|
|||
| ADRENALINE SERIES III The border
crossing went smooth. We arrived with a dollar between us and no
one wanted to take us to a hostel with that kind of cash. It was 10pm
and the strangers we asked for directions told us to be careful as
we climbed the colonial streets from the bus station.
There were no lights. People hid in the cavity of shadows. We looked into hotels but no one wanted to hear of us. We came upon Hotel Juana de Arco. We entered, hoping to find our bed for the night. Four men, two-dollar bottles of liquor in hand, followed behind us with greetings and handshakes. They asked us for money. Flung threats at us for money. Grabbed us with a voice so loud THEY SHOOK US FOR MONEY. "Quieres morir? Quieres morir gringa?"
"Do you want to die?" said one, sliding his finger crossthroat. "Tengo cuchillo!" "I have a knife!" said another, under breath, fisting his jacket pocketknife at me. |
 Street Scene, Puno, Peru
|
||
| I
moved toward my sister but they held me back. I had no bill to give,
only my circulation, muscular inaction. We asked the clerk for
help. Again and again. The thieves made polite conversation. YOUR MONEY
GRINGA. Finally the clerk spoke up. "Basta, basta." He gave them each 25 cent coins. One by one they seized their money let out wide smiles, shook our hands and said, "Bienvenido a la capital." Quito, Ecuador 9/97 |
|||
~ ~ ~
 Quilotoa Volcanic Crater outside Zumbahua, Ecuador |
KNOWLEDGE He
was a baby-faced simpleton crowding up the Ecuadorian countryside in
search of medieval toys. Almost every bone in his body had been
broken, either by accident or self-infliction. He was sewn up good
with the kinda tattoos and firsthand data than could all but spill from
his narrative alone.
Truth? There was no telling it from this boy. Stabbed, mugged hit in the face with a baseball bat, he showed little external signs of battle other than obesity and audacity. He claimed achievements such as accumulation of metal plates in the body, kibbutz, two years in the Israeli army, work in Asia, motorbike through Europe, Untied the States, money to burn at age 20, a penchant for death, demons, large knives, Gothic armour and the gigantic tattoo of a half-naked woman on his back of which he was so damned proud, having designed it himself. He kept the conversations going. There were moments when I felt like a traveler but not a good one beside this fat of a man, my junior and senior. There was talk, there was attack, I let my skin speak for itself. A mouth, not my own, was bent out of control. I watched the whole sequence from a satellite, you know the self that sits on the shoulder waiting to conquer. Afterwards I climbed the stones to my room of centenarians and wrapped it all up in the knowledge that all I know is nothing. Vilcabamba, Ecuador 10/97 |
