Tempered Magazine December 2013 // January 2014 // Issue 01 | Page 47
just wait. And as soon as Piscoya
his claim; what type of campesino
left the mine, the tin left with him.
can buy thirteen flotas? What
The state tried and tried, but after
type of salesmen sees a decaying
six months, they gave up. Piscoya
potosino and allows it? She shoved
smiled every time he heard news
the lawyer forward, who argued
of their struggles. She danced as
for Piscoya. This was not their
she swept up falling tufts of her
element, not their environment, but
husband’s hair.
the lawyer explained, and soon
Her husband got his mine back,
and with it the tin poured out
of it. Her dreams of riches and
gluttony became part of her life.
Piscoya had the paperwork in front
of him, which he signed with an X,
leaving bits of his finger behind on
the paper.
She told him she wanted more,
But soon after the returned, the
more to show not just Potosí, but
market was bustling with rumors
the whole country. More what,
that El Tío was angry with Piscoya.
he asked. Something big, she
She ran from the spreading gossip
said. Something powerful. When
that Piscoya had become arrogant.
he smiled, his tongue was split,
She buried her head in everything
fractured down the center.
tin could buy. She ran to Sucre,
The first bus company in Potosí
then founded, Piscoya at his wife’s
plea. Piscoya, lawyer and wife
in tow, went to La Paz to buy the
buses, the flotas. Thirteen, for luck,
Piscoya said. His laughter was dry
and cracked. The seller denied
where she tried keeping rich
company, tried to hide as a rich
mestiza. She went to museums
and forgot her own history. No one
was home to pick up the pieces of
Piscoya’s shattered toe.
When she returned home, things
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