The State of Texas is both Mike Milo’s home and a boundary he chooses to cross twice: first to escape danger with Rafo, then in reverse, when he decides to return to Janasco. Its significance rests on this tension. Mike knows Texas has its own miseries, but still identifies himself as a Texan; by the end, home no longer settles where he belongs so much as what he is willing to leave and return to.

Home and Belonging

Mike’s attachment to the State of Texas is not based on a belief that it is free of hardship. Thinking of Janasco’s beauty alongside its severe poverty, he recognizes that the State of Texas has its own miseries. The difference is that Texas is home, while Janasco is not. He understands himself as a Texan rather than a Mexican, and believes he cannot live in Janasco—even though he loves Marta too much simply to dismiss what he has found there. His sense of home is therefore firm, but no longer uncomplicated.

The Border Crossing

When Rafo worries about being asked for his papers, Mike explains a route that avoids the border station: they will approach from the west, abandon Mike’s truck about a mile from the border, descend into a ravine, and climb out on the other side in the State of Texas. The plan turns the state into a specific destination reached by foot, not merely an idea of safety. Mike tries to reassure Rafo with the practical details, and Rafo finally nods, promising through his response that he will manage his fear himself.

As they climb from the ravine, Mike is shot in the shoulder. He thinks of himself as home, but the shooting continues; only when he feels the hill rising beneath him can he be certain that he is coming up into the State of Texas. The gunfire then stops. The crossing establishes home as a bodily threshold reached through injury, with Mike’s certainty arriving only after the terrain confirms where he is.

The Turn Back

The State of Texas does not remain the end of Mike’s journey. Reflecting on the loss of any illusion that love or life can be permanent, he recognizes that his fear of going to Janasco is really fear of leaving it. He decides he has to return to Rafo, Marta, the horses, and the mesa, accepting whatever love he can give or receive for however long it lasts. He turns and walks back down into the ravine, heading south. Though his wound is still bleeding, it is bleeding less; he sets out again with damage, but now also with hope. The reversal makes the State of Texas more than a homecoming point: it is the place Mike reaches before choosing a temporary life elsewhere over the safety of staying within the boundary of home.