America is in the Heart

On a train to Bakersfield, Allos thinks of how young and strong he was in the past, and how frail and ill he now feels. In Bakersfield, he finds Amado in a gambling house. He looks old, haggard, and unwell.

The next morning Allos tells him about Macario's illness. Amado says he will go to Los Angeles and get a job to help with expenses. Although Allos once hated Amado, now he only feels pity for him.

One night, Allos drinks wine with Nick and weeps. He promises that he will wring every last drop of satisfaction and activity from all of his remaining minutes. He takes a bus to San Francisco, where his days are dark and filled with drinking, poverty, and hunger. Back in Los Angeles, Amado doesn't work as hard as he said he would, and he frequently brings suspicious characters home. Macario is back at work, but his condition worsens every day.

Amado and Macario fight about Amado’s friends. Amado grabs a knife to stab Macario, and Allos hits him in the head with a frying pan. Amado leaves, heartbroken. He tells Allos that he should not have hit him. After he is gone, Allos believes he sinned against Amado.

To avoid falling back into violence and crime, Allos returns to writing. Filipino magazines publish stories Allos writes about his early life in America. The money he receives and the usefulness of his writing invigorate him.

After their landlady dies, Allos and Macario are forced to move. At a dinner in honor of a Filipino educator, two detectives break in and hit the educator when he refuses to raise his hands in obedience. After the detectives leave, the educator asks his countrymen if there is any way for them to gain the respect that they willingly give to native-born Americans. Allos is furious. He goes home and gets his gun, but Macario wrestles it away from him.

Once again, Allos sees his writing as futile; he craves action and violence, because they are all that violent people understand. After a long bender of drinking and despair, Allos worries that if he fails to remain respectable this time, he will become the most vicious Filipino criminal the country has ever seen. 

Allos works in a fish cannery in San Pedro. His friend Nick takes him to a workers’ rights meeting. They have to meet in secret, but it appears that their dream of equality for Filipinos is not dead. Allos feels the old passion stir inside him. He realizes that every version of their fight comes down to one common enemy: fascism.

When fishing season ends, Allos goes to Nipomo to work with a crew of pea pickers. He offers school courses for workers, teaching them American history. The instruction gratifies both the students and Allos. Before the fishing season ends, he goes to Betteravia, and starts another class for the beet pickers. He repeats the process in Pescadero before going to Monterey, where he reconnects with José, who teaches a class on unionism.

On December 7, 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor. A few days later, Allos, José, and their friend Joe go to the recruiting offices to enlist. They are all refused because they are not naturalized American citizens. When Allos hears that a tank detachment crushed Binalonan on its way to Manila, he goes to another recruiting office and is turned away again. Allos contacts many of the delegates from the unions and drafts a resolution insisting that Filipinos be allowed to serve in the armed forces. In a huge victory for Allos, President Roosevelt signs the order, and Filipino regiments are formed in Hawaii and various parts of the United States. 

A small publisher asks to publish an edition of Allos’s poems. After sending in the manuscript, he puts together an anthology of contemporary Filipino poetry. When advance copies of his first book, Letter from America, arrive, Allos is proud and happy. He goes to Amado’s hotel to show him, hoping that it will thaw the chill between them, but Amado is not there. He finds him with two girls in a bar. One of the girls scoffs at his book and tears pages out of it. Amado beats her and returns the book to Allos.

Days later, Amado visits and tells Allos that he plans to join the Navy. When he leaves, he gives Allos an envelope containing $25 and a letter. The letter thanks Allos for his generosity and urges him not to judge Amado too harshly.

Macario leaves as well, having joined the Army. After saying goodbye, Allos finds an envelope with $200 from Macario. 

Allos goes to the bus station after putting Macario’s money in the bank. From the bus, he waves to the field workers and thinks that nothing will destroy his faith in America again.