We hear the story of Flaco in the “Miami, Florida,” chapter of Whirligig. We don’t know his real name. He and his family moved from Puerto Rico to Miami. He didn’t know much English at first. He got a job as a dishwasher in a restaurant. Here the waitresses gave him the nickname Flaco, a Spanish slang term meaning “skinny.” Flaco eventually got a job as a street sweeper in order to support his wife Constancia and son Raul. They had already lost a daughter. One day, the stress of his situation prods him to go for a long drive across the state to Tampa. There he sees one of Brent’s whirligigs, made up of the wooden marching band characters. It reminds him that people find connection in groups. It reminds him of the value of his own family unit.
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