📸 Photo

MARCHING POWDER

But it was too late. I didn't care about knives and forks, or that the food was cold. I had already set upon the meal and stuffed half of it down my throat.

'Slowly, my friend. There is more. Tranquilo. You'll be sick,' he cautioned.

And he was right; suddenly I felt completely full and couldn't eat another mouthful. A minute later, I wanted to vomit.

'Tranquilo. Here! Have some water!' he said, handing me a glass. I took a few sips and the sensation passed.

After that first intake of food, I felt better immediately. Just putting something into my mouth, then feeling it reach my stomach, gave me energy. I waited five minutes before resuming the meal, eating more slowly this time. Meanwhile, Ricardo sat down with me and that made me relax even more.

I couldn't believe how kind Ricardo was being; it seemed that he was really worried about me. When I had first stepped into his room, I had been nervous and was very careful of everything I said. I had seen him snap without warning that afternoon in the courtyard and I was worried that if I said the wrong thing again, he might get offended and tell me to leave. However, from the moment he called down to me from the balcony, it was as if he was a different person from the tough inmate I had met only a few hours earlier. He still laughed at me and confused me on purpose, but it wasn't like before. He seemed nicer now and genuine in his concern - he constantly apologised for the state of his 'apartment', as he called it.

'I'm sorry for all this mess,' he kept saying. 'It doesn't worry me . . .'
He also asked me continually if I was feeling OK, if I was warm enough, or if I needed anything - anything at all - and he went out of his way to make me comfortable. While I was waiting for the food to settle, he set up a small bed on the floor using a mattress borrowed from one of his neighbours and gave me the thickest blanket from his own bed. During the course of the evening, I realised that Ricardo's behaviour that afternoon had all been an act. With none of the other prisoners around, he was completely relaxed and treated me like an old buddy. The only things that didn't change were how he laughed at me, the funny way he spoke and how he forgot what I had said all the time.

'You know, sometimes I miss speaking English. I have almost