They told us that they belonged to an organization that helped the needy, and through them they were also provided with food, which they brought for them once a week, even though we almost lost contact with them, because upon starting the academic year we had to dedicate ourselves to our student assignments.
We tried to help those people as much as we could that summer, and even if a million years passed, I dont think any of us Bricklayers will ever forget that wonderful experience. There were other summers, yes, but that was the first, at least for me.
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One day, we were resting, sitting on some logs that were there at the door of the house, and the old man began to talk to us while we ate those sandwiches that we had brought from our homes, and that we enjoyed so much, given how tired we were.
He sat with us and as if he were thinking aloud, he suddenly told us that he had been a soldier in his youth.
Really? Where? In the civil war? we asked curiously.
No boys, he said, Im very old.
Then where? we asked again.
In the Cuban war, he answered quietly.
Whaaat? we all said in surprise. But that was a long time ago.
Yep, I told you, Im very old, he answered and he remained very thoughtful, no doubt remembering those times.
Our curiosity wouldnt leave him to his thoughts and we immediately asked him:
Then youve crossed the sea? Tell us, tell us.
Sure, twice, he told us, one way, and fortunately back again, because others who were less fortunate than I was went over there and stayed there forever, they never returned.
And tell us, what was that like? we all insisted with curiosity.
Very pretty, he said, well, the place, not the war. It was always sunny, although sometimes we were so hot that we could hardly stay on our feet.
He was telling us, but you could tell he was reliving it in the meantime.
Such exaggeration! said Jorge and immediately added: Sorry.
No son, when its so hot, the body becomes dehydrated, and we didnt have water, well, not even food. Also, bear in mind that we werent accustomed to that kind of heat, to the kind of high temperatures they had over there, he said with a sadness in his eyes.
Then why did you tell us before that all of that was pretty? he asked.
Well, because it didnt rain like it does here. Ending the talk, he was starting to get up and we said to him with curiosity:
More, more, dont leave us hanging. Now that he had started, he had to tell us more things.
Well, theres nothing more, we had to retreat, he told us.
How did they win the war? we asked him curiously.
Wait, dont you study those things? Then what do they teach you in school? That we went on to win it? We lost it, but I didnt stay until the end. I had more luck. I was wounded and being on the right no longer served them, well, thats what I think anyway. The fact is that they brought us all back a few months before the end of the war on a ship full of sick people. Well, there were sick and wounded people, and none of us were needed there anymore. Actually, we were a nuisance. A ship came from Havana to Spain to bring more soldiers and instead of making the crossing empty, it came full of those who would be useless in battle, who only ate what little food they had there, or at least thats what we thought. They didnt tell us that, but there are things you dont need to be told to know.
He suddenly fell silent; it was plain to see how he remembered those painful times. We were all silent, expectant. He took a breath, and continued talking.
Here, the most serious cases were allocated to different hospitals. Of course, just the ones who made it back, because some fell by the wayside.
The old man was silent and looking at the ground with deep sadness. He continued, saying:
Both family and friends.
Family? Did you also have a relative with you? Antonio asked curiously.
Yes, wed gone as three cousins. We wanted to leave the town so we enlisted, thinking that it would be easier, that there would be no danger. Yes, it was a war, we knew that, but nobody told us that there were other worse things there, he was telling us all, but when he got to this point, we became aware of the upset tone in his voice.
What worse things? I asked, surprised. What could be worse than a bullet?
Well, diseases, you cant protect yourself against those, and those struck us more than bullets and decimated us without warning. One of my cousins died of a fever within a few days and the other came back on the boat with me also sick, but he didnt make it, he succumbed on the journey. So out of the three of us who left, Im the only one who can tell you about it.
And what did they do with those who didnt make it? Simón asked without being able to contain himself.
Well son, what do you think they did? They tossed them overboard for fish food, he said quietly and his eyes filled with tears.
Whaaat? we said. No way! And nobody protested?
But how were they going to transport them with the time it took to get back? and he stopped talking for a while.
Surely he was remembering all that he had experienced on that terrible voyage.
We remained silent so he would continue, but his wife who had approached him to listen to him said:
Yes, but thanks to that we met one another. As the saying goes, Every cloud has a silver lining. Come on, stop remembering the sad stuff, which doesnt do you any good.
Really? we asked curious. But surely theres more, come on, tell us, tell us.
Also sat on another log and seeing us sitting there, she began to tell us:
I was helping out in a hospital. At first I swept and scrubbed the floor, but one day they didnt have enough hands to tend to all the soldiers that had arrived, and a doctor told me:
Young lady, drop that broom and come here right now, I need you, run.
Surprised, I looked around me, thinking he was talking to someone else, but when I didnt see anyone else, I went over, and before I knew it, he took my hand and put it on a bloody rag, applying pressure to stop the blood flowing from a wound.
When I saw the blood I almost fainted, but the wounded man lying there, looking at me and smiling, said:
Thank you pretty girl, and it was he who then passed out.
I was all scared and I told the doctor:
He died.
No, stay here, hes not going anywhere, press hard.
How is he going to go anywhere if he just died? I asked the doctor, because I hadnt understood what hed meant.
He only fainted from the pain, the doctor said, smiling, but right now Ill stitch up that scratch and youll see, in two or three days youll be walking around out there together.
I noticed how my whole face turned red with embarrassment, and I said quietly:
What are you saying?
Youre both young, are you not? If I were a few years younger, I would also ask you if youd like to take a walk with me, but I dont think its appropriate anymore. We have a lot of work to do here.
None of this seemed serious to me and I tried to leave. When I made a gesture to remove my hand from the rag, the doctor pushed my hand down hard on the wound saying:
None of this seemed serious to me and I tried to leave. When I made a gesture to remove my hand from the rag, the doctor pushed my hand down hard on the wound saying:
Be careful, if you dont keep pressing down, he could bleed out. Press down hard, he doesnt feel it.
Alright, Im not telling you any more. That wounded soldier is this husband of mine, and that doctor seemed to be a fortune teller; he was right. As for the soldier, after the stitches they gave him; go on, show them.
What did you say dear? the husband asked in surprise, not expecting his wifes request.
Yes, yes, we said with curiosity. Faced with our insistence, he couldnt refuse us.
He rolled up his sleeve as far as he could and we saw a large scar. It started near the elbow and ran up his arm, disappearing under the sleeve of his shirt, which hid the other end.
As the old lady had stopped talking, Simón, who was the most curious, asked:
And you got married? You have to tell us what happened next, you cant leave us hanging like that.
Of course, what do you think? Well, it wasnt immediately because he returned home and we had to wait a bit, she said looking lovingly at her husband, but we finally managed.
Where are you from? Simón asked again.
Im from Extremadura, from a very small village in the province of Badajoz called Azuaga. I worked there as a boy in the lead mines, like the rest of the town. I dont know if you know, but theyre the only lead mines in the whole of Spain.
Well, there are loads of mines in Spain, almost everywhere, Jorge told him.
Yes, but lead mines? Surely not, he insisted. Theyre only to be found in my town. One day I got tired and I enlisted, like many others, so I could leave all that behind, get out of that town and see the world. We agreed, two of my cousins and myself, and we didnt say a word about it to our families, so they wouldnt oppose it. After wed enlisted, when it was too late to back out, they found out, and I can assure you that none of us would have gone anywhere if not for the fact that everything had already been set in motion. Thats how we embarked on the adventure. Weve always done so in my town; we have a forefather from the town who went with Christopher Columbus to discover the Americas. We wanted to do something similar, go see the world, leave the place where we were. Yes, we were happy to be with our families, but there was no future there. You know what small towns are like, things just didnt work out as we thought they would, the kind of stuff that young folk worry about! What were we gonna do?
After stopping to rest a little, looking at the ground and remembering those distant times, he continued telling us about those snippets from his life, that he had kept so deep inside and that he almost certainly had never entrusted to anyone before.
When I left that hospital where we met, the old man was saying, I had to go home to my town. I had to recover from all that. I was, as they say, Like a toothpick, and I hadnt an ounce of strength. Besides, I didnt have a place to stay here, so even though I really didnt enjoy leaving this woman, I had to, it was the best way. I only held out there for a few months though, and when I thought Id sufficiently recovered, I told my family:
Im going to look for my Galician girl, and there was no way they could stop me, so I came to this part of the country.
First, I looked for a job. I couldnt approach the person I loved and tell her Im an invalid.
I found one right away, because when youre not fussy, youre not put off by anything. With all that out of the way, I searched for her and eventually we got married; end of story.
Then came the civil war and our life took a turn, but hey, everyone had to adjust to the circumstances and we cant complain.
Weve always been together, thats what we wanted and although God has not wanted to bless us with children, were very happy.
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Others came after that first summer, but everything changed when I finished my studies. Its still funny though when they ask me:
Why did you get so involved in a task that only those who were engaged in church activities all day did? Those whose ideas led them to give more of themselves to the needy, as a way to follow their doctrine, those who listened in the sermons, those who never raised their voices, or got involved with anyone for fear of committing a sin, as the priests said.
Its not that I have anything against a person being good, I just refuse to accept that you can only be good by being, as they say, a good Catholic, because that was the normal way to think of these issues surrounding morality coming from a family like mine, and with Carmen, my older sister, living in a convent.
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Yes, it was an unexpected decision, being a brilliant lawyer, the top of her class, with a successful practice in La Coruña and as modern as she seemed. That Sunday, after meeting everyone and having made us all sit down, she stood there very serious in front of us, announcing without sidestepping that she had something to tell us.
Dad, Mom, Im going to live in a convent, she said without blinking.
Whaaat? exclaimed my father, unable to contain himself. What about your job? And the practice? What are you going to do with all of it? How can you just abandon it?
Of course my mother, who at that moment began to weep with joy, getting up and hugging Carmen, said:
My darling daughter, I knew it. Ive sensed it since you were a child, but you persisted in studying law and I didnt want to discourage you, she said as she kissed her excitedly.
Sorry Carmen! Could you say that again please? said my father very seriously.
Dad, Ive made up my mind. Ive been there several times, to the convent, to see how life there was. Its not just a whim, I know thats what I want. Its not a joke, or anything like that, Ill be shutting down the practice, Ive already let the owners of the property know that Im leaving it empty, so theres no problem there. If you want any of the furniture or books that are there, you can take them, and if not, Ill see what I can do about them.
My father, who hadnt yet absorbed the news, said:
But love, given what its cost us to put it all together and now youre going to throw it all away? What if it turns out that it was just a whim after all, and you decide to go back to your work? What will you do? Will you buy everything again?
Dad, Carmen said, Ive given it a lot of thought, and you know better than anyone else that I dont take things lightly, that I think about decisions a great deal before making them, and its already decided. The last commitments I had have already been concluded and Ive not picked up any more cases. As for the expense you put into helping me set it all up, dont worry, I have the money saved. Since I started earning it, Ive spent almost nothing, so I can return it all to you, and you can invest it in any other need that might come up.
Carmen, my father said a little more calmly, its not money I want to talk about, we were happy to spend it to set up the practice. Were not talking about that right now. Im telling you, if what you want is to leave that job because its not what you expected or theres some other reason, fair enough, close it all and take some time to think about which direction you want your life to take. Go out, meet people, maybe youll even find some young man you like and you can start a family, but think about it calmly and dont rush into anything, because everything in your life has always gone in such a rush.