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Tone is "the" regular customer at the Fiesta Bar. Much like the slow retreat of the day's dusty heat, a person in Murphy, Texas, can count on the fact that between the hours of 6:00 and midnight, Tone will be at the Fiesta, five stools from the register and one from the wall. In front of him, will no doubt be a mug of beer, an ashtray, and an open pack of menthol cigarettes. Although he is known to take pleasure in expressing opinions that few in Murphy, or any small town would agree with, Tone is generally well liked by people around town. Tone is not one to tell a joke, but the patrons of the Fiesta Bar accept as fact that Tone has an uncanny ability to capture the essence of any situation or conversation in the bar, with a line from an endless list of movies he has watched over the years. Whether the situation or occurrence at the bar is serious or comical, Tone "nails" it every time. At the Fiesta, to see Tone hop off his stool, land in character and nail his line, is to witness the closest thing to genius that anyone has ever seen. At least in Murphy.

Tone or "el Tone" as the Mexican patrons call him, currently works at a hardware store, but rarely remains at any job for more than a year. What is consistent is Tone's schedule. Tone has held court at the Fiesta Bar since his first year out of high school. The music, the people, the seasons, have changed, but Tone remains on his stool, reciting Pesci, de Niro, or Brando lines to the delight of a hodge-podge of middle aged and older men, none of whom have ever seen the movies Tone quotes from. Every once in a while, after a particularly spirited round of applause, the thought comes to him that he used to be considered the "young kid" at the Fiesta. He was the raucous breath of fresh air that the little bar needed to keep the mood festive and conducive to drinking. During the quiet moments at the bar, Tone wonders why he is still the only young kid in the bar. Then he realizes that there has not been a young kid in the bar in a long, long time.

During those quiet moments, Tone wonders what bus he missed. What job should he not have left? Which girl should he have taken a little more seriously? How did he manage to become caught in the rut that has been his life for the last seventeen years? He usually tires quickly of the questions he has no answers for, and begins the melancholic fantasizing that comes while sitting on a barstool smoking. The fantasies are always warm and distant, they always go well with beer, but by nature, they only last a couple drags of a menthol cigarette.

One evening, after a particularly festive New Year's celebration at the Fiesta Bar, Tone sits, replaying in his mind the various lines he has quoted throughout the evening for the enjoyment of one and all. The sad sound of the bartender's broom, as it sweeps away the last traces of revelry, brings Tone the new year's first reflection: although his movie lines never fail to entertain, there is a certain loneliness in being the only one who has ever seen the movies. The bartender, now finished cleaning, pulls the chain of the last lit lamp. And Tone releases one last wisp of smoke, realizing this New Year's has been no different from the rest. It's just another new year, at the festive, Fiesta Bar.

Learn more about this author, Alvaro Ramos.
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