Juan’s cell phone rang. “Hola, Rob. Whatcha doing?”
Juan listened for a long time, just saying, "Yeah… yeah.”
It was Juan’s friend, Rob Lewis, reminding him to register to vote.
“I’m kinda busy today,” Juan objected.
The conversation continued, and Rob kept reminding Juan how important it was to vote. “Ok, ok.” Juan relented. “What do I gotta do? Go to the community center?”
“Ok,” he said again. "Yep, I understand. I gotta bring my proof of citizenship papers. Anything else?” Juan listened a moment longer. “Yeah, I’ll have time to do it today after work. They’re gonna tell me what to do? Ok. Ok, bye.” Juan hung up.
“Are you going to register to vote, Dad?” Carlos asked.
“I guess so," Juan replied, finishing up his coffee. "Are you going to be home all day?"
“Uh-huh,” Carlos grunted. “I don't have any plans. I thought I’d just hang out.” Carlos was home on two-week leave from the Marine Corps before heading to his next assignment.
“Ok, good.” Juan turned to Maria, “Just lock the doors today. We’ll figure out something tonight when I get home.”
Maria kissed him. “Te amo, mi amor.”
“Te amo, también.” Juan held her for a moment and then left the house to begin his day.
It was late afternoon when Juan arrived at the South Mountain Community Center. It wasn’t far from Juan’s home. He’d done some work there a few years ago, installing the sheet metal hood for their commercial oven, so he was familiar with the parking lot and the layout of the offices.
When he got out of his pickup, Juan felt like something was off. He'd driven past El Reposo Park, which backed up to the community center, and he was surprised to see it so busy this time of day. There were dozens of young people hanging around. What’s going on? Sometimes they had events there, but he hadn’t heard about anything.
As Juan made his way across the parking lot toward the building, he heard a distinctive popping sound. Is someone shooting off fireworks?
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