A Novel
A literary novel following Jesus Castillo from a small Mexican orphanage through the turbulence of New York City's counterculture movement in the late 1960s — a story of identity, violence, love, and what it costs to survive.
Jesus Castillo, a teenage orphan in Nueva Casa, wakes from a dream, flirts with Miriam, daydreams through Sophia's class, fights Rodrigo at the football field, and discusses his future with Christian at Oscar's taqueria.
Jesus and Christian open the bakery; Winston visits and photographs Jesus; Jesus goes to the marketplace with Juan and is punched by Rodrigo; Osito resets his broken nose.
Day trip to the El Verde swimming hole; Jesus and Miriam race and are swept over a dam; Jesus suffers a compound leg fracture; Osito takes charge of the rescue.
Jesus wakes in the hospital; Sophia cares for him; he reads Flowers for Algernon; Osito reveals Winston knew his mother; Winston visits and tells Jesus his mother is dead and reveals his full name.
During recovery, Jesus tutors Juan and encounters Andrea smoking marijuana, trying it for the first time; Señora announces the trip to Baja Leai; an evening of dancing to the Beatles.
John and Paul attend a high-stakes poker game at O'Neil's; Leroy wins on an improbable straight flush; Paul draws his gun, is beaten, and forced into a debt arrangement; Leroy warns he'll visit The Rooster.
Sophia confronts Jesus about the joint; he lies to protect Andrea; Jesus recovers from his injury; a surprise party at Oscar's where he dances with Miriam; Sophia privately smokes the confiscated joint.
Bus journey to Baja Leai through San Mezzan; Jesus reads a Christopher Nelson poem; conversation with Osito about Winston's role; arrival at Layla's boarding house.
Tour of Baja Leai; scholarship announcement; campus tour and aptitude test at Baja Leai University; soccer at the park; Jesus grows hopeful about attending.
Jesus dreams of a white desert and a golden-haired rescuer; beach day where Andrea reveals Miriam is with Christian; evening kitchen conversation with Layla, who reacts with shock to Winston's name.
Winston reveals Jesus' father (Smith Johnson) caused Lupe's death; gives Jesus a camera; says he can live with Layla if accepted to university; Rodrigo comes looking for Andrea but is chased off by Osito.
Christian and Andrea win the scholarship; Jesus is bitterly disappointed; Christmas celebration; the orphanage is destroyed by arson, killing Juan; Christian gives his scholarship to Jesus; Jesus and Andrea board a bus on January 1st, 1969.
Henry, a strung-out Irish drug dealer, meets Ray at a party; Ray charms the brothers with stories; at their apartment for a heroin deal, Ray reveals himself as a hitman, kills Henry, and fights Harry in brutal combat.
Jesus and Andrea arrive in Baja Leai after the fire; Layla takes them in; they befriend a stray dog (Rufus); Layla outlines terms of their stay.
Jesus and Andrea walk to Baja Leai University for early enrollment; they argue and reconcile; Superintendent Lopez approves their enrollment; they meet Justin Jack, a musician at the boarding house.
Jesus has a fire/drowning nightmare; he and Andrea settle into a routine of garden work, classes, and evening smoking; a dance lesson with Layla becomes intimate; late-night banter with Andrea.
Winston collects payment from Leroy for a completed hit; Leroy sends him to pressure Paul and leave for Chicago; Paul and John discuss Leroy's extortion at The Rooster; Dana and Chris discuss The Post's struggles.
Jesus has a fire nightmare with Rodrigo's apparition; he excels academically, befriends Carlos, and solves the garden's rabbit problem with Rufus; Justin initiates a philosophical conversation.
After the fire, the orphans resettle; Sophia's backstory revealed (excommunicated for a same-sex relationship); Rodrigo returns with a knife but is deterred.
Winston reveals he is Jesus' biological father; Lupe died of an overdose; Jesus erupts in rage, Winston slaps him; Andrea comforts Jesus; a drunken evening at Americano's bar.
Winston sells cocaine to Frankie in Bronzeville, Chicago; Frankie tests and approves the product; Winston calls Leroy about the Diaz brothers.
Jesus dreams of a prison cell; argues with Andrea about Rodrigo; a reflective evening with Justin; Jesus discovers Rodrigo raping Andrea.
Jesus kills Rodrigo with a rock; calls O'Neil in New York; O'Neil arranges cleanup and transport to Chicago.
Two-day car journey to Chicago; Winston receives them; Jesus confesses to killing Rodrigo and calls Winston 'Dad'; Winston delivers a speech about loyalty.
A week in Chicago with Winston; trip to the Baha'i temple where Jesus declares he wants to be a writer; Winston accepts; they board a bus for New York.
Jesus and Andrea arrive in NYC; O'Neil sets them up with a Brooklyn apartment, fake IDs, and jobs at a pizza joint; their relationship becomes physical.
First day at Lucardo's Pizza; walk home past an anti-war demonstration; visit Alverez's pawn shop and buy a record player; Andrea's forged documents arrive.
Friday night at The Rooster; Jesus meets bartender John and Stars; Joe and Scott use cocaine, Jesus declines; agrees to attend a demonstration.
Drowning nightmare; anti-war march at Central Park with John, Stars, and Lily; first LSD trip; Andrea's acid experience in the drum circle; NYPD raid.
Escape from the raid; John arrested; phone call with Stars; pawn shop visit where Jesus declines a gun and hears a voice; John's court hearing; meets Paul Halman.
Paul and John propose money laundering to Dana and Chris; John pitches hiring Jesus as columnist and fall guy; Sunday at The Rooster where Jesus gets the job.
Jesus' first day at The Ridgeland Post; interview with Chris Waters; John introduces him to Leroy White, who offers Andrea work at his club.
Andrea works at Air; Jesus thrives at The Post as the anti-war voice; opposing schedules and cocaine create distance; Winston reappears and reveals he works for Leroy.
Sophia's tiger dream; reflections on scattered children; cover stories for Layla and Lopez; John and Paul discuss Leroy's escalating threats.
Jesus struggles with hallucinations; Andrea invokes Leroy; at Leroy's party, John reveals Paul's network will protect Jesus; Jesus discovers Leroy and Andrea having sex.
Jesus wakes on a sidewalk; John warns Leroy got him fired; Jesus loses his job; Andrea packs and leaves him for Leroy.
Jesus wanders snowy streets in a dissociative state; shoots Leroy at The Rooster; wakes feeling renewed; John visits; NYPD arrives.
NYPD arrests Jesus; interrogation by Detective Mueller; transport to county jail; near-constant hallucinations; attorney Kelly advises insanity plea.
Jesus in jail befriends Lucas; at arraignment, hallucinated voices overwhelm him; he attacks a guard; placed in solitary; encounters The Other — The Animal.
Winston visits posing as attorney and shares 'focal point' advice; Dr. Heinz diagnoses late-onset schizophrenia; transfer to Green Mountain recommended.
Transfer to Green Mountain; medication opens the door to The Other — The Becoming; weeks of deterioration; psychotic break, restraint, Thorazine.
Medicated stupor until Andrea visits — six months pregnant; the baby becomes his focal point; Winston's letter; Jesus deduces John Letters framed him.
Mental health improves; release hearing; transferred back to county jail; Dupree builds the defense; Andrea refuses to testify in May.
Jesus researches his case and battles The Other; reunited with Lucas; Winston reveals baby Jesus Jr. is born; Dupree presents a plea deal — Jesus refuses.
Murder trial begins September 1970; Reid vs. Dupree; witnesses from both sides; ballistic evidence contested; Dupree calls trump card Justin Earnest.
Trial concludes: fabricated eyewitness Justin identifies John as the killer; not guilty verdict; the family returns to Nueva Casa then Baja Leai; Jesus writes.
Diaz brothers attack on Christmas; Andrea, Winston, Layla, and Rufus are killed; Jesus jumps from the second story with his infant son; fatally shot; dies in peace.