"NO ONE WRITES TO THE COLONEL" "You mean to tell me you're afraid?" "Like some ordinary pet." "You're a battle cock!" "How can you act like a pansy because of a few mice?" "I scared them off." "Quiet now." "Don't wake her." "What about you?" "I already had mine." "There was enough left." "There was a big spoonfunl." "It's about to start raining again." "I wonder if my asthma will survive the rains." "Your asthma and my guts." "Don't forget to stop by the wake." "They're taking him to the cemetery at noon." "Before it rains." "If you take the umbrella, don't open it." "Someone might notice." "This humidity consumes everything, even the umbrella." "He was born on April 9." "Exactly one month after our son." "Always Agustín..." "Before Agustín..." "After Agustín's death..." "When will you get him out of your head?" "Not until my mourning is over." "Never." "Mourning..." "Mourning..." "Are you coming?" "In these rags?" "Not on my life." "Anyway, the next funeral I attend, will be my own." "And mine?" "Your bad luck." "You're healthier than I am." "Taking it out on the cock again?" "A rooster squatting on the toilet?" "It's unheard of." "Can't you see?" "This cock is all we have left." "A brooding fowl perched on my toilet seat." "That's what I see." "I see there's no iodine to dry up the phlegm in my chest." "I see that it rains and rains." "And I see what matters to you, is that rooster." "When will we get to use the lavatory again?" "All the neighbors can see what you're up to in there." "Even these snotty little kids." "Calm down!" "And don't stare at the cock." "You'll jinx him!" "Get along, now!" "Get going!" "It's Friday." "It's your day." "Nothing, Colonel." "I wasn't expecting anything." "I just dropped by." "POST OFFICE" "Look how handsome they left my son, Colonel." "It's Don Dimas' work." "The barber." "He looks healthier now than when he was alive." "He smiles now, and everything." "But please, come in." "Come in." "He really does seem to be smiling." "Poor kid." "It came to him too early, as it did to our Agustín... your son, and my godson, may he rest in peace." "They look the same because don Dimas made them both up." "He uses the same rouge for everyone." "Be that as it may, he leaves the dead to rest in peace." "Just look, healthier now than alive." "His health fills me with envy, with all due respect." "Priest-bashing as ever, Colonel?" "No matter where the wind blows." "The times may change, but my coat does not." "You see." "Well?" "Well, what?" "Well, the gamecock!" "The gamecock?" "Just there." "The same as me." "Another dead boy." "They end up getting into squabbles, scrapes with the unions, quarrels..." "Then their number comes up." " Like Agustín." " Oh, come now." "My unlucky godson quarreled over cockfighting." "One of those normal things that can happen." "An affair of men." "It was his time, that's all." "My son had ideals." "No drunken brawl took him to his grave." "Not at all." "Ridiculous!" "Whatever you say, Colonel." "Just don't let it get to you." "Calm down, you're even blushing." "Try to see a doctor, compadre." "You look like a dry twig." "See how yourjacket hangs on you." "One of these days, Sabas." "One of these days." "Listen to me." "Take care of yourself." "And take care of that gamecock." "Rest here." "Quiet now." "Nice and quiet." "Two drags, now." "Then, after dinner, two more." "To make it last." "Just listen to this:" ""...and thus, the nation's Senate bestows a full pension... equal to 76% of their monthly salary... to all Federal army veterans who fought in the revolutionary wars... including those who fought in the religious hostilities of the 1920's..."" "Religious hostilities!" "Today that's what they call that swarm of priest and their crucifix idolaters." "You should have seen the wake today..." "A mass, prayers..." "Just like that." "In broad daylight." "Even blessings in Latin!" "And to think how once we fought against them... those priests who told the people that the government was Communist... and had no legal authority!" "We fought against ignorance, and we won." "And look how things are now." "Everything is as it was." "And I wait and wait for a pension that never comes." "Three years of the Cristero revolt." "Three years of faith mongers..." "Masses... but not a single peso of my pension." "Not one miserable peso." "There's no justice." "Again?" "Twenty-seven years waiting for that pension." "Can't I complain?" " To the rooster?" " If not to him, to whom?" "To me." "Who else?" "Just look at you." "Dressed for a ball... and all you get is supper with this cranky old man." "As always." "The years haven't dulled the gentility of my young lady from Madrid." "And you went and married a Spaniard." "You, the great nationalist!" "To conquer the conquerors." "Not again!" "Four bells!" "For adults only." "Forbidden for pernicious content." "It's a melodrama, to be sure." "The real tearjerker is Father Angel dictating what films can be shown." "He prohibits the films, but he sure watches them." "He's a priest, not a saint." "The poor fellow enjoys films, just like I do." "I'm on my way." "If I don't hurry, it will have started." "I didn't know you loved me so." "Again!" "You struggle and scrape, then these gate crashers show up." "I mean you too, so don't play dumb!" "Quite the Spanish lady..." "But you're still a freeloader!" "Tomorrow, don't even show up;" "I won't absolve you." "I was absolutely clear." "It's not the fondling I mind, it's the movie!" "Am I invisible?" "I made it very clear, "Four Bells Picture Prohibited by the Vatican."" "Until the boy leaves the girl, don't even think I'll be moving." "You can watch concupiscence, because you're no spring chicken... if you'll excuse my saying so." "Although, you're not yet out of mourning." "My mourning is inside." "Don't spoil my evening." "Laris already caught me sneaking in." "It's his business." "Concupiscent and all, still, this is how he makes a living." "And me, Father?" "How do I make a living?" "Just look at this." "Like reaping the wind." "The cinema is full, church bells and all." "Let's hope I've banned something that's at least worth the sinning." "She's a country girl." "She has a half-wit boyfriend." "Lame, too." "Imagine that." "She gets to the city." "She wants to dance..." " With the lame guy?" " No!" "With another." "She'll end up a tramp." "You'll see." "Tomorrow is Friday." "It's your day." "Nothing today, either." "Doctor." "It's good for making cough syrup." "It's medicinal." "It's no ordinary rum." "Rather early to be making your syrup, isn't it?" "In the mornings, it tones up the mind." "These come to me... but here..." "You keep them." "Why would I want to know why the nation ended up like me?" "An old rag." "That's why." "Ill omens please you, don't they?" "If not, I wouldn't be a doctor." "That's because you're a cynic, not because you're a doctor." "That's how I was born, a cynic and disbeliever." "Your sin is that you're credulous." "We're a bad match." "That's why dominoes don't suit us." ""Dominoes don't suit us..." because I haven't played with you in years." " Do you know why?" " Because I play with the priest." "But he plays better than you." "Let's just say I offered you a drink." "Let's just say I let you enjoy it alone." "Take care of your wife." "Ever since this mortgage deal, her asthma has gotten worse." "And?" "Why should I read up on the misdeeds of that pack of thieves?" "Better this way." "Not knowing in whose pockets my money ended up." "They filled their coffers." "They divided up the money by the hands full." "A position for this one..." "A handout for that one..." "Everyone but you... who still waits for a miser's pension twenty-seven years overdue." "Twenty-six." "It's almost August." "Twenty-six years and eight months." " Do they say anything?" " About what?" "What else?" "About the pensioners." "What would they say?" "There can't be more than five of us left alive in the whole country." "Well, those five have a right to know." "The years haven't dulled your stubborn Spanish nature." "There's nothing there." "There never will be." "What's this about a mortgage?" " Who told you?" " The doctor." "Who else?" "They posted a notice." "The payment is due in October." "October twenty-fourth." "Not one day more." "Not one day less." "The date is irrevocable." "If my pension is revocable, why not the mortgage?" "Because the tax collectors came." "Because they brought the order, and I signed it." "Because I showed it to the doctor." "Even he agreed that this time they mean it." "And because life is unjust and unfair." "Why hadn't you told me?" "Because, I expected that Friday would come... and that the mail... and that maybe..." "You see, you're the same as I am." "Now that you know, can you tell me what you'll do?" "We have the cock." "The cock can pay the mortgage." "The rooster!" "The famous rooster!" "Do you really believe that wretched animal will get us out of hock?" "It was the same with Agustín." "That animal took him to his death." "Let the dead rest in peace." "Let his death rest in peace!" "You didn't tell me how we'll pay the mortgage... or what we're going to eat." "I eat, too." "Just like the rooster." "Just the same." "He looks cockier every day." "If Agustín could only see him now." " Any news?" " Same old." "The end of November, the cockfighting tours arrive." "It's all set." "The owners get 20% of the bets." "Same as always, the usual." "He must be trained, Colonel." "You can't be too sure." "Anything can happen." "Life's a real bitch." "Watch your tongue, lad." "Show some respect." "The kids can take the cock for walks... and I'll make sure he gets lots of sun and fresh air." "And good feed, Colonel!" "Man doesn't live on bread alone, and cocks need more than strolls." "Where will I get the money to buy good feed?" "You do what you can." "And what you can't do as well." "He has to be conditioned by someone who knows how." "He can't let us down." "Us..." "Agustín... the people." "Suppose I can get an advance." "Everyone knows he'll fight here, I'd say." "Everyone knows he's a pure-bred." "My compadre inquired about him." "That sly old fox never takes a false step." "You know he's got his eye on our cock." "Times are hard." "That's worse." "If he suspects you're on the ropes, he'll exploit that." "For sure." "No one gets rich for free." "Every rich man took money from another's pocket." "Worse still, in this forsaken country." ""This forsaken country,"" "is the country that gave us the Revolution... our Revolution." "Careful of your compadre." "Not only does he want your bird, but he's sneaky as well." "The day they raided the union press, he was snooping around." "He had one of those newspapers that we gave you." "He's the Governor's snitch, on his payroll." "Now he fancies himself as a cocker." "Give us a little more time." "I have a deadline." "My mortgage deadline." "That comes due before November." "Before the game season." "You know full well we already have a lawyer." "What good has he done us?" "This one only charges a percentage." "What can you lose?" "My time." "I waste my time." "I've reached a decision." "I'm changing lawyers." "I need money." "It's nothing personal." "It's just that..." "I mortgaged my house when my son died and that is coming due and..." "You know how they can be." "Years have passed, and nothing." "All that happened was that my comrades died waiting their pensions." "That's the way of it, right?" "Well, there may be some way." "You don't want ways, you want miracles." "I don't know how to do miracles." "Every last cent went to cover court costs." "I'll need all my documents." "That won't be possible." "Your files have been passed from hand to hand." "They're very complicated actions." "I'll track them down for you, but I'd have to charge you a stipend... to hire an agent in Jalapa, or maybe even Mexico City." "They're very important papers." "Historic, even." "One was the act that established socialist and sex education... back when we struggled against the clergy... their priests, altar boys and superstitions." "No point in speaking of that any longer, Colonel." "During the Cristero revolt, so many people died." "Many had to be baptized in cellars." "Nobody liked that." "Everyone was appalled." "Why parade about, Colonel?" "You don't like it;" "I don't either." "But this is a Catholic, apostolic and Roman country." "To my disgrace, and everyone else's." "I fought against that for three years and five months." "But that was years ago." "Administrations ago." "These are new times." "And those times past, no one can be bothered to remember." "I can." "You're the only one." "Good luck, Colonel." "And keep waiting." "I'll wait." "Get out of there!" "Rice isn't for beasts!" "And thank your lucky saints." "If it were up to me, you'd be stew." "I was looking for doña Amalia." "You were looking, but you won't find her." "You've found me, not my mother-in-law." "Then, I'll return when I can find her." "That won't be possible." "She's had a stroke." "The doctor has ordered rest." "Then, when will I find her?" "For freeloaders, she won't be back at all." "Can I do anything for you?" "Or did you just drop by." "I just dropped by... and to inquire about the health of your mother-in-law." "Then, nothing?" "Nothing." "And doña Amalia?" "Her daughter-in-law was there with another of her stories." "That one is so nasty." "She's young." "But don't worry about me." "You know how asthmatics loose our appetites." "How fortunate, don't you think?" "And the pot on the fire?" "Cabbage stew." "Boiled leaf, as we say in my town." "In such a big pot?" "It's just for show." "Why make others feel sorry for us?" "Yes, why arouse the pity of others." "We're sorry enough on our own." "I have an idea." "The German pays fairly." "He may be interested in the clock." "It hasn't worked in years." "All the more reason." "Then, it's just in the way." "May I give you a hand, Colonel?" "Don't slip, it's very muddy." "It's just the rain." "Every year we get more rain and mud." "It mayjust need an adjustment." "Where are you taking it?" "To the German." "He knows about these things." "He knows about everything, and charges for everything." "Maybe I can fix it for you." "There, you see!" "It had gotten stuck here." "But, I should warn you, this clock is falling apart." "Like mother says, "Why throw good money after bad?"" "That's right, "Why throw good money after bad?"" " Thank you." " You're welcome." "Comes the Sacred Host!" "I'll walk with you, Colonel." "Comes the Sacred Host!" "You see that?" "Still proclaiming in the streets as if it were nothing." "It's cynical." "It's against the law." "This is a layman's country." "Three years of my life I fought so those idolaters would realize... that from now on this would be a free country, a nation of reason." "And just look." "I'm still waiting for my pension from that war... and the priest struts through the streets." "That's not right." "And worst of all, they've got that boy in a girl's dress." "Like some sissy." "When the Spanish woman comes, what does she buy?" "The Colonel's wife." "Doña Lola?" "What's she gonna' buy?" "They can't even afford to drop dead." "Alright, but when they could, what did they buy?" "Since I was born, they've never had anything." "Then, give me some cans of tuna." "Some sardines..." "Coffee..." "Guava fruit..." "No, better this guava candy." "It's nourishing." "She likes it." "A little luxury, right?" "Don't worry." "We streetwalkers always pay." "Because we always collect." "What's this?" "It works now." "The idea was to sell it, not fix it." "The German was supposed to buy it." "Well, I didn't sell it, but it works now." "Weren't you always so upset because you didn't know the time?" "You ran into someone, then got ashamed they'd find out you were selling it." "I know you so well." "I hope you didn't pay a nickel to fix this thing." "She's like a soothsayer." "She always knows." "Always." "Just look at those shoes." "All holes." "This way the foot breathes." "If I could, I'd buy you new ones." "As soon as the pension arrives, the first thing..." "The very first..." "Let me, I'll do it." "Like we used to." "Like we used to." "Tomorrow is Friday!" "It's your day." "Aren't you going to ask me if there was any mail?" "Sell that rooster, right now!" "Take it easy, Blondie." "Take it easy." "Pay no attention to her whims." "Asthma exasperates her nerves." "One moment bad, the next moment worse." "Life is hard and friends are few." "You've become a stranger, Colonel." "Just look at me." "Sticking this pesky contraption in my rear end, as you would say so as not to offend." "Jacinta, don't be such a lout!" "Stick this in me!" "Wash your hands, dammit!" "Offer something to my compadre." "We don't seem so compadres as we used to." "Nowadays, your wife doesn't even come around." "She used to drop by to listen to the Mad Monk show." "She's dumped me." "She only goes to movies." "Watch it!" "You can't get enough pain and indignity." "If I only wasn't so fat..." "I'd do it myself." "I yearn for that." "What I wouldn't give to have your health, Colonel." "I get around, but that's about all." " So, how about a coffee?" " Thank you, compadre." "Jacinta is right." "You never show yourself any longer." " What brings you around?" " My battle cock." "He's a little... crestfallen." "One worries about people, not about beasts." "It's not a beast." "He's my battle cock." "That's right, he's my compadre's gamecock." "And more so... my godson's." "I was just saying to say so." "Have a little nip." "To brighten up the soul." "The Mad Monk show is about to start." "Why not stick around?" "Then you can tell doña Lola all about it." "Between us, she's right." "You speak about that cock as if it were a person." "It's that, he's no ordinary rooster." "Everyone knows that." "I'm thinking of training him." "Teaching him the Prussian attack..." "The one to the flanks." "I don't mean to offend, compadre, but you know nothing about it." "You'd never been inside a game pit until you recovered Agustín's body." "This is an art." "A trade." "Sell the cock before it's too late." "You're not the kind for that game." "The bird is getting awfully ragged." "Look here." "Right now..." "I know who would give you this." "Maybe even more." "Do your arithmetic." "I know him." "I could speak to him." "Present your case." "You'd do that?" "Are we compadres, or not?" "Did we fight the Cristeros together, or not?" "Did we grow old together, or not?" "We owe it to each other." "For old times' sake." " That's what he said." " Really?" "His word on it." "His word!" "Your word is good, Colonel." "Not that faker's." "He's right." "He's just going around lying when he says he's got a buyer." "He wants it all to himself." "And he's your compadre." "Believe him if you want, it's your divine right." "Stay with us, Colonel." "We'll buy you a drink." "A while out of your house won't do you any harm." "Place your bets!" "Come on, play one for Agustín." "He had a gambling debt with me anyhow." "On the nine." "It was his birthday." " Cheers, Colonel." " Thanks." "Fifteen!" "Oh, well, Colonel." "Maybe the next time around." ""Unlucky in money;" "lucky in love."" "Thank you." "Read it." "Agustín wrote for this one." "Hey there, boys!" "We're back again." "Nogales is here." "Drinks all around!" "Peanut liquor shots." "Here, Julia, drink up." "To your health." "My health doesn't depend on your drinks." "So I stay away for a year, and she gets uppity." "Right?" "There must be some reason." "Some reason why your conscience bothers you." "What's he doing here?" "It's not the circus season yet." "He does small time jobs now." "Small time dirty work for the Governor and his cronies." "So he comes back here!" "To the same place!" "Shut up, the old man will hear you." "A round for everyone." "Compliments of me, Nogales." "It's not for nothing I'm the best acrobat in all the South." "Good night." "You'll excuse me." "Of course, Colonel." "What?" "Is it my fault that I bumped into him here?" "It's not like it was on purpose." "You should have warned me." "One of you should have told me." "What is my son's murderer doing here?" "The circus is coming." "Nogales is still with them." "The circus isn't until November." "Nogales is always up to something." "Making his deals." "I wondered how your wife was doing?" "How would a dead boy's mother be?" "Older and thinner by the day." "Do you need anything?" "No, I don't need anything." "You were his my son's woman, right?" "Well..." "The reason I ask is..." "You'll probably say, "The things that cross your mind..."" "But at times I've asked myself... if maybe you had a child by him." "You know, those things that happen." "No..." "My kind aren't given much to that." "It upsets the clients, and then..." "How to know who the father is..." "Well... maybe they're the musings of a foolish old man, but... my blood has died." "My bloodline is finished." "Such a pity." "I'd love to have given you that pleasure, Colonel." "Such a pity." "Colonel!" "At least I'd like you to know that it wasn't my fault." "It was destiny." "Destiny is always to blame." "Julia!" "What's this?" "Look here." "Your guava candy is turning to juice." "What's it to you?" "I was just saying." "I was just saying." "Out!" "Out!" "Get out!" "Sheesh!" "Who can make a living like this?" "Ma'am, please..." "It seems I'll never see how it ends." "The other day the film broke, and today Laris runs me out." "Here!" "Take it." "There's guava candy inside." "It's a little mushy, but if you put it under the faucet... and run a little water over it, it will be fine." "Take it." "You need it." "Do it for your husband." "My husband?" "Give it to him, if you're so concerned about him." "How can you say that?" "Men don't like to accept gifts from women like me." "Especially, someone like your husband." "A respected man, and all." "We're not like that." "We women are different." "We find a way." "We do what we must." "Here, don't be foolish." "No one will find out." "I'd be foolish, as you say." "But your course and mine, crossed only one night." "That accursed night my son died." "And they will never cross again." "No matter how hungry I get." "So, change your course." "Think about your husband." "Alright..." "It's plain you're both needy." " Leave us a shred of decorum." " Leave decorum to the men." "Woman to woman, take it." "No one will know, no one will find out." "At least the guava candy." "He liked it so much." "I mean..." "You like it." "So, I've heard." "They say it has a lot of ascorbic acid." "Look, Ma'am, I mean well." "It's not to humiliate you... and it's nothing to do with guilt." "You don't really believe anyone kills for the likes of me?" "You know... my kind can't say, "I love you."" "The word sticks here, in our chests." "That happened to me with your son." "I never told him, and he died on me." "He died on me just as he died on you." "He and I laughed together." "We had good times." "That's loving, isn't it?" "Agustín and I..." "Hush!" "Decorum?" "No way!" "Those were the mortgage people." "What are we going to do?" "What are you going to do?" "Find another attorney." "Like you said the other day." "That was the other day." "You wrote, and there's been no response." "I was wrong." "You were wrong." "We were wrong." "And you'll wait another thirty years while they continue to cheat you." "We still have the rooster." "It's all we have left." "And you know that." "I've got a little something special for you." "Let's say we moisten it a bit, and it will be like nectar from the gods." "I'm sorry." "Don't think the worst of me." "What must be done, must be done." "Compadre... you sure don't waste a single minute." "I no sooner tell you of an interested party... than two days later, you're here with that animal." " It's been two weeks." " It's just a saying, Colonel." " You can be so rigid." " A soldier's habits." "This comes on a bad day." "My blood sugar is up." "Look!" "Dilated pupils and all." "I take a turn for the worse, and you don't come." "Your patients will all die off at this rate, my dear Doctor." "And there you are, fluttering about in the streets." "Don't complain." "Take a lesson from the Colonel." "A solid oak." "I've never seen a sick skinny man." "Who wouldn't be healthy like that?" "I was just telling my compadre here, the skinny one... he's come at a bad time." "The lads in town are all excited about the fighting cock." "They're calling it, the Town Cock." "I'm debating whether to give it to them, or to that client you said." "I said, I said..." "Pay him no mind, Doc." "The Colonel here has too many gray hairs to be so gullible." "It seems to me the Colonel is right to make you keep your word." "You owe him the truth, as well as your career." "Your gullibility is just as sinful." "Come on, stick me!" "I don't have all day to spend with a stretcher bearer... with a boozer's breath." "Look, Colonel." "Redder than a baby's fu frigging mother." "With all due respect." "This sugar is killing me before my time." "Fat, ruddy and flabby..." "That's why no one takes me seriously." "For anyone to feel sorry for you, I guess you need a gruff complexion." "Regarding your business, I spoke to the interested party." "He did his arithmetic." "Now, he follows boxing on the radio." "Hardly anyone goes to the cock-matches any more." "He'll pay half of what he said." "You know attendance is down, but betting is up." "Keeping a battle cock costs a lot." "If were up to me, I'd give you four times that amount, but..." "But you're just speaking for your friend, in the vein of a go-between." "The only vein you know of, is the one you jabbed." "What do you say, Colonel?" " But..." " There are no "buts" in business." "Look." "Right now, I'll give you an advance to nourish you as God wishes." "And by mid-December, I'll pay you the balance... in my friends name." "Alright." "I'll leave him to you." "He likes his walks." "His name is Tadeo." "He's very sensitive." "I call him Blondie." "Now I'll tell you how far the diabetes has advanced." "As the saying goes..." ""Let me die a dimwit."" "He cheated you." "I don't know a peep about the game of cockfighting." "Not a peep." "We do what we must." "You said so yourself, more than asthma, my wife is hungry." "There are bad men." "But bad men, thinly disguised, exist only in ballads." "Hello, Doc." "Same as always?" "And for you, Colonel?" "The same as always." "Yes, my water." "As always." "All because I sit here every morning, and drink his water." "As if water cost money." "Never trust redheads." "There's a reason why they were killed in the Middle Ages." "His hair is brown." "Reddish-brown." "That's red enough." "Doctor, the Colonel can sit over here." "I'm not even wearing my cassock." "This time, bet something." "Otherwise, it's no fun." "You have your advance." "If I bet it, my wife will kill me." "If you've just sold your rooster, you should at least enjoy it." "Leave him alone." "Doña Lola will really tighten the strap if he bets." "I won." "You see." "You should have bet." "You have the soul of a killjoy, Doctor." "You must relish giving injections." " How could you tell?" " It's the years." "And I'm off, because there are too many vultures here." "Anyway, my wife is waiting for me." "Don't even tell her, she'll surely scold you for not betting." "Your turn, my son." " How long before you get off work?" " A while." "The same while as always." "Doc!" "Doc!" "His shift ends when it ends." "And if some pretender, or friend wants to wait for him... he'll have to do it in the alley out back." "That's how it is, Doc." "You know this is a family establishment." "You're married and all." "Why, Doc?" "Why?" "I have three years worth of pension in my hands." "And the medicine the doctor gave you." "I have coffee for the mornings." "Good coffee, and all that." "I have shoes." "Finery as you call them." "And I have the mortgage... or almost..." "Almost." "Whatever we're missing, we can extend until after the gamin season." "When did you say that was?" "Around Christmas, right after the circus." "Imagine, I've spent my life shut away in this town... and I don't even know when the gaming season begins." "As if there was so much to do around here." "Now, show me those shoes once again." "You look so handsome." "You miss that animal." "The things you think up." "I was simply picking up the feathers so you wouldn't complain." "It's been two weeks since I picked up the last feather." "Yes, I do miss him." "But I'll get over it." "If Agustín's death hasn't killed me... this longing will surely pass, too." "Go get him." "It bothers me to see you grieving so." "It brings on my asthma." "Are you serious?" "Would I waste my morning on jokes?" "Go on!" "Get up and go deal with Sabas." ""I'll take care of the cock in the meantime."" ""I'll take care of the cock in the meantime."" ""I'll take care of the cock..."" "I'll take care of the animal until the season." "You're sure it's mold?" "Do you swear it, Sotero?" "Thirty years in the business, of course I know." "It's what they call White Lily." "It's a terrible disease." "I'll handle his training." "The kids and I will." "If we do nothing, within three days, we'll be up to our ears in it." "The sparring partner is all set to go." "Everything." "Who'd believe it?" "A fighting cock conditioned by a three unsullied children... and an old pensioner." "They will mess him up." "Did someone ask you?" "Colonel, really..." "Why do you want him?" "The house is lonely without him." "Sad." "He keeps me company." "You should have said so at first." "Take him." "I just want you to keep him in shape for me, compadre." "Fed and trained." "Jacinta, the gamecock!" "You're giving it back?" "The animal is spoken for." "You even gave him an advance." "Just on loan, Colonel." "Blondie!" "Blondie!" "Get going!" "Get going!" "Let that animal be!" "The Colonel asked us to exercise him." "Besides, he's the Town Cock." "He belonged to the people;" "he has a new owner, now." "So, be off with you." "Don't make me lose my temper so early in the morning." "You're always angry, morning and afternoon." "You're a sourpuss." "Bad luck as a hold on you." "It's your fault!" "Your rotten luck killed Agustín." "Dirty rotten Spaniard!" "Out of here!" "Get out!" "What did I tell you?" "Get out!" "Out!" "Woe to those who cross me again." "Cross me, or the memory of my son." "Woe to them and the whole town!" "This Spaniard gets her due." "I wish you'd all rotted in your mothers' wombs." "I hope your mothers find you disemboweled in an alley." "I hope I'll be there... to enjoy it." "It's your fault!" "You have them all under your spell." "Him, too." "Hush!" "He can't find out about this." "It's enough that I have problems with the neighbors... more than enough." "Best you not even look." "Some things are better left unsaid." "What was that racket?" "I heard you scolding the kids." "They can't come around any more." " They're out to get me." " What an imagination you have." "Besides, they're exercising the cock for me." "They're bringing a sparring partner, so he'll master the attack." "You train him." "But I don't know about gamecocks." "That's why I asked them." "They can't find out I know nothing about cockfighting." "I'm a full Colonel, and all." "Those boys will not come here again!" "I want it understood, I'm lending her to you for a little while." "If anything happens to her, you pay." "I gave you my word." "Who's ever seen a hen used as a sparring partner to train a rooster." "You train those with fighting cocks." "Who would ask you?" "Are you a cockfighter?" "The Colonel will know how." "You do know, don't you?" "See you in a while." "Here, I've brought you the enemy." "You'll see." "Come on." "Now, you'll attack on the flanks." "Just like you do in the mirror." "Pretend you're not you." "You're the opponent." "This is like war." "He who strikes first, wins." "The law of strategy, the Prussian law." "That's it." "There." "Here's the enemy." "Attack!" "Attack!" "Prussian law, I told you!" "Where did you get that morose hen?" "From doña Amalia." " A purchase?" " No, on loan." "I didn't spend a cent." "You made me come here to look for you?" "Here, where he died." "In the same place?" "As if it were nothing to you." " No one told you to come." " I had a premonition." "Premonitions are only that." "That night, I had a premonition." "As you've had on so many nights." "But that night, it came true." "Tell me where you found him." "Tell me." "Over there." "Just under the car." "Those headlights were shining on him." "Like this?" "Like that." "Leave." "Go on, now." "Don't torment yourself any longer." "I told him, clearly." "I warned him." "When I saw him leave, all primped and perfumed, I told myself..." ""He's going out with her."" "And he did." "Because of her... and because of that rooster you're so in love with, they killed him." "They killed him on me." "You've started in again." "And I'm never going to stop." "Never!" "Leave!" "Go away." "Carry on with your stories somewhere else." "Torment yourself alone." "Because of that Julia woman..." "That one was also seeing Nogales." "You made me say his name." "Nogales." "They told me that one... the one who killed my son, arrived wearing a hat and all." "He came looking for that Julia woman." "He brought his rooster." "As if one could really love those women... those who charge." "I'm spelling it out for you because my husband isn't here." "The sows." "This one was the worst." "She made him believe it was different with him." "If they'd only gone out for a drink, nothing would have happened." "But that one was buzzing around, buzzing about like a fly." "She brought him her bad luck." "My son had arranged for her to be the handler in the cockpit." "Then, he..." ""that one," claimed she had fixed the fight with my son." "That he was her pimp." "That she had stuck a hairpin in his belly." "The rooster's belly!" "The fool probably did." "She wanted to trap him." "Her kind will do anything to trap a man." "To stick a hairpin in the rooster..." "As if the other fellow wouldn't notice." "They say her hand was bloody." "Cock's blood." "What else?" "My son's blood flowed later." "I knew as soon as I saw him leave the house all gussied up." "Sometimes I tell myself..." ""If I only hadn't sewn that button, he wouldn't have gone... and he wouldn't have been killed."" "It is a sin to live longer than one's children." "A sin to wake up alive each morning." "I and that Julia woman still live." "That's why it hurts me when my husband greets her." "It's notjealousy, it's rage." "Rage to still be alive." "And today, I go to the game pit, and find him there with a hen... and I get the same feeling." "The same premonition, the same rage." "And you, not a word!" "It's my anger." "It's a sin, and I don't care." "Look here!" "I spit on God." "I spit on fate." "And then?" "And then, they came to tell me." "Did I tell you, it rained during the funeral?" "Yes, you told me." "If you don't want the little snots to come here and exercise him..." "I'll have to do it myself." "It's for you that I got the hen." "For you." "For you, I train him." "For you." "You love that rooster more than you love me." "It's all we have left of our son." "Believe me, I hate this." "Let's go." "The mortgage people stuck the eviction notice on the door." "They say they hate to do it." "Hypocrites." "They don't want money;" "they want the house." "You see spooks behind every tree." "I see the Governor and your compadre don Sabas... picking over each and every property in town for their factory." "Then, there's no other way." "No... there's no other way." "I looked for you everywhere, and they told me you were here." " I came to discuss the mortgage." " You know the rules, Colonel." "Rules are for breaking." "How could you consider taking out a mortgage in times like these?" "They said they were about to bury my son in the common grave." "So, if one cannot even afford to bury his own son... where does one stand?" "Where?" "It's for three months." "The cock is already sold." "They've given me an advance." "Look, I'm even wearing new shoes." "Then, tell the buyer to pay you the rest of your money." "You'll have to excuse me, Colonel, but I'm busy." "The cock is a living creature." "Suppose my friend pays you off, then the animal dies before the fight?" "And now that you've taken him into your care, who's responsible?" "And you, Colonel, you spend money fast." "New shoes, and all." "I kept my word, and you took the cock." "Between compadres, I'll see what can be done." "But up front, I'm telling you, it will be very difficult." "Damn, Sotero, you can't even solve problems." "I've told you before, act like we live in a civilized society." "Otherwise, there's no progress, there just isn't." "Colonel..." "People can buy shoes when they blessed well feel like it." " And since when the wheelchair?" " Well, since the rains started." "I no sooner put the clothes out to dry, then suddenly there's a downpour." "This is no way to get by." "What's happened to you?" "What's the matter?" "You can't die!" "Not you!" "Not you, treacherous bird." "Don't you know the fight season isn't even here yet?" "If you die, he'll die along with you." "Get better... even if it's just for him." "You have to get better, alright?" "I'll take you to the doctor." "That's it." "I'll take you to the doctor." "That's what to do." "Doctor!" "Doctor!" "Doña Lola, you'll get soaked!" "Come in." "How could you go out on a day like this?" " Where is the doctor?" " He went to the mountains." "Something about a house call..." "That he might stay the night..." "He doesn't even bother coming around here any more." "The rooster won't last until morning." "He's a doctor, not a veterinarian." "I didn't do anything to you." "Nothing." "He's been like this since mid-afternoon." "The lightning..." "The doctor is in the mountains." "Do something!" "Since when do you care about the rooster?" "Insulin?" "The doctor suggested it." "That will raise even the dead." "Then, he would have given it to you." "Well, his wife suggested it, that's almost the same thing." "The doctor is up to his usual mischief." "One grubby doctor in this small town, and he's out running around... like some fairy in the bushes." "That's no way to do things." "And what's all this about injecting a cock?" "That's for humans." "Insulin for an animal?" "What's next?" "A drink, compadre." "Don't even listen to her." "She gets crasser by the day." "But an injection..." "You'll have to pay him back." "Things get more expensive every day." "Imagine!" "There are days when Sabas takes as many as two." "That's a lot of money." "The Mad Monk show is about to start." "Come on, then you can tell your wife all about it." "Just don't let that old hag see." "She butts into everything." "She counts my injections." "I'm supposed to obey her every notion." "If I could only do more, compadre." "I often wish I could get around alone." "Offer no excuses to anybody." "Chat." "Do whatever I please." "Breathe in the mountain air." "Talk to friends." "To my compadres." "To you, like when we were warriors." "We've gotten old, Colonel." "When you left Tabasco, you were a little snot and about one hand tall." "Now you're old and fat." "Enough!" "I'll get nostalgic." "Nostalgic about me." "Nostalgic about you." "About then." "Meaningless nostalgia." "I hope your rooster gets well." "From my heart." "For your sake." "I've come to think of him as a kind of son." " Can I help?" " No!" "You make him nervous." "He knows you dislike him." "Don't be silly." "I could have done it alone." "It's been years since you've done anything yourself." "It's over now, Blondie." "All over." "Here." "If they are real revolutionaries, they should learn about printing." "Just look at this." "All the letters have faded." "The letterary... as Agustín used to say." "Come, now." "That's what Agustín used to read..." "Politics." "Ideals and principles." "As I was saying..." ""A band of White Guards in the Governor's service... attacked the union local... and the constables attacked the union men."" "The constables..." "Just like that day." "Just like..." "Just like that night." "And him in my house!" "Just like that night." "Hear what I'm saying!" "I'm not going to die." "Even if it's just to deprive you of the pleasure... of rubbing me down with your oils." "He came along only because we were playing dominoes." "I don't enter where I'm not summoned." "They didn't summon you that night." "I didn't summon you this night." "He's blaspheming again." "He's on the road to recovery." "Alright, doña Lola." "Since you're already here, let's clear things up, Father." "You saw it, too." "I found the body about two hours later." "You were there." "They must have said, "Why call the doctor?" "Better the priest, now."" "If you're worried that I gave him the last rites..." "I arrived too late even for that." "No, that's not what I want to talk about." "When you arrived, the body was still there." "Nogales was still there, so complacent." "If there had really been a brawl during the cockfight... do you think Nogales would have stayed?" "Answer me." "Don't be so quiet." "No, he wouldn't have stayed." "You saw it, too." "I saw when Agustín slipped the newspaper under his shirt." "I saw that, and told him..." ""At the dance, the ink will run from the propaganda... then you'll have the evidence printed on your chest."" "And he laughed, the way he always did... a bit to the side... like my wife does." "The same laugh." "Just the same." "And he said, "I'm not dancing today, I'm a handler at the cock-match."" "But by fight time, he was sweating." "Maybe you haven't noticed, but at that game pit, they have no permit... so they use car headlights for lighting." "All the handlers who work with the gamecocks sweat." "Look, if you don't believe me." "It's the same thing on the bathroom mirror." "Indigo blue." "The same ink that ran from the same newspaper." "They never learned to print." "Never." "If you don't calm down," "I'll have the doctor give a shot of morphine... then sweet peace." "Peace?" "There's been no peace since that night." "You know it." "You saw it." "My boy was involved in politics." "I had to sign the death certificate:" ""Altercation at the cockfights."" "Like he was some common drunk." "You signed that death certificate because, for a change... the doctor was off in the mountains." "You know as well as I do." "The boy is dead, it doesn't matter." "No, it does matter." "Don't take this as my confession." "It hadn't crossed my mind." "Anyway, keep it as secret as a confession." "He's right." "It does matter why they kill one's son." "All this over a cock." "They get themselves all wound up." "Didn't I bring you the shirt?" "Wasn't it stained with ink?" " It was stained with blood." " It was stained with blood and ink." "And once and for all, I'm telling you... your son was killed for his ideals... and for nothing else." "No matter what, you won't have the rooster blamed for the funeral." " Our funeral." " Our funeral." "Come now, find your sewing and start working next to me." "That's comforting." "It calms me." " I have no sewing to do." " Then make some to do." "This way I can see you better." "You know, which is the only funeral we'll go to together?" "Our own funeral." "The circus is here!" "The circus is here!" "It's the phenomenal circus of the Amazing Quintanilla Brothers... now on their annual tour of the midlands of the Republic!" "The circus is here!" "The circus is here." "It's here, and August isn't over yet." "Cover up." "You'll get pneumonia in this humidity." "This humidity is all the same in the bathtub, or in the bed." "Are you trying to frighten me to death, or kill me with rage." "Let's go to bed." " Today is Friday." " Yes... but you have a while yet." "But I filed an appeal, and I'm waiting for an answer." "It's no longer an ordinary procedure." "If you like, I'll repeat..." "No one writes to the Colonel." "I have something to tell you." "I heard the circus had arrived, and then..." "I want to keep the cock." "To call off the sale." "Call off the sale?" "But we've spent all the advance money." "Germán is right." "Sabas can't keep the cock." "He can't finagle Agustín's battle cock." "He's going to give it to Nogales." "Hush!" "That name is not spoken here." "Sabas will give it to him." "Agustin's battle cock won't end up in his hands." "I want you to know, I'm off to see Sabas and return his money." "I'll wash the shoes with saddle soap, then return them... or I'll sell the clock." "Agustín's battle cock is the best in the town." "The cocker who wins gets 20% of the betting stakes." "Triple what Sabas offers!" "I'm not asking you." "I'm telling you." "I'm warning you." "I'm doing this for him... for you... and for me." "As far as I'm concerned, I'm not a Colonel for nothing." "I'll have to mend your pants with white thread so they won't notice." "Cockers don't dress in rags." "How much for the ring?" "Go away!" "I don't do those things." "Father Angel, how much?" "How much?" "The Church forbids these kinds of things." "Anyway, I'm a priest." "A priest, not a pawnbroker." "Even if a black legend befalls us." "Find someone else." "A money lender." "I am a priest, but I'm also your friend." "That's why I dare, because you are my only friend." "If not you, then with whom?" "Please take pity." "For all those times we've gone to the movies." "Then, what do I do with the ring?" "Do I sell it?" "It has your name etched in it." "In this town, they find out about everything." "Then your husband will come and burn the church for the second time... with me inside." "He'll understand." "How much?" "Thank you, Father." "I don't know how to beg." "They never taught me." "Only life teaches that." "Good-bye." "She wouldn't let me absolve her." "An eye for an eye." "I wasn't able to return the shoes." "But you won't know the time any longer." "What's this?" "I'm so thin now, it was bound to fall off one day." "Now I can take a lover, Colonel." "No one will know I'm married." "What did you do?" " I went to visit Father Angel." " The cassocked one." "I hope he'll keep this a secret, as he would a confession." "Where are you going in this rain?" "To settle my accounts." "My cockfighting accounts." "I'm here to settle some business." "I'm not here to see my compadre." "I'm here to see a comrade in arms." "Where do you think you're going?" "What right do you have to come in here?" "Stand aside, I'm asking you." "I'm begging you." "I'm warning you." "That rooster will not leave here as long as I'm alive." "Don't make me hurt you, you're Agustín's mother." "Well, you'll have to hurt me." "That rooster is mine!" "Mine and my husbands, the Colonel." "Shut up and take it easy." "This cock belongs to the people." "It fights for the town." "And we're taking it, even over your dead bodies!" "Kill me, then!" "They took it by force." "I told them the rooster wouldn't leave here... as long as I lived." "But you're still alive." "You weren't home." "This has nothing to do with the circus." "They wanted to use the circus tent as their game pit." "The only one in charge of handling this cock, is me." "The one who cared for him, is me." "The one who trained him, is me." "The one who paid for him, is me." "Not Sabas, my compadre." "Not any of you." "Not even Agustín's memory." "It's me." "Tell him the truth." "Nogales, was there boasting, strutting about in front of everyone." "So the people challenged him with Agustín's fighting cock." "There was no other way, Colonel." "My battle cock doesn't engage this one." "As long as there is a breath of life left in me... my cock will not cover itself in the blood of his." "It was all in goodwill, Colonel." "I have no goodwill towards you." "I didn't break into your house like a burglar to take him." "It was these fellows, your son's so-called friends." "I owe you." "I know that." "But it wasn't my fault alone." "We both were armed." "Both of us." "A little more the other way, and I'd have been the dead one." "But his death was all he needed to become a saint." "Still, I am in your debt." "I may be only a circus man, but I'm forthright." "Here, take this for your rooster." "And, my connections." "I have friends, contacts." "Tomorrow I can arrange for your pension." "Your god-forsaken pension the whole town knows about." "In the blink of an eye, Colonel." "In a simple stroke of magic." "All because I owe it to you." "All because I have a father." "All because I'm sentimental." "Look..." "I do magic for you, and you'll never again linger at the post office." "Not for your stroke of magic." "Not for your connections." "Not for all the gold in the world." "Nor for all the pensions." "Nothing." "Let's go, Blondie." "Good evening, gentlemen." "It will happen again." "Over and over again." "They will end up taking him again." "The next time... you won't be able to keep him with you." "The cock is not for sale." "You're more stubborn than stubborn can be." "And in the meanwhile, what?" "What?" "You'll just sit here, and wait for that pension." " That pension won't come." " It will come." "Come to your senses." "You're old." "Today, you got a break because you're old." "You surprised them." "Tomorrow, they'll put a knife in you because you're old." "They'll end up with the rooster, and I'll end up widowed and alone." "Now, I've come to realize it." "You have, too." "Reconsider." "I won't reconsider." "You haven't reconsidered in twenty years." "Then it will be twenty more." "You're stubborn and inconsiderate." "My life is burning away slowly, like some cheap candle." "And there's stubborn you, and your rooster." "And if the rooster doesn't win?" "What if you don't get your famous 20%?" "That's only if it wins." "What if it loses?" "Have you thought about what we'll do if it loses?" "That cock can't lose." "Suppose it does?" "I have forty-five days to suppose that." "And until then, tell me, what are we going to eat?" "Answer me." "Come on, tell me!" "Don'tjust sit there silent." "Tell me!" "After all, you're my husband." "Tell me, what we'll eat." "Tell me." "Shit."