Chapter-1: The Old Business of Men
The bank closed at 5:00 p.m. And Amado Aguilar didn’t show. For Diego, it was a poor start for the weekend. In contrast, thirty minutes prior: five clerks, two couriers, two guards and one assistant bank manager left early with a much better start.
Outside, the sun worked on bringing the day to a close. It cast long shadows on the wooden walkways, cobblestone roads and side dirt paths of Mexico City.
Most businesses closed for the evening, while other establishments were just getting started for a night of excitement. Still, other shops continued working past their approximate closing hours.
At 5:01 p.m Diego handed the leather satchel, with Amado’s letter, to his best courier, Juan Delgado: a seasoned man, strong, hardworking and with an above average appearance. And, typical of his dress, Juan’s uniform for today: black boots, tanned pants, cream colored shirt, walnut coat and a black cattleman hat.
At 5:02 p.m, Juan galloped away on one of the bank’s horses: a deep brown Arabian horse that enjoyed side stepping, if it remained stationary for too long.
Juan and his horse picked up speed and headed up Guadalupe Road. Diego waved and waited, expecting Juan to turn right at the intersection, and head toward Amado’s hacienda. Instead, goose flesh rippled across Diego’s body.
Juan reached the intersection of Guadalupe and Santos, stopped, and shook his head. He circled about on his horse a few times, leaned back in his saddle and rode back toward the bank.
Diego moved forward with slow steps to meet his courier. He stopped next to the fountain, lifting his palms up at Juan.
“Unbelievable, Señor,” said Juan, “Don Amado is riding up this way.”
Diego looked up the road and glared at an approaching rider. Amado Aguilar rode his favorite horse, Caprichosa.
The beautiful appaloosa horse made its way to the bank, walking at a smooth pace. Diego shook his head at the horse. The back half of Caprichosa shined fudge brown, while the front half of the horse had dark mud-colored spots. Under the stretched spots, a bright white coat spread across the front half of the horse and into the front legs. It is a nice horse, thought Diego. He grimaced and faced his courier.
“Thank you, Juan,” said Diego. He reached for his pocket watch and rubbed it with his thumb. “Please wait around back until our business with Don Amado is finished.”
A flinched expression spread across Juan’s face. He looked over his shoulder at the approaching rider and replied with noticeable annoyance. “Not a problem, Señor Diego, I’ll be in the back with the horses. I suppose I could clean the horse stalls and the rifle or pistol range.”
Diego waved and nodded as Juan passed him to his right.
Other horses clicked and clacked and whinnied around Diego. He ignored them and tried to search for a bit of relief. He took deep breaths and exhaled slowly and rubbed his pocket watch. Calm down, he thought as he flipped open his pocket watch, 5:05p.m.
Guiding questions for Comments: (What do you see?)
For those interested in leaving a comment, here is a list of questions to help guide your critique.
Within these two pages of the story, from my perspective, I think I have provided enough information to answer the following questions. But what do you see?
1. Why is the time being explicitly stated in this scene?
2. What does Amado’s horse name mean? And why did Amado name his horse as he did?
3. Is there anything odd about the bank that Diego manages?
4. Does Diego completely dislike Amado? Why or why not?
Bonus:
5. Why is chapter one titled as it is?
Thank you
I appreciate your time in reading this blog post. Next Saturday I will upload the next part of Chapter One: The Old Business of Men, from my first novel: Guerrero of Passions.
Total Consciousness 