VLVL2 (14) Mah man in the reverse-chic shoes, 312-313

[Paul Nightingale]

Mention of Hector leads to a flashback in which "the Corvairs' luck was
turning, and they were actually beginning to cut one or two masters ..."

We left the band "working pretty steadily" but nonetheless "setting
aside time to drop acid together" (284), a passage that makes it clear
Zoyd has opted out, somewhat distracted by "Frenesi his life sentence".

Hector's role here is incongruous; Mucho readily patronises him. Yet
Zoyd knows better, advising one and all to "exercise caution".

Key to the scene is the mask Hector wears, "a groupie ... silent and
glittering at first but all too soon putting in, as if unable not to,
not only negotiating lyrics, which was certainly bad enough, but also
arguing about notes, which was crazy".

His identity (his master status) as a "drug agent" s therefore
challenged, threatened.

He takes great pride in his "old Stacey Adamses", so take your pick at:
http://www.stacyadams.com/Default.aspx

Mucho quickly apologises, "aware of the mystique": the name alone is
enough to transform his opinion of "reverse-chic shoes".

Hector's "goofy and dangerous look" is that of "some old-time pachuco
flying high on reefer", ironic given the immediate context of the scene
...

>From the OED:

"A juvenile delinquent of Mexican-American descent, esp. in the Los
Angeles area; in extended use, a derogatory term for any
Mexican-American.

1943 C. Himes in Crisis July 200/1 Pachuo is a Mexican expression which
originally meant ‘bandit’ but has degenerated by usage into a
description of a juvenile delinquent ... In Mexican districts in the
county of Los Angeles, small bands of pachuos have organized into gangs
to fight each other. 1944 Time 10 July 26/2 Pachuco ... Mexican for
zootsuiter.  1946 C. Himes Black on Black (1973) 256 Some pachuco kids
were ganged about the juke box, talking in Mex.  1947 Common Ground
Summer 79/1 The Pachuco dialect is a mélange composed of Caló,
Hispanicized English, Anglicized Spanish, and words of pure invention.
1950 G. C. Barker (title) Pachuco: An American-Spanish argot and its
social function in Tucson, Arizona.  Ibid. (1958) i. 13 In many cities
of the American Southwest there are today Mexican-American boys who are
known ... as pachucos. These boys ... may be distinguished by certain
peculiar characteristics of dress, behavior, and language.  1954 J.
Steinbeck Sweet Thursday 11 In Los Angeles ... he led a gang of
pachucos.  1966 T. Pynchon Crying of Lot 49 i. 11 Hostile Pachuco
dialect, full of chingas and maricones.  1972 J. Wambaugh Blue Knight
(1973) v. 70 ‘Órale, panzón,’ he said, like a pachuco, which he put on
for me. He spoke beautiful Spanish ... but the barrios of El Paso Texas
died hard.  1976 Word 1971 XXVII. 294 Pachuco, also known as tirilí,
tirilongo, is used not only by felons, delinquents, ... and others
outside respectable society, but also by younger males throughout the
Southwest as a street variety and for its slangy effect.

The (channel-hopping?) passage from CoL49 is interesting:

"... a voice beginning in heavy Slavic tones as second secretary at the
Transylvanian Consulate, looking for an escaped bat; modulated to
comic-Negro, then on into hostile Pachuco dialect, full of chingas and
maricones; then a Gestapo officer asking her in shrieks did she have
relatives in Germany and finally his Lamont Cranston voice ..."
(whatever the pagination, the second page of the novel).

"... a preferred intimidation technique that extended to his suit, which
he'd had semi-retailored to suggest a zoot of the 1940s ..."

See: http://www.elpachuco.com/

And of course Slothrop's zoot in GR (249, passim).