LOTERIA - HOPE LOST
Uncle Lugo - The Serial Killer
A few years ago, I was visiting my 80 year old father and he started telling this outrageous story from his childhood. It was about an uncle named Genaro who was executed in the electric chair. My dad told of how the murder (for killing an officer of the law - a Constable) was just the tip of the iceberg. On the night he committed this last crime, Genaro drank some alcohol and went out to where the constable was serving as a night watchman. Genaro shot him twice and the officer fell to the ground. Genaro walked over to him and shot the man in the head - execution style. Genaro ran and a manhunt ensued. He was captured, jailed, put on trial, found guilty, then executed.
When I left my dad’s house that day, I called my wife and told her that I was concerned for my dad. Old age had caught up to him physically, but mentally he had always been very sharp, at least until now. Here he was telling a tall tale about an uncle I had never heard of before.
A few years ago, I was visiting my 80 year old father and he started telling this outrageous story from his childhood. It was about an uncle named Genaro who was executed in the electric chair. My dad told of how the murder (for killing an officer of the law - a Constable) was just the tip of the iceberg. On the night he committed this last crime, Genaro drank some alcohol and went out to where the constable was serving as a night watchman. Genaro shot him twice and the officer fell to the ground. Genaro walked over to him and shot the man in the head - execution style. Genaro ran and a manhunt ensued. He was captured, jailed, put on trial, found guilty, then executed.
When I left my dad’s house that day, I called my wife and told her that I was concerned for my dad. Old age had caught up to him physically, but mentally he had always been very sharp, at least until now. Here he was telling a tall tale about an uncle I had never heard of before.
So, when I asked my dad why he had never mentioned Uncle Genaro before, for the first time he said he was ashamed. Because of all of Genaro’s nephew’s, my dad had turned out most like Genaro. But he kept saying that he wasn’t as bad as Genaro. He didn't want to talk about his uncle because he wanted to distance himself from him.
So the images you see here tell this story of my great uncle. I used the imagery from Loteria cards, which are a form of Mexican Bingo. There are different versions of the game, but normally the cards are very colorful. I used this iconography to tell the stories. Piecing The Puzzle 1) The story begins in the top left hand square with "El Valiente." 2) Genaro feels proud like a proud rooster. 3) He gets inebriated. 4) He strikes again and again, like a deadly scorpion. 5) Genaro flees into the night. 6) He is captured. 7) He is in jail feeling empty and hollow. 8) The hand of justice deals with him. 9) Genaro is executed, and the Devil has had his way. |