CHAPTER 1
Saturday, July 15, 2005
Joseph Rios, or Little Joe, as he was called by his friends and family, was busy setting up the breakfast table on this humid and gray Saturday morning. In an effort to surprise his mother, and to have a change-of-pace from the “instant” breakfasts his brother had insisted on feeding him the last two weeks, he decided to take the morning meal into his own hands. On the small round wooden table he laid out three plates each adorned with a serving each of rice and beans, corn tortillas, a large heaping of scrambled eggs thick and yellow with butter, and chorizo, or Mexican sausage.
In the center of the table, a large candle stood with the image of the Virgin Mary. He had difficulty in lighting it, as only a smear of wax remained at the bottom with an i
