"Who is it?" "Fernando." "You're back at last!" "I'm back at last." " How long has it been?" " About 30 years." "30 years!" "That long!" "You really haven't changed." "I still recognize you." "I still recognize you, too." "Come in." "Let me introduce you." "This is "The Pest"." "This is Fernando." "Here's the nicest present you could get." "The most fabulous boy in Medellin." "Alexis." "This is my friend Fernando." "We've known each other..." "Forever." "Ever since we became fags." " Right?" " You're crazy!" "I'm a fag?" "You and the President are fags." "Someone who's slept with over a 1000 boys isn't a fag." "He's a far out guy." "Right?" "Sure!" "Sit together and never part again." "Alexis..." "A lovely name!" "Who gave it to you?" "My mom." "Where are you from, kid?" "From here:" "Medallo." "Now it's called Medallo?" "Or Metrallo." "Like in metralleta, machine gun?" "I'm glad the name's been changed." "Medellin was a tired old name." "It came from a pigsty in Estremadura." "No one knows that anymore, or cares." "You know where Estremadura is?" "In Spain." "You've been there?" "I've been everywhere." "Like a witch doctor." "Really?" "Why did you come back?" "To die." "To die?" "First show him the butterfly room." "Life is short and ends when you least expect it." "Where are the butterflies?" "There are none." "We're the butterflies." "A name's a name, the substance is what matters." "Take off your clothes, kid." "For protection." " From what?" " Whatever." "And that?" "I got a blast from a shotgun." "So the amulets don't work!" "No, they do." "Without them I'd have died." "You can't argue with that kind of logic." "My heater." "It's also called an iron." "Why do you have this heater or iron?" "Some dudes who're in love with me wanna waste me." "Kill me." "Wait, I don't follow you there." "If they're in love with you, why kill you?" "They love me in a hateful way." "hateful love?" "What language do you guys speak in MedaIIo?" "Martian?" "Pick up your gun, kid." "If I do, I'II aim it at my heart and pull the trigger." "I'd splash blood all over my friend's place." "And he's been so nice to me." "Be right back." "Who's that?" "Vallejo, the writer." "And the little angel?" "Alexis." "He has 3 or 4 murders on his conscience." "He was in a gang that got wiped out." "He's the only survivor." "Am I right, Pest?" "Or were there more?" " Forget it." " Who cares?" "We're born to die." "I brought you a rum and coke." "So you can take your girlfriend out." "What girlfriend?" "I don't like women." "Glad to hear it." "So many clocks, but what time is it?" "Which one should I trust?" "It's 10:15 PM." "So that's the time." "It's whatever you say it is." "What are you doing tomorrow?" "What day's tomorrow?" "Tuesday, as far as I know." "Tuesdays I go to a pilgrimage at the church in Sabaneta." "Want to come with me?" "Sabaneta!" "That's close to Santa Anita, our countryhouse was there..." "I wish I couId see it again." "That one isn't as pretty as our farm was." "Ours got torn down." "Everything has an end!" "Please turn down the radio." "I can't stand that radio blaring in my ears!" " Stop, we're getting out." " You gotta pay the whole trip!" "We're not there yet." "I'II pay you what's on the meter." "Here's the fare." "Faggots!" "He's lucky it's Our Lady's day, or I 'd have offed him." "You said you came back to die?" "It's true." "I don't want to live anymore." "I've lived more than enough." "This is borrowed time." "Look!" "The Bombay cantina!" "A miracle it's still there." "It's exactly the same." "Except for the gas pump where we filled my grandpa's Hudson." "Let's go in." "There's nobody." "Anyone here?" "I'm here." "That's great!" "I'II have an aguardiente." "Or two?" "Two." "Two guaros." "Come look at this." ""Senderito"!" "I can't believe it." "How much do I have to put in?" "1000 pesos." "Goddam inflation!" "It's what our farm cost!" "You're crying?" "What happened?" "Time caught up with me." "In this same bar, when I was a kid, on a day like this, I heard that record." "Then my parents, my brothers and sisters, and grandparents were alive." "They're all dead." "How can I not cry?" "Let's pay the man and go." "Do they distribute free booze here?" "Or did these unbelievers get their faith back?" "Hey, guys!" "You guys OK?" "Mary Help of Christians, little virgin, sweet child!" "Dammit to hell!" "Those pricks are fighting again." "Two gangs from Santo Domingo Savio." "Another saintly neighborhood!" "These people became more civilized in my absence." "At the end, it's all the same, right?" "Guys bite the dust." "You can't say "at the end"." "One says "in the end" or "in any event"." "But say what you want, speak your way." "At the end, it's all the same." "Why do those assholes from a distant hilltop come down here to raise hell?" "It's about debts." "Those guys who got wasted were Pablo's people." "Who's Pablo?" "Pablo Escobar." "I don't know him." "Is he a soccer player?" "You don't know Pablo?" "You're putting me on." "Those guys worked for him as hit men." "He got knocked off." "Now everyone up in the hills is out of work." "So he was "a good provider for the people."" "Poor Pablo." "They don't let anyone get ahead here." "Stop that cab before it kills us." "To Medellin, please." "This is my place." "Make yourself at home." " It's empty!" " Empty?" "There's a bed in that room." "And a table and chairs, or "stools" as they call them here." "Four stools." "There are two of us, so that's two extra." "Who needs more?" " And no music?" " Yes, the birds." "They sunbathe here." "Come and see, it's beautiful." "Look!" "There's Medellin for you!" "Medallo!" "You don't even have a hi-fi?" "We'II go buy one right away." "You'II see how hot this stereo sounds." "The seminary has become a mall!" "Who'd have guessed!" "How come you're loaded?" "How much did your apartment cost?" "Nothing." "My sister Gloria left it to me when she died." " She was rich?" " Stinking rich!" "She had millions." "She married a Mafioso." "Which one?" "What does it matter?" "He's dead." "She offed him all by herself." "One night he was drunk, she pushed him off the terrace." "Dropped him like soiled underwear." "He crashed down on the sidewalk." "The autopsy stated:" ""Accidental death"." "Died of drink." "And her millions?" "Her two useless sons snorted most of it." "I got what was left." "Who knows who killed them!" "You?" "Me?" "Come on!" "So you came back to Colombia to inherit." "Did you love your sister?" "Very much." "Now I have no one left to love." "What else do you want?" "A motorcycle?" " No, a mini-Uzi." " What's that?" "A small machine-gun." "I'm against all violence." "Kid!" "Turn the music down a bit?" "You don't like it?" "I'm not used to it yet." "I'm going to the drugstore for aspirin." "See you later." "Get out of the car!" "I'II remember you!" "Come see the stiff!" "That's 2 today!" "We're breaking records!" "You sell earplugs?" "Turn it off!" "Someone just got killed." "He wouldn't hand over his car keys!" "What an idiot!" "To get killed for a car..." "That damn hippie!" "He kept me awake again last night." "It's been going on for days." "I didn't hear anything." "Are your ears wrecked?" "Let's see." "Can you hear me now?" "Yes, I can." "I want a good look at his face." "What for?" "There's nothing we can do." "Here everyone screws everyone, no one respects anyone." "I'II close off the terraces with double windows." "In this heat?" "No!" "Teach him some respect!" "One of these nights," "I'II shoot the sonofabitch from here." "Not from here." "They'II know where the bullet came from." "Do it in the street." "I'II do it." "I said nothing." "Just forget about it." "Can I turn on the stereo?" "The stereo?" "Sure, kid." "You still have it on?" "I can turn it down a bit." "No." "I'II do it for once." "You broke an Aiwa!" "Yes, I broke it." "Did I kill anyone?" "Are you crazy?" "Breaking stuff worth a fortune!" "Tell me something." "Do you also like women?" " Depends..." " Depends on what?" "If they have little brothers." "When they have cute little brothers I do." "Otherwise, no." "You're the craziest guy I ever met." "Listening to Callas, you'll discover good music." "You've heard nothing like it." "There's "The Pest"!" "How's things?" "This is my friend." "This is "The Pest"." ""Mister Writer"." "We met the other night." "This is Deadboy." "Deadboy." "Hey, what's the deal?" "Nothing." "We just bought a hifi and a TV." "We're due back." "They're delivering it." "See you around." "They're an item." "They're in love." "That's Callas?" "Sounds like she's being strangled!" "That's the finest aria ever written." "Her incredible voice is piercing my heart." "That's the northeastern hilltown, where Santo Domingo Savio is." "That's where those two gangs in the shootout are from?" "This city's lovely when it's asleep, when its 4 million souls stop robbing, mugging and killing." "What?" "At night is when it gets good!" "When it pops!" "What's that for?" "It's not a holiday." "Means they got a shipment of coke into the U.S. They're celebrating." "Listen..." "Listen to him." "It's the hippie!" "He's at it again." "Let's go see." "There he is." "I got a good look at him." "He's a punk." "I'm going for a walk." "Where to?" "To a church." "Anywhere." "Another church?" "What for?" "You went yesterday." "To listen to God's silence." "A peso, for the love of God!" "Ask Him for it, if he's so loving." "Or ask the guy who knocked you up!" "You old bastard!" "This decision will benefit all Colombians..." "It's the President." "His decision will benefit all Colombians." "Turn that faggot off!" "It's more noise." "It's just lies." "What are you doing?" "I'm gonna kill the fucker!" "Bullseye!" "You showed him!" "Let's waste this piece of shit, too." "Did I kill anyone?" " Open your mouth!" " What for?" "Two, please." "These people are so stingy." "They even slice up napkins." "A fly couldn't blow its nose in it." "Everyone's rotten, the world's run by crooks." "Look at our despicable President." ""A decision that will benefit all Colombians!"" "If you want, I'II off him." "I mean it." "That's just a waste of bullets." " You believe in God?" " No." "I told that old creep to fuck off long ago!" "Saint Ignatius." "The other is Blessed de la Colombiere." "You know who that one is?" "Saint Anthony, the patron saint of lovers." "Ours." ""I turned Saint Anthony upside down." ""He didn't find me a sweetheart, he let me down..."" "What do we do now?" "I, not a thing." "What I had to do in life I already did." "Like a gust of wind peeling lime off the walls." "Why don't you read something for a while?" "Like Jules Verne's "Two Year Vacation"." "I know how to read." "But I can't concentrate." "Okay, then let's sit together." "We'II stare at that wall and listen to the silence." "If they'd let people work here, I'd help you start a business." "But they don't." "With all the red tape and taxes, you go bankrupt." "The workers don't work either." "The boss does all the work." "Never give your fellow man a job, kid." "Let his damn mother give him one!" "What do we do now?" "I don't know." "Go back out again." "Put two poor wretches together, in 15 minutes they'II breed 10 more poor wretches." "I hate poverty." "The way to get rid of it, is to get rid of those who spread it." "Look!" "The punk!" "They did it!" "He's dead." "A ridiculous remark, lady!" "Like something out of a Mexican movie!" "Who killed him?" "Who?" "Those bikers!" "Didn't you see them?" "I fixed him!" "He's a stiff, good for a box." "My God, what did you do?" "He had it coming." "Killing that poor boy for no reason!" " How could you?" " What poor boy?" "A dickhead!" "Serves the prick right." "You said you wanted to kill him!" "I did, but it was just a mean thought." "If we killed everyone we kill in our heads" "life would be butchery!" "Can't you distinguish between thought and action?" "What separates the two is called "civilization"." " Sure." "Losing control." " No!" "Double windows would have gotten rid of the noise." "And the heat?" "Alexis..." "Kid..." "Wake up!" "What happened!" "Who'd they kill?" "Nobody, calm down." "I can't sleep." "The silence keeps me awake..." "That buzzing..." "Listen!" "Can you hear it?" "I hear nothing." "Is it my conscience buzzing?" "Or is it the crickets?" "I feel guilty." "About what?" "About the punk." "What punk?" "Right, I forgot." "After 7 nights of silence, I miss the drumming." "I miss it so badly." "That fabulous noise." "It's over." "Everything in this world ends." "You shouldn't carry a gun." "What can you do with it, except kill someone?" "Let the living live." "They'II kill each other all by themselves." "You just sit and wait." "How ya doin' guys?" "Know what?" "Hide your ass, they're still after you." " Where you going?" " To the cathedral." "To get married?" "Yeah, we're getting married." "See ya." "What was that?" "No, nothing." "Are those two lovers?" "No." "Close friends." "Isn't that the same?" "They don't have sex." "You can't live without sex." "People go crazy without sex." "Look how nutty the Pope's become." "Spouting crap everywhere and kissing floors." "Saying that homosexuals, and all that, is a sin." "That's a sin?" "Having kids is a sin!" "There's no space left, the planet'II explode!" "There's another case." "Known as "The Liberator"!" "You big coward!" "You faggot!" "The only time you had to fight, you fled!" "And jumped off a balcony." "3 feet off the ground!" "This high!" "SIMON BOLIVAR" "Beat it, the pigeons will shit on you." "Hide under your wife's skirts!" "Cocksucker!" "Glory is a statue that gets shit on by birds." "This place has become a marijuana den." "Don't tell me that's incense!" "And them?" "They're whoring." ""Mr. Condom"." "He goes round the whorehouses selling condoms." "Let's split." "They're from the hilltowns." "Working a scam." "Selling crack for sure." " Where to?" " Wherever you feel like taking us." " Up there?" " Okay." "Up." "This nice man's taking us where he's headed." "Could you turn off the radio?" "Turn it off?" "For a lousy fare?" "This cab cost a fortune!" "The lousy fare feeds you!" "Gonna eat your tires?" "You don't like it, get out!" "We will!" "Why must I listen to music I don't like?" "That shit isn't music!" "Say that again, you fucker?" "You're so polite!" "What did you say?" "Nothing." "It was just a comment." "I'II cut your head off and stew it!" "Take it easy." "Don't get mad!" "I'm getting mad, fuckhead?" "Your fag's ass stinks like your mom's cunt!" "Let's get out of here." "This city is poisoned, possessed by hate." "What bug bit it?" "Or is it me?" "No." "That bastard deserved to die." "No dumping of corpses" "It's forbidden to dump corpses... but look!" "How can you forbid anything in this ungovernable country?" "People come here to dump corpses because it's forbidden!" "That's where I grew up." "The hilltowns:" "La Salle, El Popular," "La Francia," "Villa de Socorro, Santo Domingo Savio." "Your neighborhood." "We'II go some day." "What for?" "It's real hot there." "Look!" "The vultures are coming to get me." "Perfect!" "That's how I want to wind up." "Like that corpse:" "inside a lovely bird, flying!" "I won't let them put me in a straight-jacket, in a coffin." "I'II leave this world as I lived: free!" "The subway." "What would my grandfather have said about this?" ""Why the hurry to end up in a hole in the ground?"" "Lady, move your kid!" "His dirty shoes are on a brand new seat!" "It cost a fortune to build, plus the payoffs!" "Leave the lady alone!" "Look at that dirty cocksuckers!" "Another crazy!" "Who's a cocksucker?" "You think you're cute?" "He told you to shut up, dickhead!" "Cocksucker!" "You gents have a rich vocabulary!" "Two expressions:" "dickhead and cocksucker." "Know who you're talking to?" "Colombia's last grammarian, who discovered the pro-verb." "Know what that is?" "A word that replaces a verb." "For instance:" ""He said he'd kill him, and he did."" "That "did" replacing "kill", is a pro-verb form." "Two scumbags less, and one bullet left." "I need more ammo." "AII these killings are encouraging my own self-destructive urges." "Think twice before you shoot, count to ten." "It's us or them." "Us and them." "I need enemies." "So they can watch me eat." "Straight ahead!" "Turn the radio off, we're very upset!" ""Thou shalt not kill"." "Why?" "Taking someone's life is doing them a favor." "A huge favor." "Let them live, it's what they deserve." "Let them bear their cross." "Get us each a whole napkin instead of these scraps!" "This thing wouldn't cover a whore's cunt!" "When people sit on their asses watching 22 childish adults kicking a ball, we're screwed." " And the napkins?" " We're all out!" "Nice manners!" "She's like an Air France stewardess!" "Got a cork up her ass!" "Old fart!" "Not worth it, kid." "Let's eat." "Give it to him." "Tomorrow I have to get more ammo, or they'II waste me." "Did you see that child's eyes?" "Terrifying." "He looked at me from the depths of hell..." "From God's infamy!" "At night those hills were black, there wasn't one light." "And during the day cows mooed!" "Medellin was a big farm with a bishop." "To tell you the truth..." "I prefer it now, full of people." "Why get more bullets?" "Chuck the gun." "They'II waste me." "I've been sentenced." "What do you mean?" "Who sentenced you?" "A judge?" "The Courts?" "No." "A gang from La Francia did." "Here anyone who wants to, can sentence you?" "Anyone who packs a piece." "Why were you sentenced?" "They claim I owe them a tab." "A real viper's nest!" "Can't we fix it with money?" "By paying someone to waste them!" "Forget about that!" "We'II get out of here." "Where to?" "They got another shipment through." "Prices will collapse!" "We scored!" "Here you are." "Wow, great!" "And don't ask me where I got them." "Where?" "Where they have lots." "The army barracks." "I went to see the commander, whom I addressed as Sergeant, Sir." "They explained" "I should address him as "My Major"." "Why "my", if he isn't mine?" "Now if he were just a buck private," ""My little buck private..."" "But a major!" "My tastes don't even go up to sergeant!" "You knew which bullets to get?" "I took it with me." "It's a Beretta, right?" "You're crazy!" "You don't have a permit!" "Colombia's foremost grammarian doesn't need a permit." "The major understood that perfectly." "He wouldn't even let me pay for the bullets." "You're too much." "You should've gotten a mini-Uzi." "The Salesian College, my childhood prison." "I was baptized in that church." "Look who's here." "The Grim Reaper's messenger, Deathboy." "What brings you?" "Today they're gonna waste you!" "Who?" "Two guys on a black Kawa." "The driver's wearing a white shirt, the rider a green jacket." "See you." "Thanks!" "Closed." "To protect their poor-box and silverware." "And to stop people from sleeping or smoking crack in there." "For some reason I never went inside this church." "The house where I was born." "It's exactly the same." "I wonder who owns it now." "We had a pool, a piano, two yards and a lemon tree, and a parrot called Faust." "Too bad." "You'll never live as happily as I did then." "Happiness can't exist in your world of TV's, ghetto blasters, punks and rockers." "We gave that parrot altar wine to loosen its tongue, then it'd recite the Scriptures." ""Get up, you little bastards!"" "It'd say that to wake us up." "My life has slipped away..." "Bastards!" "They got blood on my house!" "They wanted to take you for a ride!" "And on a Kawa!" "You gonna buy me a pastry?" "A whole box, if you want." "You a Mafioso, or what?" "Go get 'em, man." "A box of glory cakes." "With guava filling." "I remember this street as full of pretty faces." "Where did they go?" "My taste got better or the genes got worse." "Everything changes." "Even God." "He's not the static force theologists claim." "Dumb priests!" "Nothing stays still!" "Even rocks move!" "In every atom of every rock, electrons spin around nuclei." "Matter and movement are one and the same." "Matter doesn't need God to move." "But He needs us to exist." "Without our thoughts, He doesn't exist." "I'm paying for a box of pastries." "I'm hungry." "Get in line, scumbags!" "Line up." "On your knees!" "Or you get none!" "Some for me, little father." "Here, grandma." "He's gone nuts." "Where are we going?" "I don't know..." "Wherever you say." "I didn't know there were still places like this." "Know what they're playing?" ""Francisco Alegre", a pasodoble." "You like it?" "No, this music reminds me of too much." "But now I like it." "I'm with you." "It'll be our song." "I'll remember you when I hear it." "And I you." "Let's celebrate with a drink." "Welcome to "Patio del Tango"." "Why a pasodoble?" "For a change." "I knew a "Patio del Tango", years ago in Guayaquil." "Same place." "I came here when they pulled it down." "Then I know you." "You're Don Hannibal." "You won't remember me." "I was a boy, then." "What do you do now?" " I'm supposed to be a writer." " What do you write?" "Trash." "Don't believe him." "He's a joker." "Nothing is written for all eternity." "All roads are open, everything changes!" "Don't delude yourselves that things will stay as they are!" "Everything you see today will soon be gone without a trace!" "Time will sweep it all away." "Dupes!" "All this is unreal." "We're a flowing river, a mirage of nothingness." "Scumbags, crackheads, petty thieves!" "Colombian people!" "Thanks, my fellow countrymen!" "Love yourselves as I loved you, you fuckers!" "For Thine is the kingdom of heaven!" ""The Kingdom of Heaven"?" "That's the name of the grocery store under my house." "What's going on?" "What have we come to?" "All these absurd deaths." "It preys on my mind." "How many so far?" "Don't count them." "Make a wish." "Done." "What?" "For us to be together forever." "Last night I made the same wish:" "us together, forever." "What now, freako?" "They'll be back today." "How?" "They're already dead!" "Or can the dead come back to life now?" "New guys." "Their blessed bullets can't miss." "They're on a red Yamaha 100." "The driver's wearing a red jacket." "Blessed bullets?" "You put six bullets in a pan on an electric hotplate till they're red hot." "Then sprinkle them with holy water from the Church of St Jude." "While it evaporates you count to three and pray as hard as you can." ""By the grace of St Jude," ""may these blessed bullets hit their mark" ""and may he die painlessly."" "Is that them?" "It's not a Yamaha." "The driver isn't wearing a red jacket." "Where will we go?" "We'll see." "The world's a big place." "The Fine Arts Building." "I studied piano there." "It's them!" "Lady, what did they do to you?" "Nothing." "They killed him!" "So what?" "People get killed here all the time!" "This isn't Switzerland!" "It's Medellin, Colombia." "Don't you ever go out?" "Yes, I do." "But he was an innocent person." "You sure?" "No innocents here, they're all guilty!" "More so if they breed!" ""An innocent!"" "Calm down, lady!" "It's just another corpse." "Not one, two." "Now I can't leave my house any more, or have more kids." "Alexis..." "You're the best thing life ever gave me." "What can it be?" "Dunno." "It's coming from down there." "It's a dog." "Let's go look." "He can't get out." "Got hit by a car." "His legs are broken." "Who knows how long he's been stuck in there?" "Maybe several days." "No use getting him out in that state." "He'll never walk again." "If we get him out he'll only suffer more." "We have to kill him." " How?" " Shoot him." "I can't." "I can." "God doesn't exist." "And if he does, he's the worst scumbag." "I can't stand life anymore." "The stream got our gun." "Good!" "Too bad it didn't get us, too." "I'd like to get out of here." "Where to?" "New York." "No, it's full of Colombians." "Miami." "It's full of Cubans." "Then to France." "The French are a pain." "They fight with everyone." "And Spain?" "The Spaniards smoke a lot and shout." "I can't stand them." "A desert island?" "With you, yes." "You're all I need." "Watch out!" "Fernando!" "Kid!" "Help me lift him, so I can take him to a hospital." "Poor kid." "How many times was he hit?" "Let's go!" "Hurry!" "We'll go to that hospital over there." "What's it called?" " I saw the guy!" " A fuckin' hitman!" "He'll get blood on my carpet." "I'll pay for the cleaning." "Over here!" "How dare you dump a corpse at a hospital!" "Nobody comes up here!" "Not even in an armored car!" "Even the cops get mugged." "This is it, Santo Domingo Savio." "Hey, kids!" "Where's the grocery store?" "What was that name?" ""The Kingdom of Heaven."" "Up there, by the soccer field." "I won't wait for you." "You'll have to get back on your own." "He hadn't been here in a long while." "He and my other husband, they were always fighting." "My husband drank a lot." "When he was drunk he was impossible, gross." "They didn't get on." "So Alexis stopped coming." "I don't know where he hung out." "Or what his problems were." "I know he loved me." "He didn't tell me, but I know he did." "My brother Alexis got killed." "Got shot right there." "I know who did it." "Liar, you don't know!" "Yes, I do." ""The Blue Lagoon"!" "A kid from around La Francia." "He's sworn he'll kill him." "Yes, I'll kill him, I'll kill him!" "You know why?" "How would I know?" "I came to give you this for the kids." "You're the writer?" "Where's your son?" "He left for the U.S." "Another drink?" "No, I'm leaving." "Funds for education will be increased by 60%/%." "By the end of my mandate, 90%/% of Colombians will have running water and main sewers." "Who's he?" "The President." "No, it isn't." "Then who is it?" "Someone else." "Another scumbag." "What's his name?" "What's the date today?" "March 3rd." "The year's already over?" "Hi, you OK?" "OK." "I saw you on TV." "I've never been on TV." "And you?" "Me, neither." "So we're both fucked." "We might as well not exist." "People who aren't on TV don't exist." "What are you up to?" "Nothing much." "Hanging out." " You had lunch?" " Two days ago." "Then I'll buy you lunch." "I was fucking starving, man!" "Like a pothead." "But I don't smoke pot." "Or crack." "Nothing." "That's not good." "We should indulge in every vice to make sure we're alive." "Virtue is for the dead." "Ever seen a dead person fuck his neighbor's wife?" "What's your name?" "Don't tell me..." "Let me guess." "Faber?" "Eder?" "Tyson Alexander?" "Jason?" "Wilfer?" "Wilmar." "Thanks for lunch." "That's OK." "So I'll see you." "See you soon." "I'm going to the Church of San Antonio." "If you want to come..." "It's open!" "Let's go in." "How strange!" "I've never been in this church, but it feels so familiar." "In the back there's a Holy Sepulchre and some tombs." "I'm sure of it." "You see?" "How weird!" "It's incredible." "I'd never seen this side of the church." ""House of God, the Door to Heaven."" "As a kid I thought I'd die if I entered this church." "So I never went inside." "Then why does it seem so familiar?" "Where have I read that inscription?" "Maybe I went in alive and now I'm dead?" "It's empty?" "Empty?" "Can't you see that table?" "There's a bed in the bedroom." "There's no music!" "Not even a hifi!" "Not even." "I'm training for the silence of the grave." "Come here." "That's all the clothes you have?" "Plus what I have on, which I don't need now." "Get undressed, kid." "I bet you have another on your left ankle." "How'd you know?" "I'm psychic." "Are you OK?" "Not really." "What's wrong?" "I don't know." "At night my head starts spinning and I remember things." "Maybe you should leave." "What are we gonna do?" "I don't know." "Whatever you want." "What's it for?" "In case I need it." "Mine was a dumb question." "That's what a gun's for:" "in case one needs it." "Let's go for breakfast." "Write what you want out of life on these tiny napkins." "What's all this?" "Weird handwriting!" "Looks like Chinese." "What brand sneakers?" "Reebok." "What else?" "You read." "Paco Rabanne blue jeans, three Ocean Pacific T-shirts," "Calvin Klein shorts, a Honda bike, a mini-Uzi, a Whirlpool fridge for my mom." "Now you write what you want out of life." "I hate goddamn cab drivers with loud radios!" "You should've told him to turn it off." "My policy for living in peace in this war zone is:" "look, listen and shut up." "And no one will change my mind." "What about the phone?" "Does it work?" "I don't know." "And I don't care." "I don't call anybody and nobody calls me." "Sure." "How can it work if it's disconnected?" "Who could it be?" "Yes?" "Who do you want to speak to?" "Check or cash, whatever you like." "We don't cheat anyone here." "You can send it right away." "I'm Honore de Balzac." "Who am I speaking to?" "John Jairo Arbelaez?" "Okay, John Jairo, I'll be waiting." "See you soon." "Poor guy!" "He'll show up with his truckload of plants." "And there'll be nobody there." "You're a bastard!" "I have to keep myself busy." "I hate people who whistle." "My brother used to whistle at all times." "Like you and I breathe." "Man has no business stealing the sacred language of birds!" "I'm a firm defender of animal rights." "Something bothering you, fucker?" "Alexis, kid, wake up." "Sorry, Wilmar." "What happened?" "It just hit me." "I knew that guy you offed." "Who was it?" "A mugger." "I saw him hold up a guy in a Jeep." "The guy put up a fight and he shot him." "That's divine justice." "Or Satan's justice, since God is such a failure." "His dumb son Jesus tried to abolish an eye for an eye, and spread all that crap about turning the other cheek." "Blessed art thou, Satan!" "God neglects us, so you've come to right the wrongs of this world." "OK, let's sleep." "What's up, dude!" ""The Pest"!" "Good to see you!" "Things OK?" "Fine." "I knocked up my girlfriend to have a kid to avenge me." "Who from?" "Anyone." "Anything I can't handle once I'm dead." "Congratulations, Pest." "At least our youth has foresight!" "When there's a future, the present takes care of itself." "And as to the past..." "The past is what's fucking me up." "Why do you date the guy who killed Alexis?" "What?" "The guy who killed Alexis?" "I'm with Wilmar." "Alexis was killed by "The Blue Lagoon"." "Wilmar is "The Blue Lagoon"." "Why does he have that absurd nickname?" "From the movie." "He looked like the kid in the movie." "He used to dye his hair blond." "I never saw that movie." "I don't go to movies now." "You coming?" "OK, see you." "You know that kid?" "He's from the hills, too?" "From Santo Domingo Savio." "Like you?" "No, I'm from La Francia." "You want one?" "I'll wait for you here." "Enlighten me..." "Lord, help me kill that bastard." "Why were you so weird all day?" "What did I do?" "Why are we going to a motel?" "I don't get you." "Don't mind me, I'm superstitious." "I got obsessed:" "if I stayed home tonight I'd get killed." "By who?" "I don't know." "Don't ask questions." "I'm worried, that's all." "Turn it off." "So you're "The Blue Lagoon"?" "Why did you kill Alexis?" "He killed my brother." "I was with Alexis the night you killed him." "I know." "When we met and became friends," "I recognized you." "So from that first night in my apartment you could've killed me?" "I could never kill you." "I love you." "Who was driving the motorbike you shot him from?" "A kid from the barrio." "He got offed 2 days later." "Why?" "Who killed him?" "No one knows." "They may never find out." "All this butchery leads nowhere." "Let's leave." "Where to?" "We'll see." "Wherever." "There's a world beyond this valley and those mountains." "Sure, people are the same all over." "Same crap, but different." "Then let's buy a fridge for my mom and split." "I like this one." "What's that for?" "To make ice cubes." "Look!" "Can it make a whisky on the rocks?" "Not state-of-the-art!" "Doesn't matter." "My mom doesn't drink." "Can you deliver it?" "No, I'll go with them." "Or they'll get ripped off." " Rip off a refrigerator?" " The truck, too!" "Anyway, I want to say goodbye to my mom." "Of course." "Don't be too long, I'll wait at the apartment." "Then we'll pack and leave." "See you later." "Yes, that's me." "Where did you find him?" "Where is he now?" "Where's that?" "No, I don't know that either..." "I'm on my way." "That's him!" "Wait over there, please." ""Cause of death: cardio-respiratory failure due to blood loss."" "The clerk in the DA's office noted the boy had your phone number on him." "He was shot from a motorcycle."