LITMIR.BIZ

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we saw it finished, none of us could believe it. We had put all our enthusiasm into it, and we were truly proud of what we’d achieved.

      It seemed that as the work progressed, it was taking years off the two people who lived there. They helped us with the eagerness of a pair of youngsters. We had to reprimand them so they wouldn’t carry so much. They apologized to us, telling us that they couldn’t stand by idle, watching us rebuild their beloved little house. A house that, back in their day, they had built themselves, so many years ago that they almost couldn’t remember how many, but that the passage of time had been responsible for ruining, one little flaw at a time.

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      It was Sunday, the last day of vacation, and we wanted to gather all our friends together to say goodbye. Classes would begin tomorrow and each of us had to dedicate ourselves to our own path, so it would be difficult for us to see each other again, since each of us studied different things. As it was raining that morning, it was not possible to go out, so resigned, I looked for something to do. In the end, I dedicated the morning to fixing those bookshelves I had and the notes that had accumulated on the drawers and I said to myself: “I’m going to clean up to make room for the new materials for the new academic year that will start soon.”

      How quickly time had gone by, it seemed like only yesterday when I came home saying:

      “Family, I’m finished.”

      “But you’re so thin, what’s happened to you?” my mother asked as she gave me a hug.

      “You know buddy, eating during exam time doesn’t take up much time,” my father said smiling, “now it’s up to you to regain your strength.”

      And giving me a hug, he asked me:

      “What about your grades? Do we have any surprises?”

      “In any case, let him get some rest, he’ll tell us everything,” she protested.

      “Relax, I passed everything,” I answered my father smiling.

      “Passed?” he asked me. “Only passed?”

      “No, relax Dad, I didn’t lose the scholarship,” I said to him in a satisfied tone.

      He gave a strong sigh of relief and said:

      “Son, you know how important it is that they keep giving it to you.”

      “Yes, calm down, everything went well. Well, I’d say better than well,” I added smiling.

      “I’m so proud of you,” he said softly.

      Chelito came out of her room just then and running, she pounced on me and wrapping her arms around my neck, said:

      “Brother, I really wanted you to come home. This way we can be two against two, because the twins are always messing with me. Now they’re in for it,” she said, laughing happily.

      I kissed her, and smiling, said:

      “Yes, now they’ll see, we’ll beat them, together they won’t be able to win.”

      “Manu, you haven’t changed a bit,” Mom said, “you’re still a big kid.”

      Smiling as he went into the sitting room, I heard Dad say:

      “That’s good, better to stay that way for a long time.”

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      It was the last week of work. The group of bricklayers, as we liked to call each other, had to finish everything, summer was ending fast. As for our summer vacation, it was almost over as well, and we were going to take advantage of the last few days to enjoy, as someone put it, “a well-deserved rest.”

      We approached the little house, the one we were so proud of, it was indeed our work. Even though we only came at first to try to patch up the roof a little, we ended up tiling it and fixing those holes that had been letting the rain water easily pass through since who knows when. Then, seeing that we were doing so well, we continued, and continued. We fixed the walls, we also put in a new floor in the room where they slept, which had only been cement and some of it was in a very bad state.

      At the place where we bought the materials, the owner told us:

      “I have some tiles piled up over there, they’re uneven, the ones that have been left over, do you want them? I can give them to you for a good price.”

      A little sad, we answered that we would like to buy them, but we didn’t have money to pay for them. We told him that if he gave them to us, then the place would be left empty, and that way we would be doing him a favor, he would have the whole area cleared so he could put whatever he wanted there.

      The man thought about it for a moment and said:

      “Boys, you’ve been cheating me all summer, always asking me for this broken but still useful tile, those bricks that are neglected and flaking, and that’s how you cleared me up. I have to acknowledge that, and I also know that you work for free. Look, alright, I’ll give you the tiles, and this time I’ll even take them to where you tell me, so that later you don’t tell me that I don’t treat you well.”

      We were very happy loading them onto that three-wheeled scooter that he had. Old and rickety though it was, it served him very well to distribute the construction material to those who bought it. He took them to the place where we indicated. When he saw what we had done, he was pleasantly surprised.

      “You boys have done this on your own?” the man asked us, “I don’t believe it.”

      “Of course, with your material and also with those tips you’ve been giving us,” we answered him.

      “Guys, if you want to work on this…” he began to say, but we would not let him continue.

      “Nooo!” we all told him, “for vacation is enough, the school year begins soon and we’ll have to dedicate our time to hitting the books, we’ve got a lot of subjects to get on with.”

      Both the owners of the house, as well as the man who had brought those tiles for us, laughed with us. He said goodbye and left in his vehicle, which, even though it was very old, still did its job well.

      We put in the floor of that little bedroom with those tiles, which were a variety of colors. We tried to make a picture with them, and it stuck with us when the old lady said:

      “Beautiful, I would never have thought we’d have such an elegant bedroom.”

      “What if we look for a bed?” it occurred to me to say to my companions. Those four wooden posts that held up the straw mattress were already severely compromised by woodworms, and one of these days they would break and they would end up on the floor.

      As it seemed like a good idea to them as well, we began the task. We had to find something very cheap, something that we could afford, although we still didn’t know how. We were all broke, as they say, and we’d been taking everything we could from what little they gave each of us from our own homes. Although they weren’t much, those reales, “For expenses,” as my mother put it, enabled us to afford the material that we needed.

      Determined to complete that last task, so necessary for that elderly couple, we went to the store where they sold furniture, but there was no way. Everything was very expensive and we were just students. We didn’t have a single peseta, although each of us had already agreed to ask our families for an advance from the monthly payment, to be able to pay for it if we found something that we could afford.

      With this, we were in luck once again. One of them, Antonio, did as we had agreed, and asked for this advance from his grandmother, who used to give it to him, as she told him, “For tobacco,” because he was now a man, and men are known to have their expenses. When he asked for the advance, she had wondered why he asked her for so much money at once, because she couldn’t give it to him at the time.

      “Go on, tell me why you want it, is it because

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