Flaco has been living in Miami since he was eleven. He originally came to Florida with his family from Puerto Rico. Once upon a time, they used to live in the mountains there, until Flaco's father had to sell his property to a power company. A lot of families did the same.

Once they'd bought up all these properties, the power company would cover them over with water to make a lake in order to generate electricity. As a consequence, Flaco's family, like many others, had no choice but to move.

They moved to San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. Things were difficult for them after they arrived in the big city. Boys would fight Flaco and laugh at his country accent. Other people would laugh at his dad's straw hat.

But that was nothing compared to the political turmoil gripping the island. Various groups were involved in an increasingly bitter struggle over the future of the island. Some wanted Puerto Rico to be its own country, others wanted it to be a part of the United States; still others wanted it to be something else entirely.

The political struggle took a violent turn, and a bomb went off near Flaco's family home. In the terrible aftermath, Flaco saw a man lying down on the ground in his own blood. A month later, Flaco and his family left Puerto Rico for good and arrived in Miami, ready to start a new life in the United States.