the great santana

The feisty Ana Santana

The story of the brake repair was long. It involved a pregnant daughter, a missed ferry, a rain storm, a late-night rescue, a dismissive garage owner and many tears. Oh, and racism.
   Ana told the story over and over to anyone who would listen, about how the woman at the repair shop gave her an estimate, didn't finish the job on time, never told her the charges were going to be higher and wouldn't return her car without cash on the headgasket. Ana believed she was a mark because she is originally from the Dominican Republic, and people in Rhode Island are prejudiced against people with accents. (She is absolutely correct: They are. She has had people sneer at the Latin music she plays in her earphones, try to kick her out of her apartment for having too many family members to dinner and suffered countless slights.)
   Even Ana's family got sick of the story, but she wanted everyone to hear. It was the principle of the thing. And finally she got her day in court.