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Finally, its summer. The anticipated moment has arrived. We anxiously turned to our new work. The year has passed quickly, the days seemed to have wings and they flew away, well the day before an exam not so much, those were very difficult, Endless, you might call them.
This will be the last year I can devote to this for now. I have to start the University Militias next summer, which I am not looking forward to, but it is preferable to do it this way than to leave it and do military service when I finish studying.
Son, its more comfortable, you dont know what its like to be on sentry duty in the winter, out in the open all night, my father used to say to me whenever I protested, because I didnt want to do it.
Dont exaggerate Dad, nobodys died of that, I answered. I was still undecided and didnt really know what I wanted to do, which made me a little uncomfortable.
Listen Manu, military service is hard, any way you look at it and the University Militias have been made to measure for you. If only I could have landed such a sweet deal back in my day, he said with a face of resignation.
What are you talking about Dad? and since I didnt want to remind him of the hardships of the past, I tried to change the subject, but he continued.
On top of that, Im sure all your friends are going to do it, you wont be left high and dry, and he insisted that it was the best, and the most comfortable way.
What hed said about not going alone had just convinced me, but I said:
Well, Ill decide when the time comes.
When she heard us talking about it, Mom would intervene saying:
Yes, thats enough of that, I really dont want you to go so far.
Sweetheart, the University Militias are held in the summer. If Ive not been misinformed I think theyre from June 20th to September 15th. Think of it like going on vacation and thats it, its only a few days and then youre home again, and if youre lucky, youll be taken to the El Robledo camp, which is near the Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, in the province of Segovia, surrounded by pine groves called Valdesain.
Wheres Manu going? And how do you know that? asked Chelito.
Wherever they send him, like everyone else, but the son of a friend of mine from work was sent there and when he got home he said that theyd had a great time, that they went down to the town on weekends to dance and that they did marches or something through the pine forests, singing that little song thats become popular, called Margarita, you know, young folk stuff, so I dont think its going to be so bad.
And with that, the conversation was over, seeing that my mother was starting to pout. Cautiously, he approached her to give her a kiss and to calm her down.
Yes, of course, everything is very easy for you, she told him. You dont even realize that theyre slowly growing up and well be more and more alone every day, and before we realize it, well be at home on our own, just you and me.
We all laughed and my father scolded us:
Dont treat it like a joke when your mother is suffering.
And turning to her, he said:
But honey, what are you saying? Theyre practically still babies, we still have to put up with them for a long time yet, youll see how before you know it theyll all have completed their military service, or the militias as its called now, that theyll go off and do whatever it is that they do and youll have them back here again in no time.
Ill ask them to let me do them here in Santiago, so I dont have to leave home, Tono said.
Yes, said Carlitos, and you can also ask them to let you do your duties lying on the sitting room sofa, so youre more comfortable.
My mother, seeing that we were all more relaxed, was more content.
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Im anxious to see what theyve assigned to us, the guy who acts as the coordinator told us that, like the last time, we did such a good job that this time its going to be a bit more complicated, but well surely have a good time. During the year, Ive gone to see the elderly couple on two occasions, on each of their name days, when we celebrate with all those named after a particular saint, and I took a little something special for them, something small. I saved a little of what they give me at home for my meager expenses, and I bought them two chocolate candies on both occasions, which I know they both liked very much.
I also met with some of my workmates there, and we had a fun time recalling the variety of incidents that happened to us while we fixed up their house.
The old man, Rafael, reminded us of the fresh novice faces we had on the first day, afraid that they wouldnt give us their approval, but how could they not agree with some people who were going to help them? He did not imagine for a second that those inexperienced students, who were surely doing what they were doing because someone would have punished them if they didnt, and who wouldnt return when they ran into their first difficulty and leave everything worse than it was before, if that were possible, would fix it up and leave it as they had when they were finished.
The old man apologized for having thought that about us, but that was indeed what hed thought after seeing our faces. It was our hands, pretty much childrens hands, with clean fingernails, hands that had never done anything. At best, they had held the enormous weight of a book, but how were they going to make cement? That was unthinkable and he was close to telling us to leave, that they were not a joke and they would not be putting up with anyone who came to mock their needs in their own home.
But hed restrained himself and thought, Ill give them one day, Ill watch them and see what they do, and when they leave, Ill tell them not to come back here again, but seeing how eagerly we started and the interest we put into what we were doing, he was convinced that we were good people, and he gave us another day.
Yes, because today, as theres no trust, theyll be behaving themselves, but lets see who returns tomorrow. Theyll be destroyed from the effort and their muscles will be sore, he told us he had thought.
And he continued, Because when you left, I saw you were all so tired that I said:
When they fall into bed, these boys will tell themselves its over, that summer is for resting and having a good time, but I was wrong. The next day you arrived on time, I would even say early, and although I saw different hands on some of you, what I really noticed was on your faces, they were happy faces. That surprised me and I said to myself, Rafael you were wrong, theyre committed.
We all laughed when we heard that, and then his wife Rosa, who was listening, said:
So exaggerated! But I must admit that I was also fearful when I saw you arrive, four strong young people. What if they came to harm us?
Don Simón had already told us that you would come, but we didnt expect you to be so old, youre all so tall, and I was fearful all day.
If one of you were to push us, wed go flying, because were very small next to you all, I thought, then I told myself, but what are they going to want from us? We have nothing. Whats more, they would have done it when they arrived. Why would they have stayed here if that was the case? My fear began to subside, and when you left and Don Simón came to ask me how the day went
Is that why you started to cry? Simón interrupted her at that point.
Aah! Are you Don Simón? we asked surprised. We hadnt realized.
Nana, said Simón, Ive already told you many times not to call me that, it makes me seem much older than I am.
Alright son, sorry. I couldnt contain myself today, you saw that Ive managed on the other days they were here, and at no point did I call you that, she was saying.
He got up and approached her and giving her a hug he said:
Yes, you did very well, relax.
I suddenly remembered those ladies, Antonios grandmother and her friend, who gave them so many things and I asked them, So do those ladies still visit you?
Of course, they never miss a week, answered Rafael, they bring us food and everything. We dont have to worry anymore; we always have a hot meal on the table. Well, they dont come themselves, two gentlemen come on their behalf. They have come again, but just to visit. They do always bring something with them, they dont know how to come with empty hands, but they told us that their job is to take care of other things, and theyre always very busy and they were the ones who brought those two gentlemen to us that I told you about.
Two gentlemen? I asked, surprised. Who are they?
They told us they were from the Conferences of Saint Vincent de Paul and that they would help us in everything we needed, in fact, this winter I felt a little unwell and it coincided with the day they came, and without any fuss they took me to the doctor so he could see me.
Yes, they took him in their car and everything, Rosa added.
You see Papa, there are still people who care about you, Jorge told them.
Yes, he said, lowering his head, there are still good people, thanks be to God.
As we didnt want that day to be sad, we started to make jokes about the problem we had when we installed the tiles, that there was no way they would stay in their place. Thank goodness he was an expert and he was telling us the steps we had to take and Im certain that if he hadnt, we would still be doing it, and we wouldnt have finished yet.
Then they told us that the first day it had started to rain, they were watching to see whether or not the roof would leak, but they saw with joy that everything was perfectly set, and not a single drop had come through, and they said:
What good bricklayers who have fixed everything for us, they could earn good wages working like this.
We all laughed at that comment:
No Papa, that work is really hard, we arent the kind of people who like to work like that, because we know how difficult it is. Im sure well look for another simpler trade, we told them.
We spent the rest of the afternoon with them, remembering all those hours of work spent there, and how they gradually came to see the effort we put in and to understand that young people could also be useful, and that we didnt just think about partying, which was what they had thought at first.
CHAPTER 3.
It was a glorious day, the sun seemed to want to encourage us. We were looking forward to seeing the new place they had assigned to us. Even though we tried to form a team with the same people as last summer, we had a change, Antonio would not be with us this year. He had left Santiago de Compostela with his family, and they put another friend in his place. His name was Santiago, he told us, Santi to his friends. It was his first time, but surely within a few days he would be just as much of an expert as we were, because he was very excited.
These works are not performed during the academic year. Everyone is dedicated to their studies and because were all from different courses, each of us has our own circle of friends, and when we have seen each other, weve only greeted each other, with warmth yes, we dont share so many ups and downs in vain. We were jokingly asking each other, So, have the scratches healed? How about the calluses on your hands? and other unimportant things along those lines.
We were a team of bricklayers on the way to the construction site. Well, we may have been saying that, but we knew that it would just be for the summer, then it would be back to the books. What we did get out of that experience was to realize that we had The best job in the world, as Id already heard from my grandfather countless times when I complained about everything I had to study, and that we didnt appreciate being seated and studying comfortably, whether it was cold or hot, no matter how hard it rained. That encouraged us to improve our grades. We were discussing it when we arrived at the new place, along the path that Simón was showing us.
We saw a child playing on the floor. When he saw us approaching, he got up and looking up at us as if we were giants, he said to us with his baby talk:
Where you go? You play with me?
Leave the gentlemen be, little dear. Are you looking for something? we heard a woman, who must have been his mother, say as she appeared just then through the doorway, probably after hearing her little one.
The four of us said in unison:
Good morning, weve come
We all laughed at the coincidence and also with a smile she said:
Ah, so you are the ones, and that was our formal introduction. Come in, come in, she said as she turned around, disappearing inside the house.
We followed her and when we entered, we saw a sad, almost tearful man, on a rickety bed, who as he saw us enter, looked down with deep sadness and said:
I dont know how were going to be able to pay for it!
We stood, not knowing what to do. Suddenly I reacted and said:
But you dont have to pay us anything, havent you been told?
But I, I cant even help, he said, embarrassed.
Come on, you fool! the woman said in a loving tone. Dont worry, Ill help, and youll see how good everything will be.
He returned her look full of love and said:
Thank you sweetheart! I know.
Well, where do we start the work? asked Simón, who had been in charge of connecting with them a few days ago.
My name is Encarnación, Im here for whatever you need. Come! Ill show you everything, said the woman. Honey, Ill leave you with the baby for a little bit, so we can talk quietly, otherwise he wont leave us be.
Come to Dad, little one! said the man to the little boy who was holding his mothers hand.
The woman led him to the side of the bed. The boy sat on the floor with a broken toy truck that he was dragging along in his hand. He started playing there straight away and he stayed quiet.
She took us to the other side of the house. Surrounding it, we saw a yard demarcated with some chicken wire and wooden sticks, and she told us:
This is where we want to be, well, where we thought work could be done, and she looked at us as if she was embarrassed and lowered her head.
Dont worry, said Simón, youll see how nice were going to leave it, and can we make use of all the land? he asked, with the certainty of knowing what he wanted to do, although we had no idea what the two of them were talking about.
Yes, whatever you want, no problem, she answered.
And what about the chickens? What are you going to do with them? Theyre going to get in the way here, Simón asked again.