By kiki
These are sad times for me, as one of my favorite cousins, Henry Baltazar, has taken his last cruise around the barrio. But I know that he refuses to fall into that dreamless sleep; thus, he is having a great time at a beer party at The Blue Sky Lounge. I can just hear him saying, "I'm saving you a cold one, Cuz."
So I will write about some of the fun times Henry and I had; some of it will be in excerpts of stories I wrote before his passing. The fun, to be sure, was at Henry's expanse: let me explain: Henry was a very short man in stature, thus, the ribbing by friends and foes alike. But, on the other hand, Henry had the heart of a giant; he would give you the shirt of his back on a freezing day.
I became very close to Henry when we moved to La Puente in 1968; he was a La Puente native. We loved each other like brothers, and I guess that's why he put up with my bullshit. And he did so with a smile and always his favorite words, "ya, right."
Back when the child car seat law had just become the law of the land, we were visiting his parents, Tio Magdaleno and Tia Senovia, in Portville, Ca. (they had moved when my Tio retired). So Henry asked me if I would give him a ride to the next hick town; I said yes. As we walked out of the house, I picked up a child car seat from a couch; Henry asked me, "Cuz, what do you need that for?" I gave him a smile and said, "I need to strap you down; you know that's a new law." He shook his head and said, "ya, right."
An excerpt: "Playboy Lounge:" Circa 1983, I walked into a local watering hole, the Playboy Lounge. As I walked in, I spotted my cousin Henry and his friend Rudy sitting at the bar; their little feet were dangling high above the floor as they sucked on their beers, now Henry and Rudy are two really short guys, more like glorified midgets, both are about 4'11 if they wear lifts. Henry might be about half-inch taller than Rudy; I used to kid Henry all the time about liking to hang with Rudy because Rudy was the only one shorter than him.
One time Henry and I were hanging out by the curb in front of my house, and out of the blue, I said to him: "Cuz, you're a lucky man" he gave me a funny look and asked, "how, Cuz?" So I put my arm around his shoulders and gave him a smile, and I said, "well, if you wanna commit suicide, all you have to do is jump off the curb. "ya, right."
When I was in the boxing business, I told Henry that I was branching out to wrestling and could use him, " how, working the corner, Cuz?" I didn't think so. "No, Cuz, it's more like putting you in the ring; I can make you a star in a midget tag-team. "ya, right."
An excerpt: "Looking For A Good Barber:" I talked to my cousin Henry and told him how I needed an excellent barber. Henry told me to go see Jimmy at 'Jimmy's Scissor-cut' on Valley Blvd and Puente Ave and to be sure to tell Jimmy that "Big Henry" sent me. I think Henry was looking to get ten percent of whatever business he sent Jimmy's way or at least a free haircut. Jimmy and his son, One Eye Dino, turned out to be two great barbers.
In the mid-1980s, Henry went camping with my family and me to the Eastern Sierra. After two or three days, the cooler ran out of beer, so we went to a small general store in a small town. I walked in first with Henry behind me. I walked up to the counter to buy some Pall Mall Reds, and Henry went to the beer fridge; the clerk looked over my shoulder and yelled at Henry, "Hey, kid, you can't buy beer; you're not old enough." HWith'stache and beard, Henry turned around and yelled back, "say, what?." The clerk with a red face said, "I thought he was your kid." Back in the motorhome, I told Herny what the clerk had said. "ya, right."
Much more Henry short (no pun intended) stories can be told, but enough with picking on my cousin with the colossal heart; besides, if I keep picking on him, he will drink the beer he is saving for me. Henry later on in life became a river rat;, living around the Bullhead City area. He used to jokingly claim he was on the lam. R.I.P. Cuz. Love you.
