Thursday, April 8, 2010
El Pollo Loco
About a month ago Freddy and I were on our way to see the Crawdaddies. They were playing somewhere downtown. And we stopped for Mexican food at this place called El Pollo Loco. Well right after we pulled up, parked and headed for the door, out of nowhere, like he drops from the sky or something, this little bum was standin' in front of us, real drunk, talking in slurred Spanish. He was saying he was hungry. Freddy looked at the guy for a moment, and then, because he's Freddy, said 'Ok fella, come with us--We'll get you something to eat'. And then he turned to me and said 'This oughta be interesting'.
The little guy followed us into the joint, lookin' a little scared, and holding a shopping bag. Fred went off to place the order, and the bum and me went and sat down at a table nearby and kinda stared at each other. He seemed upset. His eyes looked all watery and weird, and then he started talking to me, in near-perfect English. 'I'm a good man,' he said, 'I just drink too much, you know'. By the time Fred got to the table with the food, this guy was uh, holding his head in his hands. He looked up and thanked us, but he wouldn't eat. He just stared at the food. Fred tried to lighten things up and asked him to talk about himself. He said;
'My name is Hernan. I'm a good man, I just drink too much. I had a girlfriend, but she won't see me anymore. I lost my job, and my mother won't let me live at home. She brings me food, but she won't let me go home. I'm from San Salvador, they threw me out of the country. They tortured me. Here, I'll show you.' Then he stood and undid his shirt, and opened it up, and Fred was saying 'No, please man', and somebody had cut him, very carefully, straight cut lines--lots of em, across his stomach. And there were cuts on his arms, and cigarette burns. And then he sat back down and said:
'I'm a good man'.
I think I've been listening to too depressing stuff recently. Gosh. MRS ROBINSON GET OUT OF MY HEAD AND STOP MESSING IT UP.
Posted at 3:14 PM
