My Visit With Selvin Heraldo: Day 2

~día dos~

A rooster screamed just outside of my tent. I groaned and rolled out of my tent. It was just getting light out.

I looked to my left and saw Selvin watering a field with a large watering can. I went over to help him water.

“Today we will go to buy my bulls with the money I was loaned,” Selvin said.

~~~~

We piled into Selvin’s rusty old pickup truck. There were only two seats in the front, so Selvin’s daughter and I sat in the bed of the truck while Selvin and his girlfriend sat in the front.

We pulled up to a large open pasture bordered by a barbed wire fence. I could see about 50 cows and bulls roaming around.

An old man, maybe 60 years old, limped out of a barn by the side of the road. He was holding a chicken in each hand by its legs. When he saw us, he dropped the squawking birds and walked over to us.

“Buenas días!” exclaimed the man. He had thick grey mustache on his weathered face that moved up and down when he spoke. His skin was worn and tan and rough and it looked like old leather. When he smiled I could see that he was missing two or three of his crooked teeth. On his head was a large white cowboy hat.

“Buenas Días,” said Selvin. He explained that we had come to purchase five young bulls to pasture.

“Si, si,” the old man smiled, showing his crooked teeth. He guided our car over to a large gate. He slowly swung the gate open, and then hopped into the back with us.

Selvin drove along a bumpy dirt road full of potholes. We bounced around in the back, flying into the air every time we hit a rock.

We finally stopped near a group of bulls. Selvin and the man got out of the car, and they examined each bull. Selvin picked out five muscular black bulls, and handed the man $1,200.

Selvin and I unloaded a wooden ox cart from the truck. We yoked the bulls, and rode the ox cart home while Selvin’s Girlfriend and daughter drove the truck home.

It took a few hours to get home. The ox cart was nothing more than a wood platform on rickety wooden wheels, so the ride was very bumpy and uncomfortable. Every turn in the road, we had to jump off of the cart and redirect the bulls.

We had been sitting in the cart for more than two hours. We were hot and tired, and we were also almost out of water. I was sitting and listening to the colorful birds chirping in the trees, when they suddenly stopped. I looked around to see what was wrong. Selvin had noticed something too. We were probably 50 miles away from the nearest town, and we had seen no one the entire time we had been on the road. Selvin and I looked at each other.

Then, in the distance I heard a faint sound.

Ding…Ding…Ding…Ding…Ding…Ding…Ding…Ding…Ding…

It sounded like… bells? No, That is impossible, I thought.

Ding…Ding…Ding…Ding

It was bells. The dings grew louder and louder. Finally, I saw what was making the sound.

A little old man pushing a two-wheeled Ice cream cart rounded the corner. “Hola!” he exclaimed.

Selvin didn’t look too surprised, but I was shocked. What in the world was an ice cream man doing in the middle of nowhere? I replied with a smile “Hola,” and bought Selvin and I popsicles. The man winked and resumed pushing his cart along the dirt road.

Ding… Ding… Ding… Ding… Ding… Ding… Ding… Ding…………..

The ice cream man from heaven vanished into the distance.

~~~~

When we got home, it was getting dark. Selvin’s Girlfriend had made dinner already, so we sat down at the table and ate. Selvin and I were very tired and hungry, so we gorged ourselves on the delicious chicken dinner.

When I finished washing my plate, I said goodnight to the family and went to sleep in my tent.