"A SPELL" "From the warehouse to here, nobody can move anything if he's not in the union." "Eliseo, don't fall asleep." "This's not freight, they're my bags, and I paid both for transport from the boat to the lighter and the lighter to the dock." "That doesn't count, that's another union." "That's for sailors." "Do what you want, I'm taking my stuff." "With apologies, comrade Lucio, but we didn't institute unions to behave like this." "~ The gentleman has every right to carry his own bag." "~ You keep out of this, Fabian." "~ Thank you." "~ Nice to meet you." "Farewell." "At the meeting, it was agreed to respect quotas and union territories." "Let's see, you, Jesus and Cacho." "~ Yes, comrade Lucio?" "~ Take away that cart." "Dad, they're taking our car!" "Hello, Albita." "Plants, animals, and humans... reproduce thanks to the existence of male and female organs,... in plants called... ~ Androecium and gynoecium." "~ Well." "Here, I bring you this little guy." "I met him roaming around in the park again." "Thanks, I hope this is the last time." "Right, Kauich?" "Thank the gentleman for taking such pains with you." "All settled down, Mr. Policeman." "See you later." "Quickly, to class." "The flower is the reproductive organ of a plant." "Here's the little antennas that provide pollen." "They brought this boy once again." "Nemesio, go stand at your place." "Thank you." "Excuse me." "Well, you see that the circus came, and..." "I thought that maybe I could happen to buy a pair of tickets so you could come along." "What do you think?" "Look, I appreciate it, Ignacio,... but..." "Well, I was already invited to the function." "Silence." "Good morning, Director." "Gentlemen, revolutionary education requires a different attitude from everyone,... starting with respect for the comrade teacher Felipa,... who abandoned everything she had in her homeland... to come to Progreso to give her all for you." "Don't make me use repressive methods of the bourgeois schools themselves,... like sticks, for example." "Not you, Nemesio, you're being punished." "Let's see, Eliseo, tell us what happens with pollen." "Maybe you can explain it aloud to all of us, Rafael." "It has to be pushed into the female flower, Mistress,... by a flying willy." "Silence." "Eliseo, you stay after school." "Oh, Eliseo!" "Well, I don't think you're going to pass this year,..." "I don't think that this will please your parents very much." "No, Teacher." "Don't get me wrong, I like you,... but apparently school isn't enough for you." "I think you need more responsibilities." "Yes, Teacher." "I'll give you a chance." "As punishment, every morning before school, I want you... to come to my house and do the housekeeping." "In your house?" "Yes, Monday through Friday, that's all." "Is that clear?" "Yes, Teacher." "If you don't care, I just want to ask a favor." "That my dad doesn't find out, because he'll clobber me." "Hello, sis." "Hi, Mom." "Now, be still." "You know who likes polishing his wire belt with your buttocks." "He was suspended two days." "For arguing and slugging his comrades..." "look, knock it off!" "You're going straight to the dock." "Do you hear me?" "And don't come back until you have sold the lot." "Fish, fried fish!" "With or without lemon." "Ma'am, fish?" "Fish, fish!" "Want to know?" "They brought a bunch of hairy bitches who wander around in panties!" "Fish, Fish?" "Fish, Ma'am?" "Hold this, donkey." "Let's mount up!" "Your basket, Eliseo, your basket!" "Bastards!" "Out, out!" "This time my dad'll kill me for real." "What's that Chinaman laughing at?" "I came to talk to your husband." "What is it, gentlemen?" "I'm here to discuss a sensitive issue." "Look, Chinese miser, why the hell don't you want to pay my son for fish?" "I didn't buy any fish from your son." "Are you implying that my son is a liar?" "I didn't buy any fish from your son." "Don't pretend you don't understand, you owe my son 60 centavos, and I mean to collect it." "I didn't buy any, sir, I didn't buy any." "Maybe it was a different Chinaman, you know they all look alike." "Before you talk to me, dress like a man." "So how about it, Chinaman, are you going to pay?" "Eliseo." "Dogs ate them all." "That's better." "The Zapatas do not sire liars." "As for you, Chinaman, excuse me." "But since not even God can undo beatings,..." "I suggest you be more cautious next time." "Eliseo, get back to the house and get ready for the wire." "Chinese asshole!" "Maria!" "Boy!" "Come meet my good friend, Rey Reyes, the best aerialist in the world." "He doesn't dress like a man, but that's because he is a performer." "Rey, Eliseo you already know." "Magda, my princess, and Maria, my queen." "Go on, Rey, put on a show for my children!" "Bravo, Rey!" "Rey, I offer you my home from my very heart." "This is what the Zapatas are like." "No thank you, Don Fabian, but I have to go where the circus goes." "The circus will spend more than a week in Progreso." "Right, Maria?" "Madam Zapata,... please you accept tickets for my performance." "What do you say?" "~ Thank you, Mr. Rey." "~ Thank you, Mr. Rey." "You're welcome, honey." "Hang in there!" "Please!" "See you at the circus?" "See, pretty one." "Be sure to be the best looking of all." "Off with you now, else they'll see us." "~ Bruno Turissi." "Who are you?" "~ Eliseo Zapata." "As punishment, I've come to sweep up her house." "Oh, God forbid she get tired, the poor thing!" "Well, go on, sweep up." "Farewell." "Eliseo, why are you here?" "You told me to come, Miss." "Well, but why so early?" "Come on in." "Just don't make much noise." "I want to sleep for a while." "When you finish that, can you go do the dishes and the kitchen?" "Yes, Teacher." "Eliseo, each house is a mystery." "And what happens in this no one must know." "But once that we're discovered as baseball pros,... we'll travel around the country." "Don't tell me you wouldn't like that?" "Puebla, Campeche, and even in the capital." "And we'll have millions of old ladies, just millions!" "Don't tell me you wouldn't like that?" "No, I'm not going to get married." "Don't be silly, the old dears aren't meant to be married to." "Someday they'll start showing up on a daily basis." "The duo Gemini, some amazing contortionists,..." "Our trainer, Toto,... with his brothers of the air,... brothers of the air, hawks, volatile like birds,..." "Here's Tim, our clown." "Bobby and Robby,..." "Tamara, our Colombian elephant." "We see them, sir!" "Don't fight, don't fight, damn it!" "What will the children say?" "Ah, the Lord of the heights is with us, too!" "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Brothers' Brothers Circus!" "Hello, Pitu!" "That's it!" "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!" "You are welcome to the international Brothers' Brothers circus." "And a very special applause for those who I was told have made this day... an ineffable and historic journey,... to land, or rather to land on water, the first airplane to reach Yucatan,... these gentlemen, these German pilots present here." "And now with you, from the steppes of Hungary... undefiled heir of gypsy blood... who has astonished demanding audiences... across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East,... the prince of the air, Rey Reyes." "Rey, your house." "Thanks, Fabian." "Good evening, Mr. Reyes." "~ I told you I don't want you to bring home drunks." "~ I don't care, Rey's my friend." "I know he's your friend, or whatever you want, but the kids are asleep." "I don't care." "~ Get him." "™ Good." "This is my house, I rule." "I know you're the boss, but please, Fabian, you have to go to bed." "I don't want the children to see you drunk like this again." "Your attention, ladies and gentlemen." "We ask the most absolute silence... for the next trick requires maximum concentration." "For you alone, the incomparable princess..." "Margot." "What happened, Magda?" "Eliseo, go get the eggs." "Dona Luisa!" "Dona Luisa!" "Good morning, Eliseo." "Your mom, how is she?" "Well, thank God." "~ Do you want eggs or chayas?" "~ Eggs." "~ Goodbye, Dona Luisa." "~ Goodbye, Eliseo." "Greet your mom for me." "Yes." "That Rey is a good person." "He said he'll turn me into a performer." "Plus he saved Dad with the Chinaman, right?" "Remember when we stole the candy box?" "Dad went crazy." "Do you remember?" "Remember that he chased us all around the house crashing into everything?" "The he nabbed us both at the same time." "Right?" "He hit more wire beating to the floor than to us." "My dad won't hit me ever again." "I told you you're the only one." "The only one to believe in your word, you mean." "I'll be back next week." "Take me with you." "One day I'll come for you, all right?" "We'll open an inn in Havana." "Promises." "You'll leave me here alone, waiting for you like your fool until you get horny again." "For a woman like you. it has to be easy to get a man if you try, right?" "When will you marry me?" "Don't threaten me, Felipa." "~ Then I want you here tomorrow." "~ Leave me alone!" "~ Excuse me, excuse me." "~ Don't touch me again." "Behave yourself." "Eliseo, chase him!" "Find out who the other woman is, grab some of his stuff." "Hurry!" "I can't, I have to go to school." "Today I'll give you a ten." "Run or you won't catch up." "Steal one of his shirts, a hat, whatever." "There's nothing to negotiate here." "The machine was bought by the government for us." "But it's the government's." "Show more solidary with the port workers, colleagues." "If we hand over the machine to you, where's our leverage?" "What good is it to send us sisal if we don't have the equipment to extract the fibers?" "We can't abuse our comrade peasants like that, Lucio." "I say we have to give them their machine,... and if they want to strike, we do so as well." "And when our strikes were suppressed, what did our comrade farmers do?" "They received their land grants." "There's nothing to negotiate here." "Either the government pays the two months' back pay they owe us or the extractor doesn't leave the dock." "I say we have to give them their machine." "Are there any beautiful women out there?" "Hey, boy!" "What are you doing here?" "My dad works here, and sometimes I help." "This is much better than sweeping, right?" "And you, what do you want to be when you grow up?" "My dad wants me to inherit his position and home,... and to study, and be a leader." "Leader of what?" "Well, with all due respect, at this very port?" "He says we're relatives of Emiliano Zapata." "Ah." "And you, are you in love with the idea?" "No." "~ Can I help?" "~ No." "Come, boy, come." "So what do you want to do right now?" "My friend Rafael has an uncle in the Sporting Club of Merida." "At the end of the school term he'll hire us for the team." "Baseball players travel a lot." "Yes?" "Don't tell me!" "Wait until you've seen some real ports." "Havana, Maseria, Veracruz itself,... you have no idea what it's like to go to San Francisco, New York, Geneva...the Mediterranean African coast." "So what you say, Eliseo?" "Shall we go?" "Yes." "He grabbed her waist when they were boarding." "And how did he look at her?" "As if she were you." "Was she rich?" "I thought so." "And was she nice?" "Not as nice as you, Teacher." "And what do you want this thing for?" "For him to come back." "Farmers are waiting for you by the house." "As my name is Fabian, we're going to deliver the machine." "Go on, so they don't see you." "Go tell them I'll warn them when the next piece is ready to go." ""The commitments of my art oblige me to bring the joy of the circus to other places." ""I will keep in my heart forever the hospitality of the Zapata home." "~ "Thanks to the children..." ~ Where is your sister?" ""To Maria, and especially you, Fabian..."" "~ Now you'll pay me all together!" "~ "..." "Because you offered me all your belongings from your very heart."" "Answer me, motherfucker!" "~ "Thank you, your friend." "Rey Reyes, acrobat." ~ Why didn't you squeal or do something by yourself, dickweed?" "I don't like this at all." "If you had warned us, we'd still be on time to get her an abortion!" "What, you're also going with the circus?" "If you see her tell her she's not my daughter anymore!" "Donkey, Donkey!" "Come on, Donkey!" "Help me find my sister." "She's with the circus." "If I don't find her my dad'll kill me." "If we hurry we can catch them." "We're friends, but I promised to take care of that aircraft until the pilots come back." "Here, so you don't get wet." "Clear all obstacles along his way to me, until his return." "Eliseo, this is no time to sweep." "You let me stay in a corner?" "Just look at the state of you!" "Come in." "My God, you'll get ill!" "Let's see." "Take off your shirt." "There we go." "Pecan pie." "Bruno used to eat a whole one at once, the brute." "Drink this." "Do you think my sister'll come back?" "Well, it all depends on how well or poorly she gets along with Rey." "But the truth is that when someone leaves something very important somewhere,... eventually they return." "Let's hope so!" "My parents were very sad." "Not just your parents, right?" "Don't blame yourself, Eliseo." "It was bad luck." "If that Rey hadn't arrived at the Chinaman's shop just then... your father never would have met him and Magda would be sleeping in your house right now." "The same goes for me, if I hadn't given the basket to Donkey." "Well, I'm getting sleepy." "Teacher, where am I staying?" "Eliseo, you're already really a man." "And should not forget that every home is a mystery." "...Is a mystery, and what happens in this one, no one should find out." "Where did you sleep?" "On the street." "You plan to go on living as a street kid?" "Go on home and tell your mother to go on cooking fried fish." "You were right, it's Fabian." "Yes, I saw the other night." "We'll show you, motherfucker!" "~ What did you do to be the flag boy?" "~ The teacher gave it to me." "And why you, motherfucker, you get mostly D's?" "Because now I get A's." "Oh, well, it's because I clean up her house every day!" "Another lie and I'll break your arm, motherfucker." "He surely is making love to her." "~ Is that right?" "You're screwing her?" "~ No!" "I'll make love to your sister." "Okay, I fucked her, I fucked her!" "I've been saving it for you for months." "I just want..." "Teacher, if you want I'll sweep up your house." "All right, woman." "Can't you see that I have broken ribs?" "Remove the smoke and leave me alone." "Lying in bed heals me, not that shit." "Your mom showed me the notes from school." "All right, son." "Straight A's." "The teacher seems pretty good, right?" "She teaches well, but you have to study." "Yes, you either advance from this hole or you stay there." "Understand?" "No." "You just keep doing what I say." "You'll understand." "Stop teasing!" ""American Chemical analyzes the latest tests." ""Sisal could eventually be used to manufacture car parts."" "Oh, Eliseo, I don't know how to thank you!" "No thanks necessary." "Mom, can we have another glass of beer?" "Oh, no, no, my son, or you'll get drunk at once!" "I'm already thirteen, Mom." "Well." ""He adds:" "Tests conducted in American laboratories..." ""Have shown that it is possible to chemically modify..." ""sisal's core fiber hardness,..." ""Making..." Watch out, baby!" ""Making it the main ingredient of not less than forty five parts used..."" "~ I'll do it, but can I have a kiss?" "~ No." "Help me carry Rafael." "Oh, how heavy!" "Last year they were still just kids." "Come, Eliseo, come with me." "Come on." "Thank you, my boy." "Now take off my shoes." "Now take off my stockings." "Dona Lanchita!" "You trust me, go ahead." "Dona Lanchita!" "Don't play the naif, my love." "Rafael told me all about your teacher." "Come, come." "Kiss me." "You summoned me, mother?" "Rafael,..." "You've turned thirteen, and... unintentionally I've overheard some things you and your friends say, and... the truth, these things are no longer of childish matters." "What I mean is that it was not easy for me to make this decision,... but I think about what your father would have done." "Here you go." "I've been told some of them charge you as little as two pesos." "As you command." "Oh, my son, two pesos...!" "Not even an eyeful for that, my king!" "Even the ugliest one charges three pesos." "Come on, it's my friend's birthday, and it's his gift." "Let us, and we'll become regular customers." "Flora!" "At your service, ma'am." "I'll take care of them." "What do you say, Rafael?" "Rafael!" "I'm no good at begging for love." "Oh, this suit will be very beautiful, my love!" "You'll see." "Very, very nice." "Oh, Rafael!" "If you are idiots!" "The puppy just barely scratched me." "See, it barely bit me." "Its masters insisted on giving me two pesos so I won't complain... so that now, I'm going to spend two pesos on the best woman Congal's got to offer." "Let the world know!" "Today the Donkey loses his virginity." "Come on!" "I can't." "I have to help my dad." "Come on, Donkey." "We'll tell you all about it later on." "What happened?" "A crazy man killed three whores." "Son of a bitch!" "Well, you'll explain yourself right now, traitor!" "Rafael, we're friends!" "And you know I'd never lie to you." "I heard you both very clearly." "Rafael, if after you listen to me you still want to use that stone, I don't care, I won't defend myself." "Do you remember the feast of your patron saint?" "That night your mom said that you'd told her about the teacher,... even though you swore that you weren't going to." "I balked as long as I could." "You shouldn't do this to any friend." "Rafael, I swear I didn't do it in bad faith!" "Besides, your mother, I love her like a mother, and you like a brother." "You also have to think about her and her needs as she think of yours." "Here." "If you still want to kill me, do it." "I told you I won't fight back." "You know me, and you know I'll never disrespect her!" "Are we still good friends?" "Yeah." "Just tell me:" "Where do you get so much spunk to fuck the teacher, and also my mom?" "How shameful, that teacher!" "And why not marry Don Ignacio?" "Not even if he were the last man on the planet." "But don't you think that he'd treat you much better than that sailor?" "Just look at your hands!" "Go wash them." "Bruno will return one of these days." "And we won't let him go alone, right?" "Because he's going to keep his word." "And we'll open the restaurant in Havana." "When you finish school, you come to visit, all right?" "There you can have a much better life than here in Progreso." "Not with your clothes, Eliseo." "Here." "Son of a bitch, come here!" "Come here!" "No!" "Sorry, Teacher!" "Pardon? "Sorry, your eminence"!" "Please excuse me, Your Eminence!" "Teacher, do you want to marry me?" "Ease it down, ease it down, slowly!" "That bitch of a woman was the very one who was there before." "She first bewitched the poor sailor." "That's just pure gossip." "Does she have long black hair?" "Yes, so what?" "When you look at her, you can't keep your eyes off her." "It's because she's the teacher, and I always pay attention." "You saw what he did with the photos." "She worked on him so hard that he came back at any cost." "The sailor drowned because he had to drown." "He was drowned on purpose." "Eliseo, someone made your sister ran away with the circus guy." "My sister run away because she's a whore." "If only I'd known!" "And what about the four dead hookers in Congal?" "That was why Rafael caught you screwing Dona Lanchita,... and you won't have other choice but going back to her." "She already bewitched you, nothing will go right in your life anymore." "I bet you're already doomed." "A tiny dog." "Why did you say that you had nothing?" "You're the haunted one." "What, me?" "You brought me here!" "Pay your respects and let's go." "It's outrageous!" "Slander more reactionary than ever expected to hear at this school!" "Student Nemesio Kauich." "~ Do you know why they cut my ear?" "~ No." "For people like you." "So I had to come here, thinking that the people were more relaxed." "Turns out you're worse than Philistines." "Let's see, explain to me who's been inventing the story that your teacher Felipa indulges in witchcraft." "She really made Eliseo bring her a sock from the sailor, now you see the consequences." "Silence!" "There's no such thing as witchcraft, Kauich, and witches even less so." "Is that clear?" "Yes, sir." "The only thing that rational thought permits... are physical and natural causes, which are quite different." "The rest is ignorance." "Right?" "Yes, sir, there are no spells." "Except that sometimes they work." "What?" "Well, Eliseo saw her rub the sailor's photo with a sock to make him come back... and it worked." "I warned you, Kauich, you've got an F. Now sit down." "You tell him, Eliseo, whether I'm lying." "Tell him the picture of the sailor wasn't all you saw." "What are you talking about, Kauich?" "You'll have to prohibit the teacher from continuing to have Eliseo sweeping up,... so the same thing won't happen to him like the sailor." "Eliseo, tell him." "If the director prohibits it, it won't be your fault." "I don't know what you mean." "Rafael, you tell him." "Kauich." "I swear it's true, sir." "He sweeps up, and more since the sailor left." "You're an asshole, Donkey!" "Zapata!" "Something's wrong with Donkey!" "Donkey, Donkey!" "Donkey, Donkey!" "Donkey, donkey!" "Hey, you can look, but don't touch him!" "What's the matter with you?" "Untie me." "No, Donkey!" "Go on!" "But what's wrong with you?" "Nothing, I misbehaved." "You're in poorer condition than a dog." "They want to take me to Merida." "There they'll cut me up." "Why, Donkey?" "Horse meat is very expensive." "Good thing the Congal closed!" "Now I can start saving for when I get married and have little Donkeys." "You should begin to do the same,... out of respect for the mother of your children." "I think we should untie him." "Donkey, donkey, wait!" "Damned kids!" "Why did you let him go?" "Donkey, Donkey, Donkey!" "Donkey!" "Have you seen a skinny kid, running?" "Yes, he ran that way, running like he's crazy." "Donkey!" "He forced Gardenia into it, he wanted to bite us all." "But he was okay!" "He was really OK!" "When a patient feels so well it's because they're going to die." "I ran, I ran, but he grabbed me." "What happened?" "Should we kill him?" "Let this, then, be our painful farewell to a pure soul still in its childhood,... a holy example of light, Nemesio Kauich,... an outstanding student and beloved classmate." "Known affectionately as "Donkey",.■■ he lost his life in unfortunate and unfair circumstances." ""Let us pray...."" "~ Can I help?" "~ No, thanks, I can do it myself." "~ No, I just want to be your friend." "~ No." "Don't believe what they're saying, all right?" "~ I just want to help you carrying the bucket." "~ No." "Please just let me carry it!" "Come on, Lupita, just let me help with the bucket!" "Also, I swear it's not true what they're saying, I swear it's not true!" "Luis, Luis!" "Don't scream, I swear that nothing they say is true!" "Son of a bitch!" "Come here." "Sorry about what happened, Eliseo." "If I'd been in the house, I wouldn't let my kids beat you." "I know you're a good boy." "On their behalf I ask for your forgiveness." "I talked to your dad, Don Fabian,... whom I've known for many years." "I see you're fortunate that when you're older, you'll inherit his position." "So everything is fixed." "No hard feelings, as it should be, so nobody gets hurt." "OK?" "Ready, smile." "~ Sir, do you know Eliseo Zapata?" "~ Yes." "Do you know where I can find him?" "At this time of day, you'll find him in the marsh." "~ In the bog?" "~ In the swamp, yes, yes." "Who is Eliseo?" "Your uncle, my son." "Eliseo." "~ I'm going to build a house." "~ Where?" "Salbe." "I'll settle in the little ones in with Lupita, and then I'm going to New Orleans." "What will you do there?" "Work." "What else?" "That's all I can do." "I know how to do acrobatic jumps." "Do you remember?" "Yes." "I'll take care of your animals." "~ What animals?" "~ The circus." "I had to sell an elephant tusk to repair this truck." "You turned the elephant into a eunuch?" "We had to kill him before he starved." "~ Poor thing." "~ Yes." "Let's see how much audience Cardenas attracts." "Where did you get that rooster?" "We caught it in the pit trap, it's called Wormy." "Look, he's your cousin." "You're going to pay its food?" "No, he's eating on his own." "Stretching out his head, tongue out, and grabbing flies." "There are guys who can't do even that." "Take care of him, Eliseito, should it be that you end up eating him in a broth." "Kids, this will be the window of your room." "So this time you really will finish your house, brother-in-law?" "Ease it down, now." "Eliseo, you're bringing down your father, not a donkey!" "~ Come on, come on!" "~ Wait, wait, it's the other way!" "Come here!" "Come here!" "Here I am, Lucio Martinez!" "No matter where you hide, here I am, and here I'll continue to be!" "And you, bootlicking comrades, go ask your boss if he can hear me... and tell him to go hide in that whale who bore him." "Don't have any more tantrums, Don Fabian, you'll get ill." "It's you lot who get me angry, you feeble, you lukewarm-balls!" "Why don't you tell us how big a bribe the city council chairmanship will cost you, Lucio?" "But General Cardenas will be coming here,... and I personally am going to tell him about all your abuse!" "Son of a bitch!" "Come calm your dad down." "Not that you were going to write a letter to the General which we'd all sign?" "What the hell did you go to school for?" "But we are writing, Don Fabian." "This is all right right here." "Do you see her, son?" "The fish never know what killed her." "That's how they eat." "That's called discretion, Eliseo." "Good afternoon." "Sassy!" "I saw her buying three candles." "Three black candles." "My goddaughter told me she even has black cats." "Pedrito, come back immediately!" "Already knew who arrived?" "No." "Who?" "It's me, Teacher." "Look at you!" "Good morning." "With a rooftop antenna we can hear Havana." "Do you hear?" "It's me." "Better than an antenna." "Let's see you try it." "Don't worry." "Everything I have I owe to Ignacio, may he rest in peace." "I got used to loving him." "I'll handle that." "He saved his little capital, what the government gave him for his ear, and he didn't spend it." "Just in case the fruits of the revolution would take too long to show." "I always felt that the ear wasn't the only thing that was missing." "With what the inn brought me, I'll be able to support the school,... a school where real teaching is not forbidden, for girls as well as boys." "Students will be able to eat, too." "And at night, a bar." "You see, in ports you meet so many people." "Not that I agree with people getting drunk, but... they'll get drunk anyway." "So many foreigners!" "Ideally, opening day will be when Cardenas arrives... to profit from the added customers and the celebration." "If you need a hand, Teacher, just say so." "We heard you married Lupita." "Do you have children?" "Two." "Yes." "And your father, was he able to return to work?" "No." "You know, Teacher, you know what friends are for, if you like, whatever." "~ Take care." "~ Goodbye and take care." "Brother-in-law..." "Good morning." "Help me, please." "For my children." "By God, Lupita, let me loose!" "Lupita, please!" "I won't do it again!" "He's already old, but taking care of this problem will be good for him." "Let me go!" "You don't want this?" "Let me go!" "Let me go, I don't believe in that crap!" "Let me go!" "Eliseo, you won't see that woman anymore?" "I'm going to heal you, I will remove the bad element you have." "You're not going to bother me today?" "Good morning." "Good morning!" "Good morning, Mrs. Zapata." "I understand you don't want to meet me, but only ask that you take into account that sometimes things are not what they seem." "I brought this for your husband." "It occurred to me that it could brighten his life a little." "Accept it, please." "You give it to him." "They say radio's going to end up replacing schools." "People will listen to teachers in their homes." "You see, Don Fabian, you will soon know a lot more than most of us." "It's time for your bath." "By your leave." "No, it's better to go with my cousin, she can read and write." "Don't be like that, Cabcanul, she wants to work." "We don't owe her as many favors as you do." "~ Felipa, Dona Lancha..." "~ My comrade Lupe..." "Don't mess with Lupe." "Don't be scared, Teacher, they're good people." "Cabcanul was an altar boy." "You robbed the collection plate." "And Mariano is my friend." "We want you to help us write a letter." "We'll pay you for the work." ""That is why, citizen President,..."" "Comrade." "Comrade President." "~ How you doing, Eliseo?" "~ Fine." ""We convene you..." Convene with a B or a V?" "Like Burro or Vermin?" "Write it as you like, he's not going to read it." "So which is it, Eliseo, a B or a V?" "Convene." "Convene." "With B, like Burro." "V?" "Then let it be V." ""..." "Lucio Martinez's manipulation..."" "He drinks cognac while we can barely support our families." "Write it down, write it down." "Hello, Lupita." "Good morning, teacher." "Good morning." "I heard you're looking for people, and it happens that I have some talent in the kitchen." "To serve, clean...whatever." "Sure, come in." "Why do you offend me?" "And in front of my friends." "Come on, tell me, why the hell did you have to go to teacher Felipa's house?" "Work." "What else?" "And why work specifically for her?" "She advanced me a week." "I sired my kids, I can support them myself." "You want to be alone with the teacher." "Then why was I there with my friends?" "I don't much like or have any interest in Teacher Felipa... but she's our only chance." "You have no right to treat her like that on account of the poor money you bring in." "Hello." "You, who are you?" "Gabriel." "Who are you?" "Fabian Zapata." "I am a relative of Emiliano Zapata." "There are dwarfs in that, right?" "Those who speak." "You think so?" "I have friends who are dwarfs." "I do a number with them in the circus." "I give them a spanking." "Did your dad also come with the circus?" "Yes." "Tell me, do you know how to keep secrets, Gabriel?" "What secrets?" "That we met, for example." "Yes." "Lupita!" "Spruce up the little ones." "I brought tickets for the circus." "Ah, the circus, tickets to the circus!" "What?" "~ Not enough for all of you." "~ We didn't want to go anyway." "Better go back to bed, Fabian, please." "I don't want you hurt." "Go on, I'll walk with you." "Careful." "Come on, woman." "No, be quiet." "But, what a nice smell!" "Fabian...!" "Come on, woman." "~ Sit down, sit down." "~ Did you bathe with your herbs?" "Fabian, sit." "~ Oh, what a nice smell!" "~ Be still, Fabian." "But I like your smell." "No, Fabian, you have to lie down." "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!" "The Brothers' Brothers International Circus, welcomes you to this, their home,... and I want you to enjoy your stay here with us." "Please sit at your assigned seats or chose the seats that suit you best." "In this circus we worry about refreshing our routines." "Now everything is more difficult but nicer." "Nicer, but harder." "What happened, Rafael?" "What are you doing here?" "Nice to see you, brother!" "Lucio!" "Damn, Zapata, you didn't bring your cart?" "You keep doing favors for the landlords." "You get your cut." "Don't be ungrateful, brother!" "How come you don't realize that everything that we negotiated with the powers-that-be has been to get what little we have today?" "Or how do you think we got you your pension after the accident?" "Accident, my balls!" "Fabian, we put your son into your place just because he's your son." "But that doesn't count, right?" "Here." "To repay to your family what you and your son drink." "Look at him, figure out how much that suit cost him." "Now, quiet down." "First I'll quiet you down for good, motherfucker!" "Attention, close attention!" "Just for you..." "Rey Reyes!" "Back to work." "Going once, going twice, and the..." "Hey, what are you waiting for?" "My mom already took his clothes." "What you don't want I'll take to the circus." "Can I help you, ma'am?" "Leave them there, I'm taking them." "~ May I go in?" "~ Yes." "Ma'am." "How are you, Magda?" "I'm sorry." "We won't be needing this." "Thank you." "Too bad the eve of a holiday display is overshadowed by our mourning." "A comrade of ours is gone,... but he left us his the goal of his struggle." "In other circumstances we would pay him tribute,... but for now I don't think there is greater recognition... than to continue with the activities of the union,... which his courage helped shape." "Although General Lazaro Cardenas doesn't generally announce his travel plans,... we know that his arrival is imminent." "So now what we came here for, foremost: we have the opening of his Will,... comrade Fabian Zapata, may you rest in peace." "If were hat checkers our kids would be born headless." "Fuck!" "For some reason your father didn't explain... decided to relinquish his place to the union, not give it to you." "Here." "That is not my father's signature." "That's forged." "Impossible." "The envelopes are signed and sealed on the outside." "No, you changed it." "You know, my father showed me the letter from his hand, shook my hand,... and said "It is signed, the position is yours."" "You're stealing my spot from me." "You killed him!" "On the contrary, comrade, the one who wanted to kill me was him." "Starting tomorrow, you stay off the dock, Zapata." "You better not show your face." "For the record:... for insubordination, the comrade can't be accepted into any union of the confederation." "Do you agree, comrades?" "We demand a general meeting!" "Before you, fellow longshoremen,... working people of Progreso,..." "I demonstrate the enormous satisfaction that overwhelms me... to meet you in the land of Felipe Carrillo Puerto." "Conscientiousness men lead with a high moral example... to work in service not only of personal interest... but to enhance the homeland." "To you, fellow farmers, in which noble profession is the salvation of the country,..." "I come to announce the start of urgent land tenancy reform." "The bounty of the land will accrue to those who work on it." "Men, women, and children, I wish you good health and prosperity for Mexico." "Mr. President!" "Mr. President!" "Mr. President!" "Mr. President!" "Mr. President!" "Mr. President!" "Mr. President!" "Mr. President, my father was a longshoreman!" "Moreover, he lost his health on the docks, and I inherited his place." "You tell him, Rafael." "The only thing I ask, President, is that I get the position which by law belongs to me returned,... and stop the persecution of those who oppose the general secretary Lucio Martinez, who stole the machine from the peasants and loots the warehouses." "Prevent an outrage, Mr. President." "No worries, comrade, justice will be done." "Give him his place back." "Of course I will, sir." "Lucio Martinez Lucio, Senator..." "Nah!" "Now, comrades, Lucio Martinez is finished." "Bootlicking comrades!" "Like Don Fabian used to say, Emiliano Zapata's family." "God rest his soul." "What's up, Eliseo?" "What's up, rooster?" "Will you accept the deputation?" "I'm content with my place." "Sorry, bro, but it seems that it's already occupied." "Didn't you hear the order of the President?" "~ Yes." "~ So what?" "As it happens, he's gone." "And in the absence of the President, we're the law." "Hold him!" "Teacher Felipa." "Oh, my God!" "What happened?" "What happened to me?" "God is heartless, Teacher." "What wrong did I do to Him?" "What real wrong did I do to Him?" "Come on, I'm going to clean you up." "It happened that my dad died,..." "Bruno was my friend," "Donkey..." "Why kill them?" "Why, if He is good, did he kill Donkey that way?" "Since you got back, I can't do anything." "I can't work, I can't think, I can't do anything." "Nothing goes right." "You're the one I love, Eliseo." "No, no!" "Wait for me here." "Keep quiet." "I don't want you to think badly of me." "Where is your mom?" "She's in there." "She wants to cheat on you, Eliseo!" "Remember the sailor who she bewitched!" "They should kill me for helping you!" "Eliseo!" "It's not easy to burn bones, Lupita." "With luck, we'll find him." "Now don't worry." "Now, it doesn't matter anymore, man!" "Leave off." "I come to see your husband so he could heal me." "He won, but it exhausted him to the point of death." "Maybe he'd already decided to die." "Probably." "So, then." "What will you do?" "Work." "That's all I can do." "To look for someplace to live, alone, and look for my children." "I hope you find a good woman." "You deserve it." "Fish, little fish, fried fish!" "Raw, snapper with lemon, without lemon!" "Fish, little fish, fried fish!" "Raw, snapper with lemon, without lemon!"