Veinte Pesos

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"Veinte Pesos" is the thirteenth chapter of One Rainy Day in May. It is the first chapter to be narrated by Isandòrno.

### Summary

The chapter opens up on May 10, 2014 at 14:47:19 in El Tajín, Mexico. Isandòrno is sitting with a group of women at a bus stop. He is waiting for the bus to arrive so he can be taken to Papantla, but the bus is late. He notices an old Indian man laughing at him from across the road. The women tell him not to pay attention to him as he laughs at everyone, but Isandòrno stands up and starts walking over to him anyway to find out why he is laughing at him. The old man appears to have set up a stand there so he can sell things to people who pass by.

Once Isandòrno is about halfway across the road, he stops walking when he begins to hear a strange sound. He can hear it perfectly, even over the sounds of the old man's laughter and over the sounds of the rain. It is the sound of a small, dying creature that seems to be calling out for help. Though the creature is far away and Isandòrno cannot see it, he decides it is beyond help and he ignores it. If it were within eyesight, he would quickly step on it to end its life. He tries to determine which direction the sound is coming from, but eventually the sound stops. Isandòrno says the disappearance of the sound is as absurd as crouching the way he is in the road between Poza Rica, where he came from, and Papantla, where he is going, while water seeps into his boots. He also says the disappearance is as absurd as the sudden appearance of a goat and a donkey.

After the crying stops, Isandòrno stands back up and begins to think about a series of philosophical questions and ideas. He also thinks about his employer, The Mayor, and the animals he had sent Isandòrno to see. He also thinks about the many superstitions he follows. He has tested each of the superstitions he thinks about, and he does not believe in them, yet he continues to practice them. He keeps waiting for the bus as he needs to be in Papantla in time to receive the three crates he is expected to pick up.

Isandòrno approaches the old Indian man. There is a small trailer behind the stand with a few elderly women inside. One of the women questions why Isandòrno wears his horseshoe belt buckle upside down. He tells her he does so because he is unlucky. They tell him they can prepare some food for him while he waits for a small price. He accepts the offer.

Isandòrno examines his gun and begins to think about the many guns he has owned in the past. He does not care for any particular weapon. "Those are only shadows of the gun he keeps within," he explains. That gun is his name, its caliber is his caliber, and its shells number the moments left he gives others to live. He reasons that there is nothing in the world that cannot be killed by a gun.

Returning to the old Indian man, Isandòrno begins talking with him. The women all watch as he approaches the man. The man continues to laugh at Isandòrno, but decides to retreat into the shack he has set up by the trailer. Isandòrno follows him into the shack. He sees a drunk woman on the floor of the shack with something on her face. He asks about it, and the Indian man tells him that it is "crocodile shit." The drunk woman is sent out into the rain. The man's young daughter is also there but she refuses to look at Isandòrno. She has sores all over her body.

Isandòrno spots a totem in the shack. The Indian man made it himself out of old newspapers. The reason for the man's laughter seems to be because of Isandòrno's Mexica heritage. Isandòrno wishes to purchase the totem so he takes out all of the money in his pockets. It is more than enough money for the totem. It could last the man a long time and could be enough for him to bring his sick daughter to a doctor. The man rejects this money and instead offers a new price. The man tells him, "the carving costs veinte pesos. But what hunts you now amigo you already own."

The chapter ends on May 10, 2014 at 15:14:31.