Part 6: 4325 Elvira

       If you ask any of my cousins, aunts or uncles what does 4325 Elvira mean to you, they'll say “That's grandma's and grandpa's house!” or my favorite. The only number I know by heart till this day. (512) 852-7535. That was my grandparents home phone. Corpus used to have the 512 area code before they were all switched around and 512 became Austin and Corpus became 361.

       This house was home to nine children and my grandparents. It was a quaint, simple home but not without its charm. My favorite thing about it was it was on cement pillars so I was able to crawl under the house during hide and seek or just to kind of “discover” dinosaur bones that were actually old chicken bones and pig head skulls my uncle Moe would bury under the house. He always encouraged my imagination and for my sake buried those bones because I thought I was genuinely discovering fossils! You may be asking yourself “Where was he getting pig skulls from?!” Well, if you were brought up in a Latino household it may make more sense. This may even ruin tamales for some people, but, that's how you make tamales. Well at least the pork ones. You go to the butcher and get a pigs head, bring it home and put it in a big olla (pot) and boil it until it's tender. What's left is a skull. Teeth and all! I used to run around the back yard and scare the dogs with it!

       I've talked about my grandparents house briefly in previous parts of my story. I feel it's important to pay homage to the place that kept me safe and happy for part of my life. I can still hear that shriek from the front screen door opening as my grandfather hurries in to answer the phone. I never asked him why, but every time the phone would ring and he was outside, going in to answer it he would say “Police!” Then let out this little “woot” sound. It's hard to explain the sound but I can still hear it. We went through so many phones because they were always being broken. My grandmother had a habit of dropping them. Then my grandfather would drive to the store and buy another one without ever getting mad or making her feel like she was clumsy. I still remember the day we got a cordless phone! It was horrific! They couldn't understand the concept of a phone needing to be plugged into an electrical source before working. They had me to help with that transition thankfully.