The Madonnas of Echo Park

Chapter 6 is narrated by a thief and hustler named Freddy, who grew up in Echo Park but has spent “nineteen of [his] forty-two years” (105) in prison. He explains that being in prison and experiencing a sense of loss through his time incarcerated, helps him to appreciate life in his home neighborhood. The chapter begins: “The best sunrise you’ll ever see is your first as a free man” (104). 

Freddy tells the story of how he—along with a large group of Mexican-Americans in Echo Park—captured a serial killer known as the Night Stalker in the summer of 1985. He credits himself as the first person who was bold enough to physically apprehend and attack the Night Stalker, noting that the killer was just a skinny Mexican man rather than “the indestructible bogeyman with supernatural powers they’d heard about on TV for months” (105). Freddy observed the Mexican-American community come together in celebration after catching the killer, believing the city would help improve their neighborhood; however, Freddy remarks that “nothing happened” and he never “saw any reward money” (106).

Freddy then details his evolution as a hustler, pointedly identifying himself as an American who speaks fluent English. Like Efren, Freddy is bothered by Mexican-Americans who’ve failed to learn English. Whereas Efren is concerned with what he perceives as an immigrant sense of entitlement, Freddy is more concerned with the opportunities that are lost to non-English speakers. He explains that most of his money has been made by hanging around street corners, picking up salient bits of information, and insinuating yourself into the conversation. As his father told him, “to make it in America, all you need to do is keep talking” (106).

Ironically, Freddy learned many of his criminal skills in his first straight job, which was at a 24-hour taco stand. He learned to be aware of his surroundings, palming extra money from drunk clients, sometimes even taking their wallets. He went on to pursue other crimes of opportunity, running pool table scams, walking out of stores with display model electronics, and stealing cars left running while the owners were at the post office. For years, Freddy honed his skills to an art. He even boasts that he was courted by the Mexican Mafia, but he wanted to retain his independence.

Freddy hints that he started to lose his touch, however, when he married Cristina—Hector’s former mistress and Angie’s mother—in an “alternative” religious ceremony. Through the whole of their on-again, off-again relationship, Freddy maintained a deep devotion to Cristina, and attempted to hold down a straight job parking cars. Though the job was tough, he resisted the temptation to steal money until one night, he saw a wallet filled with cash left inside someone’s car. In a clumsy, graceless attempt to grab the wallet, he knocked it on the floor of the car, hit the gas pedal, and accidentally plowed the car into a fellow employee. Freddy was sent to prison for twelve years, but before he was sent away, Cristina told him she’d never stop loving him.

In the present moment—freshly released from prison—Freddy returns to Echo Park to find Cristina. He finds that the neighborhood is greatly changed, and has been made unrecognizable to him by gentrification. A young white couple is now living in the home where Cristina once lived, and Freddy learns from a woman across the street that Cristina is dead.

Aimless and reckless, Freddy attempts to pick up criminal jobs by hanging around his old haunts, but he is turned away for loitering. He goes to a bar that used to be frequented by Mexicans, but is now mostly catered to white customers. There, he attempts to run his pool scam on one of Echo Park’s new locals. When Freddy escalates his scam to a crude magic trick, the man beats him up, leaving him on the street and demanding, “don’t come back.” Freddy responds, “This street, this shitty neighborhood! It’s all yours!” (122)

The next day, Freddy wakes up feeling broken and exhausted. He boards an out-of-service bus (the bus driven by Efren Mendoza) and asks the driver to take him away, saying he’ll know instinctively when to stop. Moving to the back of the bus, he notices the candy strewn across the floor and reflects, “Isn’t it amazing, the things people leave behind?” (124)