The Grand Illusion

Jose Garcia is watching the movie, “Scarface”, with Al Pacino for the fifth time. He is an impressionable young man of 20 years old. He likes the concept that a poor immigrant rises up to become a rich citizen of America. He is so impressionable that he would like that to happen to himself.

‘If Tony Montana can do it, I can do it’. That is the attitude that Jose Garcia imbeds in his mind.

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The next morning, he takes public transit to the immigration office. He fills out an application and submits the appropriate documentation to obtain his green card.

“You will get notice in the mail within 8 weeks if your application is approved”, says the immigration agent to Jose Garcia.

Jose sarcastically replies: “I will be standing by the mailbox waiting for a reply!”

It is now 8 weeks after he applied for the Green Card. He excitedly walks to the mailbox that belongs to him in his apartment building. He sees an envelope from the immigration department. Excited again, he runs swiftly to his apartment, gets inside, and takes the letter opener from his desk. When he opens the envelope, he reads the note. His application has been approved! He has his Green Card. This is the happiest day of his life!

The next day, he buys a one-way ticket to Miami, Florida. He figures if Tony Montana got rich there, he can too. He comes home and packs his bags and gathers his important possessions to put inside the bag. He arranges for an Uber driver to pick him up and take him to the Mexico City airport. After arriving there, he boards the plane and is on his way to Miami.

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When he arrives in Miami, he has a suitcase in his hand with nowhere to lodge. An Uber driver takes him to a motel. He has enough money to stay there for a week.

After he settles into his motel room, he walks across the street to a Taco Bell restaurant. He has no resume. But he explains to the manager about his 3 years’ experience working at a Taco Bell restaurant in Mexico City. The manager is sold. Jose Garcia is hired to start working the next day.

The next item on his agenda is to find a one room apartment. It would be fortuitous if it is close to the Taco Bell. Low and behold, 3 doors down from the Taco Bell location, there is a vacancy for such accommodations. He talks to the landlord, puts down first and last month’s rent, and, like magic, he has somewhere to live in Miami. 

He races to the motel room, packs his bags, and places his belongings in his new apartment after getting there.

It is now evening. He has approximately 2 ½ hours before he retires to bed. So, he slips a copy of “Scarface” into the DVD player. This will be the 6^th time he sees the movie. Since he’s got relatively the same job, in the same city as Tony Montana, Jose Garcia feels he has taken the right steps to fulfill the American Dream as Tony Montana did.

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Jose Garcia has been in America for 12 months. He has made progress. but has not become rich. He is wondering why, because Tony Montana became rich after about a year that he landed in Miami. Jose has made progress, though. He has had a booth at a Flea Market for 3 months selling souvenirs as a part-time venture. He is wondering why he is not living in a mansion and driving fancy cars like Tony Montana yet?

He checks his bank account. He has just $ 5,000 saved up since he arrived in Miami. A look of desperation appears on his face.

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Another year goes by. He still does not even come close to living the good life that Tony Montana did in “Scarface” up to this point in being in America. The car Jose owns is a five-year-old Honda Civic – a far cry from a luxurious or expensive car.

It is now that desperation sets in. Does he resort to selling cocaine to become rich? It worked for Tony Montana after all.

He is going for broke. He takes $ 10,000 out of his bank account. He arranges to buy a Kilo of cocaine from a drug dealer. Jose knows he can re-sell it to a drug addict for $ 25,000. That is a substantial $ 15,000 profit on his first deal. If he continues buying and selling cocaine with this amount of profit, the sky is will be the limit as to how much money he can make on his way to becoming rich. He will do it this way much quicker than being a short order cook and selling souvenirs.

The plan is set. He arranges to meet with a drug addict. He got Jose’s contact information from a friend who knows all the drug sellers in Miami. They will meet at the community park that is located 10 miles from his apartment building. The drug addict texted a picture of himself. He is wearing a black beard and a Miami Marlins baseball cap.

Jose Garcia gets into his car and arrives to the parking lot of the park. He walks over to the pre-arranged meeting point. They both make sure to have the money and the drugs to exchange with each other. They both confirm that everything is legitimate.  Then, Jose is confronted with something unexpected and shocking. The drug addict is an undercover F.B.I. agent posing as a drug addict.

The F.B.I. agent pulls out his badge and tells Jose he is under arrest for trafficking cocaine. In a panic, Jose drops everything he has in his hands abruptly, and runs in a torrid pace to his car. He jumps into the front seat of his car and drives away.

When the F.B.I narcotics agent gets to his car, he plants himself in the front seat and pursues Jose in a car chase.

Jose drives for 10 miles and arrives to the parking space at his apartment building. He gets out of his car and runs into his apartment.

Meanwhile, the F.B.I. narcotics agent lost track of Jose in pursuit of him. He pages the F.B.I. headquarters to have them relay Jose’s address. Two minutes go by. The F.B.I. agent gets the exact address and continues to drive to Jose’s apartment building.

While the F.B.I. agent does this, Jose wrote a note that reads:

“In America, life isn’t like it is in the movies.”

He then walks into the washroom and closes the door.

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The F.B.I agent arrives at Jose’s apartment building. He gets out of his cruiser and approaches the front door of Jose’s apartment unit. He knocks on the front door and identifies himself. He gets no response.

Because the F.B I. agent gets no response, he breaks down the door and enters the apartment unit. He calls out Jose’s name and gets no response. The F.B.I. agent suspects Jose is in the bathroom and knocks on the door. The door is unlocked. He opens it. The F.B I, agent is startled. He sees Jose hanging on a noose in the shower stall.