stand on something to kiss her. I took her to the movies where we could kiss and embrace. But that was all you did with a
novia
. If you go to bed with your
novia
you are practically married.
Because of my friends I began to neglect my studies, but my teacher, Professor Everardo, was a decent fellow and you might say that, man to man, I was a friend of his. When I was still a new boy in that school, something happened which gave me pleasant memories later in life. There was a boy named Bustos in my class. He was the school champion because he could lick all the runts in fist fighting. The first day there was a teachers’ meeting and Bustos was left in charge of our room. He called me to order, but not in a polite way, and so I said to him, “No, you shrimp, you can’t yell at me.”
“I can’t?” he said. “So you’re a tough guy, well, well.”
So I said, “I’m not so tough but if you think you’ve got as much guts as I just because you’re a big shot here, you’re making a mistake, pal. I’m from Tepito, and we don’t take any crap from anybody.”
Well, I punched him in the nose, right there in the classroom, a hard sock and his nose and mouth were covered with blood. Then the boys all said, “Bustos,
ay
! that’s some wallop the kid gave you.” After that they nicknamed me “No. 20” because that was my number when they called the roll. Since I had licked the biggest kid in the school I became famous and everybody kept saying that No. 20, No. 20, won the fight. After that none of the boys ever bothered me because, even though I was very short, I was strong and had powerful arms.
Josefa Ríos was the first girl I really fell in love with, a blond, with white skin and very pretty. There was a boy, Pancho, whose parents were, well, sort of better off, and he sure was handsome. Well, I was madly in love with Josefa and she was in love with Pancho, and Pancho paid no attention to her. I became so jealous that I tried toprovoke Pancho to fight, so Josefa would see I was better than he. But Pancho never wanted to, because he knew I had licked Bustos.
Then one time the principal’s Saint’s Day was coming up, and all classes had prepared something to perform in her honor. Our room had nothing prepared. I got to school early one day and nobody was there and, as I always do when I’m sad or happy, I started to sing. I didn’t notice that Professor Everardo was listening. He came in and said, “Look, Manuel, you have a good voice; now we have something to perform on the principal’s Saint’s Day.” But I really didn’t know why he said that until several days later when the affair took place. The first grade put on a dance number, the second a declamation, the third something else and so on until they reached the fifth grade, and then they announced, “Fifth grade, Section A, a song dedicated to the principal, sung by pupil Manuel Sánchez Vélez.” Holy Mary! I hadn’t known anything about it, and I was scared to death, and there was Josefa in the first row.
I hid under the benches, and didn’t want to come out. Everybody looked and looked until Bustos saw me and dragged me out. They took me as if I was a prisoner. Well, I got up on the platform and sang a song which was popular at the time, “Amor, Amor, Amor” … “Love … love … love … created by you, by me, by hope …” At that time, my voice was clearer, it really was, and I could sing much higher. I sang through my tension and fear, and kept looking at Josefa. Then, just like awaking from a dream, I heard applause, a lot of applause, very loud, really. Ah, then I felt very proud, Josefa was applauding me more than anybody, and I said, “Oh, God Almighty, can it be that she will notice me?” Well, after that I wanted them to let me keep on singing.
That same afternoon I said to Josefa, “I have something to tell you. Will you allow me to see you from now on?” I remember how happy I was when she said, “I’ll
novia
. If you go to bed with your
novia
you are practically married.
Because of my friends I began to neglect my studies, but my teacher, Professor Everardo, was a decent fellow and you might say that, man to man, I was a friend of his. When I was still a new boy in that school, something happened which gave me pleasant memories later in life. There was a boy named Bustos in my class. He was the school champion because he could lick all the runts in fist fighting. The first day there was a teachers’ meeting and Bustos was left in charge of our room. He called me to order, but not in a polite way, and so I said to him, “No, you shrimp, you can’t yell at me.”
“I can’t?” he said. “So you’re a tough guy, well, well.”
So I said, “I’m not so tough but if you think you’ve got as much guts as I just because you’re a big shot here, you’re making a mistake, pal. I’m from Tepito, and we don’t take any crap from anybody.”
Well, I punched him in the nose, right there in the classroom, a hard sock and his nose and mouth were covered with blood. Then the boys all said, “Bustos,
ay
! that’s some wallop the kid gave you.” After that they nicknamed me “No. 20” because that was my number when they called the roll. Since I had licked the biggest kid in the school I became famous and everybody kept saying that No. 20, No. 20, won the fight. After that none of the boys ever bothered me because, even though I was very short, I was strong and had powerful arms.
Josefa Ríos was the first girl I really fell in love with, a blond, with white skin and very pretty. There was a boy, Pancho, whose parents were, well, sort of better off, and he sure was handsome. Well, I was madly in love with Josefa and she was in love with Pancho, and Pancho paid no attention to her. I became so jealous that I tried toprovoke Pancho to fight, so Josefa would see I was better than he. But Pancho never wanted to, because he knew I had licked Bustos.
Then one time the principal’s Saint’s Day was coming up, and all classes had prepared something to perform in her honor. Our room had nothing prepared. I got to school early one day and nobody was there and, as I always do when I’m sad or happy, I started to sing. I didn’t notice that Professor Everardo was listening. He came in and said, “Look, Manuel, you have a good voice; now we have something to perform on the principal’s Saint’s Day.” But I really didn’t know why he said that until several days later when the affair took place. The first grade put on a dance number, the second a declamation, the third something else and so on until they reached the fifth grade, and then they announced, “Fifth grade, Section A, a song dedicated to the principal, sung by pupil Manuel Sánchez Vélez.” Holy Mary! I hadn’t known anything about it, and I was scared to death, and there was Josefa in the first row.
I hid under the benches, and didn’t want to come out. Everybody looked and looked until Bustos saw me and dragged me out. They took me as if I was a prisoner. Well, I got up on the platform and sang a song which was popular at the time, “Amor, Amor, Amor” … “Love … love … love … created by you, by me, by hope …” At that time, my voice was clearer, it really was, and I could sing much higher. I sang through my tension and fear, and kept looking at Josefa. Then, just like awaking from a dream, I heard applause, a lot of applause, very loud, really. Ah, then I felt very proud, Josefa was applauding me more than anybody, and I said, “Oh, God Almighty, can it be that she will notice me?” Well, after that I wanted them to let me keep on singing.
That same afternoon I said to Josefa, “I have something to tell you. Will you allow me to see you from now on?” I remember how happy I was when she said, “I’ll
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