The green Fiat of Cololo
In front of my house lives Cololo. He's tall, red-haired, very kind and nice. Cololo has a passion: cars. When he started working, the first thing he did was save so he could buy his own car. After several years he finally achieved his goal: He bought his first car: a used green Fiat 600 that he happily parked in front of his house.
For Cololo, his car was the most important thing. We had to see the enthusiasm he put in making him look “like a zero kilometer”. Every evening, when he returned from work, he would come out with a hose, a brush and a bucket of soapy water and wash it, wax it and polish it until he saw his own image reflected on the green body as if it were a mirror.
No one could imagine the screams he was throwing when a little bird messed up his car. Do they have to fly right over my car? - Cololo's screams were heard at a distance of two hundred meters.
But the same energy that she invested in caring for her Fiat, did not put her in learning the traffic rules. I can say Cololo's car changed his life.
In January, I saw Cololo with his forehead wrapped in a bandage and a patch in his eye. - I asked him surprised. Cololo, with tears in his eyes said to me: - I went out for a walk in the Fiat, when suddenly, I ran across a dog. I brake suddenly, didn't want to run over the puppy, but since I hadn't put my seat belt on, I hit my head against the windshield and ended up in the hospital. Worst of all, my salary will be spent on fixing the car — and he added — since you're in, wouldn't you lend me 50 pesos? For Cololo, this was a tragedy. An avoidable tragedy.
By the end of January, Cololo was recovered and his Fiat looked effulgent. But February came and another surprise. This time, Cololo wasn't hurt. He had worn the seat belt, but the front of his Fiat was completely sunk. When I asked him about the car, Cololo said, “I went out for a ride and suddenly, the cell phone rang. When I wanted to answer the phone, it slipped through my hands and when I bent down to take it, I must have done a bad maneuver and embedded myself against a tree. Luckily no one happened but the damage would have been much worse, he replied between frightened and alarmed. Of course he asked me to lend him a hundred pesos. When I gave them to him, he promised that he would never answer his cell phone again while he was driving.
This time, Cololo took a few months to fix the vehicle of his loves. I think it was in May that I saw Cololo again polishing his green Fiat 600 on the sidewalk.
But the luster didn't last long. In June, the Fiat wore a dent on its right side. If one thing was good, Cololo wasn't lying. Embarrassed, he admitted he passed a red light. This time he had not only to spend his salary on paying a fine due to the traffic violation. He had to pay for the repair of the vehicle that hit him or go to trial. It was only when he met those obligations that he could take his green Fiat to the mechanic shop. “I thought no one was coming, “he said in disconsolation. — Traffic rules are not like UFOs or ghosts, which you can believe or not. They are made to be fulfilled — I replied. “Well... well... “said Cololo. “It won't happen again. Now that we're... wouldn't you lend me three hundred pesos for the arrangement? - I lent them to you under the promise that I would be respectful of the traffic rules and would not commit any further violations or lend you no more weight.
Cololo as well as a neighbor, was a friend. I felt sorry to see him learn how to beat up. Physical and economic blows. That's why I helped him pay for the arrangements. This time it took until Christmas to fix the love of his loves.
Confident that he had already learned everything he should, Cololo enthusiastically came out on the route. It had not been four hours when a yellow crane deposited the dented green Fiat 600 all over its perimeter in front of his house.
I went to visit him at the hospital. Although luckily he wasn't hurt badly, he was still confused. I didn't seem to have studied all the rules. Especially those that clearly explain the prudential driving distance and when another vehicle should not be exceeded. That's why his green Fiat ended up lying on the bench.
The insurance company said it was preferable to sell the Fiat as scrap. A sad disappointment for Cololo, but a less risk for pedestrians, dogs and vehicles.
Cololo sold his car as scrap metal and paid off all my loans. Then he promised that for a while he will devote himself to gardening.
End