In the Time of Deers and Butterflies.

(extract of novel)

Once he left La Gregoria at the pier, he walked into the bar on Mitre Street, choked down a

grapa and boarded the train towards Central Retiro station. He got off in the first stop and

wandered amid the vending stands covered with rags bearing uncertain color. He refused

invitations from strangers to spots that he already knew. Late at night, from the bar in the

corner of Colon and Lavalle streets two men saw him climb the stairs of Lusitano hotel.

When Concepcion opened the door of room 202, he threw himself into her arms; even

though she had a customer in her bed, she whisked him in. Half dressed, the customer refused

to pay her; Concepcion cursed him using one word (Dona Marta heard her from the

newspaper stand from across the street); she was once a mother and recognized a son in need

(Don Luis peeked through the opening of the door and thought that she was holding a little

boy). He always visited Concepcion when he hunted deer, what happened within the four

walls was a desperate attempt to resuscitate the animal that was hours ago dead. That time,

there was no possibility of resurrection. Concepcion wrapped him with useless words that she

spit out at the officer when three days later he knocked on her door asking about him. Two

hours later, the kid who used to work at the grain station saw him walk along Colon Street:

he clumsily moved as a doll pulled by invisible threads; he remained on the coast of the River,

but he was no longer the one that he used to be although he resembled him.

After eleven, he registered at Delta Hotel. Acknowledging the authority gained by paying the

bill in advance, it was at one o’ clock of the third day after he checked in that the manager

knocked on his door. As nobody answered, she opened the door with the master key. The

open window revealed that the guest had flown.

The cries coming from the street pulled the women to the balcony; the neighbors announced

a whole collection of misfortunes: one of Lavalle bar’s habitués missing one arm and both

legs, two kids with a sudden rush of green cockroaches all over their skin, one of the women

from the neighborhood by the river with two heads none of which held any resemblance with

the original one and one of the cold meat station workers with chicken legs and wings instead

of legs and arms.

The catastrophe was settled and the woman added her own voice when she turned to the

bathroom and saw an animal hanging from the shirt that the guest wore when he checked in

three days earlier. The Dona twisted her body towards the sun now transformed into a black

disc, perhaps reacting to the horrors announced by the humans.

The neighbors didn’t flood the streets as they used to when something was wrong in the

neighborhood, instead they remained seated in the living rooms and in the kitchens. To

prevent the spreading of the pest, the mate, the gossip and the kisses on the cheek were

suspended indefinitely. Due to the reclusion of the infected neighbors, the doctors wouldn’t

provide a diagnosis responding to the magnitude of the deformities. Considering those alive

and their specters, nobody ever knew how many the affected were; the only death registered

as result of the pest was the islander’s at Delta Hotel, if it was, in fact, him.

Many neighbors explained the sudden presence of this army of silent monsters as a sign of the

Apocalypses and a few others as the vengeance of the Cabecitas, a gang recently set free after

spending more than one month in jail while they waited for the sentence of the judge.

Confronted with the file of the case that consisted of just one page, the judge, raised his

hands invoking the non existent justice and established, by signing that only paper, the
innocence, wrongly gained, of the gang. Everybody expected their vengeance: somebody

from the neighborhood had given their whereabouts away.

Pampero wind played on the streets of a deserted Canal District and, in compliance with the

river, invented its own game; it dried the channel revealing more than half of a century of

history on the coast. The Cabecitas indulged in a sweet sleep and dreamt their future crimes.

***

Yes, the river has never receded so far into its center. In the islands, sirens announced once

and again a new barren ship; the river stopped along with everything that it carried. Officer

Martinez couldn’t figure out how this young woman bearing the dullness of the river, reached

the Prefect Department and was now handing him a set of papers soaked in the muddy water.

Perhaps the river forgot her on the pier as it left its usual dwellings.

With uncertain interest, Martínez eyed the tepid handwriting, impossible to translate into the

language of the official documents; the set included a collection of drawings that exhausted

the logic of possible and improbable combinations among all the animal species including the

man.

He had his hands in this fantastic universe when Subaltern Segundo stepped in the office

supplying the new of the death of the islander from Negro creek at a hotel in Canal District.

He mentioned a massive collage of deformities that Martinez immediately eyed replicated in

the pages at his hand.

For the first and last time, the two stories met and instantly, as a true son of the river,

Martinez filled his lungs with the humid air of the islands, released it and kept the papers in a

manila envelope curtailing any comments. At that moment it wasn’t worth the effort looking

for the woman: she had already disappeared like a specter of the river.
That same afternoon, Martinez took the news of the islander’s death to whom everybody

considered to be the father. Martinez had worked a one-sided friendship with the old man and

visited him with the excuse of advice on deer hunting that he mixed with other words –have

you seen anything strange in the river, if I could anything for you, just let me know, we can

go together to hunt, some time-. With his habitual indifference, Don Julian just heard that

useless thread of words. Martinez took good care to simulate a similar indifference as he

tightened a cord of the police boat, but the truth was an imbalanced equation between

memorable and insignificant moments trapped between two strangers.

With the eyes nailed on the wooden floor of the pier, the old man listened to the usual

nothingness (did the tide ruined the entire plantation? when are you cutting the sauce? Is the

dog ill?); Martinez was only delaying the purpose of his presence on the island. The old man

uttered interjections; after he heard the two-sentence summary of the happenings at the hotel

in Canal District, he raised his shoulders and returned his eyes to the wooden floor where

they were expected to lay.

The papers remained on Martinez’s desk for more days than it was usual in these cases; was it

a sign of somebody asking for help in a case in which his guilt might be revealed?

Dona Luisa, the lady in charge of cleaning the Prefecture, exclaimed as she saw the drawings:

-20 That is the devil’s deed or a Christian who lodges the disgrace.

And, into Martinez’s ears, she murmured:

-20 The tide is low and the bad bugs leave their hiding place only to spread damage.

The papers were ostracized in a drawer almost identical to the one that received the file of the

islander’s death at San Fernando police station. Only Dona Luisa eyed the texts once in a while: those

images of monstrosities fed her routine pleasure in reading the police section of the newspaper. The
texts had no order at all, not even an ending; as bored as Dona Marta was –there is so little happening

on the islands-, she lent them a beginning, middle and end; the work of cutting and pasting together

fragments took her several months (what she ordered one day, somebody who she never saw,

disordered the following day) until the wind, taking advantage of Dona Marta distraction to close the

door, stole the papers from her hands and returned them to the river.

***

Rosa and Leonor arrived together in Buenos Aires; in a sudden, one split from the other, the

incident initiated Rosa’s quest for Leonor.

The mother sent her daughters to the South: there the men had fewer manias than the ones up

the river. If she could only buy them the husband at the marketplace! There vendors let her

touch the merchandise and she never got a surprise when she opened the bag at home.

The mother always sent the same letter and added a new detail; each of her daughters had a

peculiarity that she made it stand out: she is good folding the empanadas, she manages to

wash the collar of the shirt to white, she extends the sheets on bed so neatly that you won’t

be able to see a crease, she washes her feet every day.

Her sources? All the reliable ones: the three o’ clock telenovela, a letter sent by the only

cultivated husband that she had, a short story from a fashion magazine, a little anecdote that

that her neighbor next door told her before she stabbed her husband, and what her first

husband told her the wedding night before going into bed.

In a school meeting, the mother convinced the teacher to review the spelling; although she

mastered the composition, she was not as good with accents and differentiating s, c and z.

The letter was a success as the girls once they left, amid weeping and questioning their

destiny, never returned. The answer from down the river delayed what separated one
menstruation from the following one. As soon as the mother put the letter in the mail, she

began packing. She wept wetting the humble bridal packing that included a nightgown long

to the knees, a set of white blankets, two embroidered panties, a loose dress with floral prints

on the front, and a linen tablecloth. The clothes remained wet until the daughter opened the

suitcase in her new home. Seduced by the politeness shown in the letter, the mother harbored

no doubt that the husband would fill in the required household furnishings.

Rosa was different; the answer to the mother’s letter delayed more than the usual; the mother

wrote two new letters but still obtained no response. In the fourth one, she talked about

Leonor; it was evident that the product was not enough to the eyes of the candidate.

Since she was pregnant, the mother never trusted Rosa; she had the heart torn between two

lovers, a luxury that a girl shouldn’t had. No fancy stuff for the girls, only problems stood

ahead.

Rosa was white as a fogged photograph. At the photo shop, the technician explained the

error

as a result of opening the camera when the film wasn’t completely rolled. Rosa was born

before the due date; the mother experienced the labor pain on bus 45 near the market. Two

senoras delivered the child on the sidewalk under a burning sun. The mother couldn’t set her

eyes apart from that sun set at the zenith of midday; that light fogged Rosa. When the mother

heard: She is white! She is white!, she was certain that something had gone wrong.

The mother started talking about Leonor before Rosa learnt to talk; she took greater care of

her than she did of the ruined one. The older sisters raised Rosa but as the mother sent them

to the South, Rosa grew alone and her education was never completed.

In the Time of Deers and Butterflies. (extract of script)

 In the Time of Deers and Butterflies

An Original Script

By

Maria Berns

November 12th, 2006

EXT/INT ENTRYWAY/ISLANDER’S COTTAGE DAY

The interior of a typical islander’s cottage is seen through one of the windows: the wooden
walls and floor, two small windows at the front, the thatched roof.

A movement around the house reveals a back room where a woman is lying on a bed: she
seems asleep but the languid arm hanging out of the bed reveals that she is probably dead.

The movement goes back to the front door. SUAREZ (35), an islander, gently pushes the
door open.

INT ISLANDER’S HOUSE DAY

Suarez browses the room. He takes his time examining the objects as if somebody going over
personal memories and finally keep them in a bag. He looks out of the window at the flooded
land. He returns some objects to their place. Suarez’s movements around the room interrupt
the prevailing silence.

With hesitation, Suarez steps into the contiguous room where the woman lies on the bed. The
marks of water are still present in the sheets and in the scarce furniture. The woman seems to
have been surprised by the flood during her sleep.

Suarez sees a golden ring in one of her fingers. He pulls the ring out the finger with no
success. The erratic pulling moves the body revealing the woman’s nakedness. Suarez takes
the woman’s finger to his mouth and tries to loosen it but fails again.

The full body of the woman, though aged, definitely excites him and Suarez lays on her. He
disorderly kisses her; he unties his pants and penetrates her. Once and again, he pushes his
organ into the woman, even more frantically as he doesn’t seem to come; now the woman’s
body is half out of the bed. The woman seems to smile slightly.

PATRICIA (OS)
Are you there?

Suarez detaches from her, the woman falling on the floor. Now, the woman looks completely
dead.

Exhausted, he tries to release the ring; he fails again. Suarez takes a knife out of his pocket.

A laughing is heard coming from outside.

EXT BACK LOT OF THE COTTAGE DAY

Suarez steps out of the house, he washes his hands in a pool of water. He cries as a little boy.

PATRICIA (OS)
Hey!

Suarez wipes his tears and walks to the front lot.

EXT COAST OF THE RIVER DAY

The river slowly removes from the beach the objects brought by the high tide. PATRICIA
(10) browses the garbage and picks some objects that she keeps in a woman’s purse. She
looks at Suarez who approaches the wooden pier.

PATRICIA
Why did you take so long?

Suarez signals the girl to get in the boat. He carries a bag.

EXT WOODEN BOAT DAY

An unstable look shows Suarez who, with the help of an oar, pushes the boat away from the
coast. In the middle of the river, Suarez turns on the engine that coughs some muffled
sounds.

ROSARIO (OS)
What happened?

Suarez accelerates drowning Rosario’s voice. He looks into the surface of the river disturbed
by the movement of the boat.

EXT PAYCARABI RIVER DIA

ROSARIO (20), a white ghostly looking woman with brown rounded eyes, her thinness
interrupted by an early pregnancy belly, stares at Suarez who conducts the boat steadily along
the middle of the river. From the roofs of the houses, the islanders look at the furniture that
floats on the over flown river.

The boat crosses the first wide river and Rosary’s eyes cut only fragments of the sliding
landscape: the sun through the trees, the movement of the weeds, the brightness on the
surface of the river, the creeks that get lost in the shrubbery. Suarez stands at the rear of the
boat looking frontally.

With her body overboard, Patricia fishes objects out of the river and keeps them in her purse.

Rosario tries to make eye contact with Suarez but fails. The sound of the motorboat is
unbearable but fills the emptiness. When the boat slows down, Rosario looks into the river;
her image is disfigured by the waves. In a flicker, her eyes meet Suarez’s on the surface of the
water, but the river undoes the encounter with new waves.

Patricia looks at the passing wooden houses built on poles that are scattered along the coast.
The doors are open and the kids run from inside waving at the passing boat. Patricia waves
back. The vending boat crosses them in the middle of the river. The man at the wheel looks
fixedly at Suarez in distrust; Suarez accelerates. The man shakes his head in disapproval.

EXT COAST INDE LA SERNA RIVER DAY

Patricia picks pieces of wood and glass, cutlery, cloth, she returns some to the river and other
she keep. By a modest picnic, Rosario fishes some salami inside a plastic bag. Patricia shows
Rosario an object.

PATRICIA
Do you want to play with me?

ROSARIO
That’s all dirty.

PATRICIA
 (TO SUAREZ)
And you?

Suarez throws a fishing line into the river.

ROSARIO
(TO SUAREZ)
Do you want this piece?

Suarez shakes his head in a no. Rosario takes that last piece of salami to her mouth.

PATRICIA
Can I have some more salami?

Rosario shows her the empty bag. Patricia sticks the tongue out at her and sits by Suarez.
The fishing line moves and Suarez takes his time to pull, a fish comes in one of the hooks.

PATRICIA
Wow! It’s huge!

Suarez throws the fish by Rosario who doesn’t seem to bother.

SUAREZ
We’ll cook it when we arrive.

ROSARIO
Arrive, where?

Suarez takes the ring out of his pocket and looks at it. Patricia eyes it.

PATRICIA
Let me see it.

Suarez shows the ring to Patricia preventing her from touching it. Alternatively, he fishes for
a magazine inside the bag and hands it to the girl who takes it keeping her eyes on the ring.
Suarez gives a necklace to Rosary. Rosary says no with her head.

SUAREZ
Come on!

ROSARIO
It isn’t yours.

SUAREZ
And?
Rosary shakes her head.

PATRICIA
Give it to me.

SUAREZ
These are for a woman, not a girl.

PATRICIA
Even the ring?

Jaded, Suarez keeps the ring in his pocket and sits near Rosary. In annoyance, Patricia stares
at him from the shoreline.

SUAREZ
(TO ROSARIO)
I’m giving it to you.

Suarez shoulders Rosary, his movements are erratic, strange, and out of sync; she rejects him.

ROSARIO
Don’t bother me!

Suarez disregards Rosario’s demand and keeps touching her.

ROSARIO
She’s watching!

Meanwhile, Patricia makes a hole in the soil and deposits the fish on the bottom. She fills the
hole with the soil, as she looks sideways at Suarez and Rosario. She screams.

SUAREZ
What happens?

PATRICIA
There are some guys.

Instinctually, Suarez stands up.

PATRICIA
(POINTS AT THE OPPOSITE COAST)
They were over there.
Suarez looks intently at the opposite coast but he doesn’t eye anybody. Rosario watches
Suarez’s reaction.

SUAREZ
There isn’t anybody!

PATRICIA
I saw them.

Suarez looks for the fish while he signals Rosario to pick up the picnic stuff displayed on the
shore.

SUAREZ
Where did you put it?

PATRICIA
(DARINGLY)
Guess!

Suarez shakes his head and sees the disturbed soil.

PATRICIA
That way, more fishes grow.

Suarez unearths the fish.

PATRICIA
Aren’t you fishing another one?

Suarez walks to the boat and keeps the fishing lines; Rosario takes what remains on the
beach.

PATRICIA
Can’t we stay a bit longer?

Rosario gets into the boat, behind her Patricia climbs inside. Suarez places the oar in the
bottom of the river and pushes the boat away from the coast.

EXT ORANGE RIVER DAY

The boat follows an uncertain itinerary as new creeks open forcing Suarez to change 
direction once and again. Rosario looks at the houses overtaken by the thicket. Suarez stops 
the boat for a while. 

ROSARIO
 Where are we going?

A procession of boats passes by them. The first boat carries a statue of Virgin Mary. Rosario
and Patricia stare at the people inside the boats. They both stare at each other as if they were
some strange species. The procession takes the creek to the right.

Suarez redirects the boat towards a creek to the left.

Rosario looks at the scarcer houses along the coast; most of them are covered by the foliage.
Suarez stops the boat for a while.

ROSARIO
Are we lost?

The smoke from the fires on the shore blocks the river. From behind a smoke barrier, a
sunken ship is revealed. Rosario sees shadows inside. Arms come out of the eyeholes of the
ship and the twilight colours the faces of the men with a blue tint.

BLUE MAN
Sir! Sir! Is she yours?

BLUE MAN 2
Stop for a while; let us see her closely,
Come on! Don’t be selfish! Does she use
underwear?

BLUE MAN
Shut up! The guy will push a bullet into us!

BLUE MAN 2
He’s a friend.

Suarez avoids them and keeps looking ahead.

EXT PIER OF SUAREZ’S PROPERTY DAY

Suarez stops the engine and pushes the boat towards the stairs of the pier. Rosario sees a
wooden house on poles with a broken staircase at the end of the property. The silence is
brutal, only the water lapping the coast is heard.

Rosario looks inquiringly at Suarez who doesn’t look back at her. Suarez jumps on the pier,
and ties the cord of the boat to the stairs. Patricia steps out of the boat behind him. Suarez
signals Rosario to get out.

INT/EXT DON JULIAN’S HOUSE/FRONT LOT DAY

Rosario and Patricia walk along the muddy road towards the house. Suarez walks behind
them. A dog runs towards the two women and barks at them. Rosario remains motionless.
Patricia backs towards Suarez. The dog keeps barking.

SUAREZ
Ehhhh!!!

Suarez pushes the dog back; the animal keeps barking as the trio approaches the house.
Suarez walks up the stairs to the screen door.

SUAREZ
Ey!

Suarez walks down and checks below the house.

SUAREZ
It’s me.

Suarez walks into the thicket.

ROSARIO
Somebody is coming.

DON JULIAN (73) takes his time to walk from the far end of the property at the limit with
the thicket. He holds a dead small animal cut open and bleeding. Don Julian and the dog stare
at Suarez: the dog with enthusiasm, Don Julian, troubled. The trio is stunned.

DON JULIAN
(DRILY)
What do you want?

SUAREZ
(AVOIDING DON JULIAN’S EYES)
The high tide ruined my property down
the river.

DON JULIAN
(SARCASTICALLY)
Did it?

Don Julian looks at one side of Rosario avoiding her eyes, rejecting with apprehension her
deadly appearance. Conversely, Rosario looks for his eyes. Uncomfortable, he attempts at
leaving and releases the dead animal that falls on the ground and stays.
 DON JULIAN
Here, things are not so bad.

Patricia kneels down and stares at the small bleeding animal lying on the ground. Suarez
touches her on the shoulder.

SUAREZ
Say hello to Don Julian.

PATRICIA
(TO DON JULIAN)
Why did you kill it?

Don Julian looks at her with indifference.

DON JULIAN
Why not?

SUAREZ
(SIGNALS WITH THE HEAD)
This is Rosario.

ROSARIO
(COLDLY)
Buenas tardes.

Don Julian turns avoiding her again and looks towards the river.

DON JULIAN
(SIGNALING THE CARGO ON THE BOAT)
Is that yours?

SUAREZ
If not, whose?

Don Julian bitterly smiles.

PATRICIA
I want to leave.

SUAREZ
I saw water in the thicket, you surely have the
plantation flooded.

Suarez avoids Don Julian’s spiteful stare. Patricia caresses the dog.
 SUAREZ
I give you a hand.

Uninterested in Suarez’s comment, Don Julian heads for the house.

SUAREZ
For a few days.

Don Julian moves his head disapprovingly.

SUAREZ
(POINTING AT ROSARIO)
She can cook.

Don Julian looks at Rosario for the first time. Rosario and Don Julian look into each other’s
eyes maintaining the moment. Suarez registers this momentum.

SUAREZ
I’m bringing the things from the boat.
(TO PATRICIA)
Come and help me.

Suarez and Patricia walk back to the pier. Rosario comfortably rests her eyes on Don Julian
who looks at Suarez and his movements on the pier. She is about to say something when Don
Julian approaches Suarez and Patricia who walk back; Patricia carries some of the stolen
stuff. Don Julian looks at the cargo but says nothing.

SUAREZ
I’m going into the house now.

Suarez signals Rosario to walk forward. Don Julian doesn’t say a word.

SUAREZ
I have some fish.

Troubled, Don Julian stares at the trio as they proceed to walk up the stairs. The dog runs in
excitement around the lot.

DON JULIAN
Stop the fuck!

The dog barks at a passing boat. Don Julian walks to the pier. Rosario looks back at Don
Julian and walks towards him. The dog barks at her.
 ROSARIO
Do you know me?

DON JULIAN
Should I?

Don Julian keeps walking to the pier.

INT KITCHEN OF DON JULIAN’S HOUSE DAY

Suarez opens the door into a room with a broken table in the centre, equally damaged chairs,
a long strip of wood to one side with a collection of plates and glasses which don’t match one
another. Rosario remains at the doorway.

SUAREZ
Come in!

Rosario proceeds to the room on the right, Suarez signals her to go to the room on the left.

INT SUAREZ’S ROOM NIGHT

Suarez closes the door behind Rosario who looks at the room: a small bed, the dishevelled
sheets revealing an old mattress, the window, and the river outside.

ROSARIO
Did you live here?

Suarez stares at her as if answering hurts.

ROSARIO
Who is the old man?

Suarez opens a cabinet. There is nothing inside.

SUAREZ
Somebody I used to hunt with.

Rosario dusts the mattress and places a bag on it. Patricia pushes the door open and steps in.
Suarez walks to the window and gives his back to the women. The dog is heard barking in
the distance.

PATRICIA
(EYES ROSARIO’S BAG ON THE BED)
Where am I going to sleep?

Suarez signals outside in the kitchen.

 PATRICIA
Why there?

A whistle comes from outside.

DON JULIAN (OS)

Come on, sonofa!

Suarez sees the Don Julian walk into the workshop below the house.

EXT SPACE BELOW THE HOUSE DAY

Don Julian cleans his nails as he looks at the ceiling following the movements he hears
coming from upstairs.

INT KITCHEN DAY/NIGHT

It is getting dark.

Don Julián untangles some fishing lines. Suarez comes out of the room and stares at the old
man’s fingers that move as if responding to a mind of their own.

SUAREZ
How is the business?

Don Julian doesn’t say a word; Suarez looks sideways at him.

DON JULIAN
Small animals, that’s what I get.

Rosario enters the kitchen in a loose dress. She begins to tidy the plates, looks into the
wooden refrigerator that hangs from the ceiling, and looks inquiringly at Suarez who avoids
her eyes. Rosario takes a sausage out of the fridge.

DON JULIAN
And they’re useless.

SUAREZ
There are other outlets.

DON JULIAN
(SHAKING HIS HEAD, ANNOYED)
Not for me.

SUAREZ
Are you still waiting for that good catch?
Don Julian shrugs his shoulders: there is nothing else that can be done about it.

ROSARIO
(A SUAREZ)
Are you going to eat?

SUAREZ
(TO DON JULIAN)
What do you say to have a woman in
the house for a while?

DON JULIAN
(TAKING HIS TIME TO ANSWER)
Just for a while?

Out of sync, Suarez laughs as if Don Julian had said an improbable joke.

DON JULIAN
Woman, you have only once and I
Already had mine.

SUAREZ
But…

DON JULIAN
That’s what I think.

Suarez looks blankly at Don Julian and walks out leaving Rosario and Don Julian alone in the
kitchen.

EXT PIER NIGHT

Suarez walks towards the river. He turns and sees Rosario and Don Julian’s silhouette in the
kitchen. The humming of the river and the tapping of the plates are faintly heard. Suarez gets
into the boat and sits; he takes the ring out of his pocket and places it on the palm of his
hand. When he looks back at the house, Rosario stands at the doorway. Patricia looks at him
from the pier.

PATRICIA
She wants to know if we’re going to eat.

Suarez keeps the ring in his pocket.

INT SUAREZ´ S BEDROOM NIGHT

Rosario takes some blankets out of a bag and extends them on the mattress. Then, she sits on
the bed and waits for Suarez. From the ceiling, the bulb light sprays a yellow light on 
Rosario. The soft wind swings the light bulb. 

Rosario looks around the room, but nothing tells a thing or the stains of humidity on the 
walls or the dirt on the wooden floor. Patricia steps in and sits by Rosario. She looks at 
Rosario’s belly and touches it. Rosario gets uncomfortable with the caress. 

PATRICIA
How did you get it inside? 

Rosario stands up and busies her in the room. 

ROSARIO
I don’t know. 

PATRICIA
How come? 

ROSARIO
When you’re woman, you know. 

PATRICIA 
What do you need to be woman? 

ROSARIO
You have to bleed first.
 PATRICIA 
Like the animal that the old man cut? 

Rosario shrugs her shoulders and takes a nightgown out the bag. Patricia stands on the bed.

PATRICIA
Where do you bleed?

ROSARIO
From the butt.

PATRICIA
(IN DISGUST)
How from the butt?

ROSARIO
As if peeing.

PATRICIA
Like red pee?

ROSARIO
(BOTHERED) 
Get changed to go to bed. 

PATRICIA
Does it hurt?
 ROSARIO
Do as I am telling you. 

PATRICIA
(JUMPS ON THE BED)
I don’t want to bleed! 

ROSARIO
You’re going to, some time.

PATRICIA
You’re lying! You’re lying!

ROSARIO
Why do you ask?
(PUSHING HER AWAY)
Go out of here!

Patricia messes the sheets and leaves the room.

EXT STAIRCASE NIGHT

Suarez walks to the house through the darkness of the front lot. The dog gets in between 
Suarez’s legs. Suarez pushes the animal aside; the dog lies by Patricia who sits on the first 
step of the stairs. The girl plays with the dog. The two wait for the correct moment settles 
between them. 

SUAREZ
I have something for you.

PATRICIA
(ENTHUSIASTICALLY)
What is it?

Suarez shows her a piece of cloth from the boat.

PATRICIA
(WITHOUT INTEREST)
And?
 SUAREZ
Come!

Patricia follows Suarez inside the house.

INT SUAREZ’S ROOM NIGHT

Rosario takes off her clothes, puts on her nightgown, turns off the light and gets in bed. She
hears Suarez and Patricia talk as they set up the bed for the girl. Suarez steps into the room.

ROSARIO
And the girl?

Suarez says nothing. The moonlight transforms him into a shadow. Suárez takes off his shirt
and sits on the bed. Rosario moves to the opposite side.

ROSARIO
How long are we staying?

Suarez takes off his underwear and gets into the bed. Both lie looking at the ceiling as if they
were corpses.

ROSARIO
I just ask… What about me? I don’t
want to be taken as a servant.

Rosario looks at Suarez’s profile.

ROSARIO
The river can’t be heard.

Suárez looks at the window where the shadow of the trees hit the glass.

ROSARIO
Did you fall asleep?

Suarez turns and looks at the ceiling.

ROSARIO
And it’s there, it’s still there. Isn’t it?
It’s very near.

Suarez looks at Rosario.

ROSARIO
 What do you want?

Suarez takes his hand to Rosary’s breasts.

ROSARIO
Are you going to do all that?

INT DON JULIAN´S ROOM NIGHT

From his bed, Don Julian looks at the door of Suarez’s room closed ajar. Moaning comes
from the room. The dog approaches Don Julian’s bed.

DON JULIAN
Eh! Get out! Shitty dog!

INT KITCHEN NIGHT

The dog lies on the floor by Patricia. The moaning persists. Patricia stands up and pushes
open the door of Suarez’s room.

INT SUAREZ’S ROOM NIGHT

Rosario lies on the bed as Suarez pushes his body against hers. The scene has a brutality
given by the moaning and Suarez’s facial gesturing.

INT KITCHEN/SUAREZ’S ROOM NIGHT

Patricia pushes the door open.

SUAREZ (OS)
What do you want?

Patricia remains motionless.

PATRICIA
There are small animals on the floor, they’re 
biting me. 

SUAREZ (OS)
Get out!

Patricia closes the door and lies back on the floor by the dog. Moaning persists as Suarez
makes huge efforts to come.

EXT COAST OF THE RIVER DAY

The river flows slowly. A branch that floats on the water gets stuck at the shoreline.

INT KITCHEN NIGHT

Suarez approaches Patricia and pulls her up.

PATRICIA
What are you going to do?

INT SUAREZ’S ROOM NIGHT

Suarez takes Patricia to the bed and lays her by Rosario. Patricia pushes her body against
Suarez’s and closes her eyes.

Rosario gets out of bed.

SUAREZ
Where are you going?

Rosario steps out of the room.

INT KITCHEN NIGHT

Rosario walks to the front door and looks at a corner of the lot illuminated by the moonlight.

She hears a sound behind her; she turns and sees Don Julian at the doorway of his room
staring at her. Don Julian approaches Rosario. The moonlight reveals fragments of their
bodies. She smiles to him.

INT SUAREZ´S ROOM DAY

The dog walks in the room. With her back to Suarez, Patricia has her eyes open. The dog
stops by Suarez who gets out of bed, puts on a shirt and looks at Rosario and Patricia. His
look is cold, uneventful, and wretched.

When Suarez steps out, Rosario looks at the shadow of the men coming from the kitchen
hitting on the floor.

The men are in silence; a fly enters and leaves the room to where the men are.

EXT KITCHEN DAY

Rosario steps into the kitchen in her dishevelled nightgown. As Don Julian looks boldly at
her, she covers herself up.

ROSARIO
Good morning.

Don Julian doesn’t say a word. Suarez steps in from outside and looks at the woman with
indifference. Rosario takes the kettle, pours some more water and places it on the fire.

DON JULIAN
(TO SUAREZ)
 Are you ready?

The dog enters Suarez’s room and bites the sheets. Rosario enters and pushes it away. Suarez
leaves following the old man outside.

ROSARIO
Where are you going?

Rosario watches the two men walk to the river.

EXT MIMBRE PLANTATION DAY

The plantation is all flooded with the exception of an elevated area. Don Julian and Suarez
cut the stems of mimbre that darkly shine with the sun. Suarez looks at times at Don Julian;
the dog runs from one man to the other pushing its body against them. Don Julian catches eye
of Rosario who extends some clothes over the verandah making the house a sign for help.

DON JULIAN
(TO THE DOG)
Cut the fuck!

The dog persists in the movement. Don Julian throws a piece of wood faraway.

ROSARIO
(YELLING)
Come here! Give me that!

Rosario runs after Patricia who wears Rosario’s dress. Don Julian busies himself with the
stems as Rosario approaches Suarez.

ROSARIO
Do something with that girl.

SUAREZ
(MOCKINGLY, HE GIVES HER THE KNIFE)
Be my guest!

ROSARIO
I’m being serious.

PATRICIA
May I try?

Suarez helps Patricia cut the stem; Patricia smiles mockingly at Rosario.

EXT SHORE OF THE RIVER DAY

Suarez examines the fishing lines, some hooks have fishes. Suarez looks into the surface of
the river that gives him back the reflection of a broken man. He takes the ring out of his
pocket and tries it on: it is too small. He rubs it against his pants; the ring shines; he returns it
to the pocket. Suarez unzips and pees into the river breaking that image.

Suarez hears a noise and, in alert, he turns back. It is Patricia. Suarez looks sideways at her
as he keeps peeing.

The girl approaches Suarez, stares at his action and sex. She extends her hand to his sex. She
takes the man’s organ and begins to pull.

PATRICIA
Is it fine this way?

Suarez keeps looking frontally; Patricia laughs at times while she untidily pulls. Patricia tries
different position to make easier the movement. She gets very concentrated and looks
worried about the success of the job. Suarez looks at her as if answering her question and
looks back at the river. Patricia keeps on pulling now more rhythmically.

PATRICIA
Don’t be afraid, I won’t eat it.

As he comes, Suarez yelps and detaches from the girl.

PATRICIA
Did it hurt?

Suarez doesn’t look at the girl.

PATRICIA
Next time, I won’t hurt you.

Suarez signals the fish.

SUAREZ
Take them to the house.

Patricia takes the fishes and puts them into her skirt that she arranges as a sack. Some fish
drop out of the improvised bag.

Suarez approaches Patricia and returns the fishes to the dip in the skirt.

The siren of a boat is heard coming from the river. Suarez hides behind some bushes.

EXT COAST OF THE RIVER DAY

Don Julian takes a bundle of stems to the coast where an elongated boat stops at the landing
zone. CHATERO (54) turns to see Rosario who steps out of the house. He is surprised to see
the woman on the old man’s property.

CHATERO
(TO DON JULIAN)
You have good company!

Don Julian busies himself laying the mimbre on the pier. Defiantly, Rosario stares at the
Chatero.

DON JULIAN
I have this mimbre. The finest.

CHATERO
I see that.

DON JULIAN
Have a better look; see if I’m lying to you.

CHATERO
(LOOKS AT ROSARIO)
No matter how much I see it, I can’t
take it.

DON JULIAN
If you don’t take it, it will rotten and it’ll
Be worth nothing. Now, we can still make
A profit.

CHATERO
The effort doesn’t pay off.

DON JULIAN
Whatever you give me.

CHATERO
Some other time.

The boat leaves. Don Julian stares at the mimbre and shakes his head.

DON JULIAN
(OUTRAGED)
Son of a bitch!
In frustration, Don Julian looks at Patricia who approaches Don Julian.

DON JULIAN
(ANNOYINGLY)
Why did he stop if he doesn’t buy
a thing?

PATRICIA
Don’t you have any other thing to sell?
He has nice things to sell; everybody in
The pier wants to buy them.

Suarez who arrives by the coast dives into the river; Don Julian follows him. The two men
swim. Rosario watches them from the coast in suspicion.

SUAREZ
(TO ROSARIO)
Come! Swim!

Suarez shows a stupid happiness and signals Patricia.

SUAREZ
Come, Patty! It’s so good!

Patricia approaches the pier; she takes off her dress and walks down the stairs. Suarez throws
water on her body, Patricia trembles.

SUAREZ
And?

PATRICIA
(WALKING UP THE STAIRS)
It’s cold!

SUAREZ
It isn’t, come, come!

Instantly, Patricia jumps into the river and slowly emerges. Suarez throws water to her. The
girl laughs.

Rosario steps down the stairs until her feet touch the water. Within their shared private space,
Don Julian sees her feet and tastes the water that hits his mouth. Rosario keeps the feet in
place accepting the old man’s supervision.

PATRICIA
 Are you getting in?

ROSARIO
No.

PATRICIA
What did you come for?

Suárez sees the old man’s eyes on Rosario’s feet. Suarez throws water at Rosario. Rosario
takes her feet out of the river and walks up the stairs.

SUAREZ
Come!

Rosario shakes her head.

SUAREZ
Come! It will do well to the kid!

Suarez gets out of the water and runs after Rosario who walks to the house. Suarez slides
and falls in the mud. Patricia laughs at the muddy man. Suarez dives into the river and tickles
Patricia.

SUAREZ
What are you laughing at? Eh?

Don Julián sits on the pier; Suarez sits by his side.

PATRICIA
Aren’t you swimming any more?

Rosario turns and sees the two men silently staring at the river as if, foreign to the woman’s
understanding, a private negotiation was taking place.

INT KITCHEN DAY

Don Julian cleans his rifle at the table. Rosario serves some food to Suarez. She, finally, sits
at the table and looks at the men who seem to share something beyond their silence.

The silence inside is multiplied by the quiet coming from outside. Even the dog lays on the
floor in silence. It is evident the tension among the three.

Unsuccessfully, Rosario tries to initiate a conversation. The men keep eating without
responding or looking at her.
From the floor, Patricia looks at them while she displays the pieces of woods, glass and tin
that she fished from the river.

As she orders the bits and pieces, Patricia gets below the table to fish loose pieces. She
moves in between their legs. Don Julian gets bothered and moves his legs trying to chase the
girl away. This only encourages the girl to remain longer below the table and stay near the old
man’s legs.

SUAREZ
Stop it!

Patricia looks defiantly at him and keeps playing under table.

Don Julian stands up, takes his rifle and leaves. Suarez takes the objects and throws them
outside.
 
PATRICIA
(TO SUAREZ)
What’s your problem?

SUAREZ
Go bother in another place with that shit!

Suarez follows Don Julian outside.

PATRICIA
(YELLING AT SUAREZ)
Are you going to kill animals too?

ROSARIO
(CONDESCENDING)
Go and play outside.

Patricia takes her stuff and steps out of the kitchen. Rosario watches Don Julian and Suarez
walk to the coast.
Airport. A Short Story by Maria Berns.

Good night, ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for the delay, now we’re ready to board flight

2721 to New York City. The passengers of First and Business class will board through gate

27.

He looks at his watch, 2:05. He waited like the rest of the passengers at terminal 25. He hears

the “At last! They said that we should wait for an hour; three hours passed since then! This is

the last time I fly by this company!”

He smiles. He is a patient passenger, he doesn’t complain; he knows the routines of

cancellations, delays and all the little problems of life in transit: the snow storm in the JFK

two weeks ago, the strike of flight attendants in Montevideo, the dead cow on the runway of

Pistarini airport in Buenos Aires. But in the airports he has learned the value of order, the

sequence of flights, the terrible difference between 934 and 943, the sudden change of

itineraries. Yes, he believes in order (he buys health insurance La Provincial, quote for family

group $128), in planning ahead.

A four-hour flight, and he’ll arrive at Imperial Hotel (Luxury on 5th Avenue), take a bath (a

relaxing bath with Persian salts), put on his suit Franco Uomo, four buttons crossed, neatly

ironed by his wife (Honey? Don’t you forget anything?), take a taxi (Visit NY and enjoy it)

and be at Baldwin Building where he’ll meet the executive board of Preston advertising

agency (It’ a jungle out there. And unless you step with confidence, you could fall prey to

your competition) at 10 o’clock. He went over his presentation several times (Our quick,
instinctive and disciplined approach assures all your tracks are covered before, any strategy

or creative execution begins); he knows that nothing can go wrong.

He takes his time to leave his seat by the window, that great looking glass which encloses a

machinery of gestures, eyes that makes themselves bigger, the disordered sequence of books

being closed, the arms extending upwards, getting lost in void, the hands ensuring the

symmetric distribution of the features of the face, the feet obediently following the others

towards the line of passengers.

We continue boarding passengers of First and Business class, in flight 2721 going to New

York.

He thinks of his daughter, who is sleeping at this time, of his wife in her beautiful silk night

gown (Yes, Victoria’s Secret), a lace holding her long hair falling on the silk blankets. There

is no sadness in his recollection, this landscape of sliding floors, mechanic stairs and sliding

luggage is part of his life.

- Please, have your boarding passes at hand.

He looks at the flight attendant, in spite of the time, she is impeccable. She has obviously

taken the psychology classes as she looks for the eyes of the passenger to create some kind of

confidence in a passenger who offers no complexity at this time and on this type of flight:

business, bills, interest rate, contracts, schedules, inventories, accounts, funds, projections,

formalities: “Will you give me a second?”

-7049Will you give me a second?”

Instantly, he feels the eyes of the impatient passengers nailed on his back, as he watches, in

surprise, at the woman who walks to the counter; his hand still in the air. The woman quickly

taps on the keyboard.

- Miss?

- A moment, please!

The attendant checks again, and again, and she walks back to the man, avoids his eyes.

- I’m sorry, but you’re not in the passengers’ list.

-7049What? What do you mean?

-7050I’m sorry, but you’ll need to check in another flight.

-7051Isn’t this Flight 2721 to New York?

-7052This is the flight, but it’s not your flight.

-7053But…

-7054Please sir; there are other passengers who need to board.

-7055There must be a mistake; could you check again?

Now, the attendant looks straight into his eyes (he notices that the early hour has affected her,

but she has been able to hide the marks under make up) and then at the employee at the

counter.

- Go and see if he can do anything.

He shakes his head, no way, no way, no way.

- Can I have your identification?

He takes out his credit card.

- Don’t you have a passport? A license driver?

He looks at the employee in puzzlement.

-7049Ok, let’s try with this.

The employee slides the card along the scanner.

CANNOT FIND CARD NUMBER.

-7049I’m sorry sir, but the system doesn’t recognize this card.

-7050Slide it again, there must be a mistake.

The two men wait for the verdict of the computer screen.

CANNOT FIND CARD NUMBER

- Why don’t you try calling your bank? (Stopping his attempt to take the phone on the

counter) There is a public phone by the restroom.

He walks to the phone avoiding the looks from the other passengers who reveal the loser.

What would his wife tell him now? “Two pink pills are enough to claim that anxiety”.

- What? How is it that that number doesn’t exist? I’m at the airport; I need to go to New

York… if there is any other thing that I can do for me? An explanation sir, which is what I

need, an explanation. I want to talk with your supervisor… Can't you call your supervisor!

I’m going to report you, do you hear me! Hello? Hello?”

- That‘s why I don’t have the money in the bank. They are all a bunch of thieves.

He turns and sees an old man wearing muddy boots, a cowboy hat and a sweatshirt. He goes

back to the counter; the old man follows him.

-7049If I were you, I’d take the money right now. Do you want to listen to my story?

-7050I don’t know what you do, but you need to put me on that plane.

-7051I’m sorry sir, but there is nothing else that I can do.

-7052I buy a new ticket.

-7053The flight is full. Please sir, can you move? Or I’ll need to call security. You’re

bothering the passengers who have tickets.

He turns and sees the boarding pass and the looks of the imbecile who shakes it in front of his

face.
- Are you my father?

A woman wrapped in a shawl pulls the girl away from the man.

-7049Sweetie, don’t bother the gentleman.

-7050But, you told me that!

-7051Shhh, he’s going to get angry.

The passengers continue boarding.

- Look, I have an appointment in New York, in five hours (he yells so that the flight attendant

who repeats her smile to every new passenger can hear him) or is it a crime to have dreams, a

future, and a family? Do you have a family? I’m talking to you, lady! Don’t you want what is

the best for them?

The woman with the girl shrugs her shoulders as she approaches him.

-7049There are times when nothing more can be done and we only have to accept the facts.

-7050Yes, it is better to take the money out of the bank; didn’t you see what happened in

Singapore two years ago? And in Mexico? That is why I am wear rags. I was sent to the

fields, that they were developing the fields! They think that people are stupid.

The flight attendant takes the boarding pass from the last passenger in line, as he calculates

the distance to the boarding gate. The void prepares the duel and, in an instant, the

attendant’s voice is heard:

- Security! Security!

In black suites (are they Uomo as well?), two officers enter, pushing him into the waiting

room. An arm as a V on his chest, the hands hold in a U at his back, the Z trapping his legs.

-7049I only want to take that plane!

-7050Don’t worry; we’ll solve your problem promptly.

-7051Where are you taking me?

One of the officials traps his hands in a handcuff.

-7049I’m not a criminal.

-7050That’s something that we’ll need to talk about.

-7051I have nothing to talk with you.

-7052You’ll see that you have. So much that you will have not a word left in you.

The girl holds the mother’s legs as the woman caresses her head “It’s OK, sweetie, nothing

bad will happen to him.” The two and the old man watch as he is pushed to a room to one

side of the free shop.

***

“Those men yelled at him; where are you from? What’s your name? And we could only hear

him saying that he didn’t know. And it’s the truth; nobody knows where we come from. But

those men hit him even harder, and so he talked about a sign of Pepsi Cola, about the square

feet of the hallways, about the actress of the Mercury car, that he has a health insurance with

a deductible of $ 2,000 so that they could do whatever they wanted, because he was covered.

Why didn’t anybody do anything to help him?

That is the way the world is, people pass by us and they have no idea of our personal

tragedies, the problems, and the anxieties. And we have no government to talk for us,

because we have no country. Tell me, where am I from? I can be Chinese, Swedish, Irish, and

Peruvian; there I go pushed by the desires of the market. Do you know how many times they

were about to fire me after ill willed proposals, decisions taken in rush, jealousy among the

executives, or should I tell you that time when Grez arrived in a bad mood and he imposed

this idea of me having that short cotton dress, in Boston, with 10 Fahrenheit, and everybody,
and only to please the big chief, said unanimously, great idea, her legs should be seen.

Nobody realized that it was snowing and I was there on the sidewalk with my feet and body

frozen to die. At least, he still has some energy left, I have none.”

***

- Don’t dare to play the machito man again, that’s not your role. The only game you’re

supposed to play is the one scripted for you. And, now, smile!

The plane is no longer on the runway. He pulls his feet along the empty hallway, as the

cleaning lady mops the floor.

Loneliness is the only one with me,

Love, my love, nothing to expect,

Not even a dream, gray or blue.

The lines of the chorus of this private song mix with the voices coming from the end of the

hallway.

-7049I want to wait for dad.

-7050No, sweetie, it’s time to go to bed.

-7051But…

-7052Do you want them to come and take you away?

He produces a smile (no, no, a real smile, nobody buys a fake smile, come on, do it again,

don’t you have another photograph?)

He sees the back of the woman who is on bed. If he could only see her face, just once! Or if

he could see her daughter who sleeps in the other room. Yes, there are things that have no

price, for the rest there is… he still remembers the words, and the illusions that weren’t true.

The old man watches him pass from a corner of the hallway.
- Honey, please, don’t try it again. It is not a nice spectacle for the kid to watch; we are a

family and we love you, even though in a few days we won’t mean anything to you.

He would like to hug her, caress her face, but he can’t, it’s neither in the script nor in the

availability of an executive at Preston advertising agency.

Rules. A Short story by Maria Berns.

- Is it true that the train ran over a man?

- What do you ask for?

- To know.

- Know what? How much blood did he lose? How many kids did he leave fatherless? Is his

widow drowned in debt?

-You’re very rude.

What was I supposed to tell her? I could make the old woman happy with a story, but I’m not

somebody’s clown; my duty is to keep the citizenship safe. Perhaps a nice story could have

kept that old woman safe, but I went through the rules and I didn’t find a single line about

special services to elderly people or about the storytelling duties of police officers.

I found several mistakes, though. For example, I found several inconsistencies in the

procedure to profile a criminal. Because it is easy after the crime is committed to create the

criminal, but who can say before the deed who is the criminal? Can you point out and say that

one is the thief, and that one the one to be robbed, that one, the assassin, and that one the

victim? Maybe the victim is guilty of other crimes of the past or the future.

Let me explain it to you. When the railway service was interrupted, I was watching a skinny

young man with a folder in his hand; he wore brand pants, a pullover in V, well combed, and
he might be seventeen. He had some rulers, and I figured out that he was an Engineering

student. Nice profile he had, girls must be crazy about him. It was obvious that he was a

family kid, perhaps his father is an engineer too. Of course, the son follows the profession of

the father, I thought, but he will be better, yes, he will design the bridge that communicates

Buenos Aires with Montevideo. That’s nice, really nice! It will be similar to the one in

California, the one you see in the movies! I made my own movie of the kid; I even married

him to a girl who was sitting on a bench by the newspaper stand, with blond and plain hair.

She looked like a student too, but from high school. Kids? Yes, they will have kids, three.

Perhaps you’ll think: this guy doesn’t work, but standing there you play the psychologist with

so many people. And psychology was the course I liked best in the academy. I read all the

books that the professor gave to us.

I always loved books, although I don’t usually say it because the colleagues laugh at me. But

books are like people; they reveal you something, a truth. The difference is that you can find

it in 1000 words. And with people, you need to live all their lives to know only parts of it. It

was easy with the kid on the platform because he was an open book.

Words! Sometimes I think that people are part of a written text, or is it the text which writes

the people? As the rules which tell me what to do in this or that situation. But they don’t

work sometimes, that same thing happens with words.

I feel bad when words betray, when they say something and mean another, and so they take

you to a wrong place. And, in this profession, there is no place for an error.

There is a perversion in words, an impudence that makes me sick. Because they can commit

crimes and they walk on the street with the stamp of innocence on them. The person who
mouths them is accused but not them. For that reason, I sometimes do my shooting drill with

words.

But don’t take me wrong. I love the words; I do, if they are the only things that we have!

Times, people, money, all the material things, even hate, are lost. What we were, what we are

going to do, see the government plans, are words.

Just yesterday, I was talking with Norberto, the owner of the newspaper stand on the

platform. He asked me what they teach us at the police academy because the officer who was

before me at the post wanted to be a dancer but when he told his dad, he sent him to the

police academy so he learnt what it meant to be a real man. And this guy asked Norberto to

lend him the magazines about dance and he didn’t give them back. As he is a police officer,

Norberto felt embarrassed to ask them back. While we were talking, the young man, the one

who was the Engineering student, approached the stand and began to browse a magazine.

Guess which one? Popular Mechanics, of course!

Perhaps you’ll ask yourself what connection there is between this and what happened later.

Let me tell you that there is, and a very strong one. Because the words played me dirty

yesterday. They didn’t reveal me who robbed the National Bank, nor the name of the

murderer of Barracas, or the true feelings that Carmen has towards me.

No, sir, nothing of that.

I heard: The thief! The thief! And the old lady, the one who wanted a dirty story, pointed at

the young man and I told myself that he isn’t a thief because he will build the bridge. But

other people pointed at him and I ran after the boy, as I tried to think of all those words in the

rules. But the words yelled by those people erased every other word that came to my mind.

-That is everything that you have to say, captain?

-Yes, sir.

-Do you realize that with the same gun that the force gave you to protect the citizens, you

wounded four persons, including the kid who died in his way to the hospital? What did we

teach you? Bullshit we taught you. And now we have the press on us, asking questions,

inventing all those stories. I’ll have to take out your gun and badge. I need to follow the

rules. Do you understand?

-Yes, sir, make the word prevail.