Everyone at the table laughed and he went on.
Okay Manuel, because youre so old you have to learn new things, so I think what your father says is right. English is interesting, I would have loved to have learned it, because sometimes I couldnt read a book because I didnt know it, and I had to settle for not knowing the content.
Tono, who had been eating quietly, which is rare for him, but since today there was a Russian salad, which was his favorite dish, said to Grandma, as he did whenever she made it:
Nana, youre the best cook in the world.
Since it made Mom look a bit sad whenever he said such things, he would always thoughtfully say:
Well, you too Mom, dont get upset, you do other things well, you know that.
There can only be one whos the best, who is it? they asked him in jest.
It depends on what food you make Mom, he said softly, when you make lentils they dont turn out very well, admit it.
It was true that hed never liked them, and whenever she prepared them, he had to force himself to eat them, because Mom said that he couldnt leave them; his body needed iron and thats what lentils were full of.
Im not a nail Mom, why do I want iron? he would protest so he wouldnt have to eat them.
Look Tono, you have to eat everything, your body needs it, she answered and neither his protests nor his grumbles would work. He ended up eating the lentils like the rest of us.
And what about you Nana, because you dont study it, you always say that You can never know too much, because even if you have so many books, surely one more wont matter, Tono, who had stopped chewing, was saying.
When he heard it, Grandpa took stock for a moment, looking at him.
Be quiet and keep eating, this does not involve you, my father said.
But it seems that he had made a good point, because my grandfather, although he had already turned 70, started studying English after that, and with all the enthusiasm of a little kid. When I went to his house, or when he came to ours, he was always speaking to me in English, as he said, For practice.
The rest of the family found it amusing to hear us speaking something they didnt understand. Chelito sat on Grandpas knees and asked him, What are you saying? How do you say hello? And bread? And cookies? And cat?
Girl, leave your Grandpa in peace, youre pestering him, Grandma scolded her.
He ran his hand through my sisters hair, saying:
Little one, know that thats a good thing.
I know that my grandfather spent long hours studying, because as my grandmother used to tell me, He was not a young man anymore and it was hard for him to remember those difficult words.
That suited him though, because he had a vision, to be able to talk to me with the new words he had learned and thus to make me apply myself more, because I had to know them in order to respond to the phrases he was directing toward me when we saw each other, either at his house, when I went to visit them or on Sundays, when they came to eat at ours.
By so doing, I was putting in more and more effort, because Ive never liked losing, and being told something that I didnt understand bothered me. So what we started doing was giving ourselves a task with ten new words, which we both wrote down on a scrap of paper, and the next time we saw each other, we had to have made a sentence with each word. That little trick has served me well in life. Those small daily tasks have forced me to strive every day, and to get more out of what Ive had to do.
CHAPTER 2.
Lots of memories come to mind when Im nervous, it must be an internal mechanism, something Ive always had to relieve the tension of the moment. The same thing used to happen to me when I had an exam. During the first few moments, when I would be sitting with the paper in front of me, I would recall, for example, those games with my siblings on the street on sunny days, or that game with the new toy I had just unwrapped on the morning of the feast of the Epiphany. Those memories would relax me so much that I could then take the exam calmly. It was as if my mind would transport me to some other pleasant place and there it would tell me, You see? Theres no problem, everything is fine.
I was doing the same thing now, recalling those long ago moments, seated here waiting to enter the room where I had to present the book, the book that had caused me so much hardship to write, until Id finally finished it. Years of research, going through a thousand and one ups and downs to find those answers I needed. So many incomprehensible situations, which could only be navigated by those who had enough interest in knowing the truth. So many stumbling blocks, and even those moments of danger that I had to get through to deliver myself from certain death. Oh man! I just cant believe it myself, why someone could want to maintain the status quo, for everything to remain hidden, what incentives do they have? Above all though, who are they?
To my mind, who would get me into that mess? I had a quiet student life, without any problems and with almost no responsibilities. Well, a normal student life, going to class, having a good time on vacation, studying a little, my sports and stuff like that. The outdoor activities were only possible weather permitting, because the rain where Im from only affords us a few days to enjoy. I think that was what made me decide to change my interests, so that at least I was doing something to distract myself, something different, and then as time went by I also saw that it served a purpose.
Of course, what started as a game, as a young university student, became increasingly serious. Such a long time ago, that first day when we went to that place they assigned us, with our faces painted with surprise over what we were going to start, something unknown at the time, but that we were about to discover. I remember we were commenting on the street:
We can try it, and if we dont like it or its too boring, we can leave it and we wont come back tomorrow. We can say were not well.
Our Expert colleague, as we called him, because he had been doing it last year, and it was he who was in charge, who took us to the place and who would teach us everything that we had to do, told us:
You wont know what to say, youll be hooked on this, and when vacation is over and everything is finished, youll miss it. Thats whats happened to all of us, and Im sure itll happen to you too.
Well, that may be the case for you, but Im pretty sure Ill get annoyed on the first nice day we get and I wont come to work, I answered laughing, and added softly, Ill go off and play soccer as always.
Well see, he said, give it time and then well talk.
Tell us, where are you taking us? we asked him several times, but he wouldnt tell us anything other than:
Have some patience, were almost there, and we continued walking in silence.
We left the streets of Santiago behind, and surprised by our departure, we asked him again, but nothing, he insisted on not clarifying where he was taking us.
Following our guide in single file, we directed our steps along a lonely path. We continued on toward the place that only that colleague knew. Coming out of a bend, we saw some ruins in the distance of what must once have been a house, but now it was already half-crumbled.
Here it is, weve arrived, lets see how you behave, Simón told us with a broad smile.
Youre kidding, we said in surprise, what are we going to do with those ruins, rebuild something?
Of course, otherwise why else do you think wed come here? Well try to repair this place as best we can, so it doesnt collapse and they can spend the winter here without getting wet.
He was saying this to us very seriously and we all stared first at him and then at what was left of that building.
Wait, what are you saying? If we dont have a clue what were doing, what are you expecting from us? wed stopped to tell him, because we were astonished.
Well, thats what Im here for, to show you whatever you need, he said smiling to reassure us. Youll see how nice we leave it. Have a little faith. Come on, lets continue.
Just as we were arriving at the place, a very old lady, all dressed in black, came out from the half-crumbled ruins of the house, and seeing our companion, she threw her arms around him.
Son, what a joy, I thought it was a joke when you told us the other day that you would come with friends of yours to lend a hand, and she started crying.
Dont worry Mam, everything will be fine, youll see how beautiful we leave the house, and Sir? How is he today? and without waiting for a reply, he went inside the house.
Thank you boys, we cant pay you, but God will surely do that, He knows how much we need these repairs, the old woman was telling us, standing there in front of her door.
Wiping the tears from her face with the corner of her apron, she turned around and said:
Come in, come in.
She went into the house, and we all followed.
I cant offer you anything, she said, and there was concern in her tone of voice.
Dont worry, weve had a good breakfast before coming, besides, were here to help you, I said putting my hand on her shoulder trying to reassure her.
I looked at those half-crumbling walls and thought, How can there be people living in these conditions? Is there not a more decent place where they can be moved to?
As if reading my thoughts, she answered me with a tone of deep sadness:
No son, there is nothing we can do, only hold on while the body endures, between these four walls, and thanks be to God that we have them. Others are worse off than we are and dont even have a roof to shelter under when it rains or when the cold comes.
I looked up at it and then I stared at the ceiling, or rather, the place where it should be, because now the sky was visible through parts of it, and other parts only consisted of very old planks, which in their better days would have held something that now no longer exists, possibly some kind of roofing tile.
Addressing the youth who was closest, she asked:
Where are you going to start? How can I help you? Tell me what I have to do.
Nana, take it easy and youll see how nicely we leave everything, said Jorge with a smile, you just get on with your things, as if we werent here. Well try not to disturb you too much.
I didnt know how he could say that, I mean, what could we do there? Where would we get the material we needed? And most surprisingly, having never done it before, how would we students place a single brick without it falling on us?
Well, we only had to wait a short time to see the results, which at that moment seemed so difficult to achieve.
We were there all summer. I think it was the best spent vacation time of my entire life. Working, with calloused hands, hauling earth, bricks, cement and the material that we were accumulating and using piece by piece until we rebuilt that little house with our own hands.
When we saw it finished, none of us could believe it. We had put all our enthusiasm into it, and we were truly proud of what wed achieved.
It seemed that as the work progressed, it was taking years off the two people who lived there. They helped us with the eagerness of a pair of youngsters. We had to reprimand them so they wouldnt carry so much. They apologized to us, telling us that they couldnt stand by idle, watching us rebuild their beloved little house. A house that, back in their day, they had built themselves, so many years ago that they almost couldnt remember how many, but that the passage of time had been responsible for ruining, one little flaw at a time.
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It was Sunday, the last day of vacation, and we wanted to gather all our friends together to say goodbye. Classes would begin tomorrow and each of us had to dedicate ourselves to our own path, so it would be difficult for us to see each other again, since each of us studied different things. As it was raining that morning, it was not possible to go out, so resigned, I looked for something to do. In the end, I dedicated the morning to fixing those bookshelves I had and the notes that had accumulated on the drawers and I said to myself: Im going to clean up to make room for the new materials for the new academic year that will start soon.
How quickly time had gone by, it seemed like only yesterday when I came home saying:
Family, Im finished.
But youre so thin, whats happened to you? my mother asked as she gave me a hug.
You know buddy, eating during exam time doesnt take up much time, my father said smiling, now its up to you to regain your strength.
And giving me a hug, he asked me:
What about your grades? Do we have any surprises?
In any case, let him get some rest, hell tell us everything, she protested.
Relax, I passed everything, I answered my father smiling.
Passed? he asked me. Only passed?
No, relax Dad, I didnt lose the scholarship, I said to him in a satisfied tone.
He gave a strong sigh of relief and said:
Son, you know how important it is that they keep giving it to you.
Yes, calm down, everything went well. Well, Id say better than well, I added smiling.
Im so proud of you, he said softly.
Chelito came out of her room just then and running, she pounced on me and wrapping her arms around my neck, said:
Brother, I really wanted you to come home. This way we can be two against two, because the twins are always messing with me. Now theyre in for it, she said, laughing happily.
I kissed her, and smiling, said:
Yes, now theyll see, well beat them, together they wont be able to win.
Manu, you havent changed a bit, Mom said, youre still a big kid.
Smiling as he went into the sitting room, I heard Dad say:
Thats good, better to stay that way for a long time.
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It was the last week of work. The group of bricklayers, as we liked to call each other, had to finish everything, summer was ending fast. As for our summer vacation, it was almost over as well, and we were going to take advantage of the last few days to enjoy, as someone put it, a well-deserved rest.
We approached the little house, the one we were so proud of, it was indeed our work. Even though we only came at first to try to patch up the roof a little, we ended up tiling it and fixing those holes that had been letting the rain water easily pass through since who knows when. Then, seeing that we were doing so well, we continued, and continued. We fixed the walls, we also put in a new floor in the room where they slept, which had only been cement and some of it was in a very bad state.