The Caliente Family, ca. 1960
The Calientes, ca. 1960. The Calientes are consists of of Tango Caliente (48), a former New Sim City Llamas player who has since retired and works as a coach for a small local baseball team; his younger brother Flamenco Caliente (34), a professional cook; Flamenco's wife, Nighat Caliente (née Al Mahmoud, 32), a Pakistani-American woman who works with the Pakistan Consulate on matters concerning Pakistan-America relations; and their three-year-old twin daughters, Dina and Nina Caliente, born October 15, 1957.
The brothers originally came from the Southwest. Their father, Nestor Caliente, became a widower after his wife, Dulcinea, died during childbirth. Tango was raised largely by Nestor, while Flamenco was later born under highly unusual circumstances following Nestor's abduction by extraterrestrials. Nestor's death several years later left Tango responsible for raising his much younger brother.
Growing up in the Southwest, Tango developed a passion for baseball. Determined to make something of himself, he eventually left the Southwest for the East Coast with Flamenco. His path to professional baseball was far from straightforward, involving years of competition, setbacks, and perseverance before he finally earned his opportunity with the New Sim City Llamas. Tango eventually became a prominent Llamas player before retiring from professional baseball.
Tango moved to Pleasantview in 1952, beginning a second career as a local baseball coach.
Flamenco, meanwhile, developed a natural talent for cooking and eventually found work in restaurants and diners. In 1955, while working at a diner, he met Nighat Al Mahmoud, a Pakistani woman whose family had established connections with the United States during the early postwar period. Nighat eventually found work associated with the Pakistani Consulate, where her knowledge of South Asian and international affairs brought her into contact with matters concerning early years of Pakistan relation to America.
The two fell in love and married in 1956.
Nighat's family background is rooted in Pakistan. Her parents, Tariq and Benazir Al Mahmoud, belonged to the small but growing generation of Pakistanis establishing themselves abroad following the creation of Pakistan in 1947. Her move to America was therefore not part of a mass migration—Pakistani immigration remained quite limited before the 1965 immigration reforms—but rather the sort of unusual individual migration story that could occur through education, professional connections, family ties, or international work.
Their twin daughters, Dina and Nina, were born on October 15, 1957.
After learning that Flamenco had married and started a family, Tango invited his younger brother, Nighat, and the twins to move into his Pleasantview home. Having lived alone for several years, Tango was happy to have his family around again. For Flamenco and Nighat, the arrangement also meant they could avoid paying rent while establishing themselves in Pleasantview.
By 1960, the Calientes therefore form an unusual but tightly connected household: a retired Llamas player turned local coach, his younger brother the cook, a Pakistani-American woman working in international affairs, and two young daughters growing up in Pleasantview.