Rosalita Vega

" I have a sister too. Like you, we're all that's left of our family. You and me, we're both strangers in this land. They say we're welcome, but by that, they mean we're tolerated, and just barely. They take away our rights, our land, our money. Whatever we have left over, they can take that away tomorrow too. So really, all we have are the people we love, our family."

—Vega to Ah Sahm^[src]

Rosalita Vega was a resilient and savvy Mexican woman who ran a notorious fight club on San Francisco's famed Barbary Coast, which Ah Sahm frequented.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Vega was born in Mexico along with her sister, Marisol, and their father before it became a U.S.-Mexico border town known as Rooker's Mill. She fled when the Americans came, insisting they sell them land that had been in Vega's family for generations. Her father refused to sell. But Elijah Rooker wouldn't take no for an answer. He and his men slaughtered the Vega family's farmhands and their children while they slept. Then they forced her father to his knees at gunpoint and made him sign the deed of sale. Then Rooker shot him in the head right in front of Rosalita and Marisol.^[1]

Helping Ah Sahm find an opium source[]

SE2-E01-Learn-to-Endure-or-Hire-a-Bodyguard-12-Rosalita-Ah-Sahm — Vega offers to help Ah Sahm

Ah Sahm is a frequent fighter in Vega's fight club on the Barbary Coast, in which he has not taken a single loss. Vega watches from above as he takes a bit of a beaten, but ultimately gains yet another victory, for which she pays him. She questions why he comes when he clearly doesn't need money. Ah Sahm claims that he's just staying sharp. Vega isn't convinced and tells him that she'll be waiting to help for whenever he decides to tell her the truth. When Ah Sahm returns and wins another fight, he reveals to Vega that despite his recent wins, he's taken a serious loss in the past. He then recalls her mentioning that she might be able to help him find whatever he's looking for.^[2]

Vega arranges for Ah Sahm and Young Jun to meet with a molasses source, Happy Jack. He is reluctant to work with anyone from the tongs, but Ah Sahm is willing to pay for a dozen crates and storage for it.^[3]

Reclaiming her family's home[]

Ah Sahm wins yet another round in the fight pit at the Barbary Coast, which is making it harder for her to make money from Ah Sahm's fights, as no one's willing to bet against him. If it's money that Ah Sahm's after, she knows of a place where the price is much higher. Not to mention the best fighters from all over the country will be there, so if Ah Sahm's looking to prove something to himself, there's no better place, but Ah Sahm declines her offer.^[4] However, when Ah Sahm returns, he asks her about the tournament she previously mentioned and if she still needs a fighter.^[5]

SE2-E06-To-a-Man-with-a-Hammer-Everything-Looks-Like-a-Nail-02-Ah-Sahm-Rosalita — Vega tells Ah Sahm about her homeland

Vega takes Ah Sahm, Young Jun, and Hong to Rooker's Mill, a border town near Mexico, to fight in a tournament hosted by Elijah Rooker, who has this tournament every year, for which people come from all over the country for a cash prize of $2,500. They get settled in, but Vegas is forced to intervene when Ah Sahm nearly gets into a fight at the bar with Dolph Jagger. The following day, as the tournament is underway, Vega wanders off from the crowd, and Ah Sahm follows behind her. She tells him that everything he sees, even where they're standing, used to be Mexico, long before they decided it was California. Vega has a sister, and like with Ah Sahm and Mai Ling, they're all that's left of their family. Ah Sahm and Vega are both strangers to the land. They're just barely tolerated and everything is taken from them, such as their rights, land, and money. All they truly have are the people they love. Ah Sahm tries to kiss Vega, but she pulls away.

After Ah Sahm wins several fights and impresses Elijah Rooker enough to be invited for lunch at the main house, he and Vega go back to her room, where she has had a change of heart, and they have sex. Afterward, they talk about what Ah Sahm will do with his winnings. He didn't necessarily have to go back. He'd have money and options, but Ah Sahm insists that he's loyal to the tong, though Vega isn't so sure that it's a two-way street. Ah Sahm doesn't even know where'd he'd go. Perhaps back home, Vega suggests, but there's nothing left back in China for Ah Sahm. Whereas with Vega, she thinks about home every day.

SE2-E06-To-a-Man-with-a-Hammer-Everything-Looks-Like-a-Nail-04-Hong-Rosalita-Young-Jun-Ah-Sahm — Vega tries to shoot her way out

As planned, Vega and Ah Sahm have dinner with Rooker and his wife, Marisol. Vega points out the very interesting and unique pistol that Rooker carries. He allows her to hold it, and that's when she reveals that she saw a gun just like that one when she was young and this area was still Mexico. Americans came, insisting that they sell the land that had been in her family for generations. Her father refused to sell, but there was one man who wouldn't take no for an answer. They forced her father to his knees at gunpoint and made him sign the deed of sale before shooting him in front of his two daughters with the very same gun. This man was Rooker, and now, with his gun in hand, Vega takes the bullet she's wearing around her neck and shoots Rooker in the head before attempting to escape with Ah Sahm, Young Jun, and Hong. But they are apprehended and placed in a cell, headed for Sacramento. However, this was all part of Vega's plan. Rooker's wife, Marisol, is her sister, and together, they staged all this to reclaim their family's land. They are freed, as well as rewarded, and Vega reunites with her sister, though only briefly, as she is shot and killed by Smits. With her dying breath, she asks if he would've stayed in Mexico with her and tells him that at least one of them gets to go home.^[1]

Significant kills[]

Elijah Rooker — Vega killed Rooker in retaliation for him killing her father and stealing their land. She shot him in the head with a gun he stole from her father.^[1]