America is in the Heart

Macario visits and tells Allos he plans to go to Spain to fight in the Spanish Civil War. Though Allos admires his conviction, he also fears for his life. Eileen comes to visit him constantly, and their conversations about literature grow more satisfying. He feels a particular affinity with William Faulkner, whose books speak of a decaying American South where children lack ambition and prospects. 

Allos undergoes three more operations to halt the progress of a lesion on his left lung. After the third surgery, he has no more ribs on his right side. Meanwhile, Allos stays abreast of political turmoil and conflict in America but spends most of his time lost in books. He makes a serious study of Russian authors, followed by an analysis of American writers including Mark Twain and Jack London.

Allos makes friends with John Custer, a young man in another hospital ward. John asks Allos to write to his mother in Arkansas to tell her that he’s doing well. In the letter, Allos writes of John and also himself. The fact that John never learned to write breaks Allos’s heart. Despite the fact that John is an American, a poor Filipino like Allos is more educated. Years after leaving the hospital, John writes a letter to Allos, saying that he took his advice and educated himself.

Macario visits and tells Allos he was denied a visa to travel to Spain. Instead, Macario and his colleagues continue to work for social justice. For the first time since taking ill, Allos feels the urge to work with them again. 

Increasingly, Allos spends his days near a tree rumored by the other patients to possess healing properties. As he develops a kinship with American writers such as Walt Whitman, Allos worries that if he is ever well enough to leave the hospital, he will not be able to function in the real world with its attendant brutality.

Allos petitions to be sent to a sanitarium where he will have a better chance of making a full recovery. Yet because he came to America as a minor and has no legal guardian to sign the transfer papers for him, his petition is denied. A social service worker arrives, ostensibly to hear him out, but instead she tells him that Filipinos should just go back to their own country. Having now read enough to know where her ignorance is rooted, Allos is no longer offended by racist attitudes like hers. Two weeks later, Macario successfully extracts Allos from the hospital. 

Given that the hospital was the only place where he experienced peace, Allos is anxious when he arrives at Macario’s home. Macario quickly seeks new lodgings where Allos won’t be forced to struggle up numerous flights of stairs. But the owners of the first three homes they try to rent will not rent to Filipinos. Eventually, they find a place to live in a dangerous and crime-ridden part of town.

As an escape, Allos reads fairy tales and folklore. Realizing that no author has yet collected Filipino folklore into a book, Allos assigns himself the task. A doctor visits and tells Allos that, based on his examination, he may only live for another five years. Allos contemplates what to do with the remainder of his life. He thinks about how badly he wants to become a writer, immortalized in words. Macario says he will sacrifice whatever is needed to help Allos fulfill his dreams. 

At the library, Allos meets Ronald Patterson, an American poet, who loans Allos many Leftist publications. Ronald also takes him to progressive meetings organized for the unification of minorities. One meeting is led by a man claiming to be the first Filipino communist in Los Angeles. He says Filipinos will not help their cause unless they join the Communist Party. Allos proposes forming a separate Filipino party, and he and José organize a meeting.

At the meeting, they outline the questions they believe all Filipinos must ask. They listen to community feedback and do their best to answer questions. Shortly after, the Filipino communist prohibits them from starting their own party. 

At a strike in Stockton, Allos sees his friend Claro. Amidst the quiet, orderly strikers, Claro overflows with idealism and passion. Allos stays with the strikers for a time and listens to a talk by an influential Filipino union figure who reinforces Allos’s beliefs about the workers’ movement. 

Allos’s increasingly high profile as a labor organizer causes the authorities to pursue him. Urging him to escape, a man named Steve drives Allos toward Oakland. A patrol stops them, but Steve messes up Allos’s hair and the authorities do not recognize him.

On a bus back to Los Angeles, Allos falls asleep and has a complicated dream about his father. In the dream, a man speaks of a Filipino who left for America to write songs. The implication is that Allos is the Filipino of whom he speaks. When Allos encounters his father in the dream, his father says he must never run away again. Allos awakes with tears in his eyes. He realizes that the dream was based on a true memory of his father. 

In Los Angeles, Allos and José form a committee fighting for the right of Filipinos to become naturalized American citizens. Unfortunately, the bill they sponsor regarding citizen’s rights is killed by anti-Filipino groups. This destroys Macario’s spirit as well as his health. As a result, he loses his job. Tortured by Macario’s ill health and misfortune, Allos wanders the streets with a gun in his pocket, wondering if he will return to his old life of crime.

He sees an open house, darts in, and steals a diamond ring. He sells the ring to a gambler, promising to redeem it and buy it back when he can. Allos uses the money to summon a doctor for Macario and buy him three months’ worth of groceries.