It all started in the first week of ( March 1998 ), "Fran" headed for work as usual, it was raining, and a cold gust of air went thru the air, "Fran" left the house were his wife "Sandra", and his four kids stayed at home, due to heavy rains an flooding, that had just accured thru the night, the news station annouced that schools would be closed today, due to the storm, and "Fran" had thought about not going to work, because of the low lying areas, around their work place that would be flooded. "Fran" didn't want to spend all day running around in wet socks and shoes, then after thinking it more clearly, he shouldn't have really left the house, but since the strange weather phenomenon "El Nino", was here to stay for six month or more, "Fran" figured he couldn't miss work for six months, so he got in his car and then left for work, on the way he saw some people walking in the rain, and since "Fran" cleans an details his car everyday at work, he figured that he would give them a ride, for as far as he could, everyone got in the car when "Fran" stopped, and asked if they could use a ride, he dropped everyone off at different places, the last one was a very beautiful girl, she told "Fran" that she was a prostitute, and that she was working, "Fran" told her that he wasn't interested, that he was happily married, and didn't need any side love, the girl said that because he gave her a ride, that it would be "Free". "Fran" said no he wasn't interested, but thank you anyway, and she got out of the car, and "Fran" didn't give it a second thought, then the next day went by, and on the way home he saw the girl again, the girl saw "Fran" too !, so he stopped to talk to her, and he then offered her a ride back home, so she got in the car, they took off, they got about a mile down the road when suddenly, a police car pulled up behind "Fran", and put the lights on him, so "Fran" pulled over to see what the officer wanted, then the police officer pulled up in plain clothes an a plain car, and he asked for "Fran's" driver license, car ID regristation and insurance, an "Fran" gave the officer everything he wanted, an ( 5 ) minutes later, the officer asked "Fran" to step out of the car, he was then placed "Under Arrest", for picking up an solicating a prostitute, "Fran" was surprized, he told the officer that he knew her only, and was giving her a ride home, the officer said "Sure you were !!!", and even after the girl had verified his story, the officer didn't believe her either, she was "Arrested" also, for "Prostitution", they both went to "Jail", and since they were arrested, it seemed like a very small offense, to ( 50% ) percent of the world, but in the United States of America, things aren't that different, in regards to a "Small Law Breaker", or a "Big Law Breaker", the police an law enforcement, makes a problem bigger then what it was, the courts set up a form of punishment, to embarrass a person, but instead it broke up "Fran's" family, after being in jail for ( 3 ) days until his court arraignment, his wife at the time didn't know why he was in jail, all "Fran" would tell her, is that he would be home soon, for her not to worry, but being a wife, she called the police department, to find out about her husband, they told her to call the court house so she did, and on "Fran's" court date she was there, "Fran" was surprized, and he asked her to go home, since he'll be there tonight, but she said "No", that she wanted to be a supportive wife, and when his case was heard, she was shocked to hear the charge of "Soliciting a Prostitute", she got up and walked out, not even being present to hear the rest of the case, "Fran" was given ( 3 ) more days in jail, a ( $250.00 ) fine, ( 15 ) days community service, a suspended drivers license, it was otherly too much for just giving a girl a ride, regardless of who she was or what she does, plus the fact that he also had his car Impounded, now "Fran" had to pay ( $110.00 ) dollars, to get it out of the "Police Pound", "Fran" thought to himself, "WOW", what a money making bussiness, in five days the county made: ( $250.00 ) + ( $110.00 ) + ( 6 ) days in jail equalling ( $65.00 ) x ( 6 ) = ( $390.00 ) + ( $500.00 ) for a week lost of work, for a grand total of ( $1,250.00 ), not to mention the ( 15 ) days community service, which comes out to about ( $1,000.00 ) dollars, of his regular work load, which it comes out to ( $2,250.00 ) dollars, he figured that was a pretty hard punishment, since "Fran" makes ( $2,000.00 ) dollars per month at work, and he had to pay all that amount for something so small, but "Fran" thought at least, it was all over for the most part, yet it was just begining, for when he got home, the house was a quiet silent place, which was very disturbing to "Fran", since a wife and ( 4 ) kids, makes enough noise to scare off an intruder, if there was one near, so for the moment "Fran" thought, that the family was out shopping or something, since it was still early, it was ( 5:30 pm ).

   Maybe they went out to eat or something, "Fran" when furthier in the house, he noticed that it looked a little more empty then usually, so he then ran upstairs only to find drawers were empty, and his wife clothes was gone from the closet, he was then hoping that what he was thinking had not happend, his wife and kids had moved out, so he ran to the phone in his second office next to his bedroom, and "Fran" called over to his in-laws house, to check with them, to see if they knew where his wife and kids were, his mother-in-law said that they were there, that she was filing for a divorce, and that he'll be getting paperwork soon, now this news didn't sit good with "Fran", he tried to talk to his wife, but to no aveil, the whole night "Fran" worried, about the problems that had just occured, he was very upset that he felt like taking his ( AK-47 ), and go over to the police station, and empty all ( 10 to 15 clips ) on those idiots, who caused this whole problem on him, or maybe he'll wait til morning, he could do a whole court room, a few Judges, Policeman, and civilians, "Fran" thought up of all kinds of different ways of doing it, while he had a drink of "Tequila Sunrise", he had another, an another, until he had passed out in the morning, "Fran" woke up with a very large "Hang-Over", he took a shower then headed to work, when he got there, there was a note on his desk, to report to "Mr Klamans" office, he wonder why, since he had called in, to let them know that he was in jail. once he showed up at "Mr Klamans" office, "Fran" knew everyone really well, since he had worked there for ( 12 ) years, and "Fran" had an outstanding record, yet everyone was giving "Fran" the cold shoulder, "Mr Klaman" came out the door to get a cup of coffee, when he saw "Fran", he told him to wait in his office, "Fran" did as he was told, he had a seat, then "Mr Klamans" told "Fran", "Your job with this company, has been exellent, but due to orders from the board of directors, we have to downsize, and your one of ( 20 ) people we have to let go, I'm sorry, ( "Here's an envelope with your servances pay, sick pay, vacation pay, etc, etc, etc...." ), I wish you alot of luck", now "Fran" was loss for words for the moment, but he managed to say, "If my work is exellent, why am I being layed off ?, and who are the other ( 19 ) people ?, I believe this company is laying me off, because of my father in-law is on the board of directors, and since I'm not with his daugther anymore, his trying to squash me like a bug, well it won't work, I'll file an appeal against this layoff with the "Board of Equalization", "Fran" got up and walked out of "Mr Kalmath's" office, he went to a locate Nude Strip Club in the center of downtown, there he started drinking a few mixed drinks, while he watched the girls dancing naked, at the same time he thought to himself, where was he going to find a good job like the one he had, that pays him ( $2,000.00 ) per month for the type of work he does, since his house payment alone was ( $1,400.00 ) a month, and ( $400.00 ) in regular house bills, plus food an entertainment, he wasn't going to make it, plus if he got a job elsewhere, it would be a month before he got his first pay check, and within about a month, "Fran" could lose his house, car, and furniture, "Fran" felt that his life was now going down hill, with such a small incident as giving a girl a ride, after "Fran" made it home he placed his house up for sale, before he loses it, he sold his car since he doesn't have a drivers license, it really didn't matter to have a car, he sold all his furniture, and with the money "Fran" payed off all his bills, every single credit card was paid off, "Fran" figured he didn't really need any of these items anymore, but he did not want to have any outstanding bills in his name, "Fran" also turned off all the utilities, and after everything was done, an the house was sold, he gave his kids half of the money, and he was on his way, after saying good-bye to his kids, "Fran" had decided to pay the system back for what they did to him, and his way of life, so "Fran" went to the place where he had buried the ( AK-47 ), the ( 15 ) clips of ammunitions, and ( .44 magnum ) with ( 500 ) shells, "Fran" was bound and determined to give theme a little pay back, but what "Fran" didn't notice, was the ( 2 ) cops seating in their car, in the alley having lunch, they was watching "Fran" digging in that secluded area, so the cops got out of their car an walked over to "Fran", they asked him what he was doing ?, "Fran" thought quickly, and told him that he saw some kids bury something here, he wanted to see what it was, the policeman asked "Fran" when did he see it happen, and also where does he live, "Fran" told him he was homeless, and that he was sleeping over there by the bushes, the policeman told "Fran" to keep digging, so he did, then he hit the box, and he pulled it up, with the cops not knowing "Fran's" plan, he had to make belive that he didn't know anything about the box, so "Fran" mentioned, that the box looks like it had gold, or money inside, or maybe jewlery, the cops said "well, so lets find out ?", they opened the box, and saw the weapons, they told "Fran" that they, had to take the weapons back to the station, that "Fran" wouldn't be able to keep what he had found, so the cops grabbed the box, and told "Fran" to be on his way, that they didn't want to see him in their town again, or he'll be arrested for loitering, "Fran" walked away and thought to himself well there goes that plan, "Fran" then looked in his pocket only to find ( $150.00 ) left, after he sold the house, paid all the bills, and gave the money to his kids, but at least his name was clean, so "Fran" got started in looking for work, he put applications everywhere, but every job he applied for wanted a solid address, and a working phone number, but since "Fran" didn't have a place, or phone number, no one would hire him, so little by little as the days passed by, "Fran" started looking dirty and gringy, he started begging for money, and sleeping out on church porches, store porches, and in alleyways, as the days went by, he had started to look like he had been homeless for years, an years, the days went by an "Fran" started drinking the hard stuff straight, to stay warm, a day felt like weeks, the weeks felt like months, the months felt like years, ( 6 ) months had past by, and to "Fran" it felt like ( 6 ) years, by then "Fran" had a regular route he followed, to make money mainly from the same people, "Fran" was making ( $10.00 ) to ( $15.00 ) dollars a week, not bad considering that a few weeks ago, "Fran" was making ( $3.00 ) dollars a week, so now fran felt he was progressing quite a bit, but nothing compared to ( $2,000.00 ) dollars a month, that he use to make, and having a nice ( 3 ) bedroom house he once had, yet he thought to himself, it's not really that bad sleeping out in the open, but fran hadn't experienced a cold winter night yet, an so far it was warm, but summer would soon be over.

   And then suddenly winter hit the area, and "Fran" had now felt what cold really was, all these other nights, that he drank just to stay warm was a joke, "Fran" drank heavy that night, and he still almost froze to a popcicle, now "Fran" figured, he had to look for other means of staying warm, and getting food, he had heard that there was shelters, and missions where he could sleep and eat, for about ( 3 ) months after you sign up, so after searching for about ( 6 ) hours, he had finally found the place, he signed up, an for ( 90 ) days he ate 3 meals a day, and slept on a warm bed, winter was almost over, and "Fran's" ( 90 ) days at the mission was up, so "Fran" was back on the streets, he went walking down the old route he had done before he went to the mission, he stopped at several resturants along a six block stretch, and the owners would either, throw him out to the street tumbling, or throw food at him, they would tell him to eat that, then he came upon a small resturant at ( 6:00 am ) in the morning, when the owner was just getting there, "Fran" had just happened to be sleeping by the back door, "Fran" asked the man, if he had something he could give him to eat, and the man answer: "If you're here at exactly ( 6:30 am ) ever morning, and at ( 2:00 pm ) exactly every noon time, you'll eat breakfast & lunch, but not a moment later then ( 6:30 am ) in the morning, or no earlier then ( 2:00 pm ) after noon", "Fran" agreed, the man told "Fran", that the regular customers come in at ( 7:30 am ), and that "Fran" would have to eat and leave before they showed up, and that his last customer leaves at ( 1:30 pm ), so "Fran" can have his lunch then, and that he was sorry that he couldn't give him dinner, since he was not open for dinner for two reasons, for one he didn't have enough money to open a dinner shift, even thow he has a very large selection menu, that he could make for dinner, and to tell you the truth he was only open for breakfast, but after ( 3 ) years of building a large breakfast crowd, he now had the money to open longer hours, to have a lunch crowd, and that it might be ( 4 or 5 ) years, before he can start a dinner shift, and second is that all the resturants, that have opened up all around him, specializes in a dinner menu, it would be very hard to compete with them, "Fran" asked him, what he would need to make his dream come true, the man answerd, and told "Fran" that he would first, have to pay the bank ( $60,000.00 ) dollars he still owes the bank, and about ( $40,000.00 ) to get the dinner menu set-up, then the man gave "Fran" his first breakfast, in the corner table behind the front door, so no one could see him from the outside, "Fran" got the salt & pepper shakers an put some on his food, and when he was finished "Fran" put the salt & pepper shakers, on top of the square napkin holder, he would then start to eat, when "Fran" was finished, he offered to wash dishes, the man said "No", to just remember the times to come in and out, so "Fran" left to go get some money, from some of his regular route people, then he returned back for lunch at ( 2:00 pm ) exactly, the man gave him ( 2 ) bags, one for lunch, and one for "Fran" to save for later to eat for dinner, so in a way it was like eating all three meals a day, the days went by and the route went smoothly, then about two weeks later, the man wife of the resturant came with him, and she was a sweet lady, yet she was concern about the added expenses, due to feeding one person ( 3 ) times a day, "Fran" heard them talking, about how much it would cost them, if they continued to do this over a long period of time, by the looks of it the wife was the "Book-Keeper", but the man was bound and set, in helping "Fran" no matter what, you could hear him tell her, that even with the added expense, it was really nothing, compared to all the things that they had, a beautiful home, ( 2 ) cars, and a family, to where "Fran" had nothing, and that helping him would make him sleep better at night, knowing that in some how he was helping one person, in his life time, and then his wife said "O.K !", and they continued to work, it seemed thow to "Fran", that the man's wife had the control in the house, and wore the pants in his family, but yet some how he had won a big victory this time, he seemed quite content with his victory, "Fran" left as usual, and he put the salt & pepper on the napkin holder as usual, then he returned at ( 2:00 pm ) to pick-up his lunch, but that night started out very different, it started to rain really hard, and that wasn't normal, since a couple of hours had gone by, and just earlier there wasn't a cloud in the sky, but suddently it was rain, and that caught "Fran" to be soaking wet, but in a way he was taking a shower out in public, "Fran" took all his clothes off, and started to wash them in his hand with water only, "Fran" was naked washing himself, then when he finished he put his clothes back on, and then got out of the rain on to a back door of a bussines, with a little roof, so he huddled up in a corner and started to drink from a bottle he bought earlier, it started to get colder and colder, as the evening got closier, "Fran" was a little damp from his earlier shower, so he needed to find a place to sleep warmer, so "Fran" started walking down the alley, toward the store to get another bottle, before he went to a parking lot, that has a warm air vent shooting warm air out, and as he walked on, he noticed a car with his headlights turned "On", since it was night time, so "Fran" moved to one side to let the car go by, but instead it stopped, it was a police car, and the officer rolled down the window an asked "Fran", what he was doing here, "Fran" told him that he was passing thru, to get to the store, the officer got out of the car, and told him, that he didn't ask him where he was going, but what was he doing here ?. "Fran" replied that he was homeless and just passing thru, the officer told him that there wasn't any homeless in his city, the other officer came out of the car, to stand on the side of his partner, so "Fran" looked at their names, and answered him by using their names, an that he had lived in the mission, up to a couple of weeks ago, and then one officer look at the other officer an told him, this guy don't hear very well, and at that instant he pulled out his baton, and started beating "Fran" all over his body, the other officer joined in on the beating by kicking "Fran" in the face an back, then the second officer stopped the first officer, and told him to just let it go, as the officer stopped he then repeated saying: "Like I said we don't have any homeless in my city", and they got in their car and left, "Fran" layed on the ground in great pain, he was bleeding from his lips, a cut on his left eye, and from his nose, at that moment he also noticed that he had broken teeth also, after about ( 30 ) minutes, "Fran" managed to get back up on his feet, and as he started walking the rain started again, and to "Fran" it felt good, especially after that beating, and with the rain it washed alot of the blood off, but he was still in bad shape, when he got to the store to buy his bottle, the store owner called ( 911 ) for help, since he saw "Fran" walking thru the store still bleeding, and dripping wet going to get his bottle, a police car arrived and questioned "Fran", and "Fran" told them, that two police officers beat the crap out of him, he gave the policeman their names, at that time the paramedics arrived to treat "Fran", then they took him to the hospital, fixed him up and then discharged him, but they gave "Fran" a newer set of clothes, a jacket, and two blanket along with his bag with the bottle in it, as for the two policemen that beat him up, the officer that took the report said, that there wasn't anything that he could do, until "Fran" had his home address, or an address where he lived, but since he was homeless, not to much could be done at this time, but that "Fran" had a least ( 11 ) months to file charges, and after that "Fran" wouldn't be able to do anything, so when "Fran" got out of the hospital, walking back toward the place where he always stays at, once back at the parking lot where the warm air cames out of the vent, "Fran" got in a corner, wrapped himself in the blankets an started drinking his bottle, halfway thru the bottle "Fran" started dreaming, and thinking about his past, and how he got to this point in his life, and the first thing he thought about, was the story that his father use to tell him, how he an his mother got to the united states of america, it all started back in ( 1957 ), when his parents got married in mexico, his father was a labor worker, and his mother worked at a clothing factory, as a "Streamstess" sewing away all day, just to make ( 15 ) pesos a day, while his father made ( 22 ) pesos a day, when they were married they combined their efforts, and got a small place that costed ( 11 ) pesos a day, food costed ( 6 ) pesos a day, their bills ( 8 ) pesos a day, clothing/shoes ( 5 ) pesos a day, the rest was for entertaiment ( 7 ) pesos, so they realized that life was not as good there, so they figured the united states would be a better place, to have a family, so they headed to the united states of america, and from the way his dad told him, it was a very hard route to enter the united states, they left "Sonora Mexico" on a friday, and they arrived at the border town near ( Brownsville, Texas ) & ( Matamoros, mexico ). His parents hired a coyote to lead them into the united states of america, and he gave the money he had for the trip to the coyote, and the address of a distant cousin that lives near ( Kennedy, Texas ), a small town just southwest of ( San Antonio, Texas ), and that was going to be their future home, a good place to start a family, since his mother was ( 5 ) months pregnant with "Fran", and "Fran" would be born in ( Kennedy, Texas ), in the united states of america, they would live a better life, but things weren't that simple, as they started their journey they found out, that things were just about to begin, they walked for three miles, and they came to a hole in the ground, where the coyotes said they would cross, the hole went straight down about ( 150' ) feet, and they had to go down a long latter, the coyote went first and he took one of the lantern, to light up the way, he told every third person to carry a lantern, so they can see an the last two people were staying there, with the intention to bring all the lanterns back to the mexican side of the border, back thru the tunnel, as they got to the bottom of the shaft, all the group of people had to get into the water, and it was a very scarey feeling, the tunnel was only ( 3' ) feet wide, and ( 6' ) feet tall, with water up to ( 5' )feet high, which ( 90% ) percent of the people who went thru the tunnel, the water would reach their necks, and if their was any kids, the coyotes would carry them piggy back, so their heads would stay above the water line, now there was close to ( 30 ) people in that group that night, and everyone went into the tunnel, now the tunnel seemed like ( 5 to 10 ) miles long, but it was only ( 2 ) miles long, and due to the cold water an walking slowly, it seem like it would never end, as for the feeling it was weird to be on this long walk, ( 150' ) feet under the earth like a gofer, and some people started to ask the coyotes questions, because they were getting scared the farthier and farthier they went in, the guide answered their questions the best he could, as to how safe the tunnel was, the guide told them that the tunnel was made over ( 100 ) years ago, when the united states had their last war, and that at that time it was a dry tunnel, but that ( 10 ) years ago water started to sip thru, and it has reached ( 5' ) feet in ( 10 ) years, that in the future they would have to use underwater gear, to get people an their items to the other side, and also if it wasn't safe, he wouldn't be in here with them, he had made it quite clear, that he was talking the same chances as they were, after ( 1 1/2 ) hours they had to go, to get to the other side, one by one they reached the end of the tunnel, and they climbed up the latter, but one person fell down and broke her neck in the fall, the two guys at the end of the group, told the lead coyote that they would take the girl back, to the mexican side, and bury her there about ( 25 ) miles away from the tunnel, some of the people were concerned with the decision, since the girl was still alive and talking, but the coyote, said that there was nothing they could do for her, if they move her up the shaft she'll die anyways, and when they pull her back to the other side, she would have drowned or die as soon as they move her, so it was one way or the other, then the coyote said, that they would get her up the shaft, for everyone to just get out of their wet clothes, and put on the ones that they brought in plastic bags, that they were dry, everyone sat about ( 35' ) feet away from the shaft, everyone was given food an something to drink, and "Fran's" father sneaked back to the shaft, to see how things were coming with the woman that fell, and the coyote approached from behind, as "Fran" father looked down the shaft, he saw that the girl was no longer there, the coyote told him that the girl had died, when they tried to get her up, so they had to take her body back to the other side, and that they were now leaving on a ( 5 ) mile walk across the desert, to the highway where a truck was going to pick them up, so they all started their walk across the desert, a mile down the road, they had a ran in with the border patrol, and everyone started running in ( 5 ) different directions, the coyotes had told the group, that if they ran into "La Migra", to follow one of the guys wearing a certain type of shirt, that there was ( 5 ) of them, and those guys were all his helpers, when everyone ran in different directions, "Fran's" mother and father ran after the main guy, and they got away, to get to their rendezvous point with the truck, only ( 4 ) teams made it to the truck, one of the guys told the main coyote, that one group got caught.