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"In Zihua" a story from the road by Mack McCrusty

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Contributed by: Michael RUle on 1/14/2007

Aye, so ye want a story of me adventures, do ye? Not some drivel what ye might find in the weekly rag for 50 cents down at the corner, but somethin' to bring the salt o' the sweat in yer eyes to life, somethin so ye can taste the odor of the back streets of that town we visited in Mexico, where the smell of a workin' class neighborhood is nothin' like what ye read about in those tour books ye spent all yer money on at that fancy airport, but rather the smell of a place where the work is hard and the fish fresh off the boats and the people poor, but proud, a place rough because there was no money to make it more genteel. Yer not askin' me to babble on about the fine sunsets we seen, or the sweet softness o' me lover's kiss as we walk along the beach late at night. No, ye aren't askin' me for those fine things o' travelin' now are ye? What yer askin' me is for somethin' unique, somethin' to bring back that edge we all find when maybe, just maybe, ye' find yerself pushin' that place we call comfort just a bit more-n ye'd like. Well, sit back then, get yerself a stiff drink if ye think ye might like one, and read what I got to tell ye.

This story starts as many o' mine are wont to do, and fer that I'll give ye me apologies right now. Aye, but there I was walking about the town, prowling the back streets with me sweet'eart Susan by me side. And it was the first day o' the year, and many places were closed, and the streets quiet, as all the fine residents of Zihautenejo seemed to be sleepin' off the previous night's revelry. And the day was growin' warm by then, and I mentioned to Susan I was accumulatin' a bit of a thirst, and that's when we heard that singin' comin' out o' that cantina across the calle.

Now ye might say, why that must o' been some fine croonin', to git ye in that there pub, and I'd surely like to agree with ye, but that isn't the case ye see. Truth be known, that vocalizin' was terrible, just plain horrible. Somethin' to remind ye of an ol' 45 spinning at 33 rpm. But open cantinas were in short supply at that particular moment of our journey, so me bein' me, and I apologized already for that, but me bein' me an' Susan at my side, why in we went.
What greeted us as we adjusted our sunblasted eyes to the shadows might o' made most gringos just turn around, but if ye can call stupid brave then you'd have to agree we was nothin' if not brave, so we sat down at the nearest table and ordered ourselves a couple cervesas frio, por favour.

When we walked in that cantina, ye see, we found ourselves in a threadbare place, with a few tables and a simple bar and sharin' it with a couple of old men, one with a guitar, and the two proprietors of the establishment, and one tipsy young lad with as bad a set o' pipes as I ever care to hear again. Then that young feller stood up and came over to introduce himself with us, and I was pretty sure that situation could go one of two ways, and only one of 'em good. T'was not the time fer the faint o' heart nor to be slack on yer diligence, Mack ol' boy, I says to meself.

Aye, but that young feller just wished to talk, and he proved to be a friendly enough sort, and I figured why if he was talkin' he couldn't be singin' and anything was better than that. The cervesas we ordered proved to be just as cold as we had hoped and that old feller with the guitar sang just fine when he was given the chance, and by the time we left that place the day was not so hot and we had made a host o' new friends. With a promise to return the next night with our mates in tow we stumbled out a few hours later, and the lady o' the place all, 64 years and 4' 6" of her and with the biggest smile ye ever had seen, why she promised to prepare us dinner, and Antonio with his guitar saying he would play some more music manana, off we went.
And ye know what? That's just what we did.

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Showing 1 of 1 comments

Submitted By: Susan Oliver

posted on 1/18/2007 @ 12:25:09 AM

(Not Rated)

Sounds like you're finding the fun side of life in old Mexico...keep sharing!

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Michael Rule

Larkspur , CO

Michael Rule has posted 47 stories and 540 comments since joining on 2/23/2006. Michael Rule 's average story rating is 4.94.

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