Miguel

He owns the sidewalk, dominates it with a heat and a piercing gaze that no hooligan, no bandito, no cheeky toddler can surmount. Always there, always smoking his cigarillos una taza espresso stained, empty on the table before him. He dresses the same as every other man round here – light shirt, dark pants. His hair is the same cut. His brawny forearms the same brown but Miguel leaves you with the impression that he has more to him than this. But of course! He only sells one type of ron and only one type of coffee and nothing else. No chicken, no cold bottled beer, no ice-cream for the kiddies. But, you see, only men come here. And only men known to Miguel. And they do not come for beers or ice-cream and they do not stay longer than una taza or a coupla fingers. Miguel has a telephone in the back, in a stockroom bare of stock.

Most times he’s out front, dominating the dusty vista with his keen eyes. Los perdidos know to leave alone lest there is need. And it would have to be need. The odd muchacho who does not know is pointedly ignored and soon he leaves – most are smart enough to never return.

Miguel. He came here as a young man, it is known. He is the root of all answers, but curiosity is a bedfellow most can do without.

Today, strangely, Gable Walk is empty. The two tables on Miguel’s Sun-starched patio lie folded against the wall. A cigarillo butt blows in a corner. The dusty window is bare. Today and the next day and the next. Miguel, though, is still watching, it is known. Perish the boy who thinks it macho to steal those tables or to crack that pane. Miguel owns the sidewalk. Passers-by, those who have need to pass-by on account of being neighbours or having business that makes good sense to walk down Gable Walk, never look directly at Miguel’s anyway. Except the older widows who don’t give a fuck what silly men do. And now is no different. The lair of the honcho is sacred and respected.

A black-clad figure shuffles past, farting loudly and cursing the sun on her brow. Within, Miguel chuckles and waits for the call.