These idiots wanted us to go to play pool to a seedy place.
One of them wanted me to give him some money.
He was such a bully.
His family had several businesses in the Mercado Sonora and he thought it gave him the right to behave as some sort of cacique.
We only shared some classes, but these idiots thought we were friends.
Sometimes we hung out after classes, but it didn't necessarily mean that we were friends. I didn't have real friends. I guess I didn't want to be involved in such a big commitment. I hated to get involved with people.
They were the kind of guys whose only life goal was to get enough money to spend it all on expensive sneakers. They were so crazy about basketball that they wanted so bad to have the sneakers of the most famous basketball players.
Ivonne walked in front of us.
Her hair was so blonde that it almost left me blind.
I was about to collapse. She was so beautiful and she seemed so innocent. She was so perfect. She was the type of girl who had always attracted me.
Ivonne was chubby and small.
As she walked, her hair floated around her shoulders and distilled some sort of haunting perfume. For a second, she looked at me and smiled. Then I was about to have a heart attack.
Her eyes seemed green or almond.
For an entire week I was thinking about her.
I wanted to know her name, but I didn't want to be such a typical guy.
I did not want to chase her like a mad lover and approach her as anyone would have.
One afternoon, we got on the same transport truck...
I couldn't believe it!
Ivonne sat next to me!
We were so close that our legs touched!
I was so nervous and about to collapse!
Dunno remember exactly how, but I started to speak her.
Contrary to what I had thought, she did not freak out.
She was so tiny and adorable.
Her blonde hair was so impressive.
Her eyes were green.
Her voice was so feminine.
Dunno remember how it started, but I'm pretty sure I spoke about music.
Silverchair was one of the bands I listened then. It was a punk band of Australian teenagers. Back in 1994 they won a contest of demos in their country. The contest gave them the chance to record Frogstomp (1995). Their first album was recorded in 9 days...!
Rolling Stone and Allmusic gave it almost the highest score.
The members of the band were 15 years old, as me.
Tomorrow and Israel's Son are the most known tracks of that album.
Someone had lent me a copy of Freak Show (1997).
Freak Show just had been released. It had really god songs.
The songs were fast and furious. They talked about the rage and the violence provoked by the expectations of Silverchair's album debut. Some of them were more elaborated than the standard track of their previous album.
The singles Freak, Abuse Me and Cemetery reached the top ten.
Ivonne got off the truck a few blocks away from Delegación Venustiano Carranza.
We shook hands in a pretty formal way. It seemed that we were closing a business.
I felt so dumbfounded. Her hands were so soft and pink.
She told me she was a couple years younger than me. It was tender and annoying.
Thenceforth, we spoke regularly.
On a day, I told Ivonne that I was crazy about her. She smiled.
I was so confused–maybe she knew it from the beginning.
I had thought that she would reject me immediately.
I regretted having told her.
I really enjoyed to talk with her, but I wasn't really sure if I wanted to have a girlfriend.
I hated to get involved with people.
Suddenly, a bully started to flirt on her.
This guy was older than me. He even had a beard.
He was a good-looking idiot. He smoked all the time, behaved as an outlaw and his friends played in the football team of the school.
He was sort of popular among girls.
Ivonne became his girlfriend soon.
On a Valentine's Day, more than twenty years ago, the idiots with whom I shared some classes had bought a few roses. They were pathetic and they tought that they would be appreciated by the girls they liked, if they gave them roses.
None of them had accepted the roses.
One of them asked me to hold him one of the roses for a second.
At the same time, the other one pushed me.
Maybe he had seen Ivonne walking by and so he pushed me against her in the precise moment.
All of a sudden we were face to face.
She smelled like vanilla.
I felt so stupid with the silly rose on my hand.
Ivonne stared at me in a very cozy way.
She asked me if the rose was for her.
I thought about it, but I told her the truth.
She pushed me against a wall and walked away.
We never spoke again.
The guys laughed.
They just wanted to have fun.
I wonder what will she do right now.
Will she remember me?
Did she marry the bully?
Do they have kids?
I'm not sure if she even remembers my name.
Smelling Dead Roses
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