaar. Marcello is a six-foot-tall, lean and athletic, good-looking young man of Afro-Mexican descent. He'd been living in lovely Oaxaca all his life, having been born there to a Mexican father, Miguel Santos, and a Nigerian immigrant mother, Isabelle Adewale. Marcello aspires to go to university someday and make something of his life. For the time being, Marcello is saving money for college, and trying to stay out of trouble.
Marcello's dream school, the Universidad Nacional Autonoma De Mexico, is the best school in the country and has about three hundred thousand students. It's tough to get in, and while Marcello's grades are good, the brother is also seriously poor. Marcello's father Miguel Santos died a couple of years ago, and left the family with a lot of debt. Marcello is the only support whom his mother Isabelle Adewale-Santos and his sister Nikita Santos have. Yup, the brother has a hard life.
Last week, Marcello's girlfriend Ramona Rios dumped him for a gringo named Stuart something or other whom she met at her waitressing job at Restaurante Felipe on Bulevar San Giacomo. Marcello missed Ramona dearly. The gal was tall, curvy and sexy, with dark bronze skin, long dark hair and a big round butt. Ramona was also a mestiza, having been born in San Miguel De Allende to a Mexican father and a white mother originally from Bilbao, Spain. Ramona was feisty but her loving was sweet. Marcello missed her so much that he was daydreaming on the job on that fateful day...
"Hey amigo, hurry up with that," said Antonio, Marcello's bully of a boss, a stocky old Mexican who isn't exactly fond of non-Mexicans. Marcello just started working on that particular day, and didn't need any bullshit but hey, such is life when one works for a bozo. For Antonio, the fact that Marcello was part black meant that he could never be Mexican enough. Never mind that there have been African-descended people in Mexico for centuries. In fact, the region of Oaxaca is known for its famous Afro-Mexican minority community. Normally, Marcello ignores Antonio's baiting, but not today...
"If you worked half as hard as you talked, you'd be a rich man, pendejo," Marcello heard himself reply, stunning both Antonio and the other workmen nearby. Antonio's eyes went wide, and he looked at Marcello as though the young man had two heads. Antonio walked up to Marcello like he was about to start something and Marcello braced himself. In Mexico, machismo is part of the culture and anyone who disrespects the man next to him will have a fight on his hands. That's just the way it is.
"Cabron, you're fired," Antonio said with a wicked grin, and Marcello scoffed, took off his apron and tossed it at his former boss, narrowly missing his face. Marcello walked away, and caught the bus to Calle Rosas, where he lived. It's not easy for a brother in Mexico, even if he was born there, speaks the language and knows the culture. Mexico isn't like America or Canada, where the racism is systemic and downright passive aggressive. In Mexico, if people don't like your skin tone, they let you know to your damn face.
Marcello got home and walked his little dog Harry, a Jack Russell terrier, and as he walked around his neighborhood, he saw an old newspaper on a street corner. Marcello picked it up and saw an ad for El Capitan Security, a security company that was desperately looking for security guards. The job paid one hundred and fifty pesos per work day, which wasn't bad. Marcello grabbed his cell phone and dialed up the number, and a sultry female voice answered.
"Buenas dias, this is Marianna Suarez, for El Capitan Security, how many I help you?" the lady asked, and Marcello grinned. The brother had always been quite good at selling himself and he expressed his interest in the company and his eagerness to work security. Marcello didn't even have a security licence, but he had a good friend named Luis Lopes who could help him with that. Luis is a master of forgeries, among other things.
"I'll be at the interview tomorrow, ten o'clock sharp," Marcello assured Marianna, who reminded him to bring a resume, and then hung up. Marcello went home and fed his dog, and then typed up a resume on his laptop. Since his printer was not working, Marcello saved his work on a USB and then headed to the Biblioteca Publica De Oaxaca, the local public library, and then printed three copies of his resume. Next stop? Marcello went to Calle Guerrera, to see his buddy Luis.
"Buenas dias, el negro, come on in," said Luis, a stocky, muscular Mexican dude with a buzz cut and a slick smile. Marcello went into Luis's place and the two exchanged dap. Marcello expected to see Alejandra Mercado, the big-booty, dark-haired and bronze-skinned chick from Puerto Vallarta whom Luis was currently banging. Luis was something of a womanizer and known for it all over the City of Oaxaca. Luis also had a few bad habits which weren't as well known. Marcello and Luis go way back, in more ways than one.