The Store/La Tienda
by Paul Delgado
My grandparents, Agustin and Maria, owned a small corner grocery store in East Los Angeles during World War II. My grandfather was a welder, and my grandmother took care of the little store. At that time, my dad was serving overseas, and his sisters, my aunties, were in high school.
My grandparents were struggling to make ends meet during those years. However, they managed to survive with the small income from the store and my grandfather's job. Additionally, they owned a very small apartment in the neighborhood that they had purchased years before and rented out to a newly married couple.
After a few months, the newlyweds were unable to pay the rent. One morning, on his way to work, my grandfather asked my grandmother to speak to them and tell them that they needed the rent money that week or they would have to ask them to leave.
Later that night, my grandfather returned home from work and asked my grandmother how it went that day. "Did you speak to the tenants? Were you able to collect the rent?" he inquired.
"Ay Agustin," she sighed. "When I saw how poor they were, I couldn't ask them for the rent."
"What did you do?" he asked.
"I went back to the store and bought them groceries," she replied.
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