I MARRIED A DUG DUG
by MARGARET DE LA TORRE WILKEY
I laid low for awhile, finished beauty school and got my license. But the whole time, my mind was on the Dug Dug's and especially Jorge. One night Diane called and said she was going "down south" and that Jorge had been asking for me, and would I like to go? I of course told her to come and get me. I left my parent's home that night with nothing but my wallet and the clothes on my back. When we got to Tijuana, I ran down the street to Mike's. My heart was beating fast and my expectations were high. Not knowing what kind of reception I would get, I just went in and sat quietly in a booth.
Jorge was onstage singing Beatles songs like "Norwegian Wood," "You Won't See Me," "I'm Looking Through You," and "Nowhere Man." I felt like he was singing all these songs to me, and he probably was. When the break came he did not come to me, but went outside to hang out with the guys. By then I dared not dance with any one else. So I sat there, feeling like I was going to be sick. I knew I was crazy about him and could not let him go so easily.
He opened the next set with "Another Girl" and it was obvious that he was calling the songs to the rest of the band. They were all up there laughing and having a good time and I was feeling very sad and anxious. They continued the set and at the next break I was ready to leave, but of course Diane was in love with some ne else's boyfriend and there was a fight breaking out and Diane was in the middle of it. So I went to try to defend her, not knowing who I was dealing with. These were Mexican girls and they were a different breed. There was hair pulling, nails digging into our flesh and fists a-flyin'. In the center of it all was Norma, Armando's girlfriend.
Things eventually calmed down, so we went back to sit in the booth, and Jorge started singing "Girl." My heart melted. After this set he finally came and talked to me in his broken English. It was the moment I had dreamed about for quite awhile. I told him I was willing to stay with him and never go back home. He had a room at the Palacio Hotel and I stayed with him for a few days, waiting back in the room while he played every night.
One day when we were asleep, there was a knock on the door, and it was Diane and Sharon. My parents had been looking for me and knew I was with Jorge, in Tijuana. What heartbreak that must have been for them. After all, I had always been a good kid, never in trouble, focused on my future, and then the Dug Dug's came into me life and I could no longer adhere to what they wanted -- only what Jorge wanted. And what he wanted was for me to stay away from the club at night and stay and wait for him no matter what, and I was doing just that.
But Diane talked me into going home. She was successful in her life and never really got too heavly involved with anyone. (That is, until she fell for Jorge Lujan, but that came later.) I left and went home with her. My poor father was sick with worry, plus he was a little bit prejudiced. I was blond and blue eyed and he just couldn't see me with what he called "this lowly Mexican from Tijuana." I tried so hard to do what my dad wanted at that time. I did stay and immediately got a job, but of course it was down near the border. I worked in a shop by day, and at night and on his days off I would go down and see Jorge.
The band's popularity was now building to a crescendo. They were talking about going to Mexico City and maybe recording an album. Armando was working very hard on this idea. Some of the guys didn't want to go, especially Jorge the guitar player. His heart and his family were in Tijuana. He was a great guy, very quiet but a good player. Sometimes his brother Lupe would sit in with the band. He would attend most of the practices, which I was privy to if I was not working. They were sounding tighter and tighter. Armando really knew his music as did Jorge. They had a few disagreements on the course the band was going to take, but it seemed that Armando always won.
I didn't understand any of what they were saying, but could tell by their body language what was happening. The only thing that Jorge had taught me to say in Spanish was "Vamonos a la cama." The boys in the band would laugh like crazy whenever Jorge prompted me to say this, which was on a regular basis. I just said it like an idiot, thinking I was being clever. Then I found out it meant "Let's go to bed!"
I quit my job and moved in with Jorge at the Palacio Hotel. We both seemed to want this at this time, but Jorge was changing more and more everyday. He was really starting to drink more and stay out all night, and I blamed it on all the hurt I had caused him. So, to make it up, I gave my life over to him. My relationship with my parents was severed. Then, in September 1965, I found out I was pregnant.
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