Riding the Line

Riding the Line: Las Aventuras y Amores de Diego y Luz is a 1932 pulp Western novel written by Filipino-Mexican American business owner and author Joselito Rojas (the pseudonym of ex-bandito Jaime Santiago de los Reyes). The novel tells the story of Diego Aguilar, a Filipino-Mexican American, who finds himself on the run when he is accused of killing the son of a powerful Southern Californian landowner, and his complicated budding relationship with Luz Cabrera, a Spanish bounty hunter trying to capture him and turn him in. There are rumors that the book is somewhat autobiographical, though Rojas never officially verified this. Rojas was in the middle of writing Mis Primos, Mis Hermanos, a long-running 1938 serial published in Colorful Western Magazine which was a prequel to Riding the Line detailing Diego's adventures as a bandito. It remained unfinished due to his death from Alzheimer's in 1941.

Critics at the time praised it for its adventurous spirit and its portrayal of the complex romance between Diego and Luz, tackling discussions of family, justice, national pride, prejudice, racism, and societal expectations. It gained a devoted following among Hispanic and Filipino readers, as the author was one of the few Filipino-Mexicans to pen a successful book at the time it was published. Its popularity continues to the present day.

The novel was adapted for the screenplay of the 1967 film Diego and Luz. It was later again adapted in the early 1990s for the film Riding the Line, starring Lou Diamond Philips as Diego and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Luz.

Background
The story is for the most part autobiographical, though the names have all been changed and some of the events embellished or exaggerated. Diego stands in for Jaime/Joselito himself, and the story details his time traveling back and forth across America while on the lam. Just like Diego in the book, Jaime was accused of shooting a Wealthy Landowner's Son in the head during a bandito raid (Jaime asserted his innocence, but admitted at a later point that he wasn't sure if he had actually been the one to kill the man). He ran off to try and escape the large reward on his head, but was pursued by bounty hunters, most notably Masiela, who the titular Luz is based on.

While their dynamic started off as aggressive, the two of them end up having to work together extensively to survive and slowly fall in love, though as told in Riding the Line, they denied it for as long as they could, and in the end, they parted ways, as the pressures and expectations of society at the time would have made being together incredibly difficult. Jaime told a close friend that, when he started to write Riding the Line in his late fifties, it was meant as a way for him to "open [his] own heart to the truth of what had happened, and what I had really felt during that difficult but wonderful time."

Jaime and Masiela Reunite
The book was a best seller, despite being published during the Great Depression, due to its appeal to many different audiences and its affordability as a paperback book. Masiela bought the book to read, and after some time came to recognize the events, and eventually pieced together that the story was a veiled account about her and Jaime's time together. Realizing that Rojas must be Jaime's pseudonym, she sent him a letter (their first contact since 1899) berating him for what she saw as lies and "creative freedoms" that he put in the book. After a series of back and forth letters, they agree that Mas should visit to catch up on old times. This was the first of two trips that Masiela would make to see Jaime before his death. The second was in 1938, when Jaime was showing early stages of the dementia that would eventually take his life 3 years later.

After Jaime's Death
When Rojas died in 1941, one of a number of items he had left to Masiela was the first draft of Riding the Line, complete with annotations and cut or edited scenes. Some of this was apparently very sexually explicit, much of which was heavily censored or removed outright in the final published book. A note he left for Masiela, found with the manuscript, said: "I believe you would not want anyone else to read this, and so I am giving it to you, lest you curse me to hell. Consider them our secrets, and know I wrote them as fond memories."

In Mas y Manos
Jaime Santiago de los Reyes is JT's Great Great Grand Uncle, though no one in his family is fully aware of the fact, due to Jaime going into hiding in 1899 in order to avoid the bounty on his head, eventually settling permanently in Nevada under the name Joselito Rojas. Instead, their relation is only a family rumor, and no one knows whether it is true or not. It is one of JT's favorite stories, and he owns both the 1st English edition and a rare Tagalog short run version published in 1934, both gifted to him by his grandfather Apollo.

JT's false name (also Jaime Santiago de los Reyes) was chosen specifically due to his interest in the book, as it was the name of one of the people speculated to be the real Joselito Rojas. Masiela, whose name had been changed to Luz in the story, is Mas's Great Grandmother, who had a large family with an American Landowner after she and Jaime had separated. Jaime had left Masiela a few of his possessions in his will, including a silver ring. The words "En otro tiempo, en otro lugar," (translating to "In another time, in another place") are engraved in the inner band, referencing something that Masiela had said to Jaime the last time they ever saw each other in the late 1930s, where she expressed sadness that the two were never able to be together and openly love each other. Mas inherits this ring from her grandmother, and later uses it when proposing to JT.

JT's father Solomon inherited Jaime's Silver Cross, which has been passed down to first born sons in their family for generations. It is treated something like an anting-anting (or talisman) within the family, said to grant protection and inhuman speed to the wearer. Jaime had returned the cross to his father before he disappeared the final time, and the cross was given to the second eldest brother Carlos de los Reyes, Solomon's grandfather. When Solomon passes, it will be given to JT, and eventually given to JT's son, Victor Masiago de los Reyes-Calzado.

Reincarnation
JT and Mas can be seen as something of loose reincarnations of their ancestors Jaime and Masiela, finally living the life together that they weren't able to have in 1899. There are occasional Easter Eggs and references throughout Mas y Manos suggesting this.

Other Appearances

 * JT and Mas discuss watching "Riding the Line" together, Mas expressing disappointment that it was less of an action film and more of a romance.
 * Mas reads JT's Tagalog version of the book in order to try and learn some of the language.